Read First: Character Creation Discussion

MORE DUTY

After additional thought, as a way of reflecting your character's importance in the Sith war effort, and primarily to add more flavor to the game, all of you will start with a Duty value of 10. This allows you to put all 10 into one type of Duty, or split the 10 into two separate Duties valued at 5 each. This will a little more complexity to your characters and help flesh them out even more.

This will not allow you to get more credits or XP.

Thanks for the list. I really like the Enemy Demoralization one for Sith, and perhaps Operation Planning (although that would be tougher to do without more Duty and Contribution Rank.
Only sees heat? That is far superior than a sensor showing that something is in the other room. The Predator would have been less effective with just a sensor, to be sure. With infra you know if they are sitting, lying down (asleep! Yes!), which whey they are facing, what kind of heat emitting being/creature ("that is definitely an Ewok... piece of cake. Let's do this" or "That is definitely a Rancor... let's leave. Now." And showing heat emitting equipment... that can help a lot too ("As soon as we go in, blast the generator until it blows."

As far Sense goes, when you use it (and roll your Force dice) I'll roll a secret Perception check with it to determine how accurate your Sense attempt is (if you knew the roll that would give things away, and you'd know whether or not to trust your powers). Using the Force is well is a combination of having the force rating and skill to do so. Even someone drowning in force power is less than capable if they haven't learned to fully apply it with training and experience. However, given your 5 Cunning.. I'm thinking Sense won't be a problem for you.

SECRET DICE ROLLS

I do secret dice rolls for some checks because it just makes sense. It's late and I'm fading so this list is just to give you an idea; it may be complete, but I'm admittedly too tired for thorough right now. To reflect the fact that more skilled people are more likely to be the ones to successfully do something, in a group setting secret rolls start with the most capable and go down the list to the least capable, until someone succeeds, if someone does at all. So, in other words, the character with the highest Discipline is most likely to spot a lie in the group setting.

Sense: As stated above, it'll be your Force dice and my Perception check for you. You're rolling the force dice as I believe your characters can feel the force and whether or not you're successfully tapping into it.

Discipline (for detecting lies): You shouldn't know if your roll to detect a lie was a success or not. Also, this prevents players from constantly rolling to detect lies (which happens sooner or later). I know who is lying to who, so I know when to roll.

Vigilance: You shouldn't have to walk around and say "I'm being Vigilant." It's a passive skill. I'll roll for your Vigilance as a means of allowing you to notice something with it. Remember, it doesn't give details like Perception (which is actively looking for details), and is typically used for noticing less minute details. For example, Vigilance would be useful for noticing someone on a roof a block away. Perception would allow for zooming in, so to speak, and picking out the details suggesting he is a sniper (that looks like a gun!).

Stealth: This one I've been rolling for players for a long time. You should never, ever know how successful your attempt to be sneaky was. Common sense.

And I won't forget to check for you. When they're lying, or some sniper is skulking about on a roof, you'll have the chance to notice them....

Well, that actually might be all of the secret roll skills. I'm a player too, so I understand if you'll miss making some of those rolls. At the same time, I hope you can appreciate that my approach just makes sense, and adds a little more mystery to the game, as it very well should in the above situations. Altogether, it helps bring a little bit of that edge to the game as well.

I was considering taking Operation Planning originally (although I ultimately decided against it, because I didn't want to unilaterally make myself the unofficial "leader" of the group), which is why I thought to bring it up, in case anyone else thought any of the non-core Duties caught their fancy.
Yeah, that's definitely pretty powerful. I was just assuming that it'd give us "There are about a half-dozen Silhouette 0 to 1 humanoid-ish blobs of heat on the third floor" kind of information, and maybe "You can sit out around for several minutes, hope no one notices you, and focus on a single target and make a Hard Knowledge (Xenology) Check to determine its species", or "You detect a large, stationary Silhouette 2 to 3 size heat signature, possibly a mainframe computer, massive bomb, or idling speeder". I wasn't trying to get some ridiculously powerful "see everything perfectly through walls" detector.

Maybe I'm just too used to playing Eclipse Phase, where scanning everything with a half-dozen different kinds of sensors is standard procedure if you don't want a TPK every session.

Also, for reference, the General Purpose Scanner can "detect nearby life signs and heat signatures, different sources of radiation, the source and direction of different sounds, or any combination thereof. [...] Some even have integrated metal detectors and the ability to intercept and record comlink traffic. Most scanners have an operational range of up to one and a half kilometers." So it's not exactly useless, either.
That makes some Force powers much less useful that they are at first glance, unless I'm misinterpreting you. For example, Sense's basic power is "You may Spend a Force Point to sense all living things within a short range (including sentient and non-sentient beings)." If that requires a successful Perception check to actually sense those things, how is that any better than just making a normal Perception Check to look around you (except in niche cases, like looking for a microscopic organism or something)? Especially since you have to succeed on a Force roll first, which with 1 Force Rating won't be guaranteed.

Additionally, some Force powers (such as Seek's basic power) specify that a skill check must be made to succeed ("The user may spend a Force Point and succeed at an Average (Two Difficulty Die) Vigilance check (or opposed Vigilance vs Discipline check) to see through illusions". If it was intended that most Force powers require skill checks in addition to their Force roll, I don't think that it would have specified that there.

Rolling most Perception checks (and similar checks where there is a signifigant risk of metagaming) in secret makes sense, though. It just gets silly when you know there's an ambush up ahead, but your character doesn't.

Operations Planning is not attached to a leadership position, although I can see how one would associate the two as they do go hand in hand. Rather think of it as this: your character wants to be involved in planning, and thinks its the most important ingredient to Sith success. Maybe you do fancy yourself as a leader one day. But, until then, you do what you can. Keep in mind that your group may stumble upon targets of opportunity or additional objectives worth achieving outside of your mission objectives. Phoning home to your superiors, presenting the potential bonus objective, and then offering a plan, based on your more intimate knowledge of the situation, would involve you in Operations Planning.
Well, they would appear as heat blobs at greater distances. However, close enough and you would see much clearer images and details. As far as going by me first, no worries. It's clearer now what I expect, and you were just making efforts to ensure group success. I would have gone for the infra's too. ;) And there is nothing wrong with avoiding a TPK. It's just smart to understand the mechanics of the game and what you can do to ensure group success, especially if you like character advancement attached to an evolving character's story as they move through the game world.
I'm fine with that. However, the CRB's and resource books can be very vague in many places, and the gear lists can be especially so. They are the RAW (rules as written; I try not to assume everyone knows the short hand and acronyms). I'll say this: if you're getting a scanner more features will cost more money. Detecting life signs would be the basic function of a scanner. Radiation, Heat signatures would up the cost (you can detect heat emitting machines and vehicles now), sound detection/sourcing, metal detectors, comlink interception/recording (this would be very expensive given the value of that function!) and increased range (1.5 km can reveal a lot, especially with all of those functions).

A key detail worth noting in the description from EotE you are referencing is this: depending on the model, which precedes everything else in the description. A scanner that can perform all of those functions above at a range of 1.5 km would be a top notch piece of tech, and very expensive. Also, as it is Star Wars, where tech can still be bulky, a device like this would be more military grade, and likely take up some encumbrance beyond the '2' that is given in the gear list. In the end, you'll get what you pay for, depending on what's available.
Sense still far exceeds a Perception check in some cases. Can you make a Perception check to see through a wall? Or, without looking around the corner, get an understanding of what is around the corner? Can Perception determine what's hidden in the cave at the bottom of the cliff directly below you?

Also, the check is often intended to determine the degree of success, rather than failure (even though that may be possible, depending, see below). For example:

A mediocre result interpreted from a poor dice roll: "There are some people up ahead." in contrast to...

A good result interpreted from a good roll: "There are some people down the hall, in the room on the left. 4 of them." in contrast too...

A critically good results interpreted from a great roll (with a Triumph or a lot of advantage: "I can sense him. Yoda is up ahead, waiting for us."

Using the dice allows me to add flavor to the game with a variety of possibilities that fit. Also, it was, in my opinion, a shortcoming on the part of the designers to not suggest the use of Perception for Sense. It's extremely logical. They suggest skills for other powers (Move, Misdirection, etc), and are very inconsistent in doing so across the board. Perhaps they were rushed. Or they simply didn't think about it.

As far as difficulty of checks, they will vary, depending. In the case of Sense, for example, the difficulty of your check will depend on the circumstance. Is there a raging battle all around you? Is the person waiting to ambush you masked by the force? Or, is it very quiet as you're sneaking through the base, minimal distractions allowing you to easily use Sense? For the most part, in normal situations, the check is for determining degrees of success, not necessarily success or failure.

And, while I might think the designers failed completely at some aspects of game design, the nailed it with the dice mechanics, which provide the foundation of the game. I have to give them a big tip of the hat here. The dice system they designed allows me to so very easily come up with what I wrote above. It is unbelievably fluid in allowing GM's with good sense to improvise in any situation. There's always a skill to check whenever you need to. In fact, some of you won't know this, but the designers originally had almost 40 skills for the system. However, after some initial playtesting they decided it was far too clunky and the story/game didn't 'move' like they wanted it to. Characters were also too technical and limited in scope, so they boiled it down to what we have now.

USING THE FORCE

Also, as far as using the force goes, some of you are still at the level of padawans and should very much expect to fail, as one force dice gives you only a 50% chance to roll dark side points (needed to fuel powers). That's your choice, based on your character creation priorities. A common thread on GM discussion sites is about the GM's players. They are playing characters who only have one force dice (starting characters in F&D), and as the game progresses they feel quite incompetent when it comes to using the force. It's because they are, with only one force rating. At a force rating of one, your ability to tap into the force is the same as a Force Sensitive Exile, a Padawan, or a Sith apprentice (aka Padawan level). You haven't increased your character's ability to use the force at all, so it is difficult to use.

Considering the above, what I will say is this: if we had played through the 165 XP I've granted you, I imagine some of you would have been less than happy about your ability to use the force, and would have taken XP efforts to raise your force rating, depending on how you perceive your character (e.g., 'lightsaber oriented, so the force can wait' or 'the force comes first'. It's good this topic came up. You may, depending on the type of character you envision playing, want to make some adjustments. It isn't too late to do so.

Considering the above alongside the Sense concept example: Tefmon, with a high Perception your character is extremely good at using Sense. Your real problem is not the technique of doing so (the skill check of Perception), rather, with a force rating of one (Padawan level), your character has trouble tapping into the force, plain and simple. You're like Luke on Dagobah training with Yoda still, perhaps worse. You can't reliably draw on the force to do your bidding. Now that's perfectly fine if that's what you want from your character. I mean, based on your Cunning and lightsaber form of Shien, maybe you've simply spent a lot more time training your lightsaber skills, and less time on manipulating the force. The force is there sometimes when you use it, but during training and your character's experiences, it just wasn't something you focused on developing.

Also, there has been confusion as to what a Jedi Knight should be capable of. FFG made a big mistake when they suggested that characters with 150 accrued XP via adventures are at Knight Level (they refer to this as Knight Level Play). When we imagine Jedi Knights, I picture Anakin in Episode II and III, and even Obi Wan in Episode I (even though some of those examples have the still being official Padawans, they were quite capable and simply hadn't passed the trials yet). The popular consensus is that calling it Knight Level play sounded good for marketing, and the general consensus is that Knight Level play is when you have about 400 XP. By that time you likely have developed a great deal of skill with a lightsaber along with 3 force points to ensure your attempts at using the force go well.

I can't be sure, as I'm not a mind reader, but it's possible some of you are really overestimating your ability to use the force via Force Rating. Force Rating is the gas in the tank, the engine, without it, the rest of it is useless.

I'll post this again for those who value math in making these choices.

If force users want to reliably use the force, increase your force rating.
Having only one die to roll gives you exactly a 50% chance to roll dark 1 side point and 8% chance to roll 2 points on the force dice. Two force dice gives you a 42% chance for 1 point, a 32% chance for 2 points, an 8% chance for 3 points, and a 1% chance for 4 points. You can take a look at probabilities and plan ahead using this AnyDice Tool. You can change the number of force dice in the equation 'X: 1 \ number of force die \' line; simply change the number after the 'X:'.
With Seek they got it right. What they did wrong with powers like Sense is not giving direction, allowing some players and GMs to interpret Sense as a flawless radar of sorts. Undoubtedly, there are games where Sense is treated as such, a consistently reliable radar that gives superb levels of detail when infiltrating the Imperial base, or what not. What doesn't make sense, to me, is making some force powers reliable like a machine whereas others need checks. Having checks makes more sense.

And many times those checks may be of the Simple variety. For those who don't know, like your resource gathering checks you're making before conquest, this means there are no difficulty dice. Simple checks allow the GM to interpret the roll and generate a variety of results, based on the character's ability level. Considering the Sense example, it stands to reason that a Perceptive character would be more capable of aligning that with the force, enhancing their ability to use Sense. Just like a character who is better at Misdirect because of their natural affinity for Deception.

Also, consider that adding the checks allows for greater variability and flavor RP wise and mechanically (e.g., do you sense someone... or did you roll so well you know that it's Yoda waiting behind the door?).
Right. Perception would be another secret skill roll. If you're looking for traps, clues, etc., it makes no sense for characters to know how well they did. For the game to have a more real and immersive feel, your character, and you the player, need to believe it's possible there are no clues to be found at the crime scene, rather than thinking "Well, I rolled like absolute garbage, so I better keep looking or grab someone else to look." And if the entire group is investigating such a crime scene, I'll start with the most capable player at Perception and work my way down, reflecting that more capable characters are more likely to be instrumental in what they're capable of. I mean, really, at that crime scene, who is more likely to find the clues? Holmes, Watson, or the beat cop?

One of the great things about FFG Star Wars is that it is vague in some instances, and requires some interpretation of the guidelines within the CRB's. One of the worst things is that it is vague, and could give a little more direction at times. (and, as any good GM comes to realize sooner or later, every RPG's 'rules' are only guidelines. I don't play D&D anymore (as a child/teen/young adult I did), but the smartest advice in the Dungeon Master's Guide (not rulebook, an important distinction) was telling the GM that 'everything within the DMG were simply guidelines, use what makes sense to you.' This has stayed with me through every game I've played, a simple understanding that not every written word in a game book was a rigid, hard and fast rule. The people that design the materials for the games are only people, and not infallible.

Even though the Star Wars Core Rulebook (named as such, but still not so) states this: ""The GM is the ultimate arbiter of how the rules are interpreted during the course of the game, using them or breaking them as necessary to maximize fun and enhance the story." This simple statement recognizes that their rulebook is not actually so, but a collection of guidelines, some better than others, providing a foundation for us to enjoy the Star Wars universe.

I know some of you already know these kinds of concepts. However, not knowing everyone's experience level with RPG's, I decided to be very thorough with this answer, to help lay the groundwork for understanding what is different about how I GM FFG Star Wars.

So you're suggesting that the Sense Perception check is a Simple (-) check, merely to give you, the GM, a narrative way to determine how well the Sense power worked for him that time.

As stated above, that depends. For the most part, yes. But there are factors that can cloud the force, as referenced in examples above. I'll use my best judgement. The SW system is highly interpretative. Some further examples below, using Sense again.

It's quiet, no distractions. Nothing special about who you might detect. Simple check.

Battle/conflict of some kind is happening around the Republic base. 1-3 difficulty, depending on the size/intensity of the battle.

Someone (a Jedi Shadow) is masking themselves with the Force. Your difficulty in this situation is more unique and will be based off of opposing their skill in doing so. Your Perception will oppose their Deception (let's say 2 yellow 2 green, which for your difficulty dice, would translate into 2 red and 2 purple).

Now consider all of that could be going on in one place. Using Sense (with a Perception check) a range of results could occur.

Let's say all of the above complications/distractions are in play as you try to sneak into a Republic base during a battle. You roll for Force rating and Perception, getting the force points you need. I could combine those above factors, and decide that, with the AT-AT's stomping, blaster fire, explosions and screams (battle) that the final difficulty is 3 purple for detecting normal sentient creatures (Republic soldiers). The reasoning being that Sense is being used to sift through a maelstrom of chaos and, as such, makes it more difficult.

As far as detecting the Jedi Shadow, I'm not just going to tack on 2 purple dice to the difficulty posed by the 2 red/ 2 purple from the Shadow's Deception (that would be a 6 dice check!). That would be too much. What I would do in this instance, is interpret increased difficulty via adding a setback dice or two, depending (environmental factors). In this case, let's say I add one setback, it now becomes 2 red / 2 purple / 1 black. And this makes sense. With the vortex of battle swirling around you, it would be harder to reach out with the force to do something as subtle as Sense. And it makes sense for the Shadow too. The chaos of battle is very useful to those trying to avoid detection, and facilitates their doing so.

Another simple example could be seen in using Seek. You were chasing a Jedi who you very much want to kill. He ran through a crowded noisy marketplace, and you lost him. Reaching out with the Force, you roll the necessary points to use Seek (2 dice totaling 3 dark side points, to be precise). Similar to Sense, I apply a little logic here and use Perception against some difficulty. The situation is making it a little harder to use the force effectively as people bump into you, animals make sounds of all kinds and volumes, vendors hawk their wares, and nearby a police type grabs a street urchin by the neck and berates him.

At the same time, it's not battle, you don't feel threatened, so that difficulty is only set at 1 purple. Or I may simply set the difficulty as one or two setback dice, no purple. And let's say you also have three ranks of Magnitude allowing you to get more details out of your Seek power, and you spend the 3rd dark side point to put it to work. I'll interpret that as adding some boost dice to your roll, perhaps even upgrading one of your greens, or both. So now, your check might change from (three green vs. 2 black) into (1 yellow, 2 green, and 2 blue).

There's a a lot of variability in using skills and/ or force powers, separately or together. The great dice system of FFG SW really allows common sense and logic to bring the game to life. It's also important to note that you won't be set up too fail. I'm not here to make your characters lives a sarlacc pit. But I am here to help tell a story and breathe some life into it with a great dice system that the game designers severely underestimated. Or perhaps they didn't, and simply wanted to leave some of us room to run with it, depending on how we perceive their guidelines.

Important to note here is that the game mechanics work both ways. When someone is trying to Sense or Seek you, they'll have to overcome the same kinds of obstacles as well.

Also worth noting when it comes to using dice to interpret results using powers, is the fact that it actually lends more power to your character, via the dice interpretation.

Take Seek for example. The RAW with Magnitude upgrades have me "giving you more details' per rank of Magnitude. When I first started playing, that's what I did. But it was completely under my control, entirely up to me what the details were.

Now, consider making the changes I've mentioned, and allowing a dice roll to be part of the Seek power. Now a multitude of results can occur, which I can interpret; importantly, this allows me to discern the number, value, and quality of the details you learn with Seek, rather than just 'adding more details' arbitrarily. I can now put Successes, Advantage, and Triumphs to work, rather than simply deciding. In sum, the dice will work for you in this regard, as without them I might have been stingy with the details (intentionally or not), having zero guidance except 'what makes sense to me.' With the dice mechanics more involved, I can see the successful four advantage and two triumphs and think "okay, I'll give them some good info here."

Worth mentioning again is that you will roll the Force dice for all of your force powers. Your characters should be able to feel when they are successfully drawing from the force or not. E.g., you roll two Light side points: "Try as you might, you reach out with your senses, but only find frustration as the Light side pushes the Dark side beyond your reach."

THE RULES ON SECRET DICE ROLLS AS I'LL BE POSTING THEM IN THE LIBRARY
Note: nothing is set in stone and I'm always open to suggestions and feedback. We're all here to enjoy the game together.

SECRET DICE ROLLS

I do secret dice rolls for some checks because it just makes sense. To reflect the fact that more skilled characters are more likely to be successful, in a group setting secret rolls start with the most capable and go down the list to the least capable, until someone succeeds, if someone does at all. So, in other words, the character with the highest Discipline is most likely to spot a lie in the group setting. If all the characters are working as a team to comb the crime scene for clues, the character with the highest Perception is most likely to find them (Holmes, not Watson or the beat cop who found the body).

When it comes to passive skill checks like Vigilance, I won't forget to check for you, but you're always welcome and even encouraged to remind me to do so in OOC notes at the bottom of your posts. You should, given the nature of the game and your GM, do everything you can to facilitate your success and survival. Regarding such passive checks, when they are lying to you (detected via Discipline), or some sniper is skulking about on a roof (spotted with Vigilance), you'll have the chance catch the lie or notice them. I'll be well aware of their efforts in whatever their endeavors are, and will make the necessary checks for you and/or your group.


SKILLS

Discipline (for detecting lies, passive): You shouldn't know if your roll to detect a lie was a success or not. Also, this prevents players from constantly rolling to detect lies (which happens sooner or later). I know who is lying to who, so I know when to roll.

Perception (actively looking for details): The dice can give away too much, again. You should be unsure of whether or not that alley ahead is safe to move through.

Stealth (actively being sneaky): This one I've been rolling for players for a long time, since I was a kid. You should never, ever know how successful your attempt to be sneaky was. Common sense.

Vigilance (passive): You shouldn't have to walk around and say "I'm being Vigilant." It's a passive skill. I'll roll for your Vigilance as a means of allowing you to notice something with it. Remember, it doesn't give details like Perception (which is actively looking for details), and is typically used for noticing less minute details. For example, Vigilance would be useful for noticing someone on a roof a block away. Perception would allow for zooming in, so to speak, and picking out the details suggesting he is a sniper (that looks like a gun!).



FORCE POWERS AND SECRET DICE ROLLS

The force powers below aren't passive, so I won't make random checks for you, even though I may occasionally do so for those who are extremely capable in some type of power (e.g., your Foresee tree is filled and you have a Force Rating of 4; you start having visions of the future while you sleep).

For those powers listed below, you'll only roll the Force Dice as determined by your rating. You're rolling the force dice as it's sensible that your characters can feel the force and whether or not you're successfully tapping into it. After that, I'll take care of the rest.

Foresee (non-combat): Your Force Rating dice roll and a Perception or Astrogation check by me. Here, Astrogation is an option inspired by how the Consular Sage uses it for meditating (evoking Yoda accessing the future via meditation), and is plausible as the user is navigating the future via the force. They aren't necessarily searching for something, and could simply be allowing the currents of the force to guide them toward a possible future.

Misdirect: Your Force Rating dice roll and a Deception by me. Similar to Stealth, you can't be certain that your attempt will render you invisible, or that your attempt will successfully create the illusion you're going for. For creating illusions, a big part of the difficulty for the check will be how believable the illusion is. For example, when trying to distract an Imperial storm trooper, the illusion of a human hopping over the fence will be far more likely to work than trying to make the him think that a huge rancor is forcing it's way through the fence. The plausibility of the desired illusion(and, by association, your creativity) lends itself to increased chances of success.

Sense: Your Force Rating dice roll and a Perception check by me (Perception because you're actively searching, which is within the domain of Perception). You're actively trying to 'see' everything you can, so Perception is used here.

Seek: Your Force Rating dice roll and a Perception check by me because you're actively searching, which is within the domain of Perception. You're looking for details, something specific.

For those that like rolling dice, I'm a player too, so I understand if you'll miss making some of those rolls. At the same time, I hope you can appreciate that my approach just makes sense, and adds a little more mystery and intrigue to the game, as it very well should in the above situations. Altogether, it helps bring a little bit of that edge and some realism to the game as well.

OK, we were out all day yesterday and I didn't have internet access, so I have some catching up to do. I will make the rolls now and make sure I get through everything that has been posted by tonight

RESOURCE GATHERING

I overlooked Skulduggery. Naturally, you should be able to acquire resources using this as well (theft, etc). I'm posting rolls for everyone below.

RESOURCE GATHERING

I'm adjusting all of your resource gathering efforts to reflect that everyone is using every skill at their disposal, no matter how unskilled, every effort to ensure the success of the unit and the Conquest. It just makes sense. This will also reflect the experience level of your group as well.

I'm not changing rolls, just adding them.

RESOURCE GATHERING

To make things interesting, and to allow player agency, in addition to recognizing that some characters have skills sets that make them better at resource acquisition, I'm making a change.

Your efforts in resource acquisition will be yours alone to use as you like. Combine it with your personal credits and spend it on yourself, pool it with others to buy more substantial gear. Or do something in between. Your choice. It makes sense and lends an increased degree of realism to the game as your characters prepare for what awaits beyond the The Veil.

Additionally, I'm adding a separate roll to characters with the force power Seek or Influence and the Control Upgrade (the Jedi Mind Trick) to reflect another level of depth in their efforts to get what they want.

As a side note: Players will not be allowed to leave Akrultos with more than 1000 credits, no matter where they come from, personal or otherwise. The vast majority of your starting resources are meant to be assets, no matter how you got them.

Also, as we move forward through the character creation and group set up process, let's continue to post as frequently as possible. It will help those of you working to pool resources to do so more efficiently, rather than taking another week or two to figure it out. I'm enjoying this process, but am also looking forward to the meat of the game.

KROSUS AND RESOURCES

Since I've changed the resource gathering mechanic to include all skills for everyone, I'm rolling CCL's for Krosus. CCL, if you're opposed to this and want to roll for yourself, that's fine. Just let me know.

Skulduggery is with the rest.

The Illegal Acquisitions Pool has been adjusted to be comprised of the following: Coercion, Streetwise, and Skulduggery. You may spend these resources on anything, including Restricted items; these are denoted by the (R) items on the gear lists.

As stated before, the Primary Resrouces Pool can be spent on anything that is not Restricted. It is now called the Legal Acquisitions Pool.

RESOURCE GATHERING FOR THE CONQUEST

As your unit prepares to venture out of the Veil into the vast expanse of the galactic ocean, all of you do everything within your power to improve your chances of success... and survival. As the launch day for your mission approaches, you put every skill and contact at your disposal to use, preparing yourselves for the long journey ahead. Given the nature of the campaign ahead, it is unlikely you will return to Akrultos anytime soon, if ever...

This is it. The final push as countdown to mission launch winds down. Gather what you can and choose wisely. Anything from any resource will be considered. What you purchase, separately or as a group, will be all you have as you begin your role in the Sith Conquest of the Galaxy.



Details

The accumulated resources will be represented as two pools of credits for each of you. One pool will consist of resources gathered outside of legal means (the Illegal Acquisitions Pool), whereas the other pool will be the 'Legal Acquisitions Pool, consisting of everything else.

For fluff purposes, Leadership rolls are considered to be resources gathered within the Sith Military via quartermasters in the Logistics Division. All other rolls can sensibly be fluffed story wise as you see fit, if you so desire.

An example of this might come from Coercion. If you accrue enough resources via Coercion to acquire a land speeder, story wise that could be considered as the Coercion component of the group using concerted efforts in Coercion to intimidate a speeder dealership owner into giving you a speeder, or a big discount ("You can pay to fix up your store when we're done, or pay for part of the speeder."). Or maybe he's a supporter of the cause and just liked you (Charm) and gave you a discount. Or maybe you Negotiated for it.

Either way, some fluff can only make things more interesting. Up to you.



Resource Gathering Results
In alphabetical order by character name

Triumph = 500 credits worth of resources
Success = 100 credits worth of resources
Advantage = 50 credits worth of resources

*If I've missed something or made any errors, please let me know and we'll fix it.



Hawke

Leadership

1 Success, 1 Advantage = 150

Negotiation

1 Advantage = 50

Mechanics

2 Success, 1 Advantage, 1 Triumph = 750

Charm

1 Advantage = 50

Deception

3 Success = 300

Legal Acquisitions Pool: 1300 credits

Skulduggery

2 Success = 200

Streetwise

1 Success = 100

Coercion

2 Success, 2 Advantage = 300

Illegal Acquisitions Pool: 600 credits
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Krosus

Negotiation

3 Success = 300

Leadership

3 Success, 1 Advantage = 350

Mechanics

1 Success, 1 Advantage = 150

Charm

4 Success, 2 Advantage = 500

Deception

2 Success, 1 Advantage = 250

Legal Acquisitions Pool: 1550 credits

Skulduggery

2 Success, 1 Advantage = 250

Coercion

2 Success, 4 Advantage = 400

Streetwise

1 Success, 2 Advantage = 200

Influence
2 White Force Points, 2 Black Force Points

2 Success, 1 Advantage = 250

Illegal Acquisitions Pool: 1100 credits
-----------------------------------------




Lexi

Leadership

1 Success = 100

Negotiation

2 Success = 200

Mechanics

1 Success, 1 Advantage = 150

Charm

1 Success, 2 Advantage = 200

Deception

3 Advantage = 150

Legal Acquisitions Pool: 800 credits

Coercion

1 Success, 3 Advantage = 250

Streetwise

3 Success = 300

Skulduggery

3 Success, 1 Advantage = 350

Influence (failed, not enough force points)
1 Black Force Point

4 Advantage, 1 Triumph = 0

Illegal Acquisitions Pool: 850 credits
-----------------------------------------




Lissewa

Negotiation with Smooth Talker

1 Success, 6 Advantage = 400

Leadership

1 Success, 3 Advantage = 250

Mechanics

3 Success, 1 Advantage = 350

Charm

3 Success, 2 Advantage = 400

Deception

1 Success, 1 Advantage = 150

Legal Acquisitions Pool: 1550 credits

Streetwise

1 Success, 2 Advantage = 200

Coercion

0 Success, 0 Advantage (blank dice) = 0

Skulduggery

1 Success, 1 Advantage = 150

Illegal Acquisitions Pool: 350 credits
-----------------------------------------




Tejanna

Deception

4 Success, 4 Advantage = 600

Leadership

0 Success, 0 Advantage (blank dice) = 0

Negotiation

2 Advantage = 100

Mechanics

2 Success = 200

Charm

1 Success = 100

Legal Acquisitions Pool: 1000 credits

Coercion

2 Success = 200

Skulduggery

3 Success, 6 Advantage = 600

Streetwise

4 Success, 5 Advantage = 650

Seek: Perception (failed, not enough force points)

4 Success, 1 Advantage, 1 White Force Point = 0

Illegal Acquisitions Pool: 1450 credits
-----------------------------------------




Tishal

Leadership

1 Success, 1 Advantage = 150

Negotiation

1 Success, 2 Advantage = 200

Mechanics

3 Success, 1 Advantage = 350

Charm

0 Success, 0 Advantage (blank dice) = 0

Deception

0 Success, 0 Advantage (blank dice) = 0

Legal Acquisitions Pool: 700 credits

Skulduggery

1 Success, 3 Advantage = 250

Coercion

2 Success, 3 Advantage = 350

Streetwise

1 Success, 3 Advantage = 250

Illegal Acquisitions Pool: 850 credits



GROUP TOTALS
Note: You are not required to pool resources, just recording the values for your convenience. However, pooling your resources will give you more buying power, allowing you to acquire assets that are beyond your reach as individuals.

Legal Acquisitions Pool:
Remember, these can only be used to buy items that are not in the Restricted category.

1300 + 1550 + 800 + 1550 + 1000 + 700...

total = 6900 credits


Illegal Acquisitions Pool: 600 + 1100 + 850 + 350 + 1450 + 850...
Can be used to buy anything, pending my approval, of course. This includes items in the Restricted category.

total = 5200 credits


This is it. Those of you who consider yourself planners, now's the time. Spend wisely.

May the Dark Side be with you.

As you consider your purchases, be prepared to have secondary and tertiary requests as back up, allowing for the possibility that your primary request may be rejected. This will save a tremendous amount of time time in a PbP format.

FYI, the story in our game will be starting in 8 ABY.

Some new fluff added to Modern Sith History


Viewed as a cult by a small minority, The Eyes of Akrulta revered the Oracles as prophets, waiting for the day Emperor Akrulta’s prophesy would become reality. Longing for his prophesy to achieve fruition, the ritual of Tave Vartotimas ('The Consuming', translated from Sith to Basic) was put in place when the lineage of the Oracle itself was threatened.

The ritual of The Consuming was first performed in 732 BBY, when the Oracle at the time died. Months passed without transference of power to another Eye, creating growing tremors of fear within the ranks of the Cathedral that the power of the Oracle would be lost forever, drowned in the infinite undertow of the Force. When it seemed that all hope was lost, it was them that the High Priestess, in response to a vision sent to her by Akrulta himself, ordered the Eyes of Akrulta to gather every pupil of the force in the Arcology, forcibly as needed, for a mass sacrifice. The bloody ritual continued uniterrupted, day and night, for over a week. When it finally did come to an end, the High Priestess herself received a massive transference of power from the Dark Side, one that usurped the very essence of her being. With this influx of dark power, she became the new Oracle and assumed her rightful place in the Cathedral.

The Consuming is still practiced to this day, with the surviving members of each new class of force users being sacrificed to the Oracle, a necessary practice that maintains the Oracle's power and prevents history from repeating itself in the form of disaster. Some consider it an honor to be sacrificed in The Consuming. Others are terrified and attempt to escape their fate, fleeing the massive underground urban complexes they had long called home, braving the relatively unknown dangers of the surface above. Few succeed these attempts at escape, and one can only wonder how many of them have survived or continue to do so. Akrultos is generous in her own right, a planet of vast wealth in resources, yet she is a cruel and unforgiving mistress as well, with the very few Sith explorers that do return from the surface telling stories of a lush and terrifying landscape, populated with a menagerie of creatures, some too terrifying to behold.

As time passed, the Eyes of Akrulta fought to maintain their faith in a society that slowly moved away from religion. However, despite Akrulta’s status as a divine being eroding slowly over time, the Sith still had enough faith and belief in his vision, or divinity, to trust in the Oracles, amassing strength, forging and re-forging themselves into an increasingly powerful machine of war.

I suppose the first order of business is to figure out how much (if any) of our resources we're wanting to pool together.

I'm personally good with anything from pooling everything to pooling nothing.

If we do go the route of pooling some of our funds, we could theoretically purchase some non-Spear based transportation.

ETA:
The other 5 duty I picked up, I dumped into Space Superiority.