“Force Wizard” is my series on the Force powers in Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars RPG lines. It is primarily aimed at new players/GMs, and more experienced players playing a Force-sensitive character for the first time. I will discuss using each power in play and suggest what upgrades to pick up, and when to buy them. (Be mindful–upgrades that require Force pips are useless if you can’t possibly roll enough pips.) I may also discuss how powers have been used/viewed in Canon and Legends/Expanded Universe sources.
Except for the name, Unleash doesn’t have much in common with the video games The Force Unleashed 1 & 2. You can’t pull a Super Star Destroyer out of the stratosphere or other “Impressive…most impressive” Move feats. This aspect of Protect/Unleash is all about unleashing your Force abilities to damage opponents. All upgrades (except Magnitude and Range) add to that damage or give it a special quality. Note that Lightsiders as well as Darksiders can wield Unleash and all its upgrades, except for the 25XP Control and Mastery, which reserve the Unleash aspect for Darksiders (Morality less than 30).
To deal damage with the Basic Unleashed attack, the wielder must succeed on a combined Force power and Average Discipline check and spend 2 Force pips. Like many basic powers, you cannot activate it multiple times. The Basic Unleashed attack is Damage equal to wielder’s Willpower, Short Range, and Critical 4. That’s a little less than the holdout blaster in Age of Rebellion–but see the upgrades below. Using Unleash gains a PC 1 Conflict. That’s in addition, of course, to any Conflict for flipping a Destiny Point to use Dark pips (or Light pips if Morality is under 30) or given by the GM for circumstances.
For two Force pips, Range extends Unleash by one range band per instance bought. That’s a maximum of Extreme for Unleash, for a single activation, when you have all 3 instances. Also at 2 pips it’s more costly to activate than for most powers, but it can be activated more than once.
Magnitude increases the number of affected targets by one for each instance purchased for 1 Force pip. It can be activated multiple times. With 2 Magnitudes in the tree, that’s a maximum of two additional targets per Force pip spent.
The first Control upgrade, 10XP, in the upper right of the tree, allows you to spend Advantage–from the power/Disciple check–to inflict Strain as well as damage on the target/s, one Strain for each Advantage spent. This Control upgrade doesn’t cost additional Force pips to activate Unleash.
Right below and connected to it is the 15XP Control upgrade. For +1 Force pip, above the base cost, the attack gains the Ensnare 2 quality (p. 163, F&D). Like the Basic Unleash, it can only be activated once.
The last Control upgrade, 25XP, opens up a new way for Darkside Force users to spend Destiny Points. (Remember, Lightsiders can’t use this Unleash upgrade, only the Protect version–and vice versa.) Once per session, the Darksider may flip a DP to use Unleash as a maneuver. At first glance, this may seem a little unfair to Darksiders, since a Lightsider with this upgrade can use Protect as an out-of-turn incidental giving them more flexibility on when to do so. However, Unleash as a maneuver still gives you a number of options, the most obvious being taking a second attack action this turn–Unleash twice, Unleash plus a different attack (lightsaber thrust would be cool!), Unleash then Protect yourself, etc.
The Duration upgrade Is another where the Unleash effect is quite different from the Protect, although still usable by all Force users, regardless of their Morality score. Like the 15XP Control just above, Duration gives the Basic Unleash a weapon quality–Burn 2 (p. 162, F&D), in this case–for +1 Force pip. You could activate both Duration and the Ensnare Control for a really nasty attack.
The four Strength upgrades work the same way. Spend 1 Force pip to increase damage by 1 for each Strength you bought, with multiple activations allowed. So your total damage is Willpower + (number of Strength upgrades X Force pips). For a Willpower 4 PC with all 4 Strength, that’s 8 damage per activation, equivalent to the base damage of the AoR Heavy Blaster Pistol (but a worse Critical Rating).
Finally, we reach the Mastery upgrade, which reduces the Critical Rating from 4 to 1. Like the 25XP Control, the Unleash aspect is only usable by Darksiders. And it’s not just any old special effect, damage increase, or weapon quality. It’s what has been the Ultimate Power of the Darkside for decades, ever since Return of the Jedi when first Luke and then Vader defied Palpatine and the Emperor struck back! Yes, this is how you call up Force Lightning, folks! (Don’t believe this Lightside Paragon? See p. 301 in F&D.) It’s only +1 Force pip, amazingly, plus 2 pips for the Basic Unleash. So I am pretty sure Palpatine had enough Force pips left to unleash Burn and Strength on the Skywalkers.
What to buy when? Since you will have at least Force Rating 3, you have good odds of activating the Basic Unleash and some upgrades. I’d start with the first (top right) Control, because there’s less ways to inflict Strain in combat and it adds to Wounds of Minions and Rivals, taking them out much faster. (Protect’s Defense bonus is a very useful alternate, too.) Then consider at least one Strength, Magnitude, and/or Range. Range upgrades might be marginally more useful if you think you’re more likely to use Unleash, since making attacks at a distance is a great advantage, as is damaging more than one adversary via Magnitude. Beyond that?
As I mentioned in Part 1, Protect/Unleash is a pricey power in both XP and minimum FR. So you want to make sure there’s enough time left in the campaign for you to enjoy using the upgrades you buy, before diving deep into this Force power tree (or any other, for that matter). But if you decide you want to invest a lot of XP–at least 80-85XP to get a 25XP upgrade–all of the upgrades are going to be useful. If I, playing a fallen/Darkside PC, had to choose between the 25 XP Control and the Mastery upgrades, that would be a very hard choice. I’d probably have to go with the Mastery upgrade. Because–Force Lightning! There doesn’t have to be a better reason.
Next month, we’ll look at the Seek Force power. Until then, may the Force be with you always!
Credit: Thanks to Jon “Donovan Morningfire for Aid Another actions to clarify a couple of points.
Force Wizard Index (Book/s)
Alter (Unlimited Power)
Battle Meditation (F&D)
Bind (F&D, Rise of the Separatists)
Conjure (Unlimited Power)
Ebb/Flow (Disciples of Harmony)
Endure (Knights of Fate)
Enhance (AoR, F&D, Rise of the Separatists)
Farsight (Savage Spirits)
Foresee (AoR, F&D)
Heal/Harm (F&D)
Imbue (Disciples of Harmony)
Influence (EotE, F&D)
Jerserra’s Influence (Ghosts of Dathomir)
Manipulate (Endless Vigil)
Misdirect (F&D)
Move (AoR, EotE, F&D)
Protect / Unleash (F&D) – Part 1 (Intro & Protect) and Part 2 (Unleash)
Seek (F&D)
Sense (EotE, F&D)
Suppress (Keeping the Peace)
Warde’s Foresight (Chronicles of the Gatekeeper)
Linda Whitson
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