“Force Wizard’s Got Talents” is my series on the Force talents, from all of the FFG Star Wars lines. Welcome back, padawans and disciples.
First some general notes. Since the specializations (specs) vary so much on number of FTs, I will usually cover two or three specs per article. This may change later on, as many of the more recent specs will have Force talents that I covered already. Each FT entry will still include a list of all trees and books it appears in, and the range of XP “price points” for that talent across all trees.
Second, I am altering the order of specs from the career and era sourcebooks. Specs from a career sourcebook will appear either with the F&D ones from the same career, or right after. At the end of the series, I will devote two or three installments to FTs from career and universal specs appearing in the the era sourcebooks (Rise of the Separatists, Collapse of the Republic, and Dawn of Rebellion.)
Finally, be mindful of my admonition from the Force powers and Signature Abilities installments: Read the Fine Print! That is, the FT’s entry in the Talent chapter of the relevant book. Often as not, the boxes will leave out important information, like how often a talent can be used. (See the Draw Closer entry below.)
Today, we look at the Consular and Niman Disciple trees from the Consular career. (Force and Destiny).
Abbreviations
CotR = Collapse of the Republic
Dawn = Dawn of Rebellion
DoH = Disciples of Harmony
EV = Endless Vigil
F&D = Force and Destiny
FR = Force Rating
FT = Force Talent
KtP = Keeping the Peace
Rise = Rise of the Separatists
UP = Unlimited Power
HEALER TREE
Calming Aura (Unranked; 20XP)
- When you’re targeted by an opponent wielding a Force power, reduce the number of Force pips by one, to a minimum of zero per the Talents chapter.
- This is a passive talent.
- It is most effective against FR 1 opponents, since they are more likely to end with no pips to generate Light or Dark pips.
- It is still helpful against higher FR opponents, since 1 pip can prevent an upgrade activation, or even nudge them to take Strain to call on the Darkside (or Lightside, in the case of a foe with Morality score under 30).
- Also Found in: Arbiter (DoH).
Improved Calming Aura (Unranked; 25XP)
- This is an Active talent.
- Healers only can extend Calming Aura’s effect to allies within Short range.
- Using Improved Calming Aura costs a maneuver and 2 Strain.
- The wielder can affect a number of allies equal to their Willpower.
- The effect lasts until the beginning of the wielder’s next turn.
Healing Trance (Ranked; 5-15XP)
- This is a passive talent.
- For each Force die you commit for an entire encounter, heal 1 Wound.
- This is a very situational talent; If you have 2+ instances, it could be somewhat helpful when you have back to back combats, with no time to recover or make Medicine checks between. Still, you will probably have to choose between healing a little and using the Force in other ways.
- In both trees, it’s easy to skip if you wish.
- I will be upfront that I have never really liked this FT. Not in its final form, which was an improvement over the (open) Beta version, where you had to commit for a whole day. I (and other early players) also disliked, even after the revision, that the effect was so different from how it worked in the rest of the (then) Expanded Universe, where it was used by a Healer on other characters.
- Also Found in: Magus (UP).
Improved Healing Trance (Unranked; 15-20XP)
- This is an Active talent.
- Improved Healing Trance gives the wielder a chance to heal a Critical Injury they suffer from, with a successful Resilience check.
- Even if the check fails, you will still heal the Wounds.
- I suggest making the check at the end of the encounter, to save on dice rolling.
- This FT really does improve Healing Trance, and makes picking up at least 1 rank of Healing Trance more appealing.
- Also Found in: Magus (UP).
NIMAN DISCIPLE TREE
Center of Being (Ranked; 5-25XP)
- This is an Active talent.
- This once per round maneuver increases the Critical Rating of an assailant’s melee weapon by +1/rank, until the start of the wielder’s next turn.
- It only affects melee attacks and only while you’re wielding a Lightsaber. Yet another good reason to get a Lightsaber ASAP.
- The 5 and 10XP instances are in the Jedi Master tree, which has several relatively powerful or rare FTs costing only a few XP, which makes sense considering the XP investment just to buy into this tree, with its FR3+ prerequisite.
- Also Found In: Protector (KtP); Shii-Cho Knight (F&D); Jedi Master (CotR).
Improved Center of Being (Unranked; 15 or 25XP)
- This is a passive talent.
- Voluntarily suffer 1 Strain to use the Center of Being maneuver as an incidental. That gives you more options during the round.
- There’s no mention of “out of turn” in the Fine Print.
- Like its base FT, the less expensive instance is in the Jedi Master talent tree – but you must invest a lot of XP to get it.
- Also Found In: Jedi Master (CotR).
Draw Closer (Unranked; 20XP)
- This is an Active talent.
- This is one of three FTs unique to Niman Disciple. (The others are Force Assault and Niman Technique.)
- As an action make a Lightsaber (Willpower) check versus a target within Medium range, adding Force dice up to your FR to the pool.
- It is imperative that you and your GM read the Draw Closer entry’s Fine Print. There is a lot of information in the Talent chapter entry that doesn’t fit in the box.
- Most importantly, if you can’t move your target to Engaged with you, the Lightsaber (Willpower) check automatically fails.
- There are also more details on spending the Force pips generated and when they are spent. Before adjudicating the roll, pips can be spent to draw your target into Engaged range, 1 pip/(personal) band. Additional pips can be spent to add Success/es to the results, 1 pip/+1 Success.
- The way the full entry reads to me, you can use this on a target you’re already Engaged with, spending pips only on Successes, but that’s your GM’s call.
Force Assault (Unranked; 25XP)
- This is a passive talent.
- Spend 1 Triumph or 3 Advantage from a Failed Lightsaber (Willpower) check to immediately use the Move power as a maneuver.
- The Fine Print details are pretty obvious. You have to have the Move power, must still be able to take a Maneuver, and Force Assault isn’t an exception to the 2 Maneuvers limit rule.
- I’m a fan of any talent that lets you make an extra use of a Force power.
- Potentially turning a failed attack into a second successful attack/action is great for the narrative.
Niman Technique (Unranked; 10XP)
- This is a passive talent.
- Every “Lightsaber Form” spec has its own Technique FT, allowing the Force user to substitute a specific Characteristic for Brawn.
- For Niman Disciple, it’s Willpower.
Reflect (Ranked; 5-20XP)
- This is an Active talent.
- When wielding a Lightsaber, take 3 Strain and reduce the damage of a Ranged (Light), Ranged (Heavy) or Gunnery check by Reflect ranks plus 2, so it gets more “cost effective” the more ranks you buy.
- This is an out-of-turn incidental, and is usable only once per hit.
- One of the Lightsaber classics, and Niman Disciple has three instances.
- Also Found In: Protector (F&D); Soresu Defender (F&D); Shien Expert (F&D); Sentry (EV); Arbiter (DoH); Jedi Padawan (Rise), Jedi Knight (Rise), Jedi General (CotR); Padawan Survivor (Dawn).
Sum Djem (Unranked; 15-25XP)
- This is a passive talent.
- Upon a successful Lightsaber check, you may spend 1 Triumph or 2 Advantage to disarm the opponent.
- You choose where their weapon lands, within Short range.
- Two Advantage to activate is low, although you may have to choose between disarming and inflicting a Critical Injury or activating a weapon quality. Which is the best or fastest way to end a fight will vary.
- A move that’s as showy as it is useful – probably why Makashi Duelists also employ it.
- Also Found In: Makashi Duelist (F&D); Shii-Cho Knight (F&D), Jedi Master (CotR).
Linda Whitson
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