Force Jump

[Gry Sarth]

Now, again for some playtesting:

OB1

Average Easy difficulty = 8, 3 actions in a round = -2D penalty.
Average Control 8D (10D-2D) roll = 28 => +4D bonus
Average Alter 5D (7D-2D) roll = 18 => Ok
Average Jumping 8D (6D-2D+4D) = 28 => Jump 15m up OR 20m across, OR 8m up and 8m across, OR jump down 20 meters.

Not very different from the others, just a tad more contained.

Jedi PC

Average Easy difficulty = 8, 3 actions in a round = -2D penalty.
Average Control 3D (5D-2D) roll = 11 => No bonus
Average Alter 3D (5D-2D) roll = 11 => Ok
Average Jumping 2D (4D-2D) = 7 => Jump 2m up OR 4m across, OR jump down 4 meters.

Now this is quite different. It doesn't seem too impressive, but remember that these are average rolls, so the character is really not even breaking a sweat. If we check his maximum rolls (ignoring the Wild die), he's very capable.

Maximum Control 3D (5D-2D) roll = 18 => +2D bonus
Maximum Alter 3D (5D-2D) roll = 18 => Ok
Maximum Jumping 4D (4D-2D+2D) = 24 => Jump 15m up OR 20m across, OR 4m up and 8m across, OR jump down 20 meters.

So, what do you think? I'd appreciate some other opinions besides Cheshire's.

Blast! I decided to playtest it on one of my player's Jedi, and it didn't go quite as well as I expected. That character has just turned into a fairly decent Jedi. Control 5D, Alter 3D+1. I could only beat the Alter difficulty after many rolls, and got no bonus from the Control roll. Up to that, it's ok, I guess. But then he's only got STR 2D and no Jumping, so with the MAPs it means he can't even make the Jumping roll. Is this a problem with the character or does the power still needs some slight tweaking?
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Gry Sarth]

I think I have a solution, making the Control table numbers increase exponentially. Something like this:

Control Roll > --------- Jumping
Difficulty by: ---------- Increase
1-3 ------------------------ +1D
4-8 ------------------------ +2D
9-15 ----------------------- +3D
16-25 --------------------- +4D
26-37 --------------------- +5D
38+ ----------------------- +6D

yeah.. I like it. Easier on the little guy, harder on the master.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[cheshire]

That, and just to make things simpler for the presentation, instead of adding a new chart, you can say "Add +1 to the difficulty for every one meter of horizontal distance jumped."

[Gry Sarth]

Golly! You're SO right! I hadn't even noticed I'd done that. Of course, much simpler, same effect, more adaptable. Well done, cheshire.

So, I guess this power is locked down, for now. I'll try to playtest it in some real gaming just to make sure if no further tweaks are needed.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[cheshire]

I'll do the same when I get a chance. I'm really looking forward to getting this thing nailed. Star Wars RPG has been needing this.

[Gry Sarth]

Ok, just so it's clear and people can playtest it, here's the latest version:

Force Jump

Control Difficulty: Easy

Control Roll > --------- Jumping
Difficulty by: ---------- Increase
1-3 ------------------------ +1D
4-8 ------------------------ +2D
9-15 ----------------------- +3D
16-25 --------------------- +4D
26-37 --------------------- +5D
38+ ----------------------- +6D

Alter Difficulty: Easy

Required Powers: Enhance Attribute, Telekinesis

Effect: A Jedi uses this power to increase his jumping ability in order to perform impossibly high leaps. If both Force Skill rolls are successful, the character uses his normal jumping skill to perform the jump, but he uses the special table below to determine difficulties. If the Control roll exceeds the difficulty, the character gains an immediate bonus to his jumping roll. If the Jedi fails any Force Skill roll, the power is not activated and the character is left to use his normal jumping ability (and there are certain situations where you can’t back out of a jump because your power failed). At the GM's discretion, a failed jumping roll might mean the Jedi fails to achieve the desired height/distance, fails to properly cushion his landing and suffers normal falling damage, or both. Remember multiple action penalties, so the jumping roll is a third action in that round, whether the power is successful or not.

Height Jumped --- Jumping Difficulty
1 meter ------------- Very Easy
2 meters ------------- Easy
4 meters ------------- Moderate
8 meters ------------ Difficult
15 meters ------------ Very Difficult
20 meters ------------ Heroic
Add 5 to the difficulty for every additional 5 meters. If the character is simply jumping downwards, with no upwards movement, reduce jumping difficulty by one level. Add +1 to the difficulty per meter of horizontal distance jumped.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Gry Sarth]

I playtested this a little bit yesterday with a player of mine, and he was very satisfied with how the power worked. The only thing he questioned is how we would deal with somersaults and those other neat moves the Jedi do so often in the movies.

I'm not sure. Should we add something to the difficulty if you want to perform such an acrobatic in the middle of your jump? Does doing those flips grant you any bonuses, or is it just for cinematic effect? Could Acrobatics replace the Jumping roll, having the same effect only with the added flips?

Or should we just ignore it as a purely cinematic thing which serves no real purpose? If you roll decently you can insert a little flair to your jump, it won't change anything....
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Soniv]

Personally, I would say just ignore it as a cinematic thing. It doesn't seem to serve any real purpose for aiding the jump, it just looks cool.

[cheshire]

I would treat it as cinematics. If a character wanted to do a tuck and roll on a dodge during a game, it wouldn't really grant any special buneses, though IRL it would make the dodge harder and add possibilities of greater complications. I'm not sure why flips are really all that different. They really don't add anything except nifty maneuvers so players can imagine that their characters look cool.

[PsiberDragon]

Heh.... if you REALLY wanted to be sadistic, have your player roll an Acrobatics at an equal difficulty... with a failure being that they misjudged the height, tucked too soon, bellyflopped, etc...

But as for altering the power... nah. Looks good like it is...
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"Love like you will die tomorrow. Hate like you will live forever." - Unknown

[Gry Sarth]

Ok, that settles it then. It's a wrap.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[cheshire]

I just want to confirm that this is correct. I think an example might be helpful in the book.

[Gry Sarth]

Actually there's a mistake. A Control roll of 10 will at most grant you a +2D Jumping bonus. Remember that it's what you roll above the difficulty that counts, similar to Enhance Attribute. So if the difficulty is 6 and you roll 10, that's a difference of 4, thus +2D.

Ambellad Daru would only roll 4D Jumping (4D-2D+2D), for an average result of 14, which is pretty much the exact difficulty for jumping up 7m (assuming that's a vertical-only jump).

I think you're right about the need for an example.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[cheshire]

Doh! It's always the simple stuff that gets me. Thanks Gry!