There are very few new species in this book, and in fact there is no "new species" section. Shards, Celegians, Krevaaki, and Vultans get their own sidebars as appropriate.
The book opens up with the "Power of the Force" chapter. New uses for the Use the Force skill are reprinted from Clone Wars and KOTOR. The book then introduces Force regimens — training exercises that Force-users and lightsaber duelists can use to get a small game benefit. These are pretty flavorful and take hours to perform, so it's not like they're something simple you can perform on the fly. For example, the Oxygen Bottle regimen has you emptying a small glass bottle of air, then using the Force to only allow pure oxygen inside. If you can complete it, you gain a bonus against inhaled poisons and hazards, or if you roll high enough, you become immune for the day.
Next come the talents. Of which there are a lot. The Jedi class gets 6 new talents — nothing that's a must-have, but Shoto Focus gives some love for the short lightsaber, or "shoto," Hold the Line gives you basically the 4E Fighter's "Combat Superiority" class feature, and Grenade Defense lets you hurl grenades away harmlessly as a reaction.
There are a lot of Force talents — 17, to be exact (one is a reprint). Several Alter talents build off of the Illusion talent, letting you disguise yourself or see through the eyes of your illusion. The Control talents are both winners — Channel Energy lets you immediately use a Force power after successfully using the Negate Energy power, and Force Harmony lets you, once per encounter, activate a Force talent that requires a Force Point without spending the Force Point. The Dark Side gets Transfer Essence, which lets darksiders try to possess people or objects when they die. The book also introduces the Guardian Spirit talent tree — you have a Force spirit that aids you in various (and powerful) ways.
Prestige classes get a lot of new talents. First, the Force adept: The Dark Side Devotee gets its own version of the Force Talisman; the Beastwarden tree lets you control beasts; the Mystic uses the Force in strange and magical ways; the Telepath makes you a master of mind-affecting powers and lets you perform some pretty powerful mental tricks. The Jedi Knight gets four new talent trees: the Jedi Artisan tree gives you bonuses when wielding a lightsaber you built yourself; the Jedi Instructor tree lets you share your Force secrets, techniques and talents with other Jedi; the Jedi Investigator is great at tracking down prey and avoiding deception; the Jedi Weapon Master is good at wielding two weapons or using unconventional weapons. The Sith Apprentice gets the Sith Alchemy tree, which lets it create all kinds of Sith trinkets (armor, amulets, talismans, weapons), modify its gear with its own Tech Specialist-like tree, and mutate creatures or people into Sith abominations or chrysalis beasts (both templates provided).
There's only five new feats; they're not anything super-awesome, but they're pretty good. They're pretty much only for lightsaber wielders or Force users.
Then come the Force powers. Holy moley, are there a lot of Force powers. Blind hurls debris at a target's eyes; Convection makes your skin incredibly hot, making your unarmed attacks more powerful; Crucitorn increases your damage threshold; Cryokinesis damages objects; Drain Energy turns off small objects; Fold Space lets you teleport objects; Force Light creates a radius of light that burns darksiders; Force Storm is a name reprint of a power from The Force Unleashed campaign book, but creates an acid rain storm in a large area; Force Track lets you follow a target without the need for Survival checks; Hatred creates waves of pain that hurt your enemies; Inertia lets you run up and along walls; Inspire gives your allies a boost to Will (and is heads above the similar power Valor from the KOTOR book); Intercept throws objects in the path of incoming ranged attacks, letting you negate the attack; Memory Walk forces your enemies to relive their worst moments (straight out of the Lando Calrissian novels and Darth Bane books); Mind Shard sends wracking pain into another creature's mind; Plant Surge grapples a whole lot of enemies at once; Thought Bomb deals damage in a burst.
Also technically Force powers are the Lightsaber Form powers, which basically function to create a complex lightsaber dueling system. There's a lot of really cool stuff here (I won't list them all, but there's 24 powers here), like Draw Closer, which pulls an enemy towards you; High Ground Defense (wonder where that came from), which grants you extra attacks while you have high ground; and the high-powered Tempered Aggression, a Vaapad-influenced power where if you exceed your target's Reflex Defense enough, it's an automatic critical hit.
There's also a few Force Techniques, which mostly boost new powers introduced earlier on, and two new Force Secrets: Holocron Loremaster lets you borrow Force powers from your allies, and lets you record your own holocron, while Mentor lets you lend powers to your allies, and is only accessible to those who have trained a Padawan all the way to Knighthood.
The next chapter is Philosophy, which is dedicated to exploring what it means to be a Jedi, how the Force works, and how people can fall to the dark side. If you read the same section in the old Power of the Jedi Sourcebook in Revised Core, a lot of this will be familiar to you, which is a good thing, because this really gets in the nitty-gritty about how people can live up to the Jedi ideals. The section also includes rules for giving Padawans to players, which are surprisingly unintrusive and smooth; they're just nonheroic characters, they borrow defenses from their master, and they don't take party XP.
Next comes the Equipment & Artifacts chapter. Every lightsaber that has seen print so far is reprinted here, as well as a few new ones (archaic lightsabers, dual-phase, great lightsaber, crossguard, dueling, and even the rare san-ni staff, the lightsaber tri-staff). There's a huge section on lightsaber crystals — just about every kind you can think of is listed, as well as where they're from — and there's a small section on extremely rare crystals, like krayt dragon pearls. There's a small section for lightsaber accessories that don't do a whole lot gameplay-wise but are still pretty flavorful. There's a section on Jedi and Sith armor, and orbalisk armor gets reprinted from Threats. Then there's a big section on holocrons: how to use them, how they can be used in combat, how to build them, how to stat out their gatekeepers. The section ends with some Sith artifacts: amulets, Sith poison (really, really nasty), scrolls, talismans, and the Muur Talisman (of Vector fame), which is statted out exactly how you'd think it is.
The Affiliated Programs comes next, basically a list of other Force traditions that are traditionally allied (or at least tolerant of) the Jedi. Aing-Tii Monks are mysterious mystics from the deep reaches of space, and they have crazy teleportation powers. Baran Do Sages are Kel Dor adepts who specialize in seeing the future. Fallanassi are stealthy and secretive, favoring powers that let them avoid detection. Iron Knights are really old school, from the West End Games Star Wars RPG — sentient Force-sensitive crystals that inhabit droid bodies. Matukai use the Force to push their bodies to their physical limits and wield the unique wan-shen weapon. Seyugi Dervishes are Force-wielding assassins who really love the Whirlwind Attack feat. The Shapers of Kro Var are a new tradition — they use the Force to control the elements, with a strong mystical bent. The Tyia are also from the West End Games version, being peaceful diplomats who seek only life and harmony. Wardens of the Sky are new, a wandering group of spacers who excel at martial arts and grappling. The Zeison Sha are grim survivalists who thrive on telekinesis, especially with their signature discblade weapon.
Instructors & Alumni stats out previously unstatted characters: Anoon Bondara, Arca Jeth, Cay Qel-Droma, Cilghal, Corran Horn, Dace Diath, Grand Master Luke Skywalker (level 20 version), Kieran Halcyon, Kyle Katarn, Mara Jade Skywalker, Nomi Sunrider, Odan-Urr, Ooroo, Oss Willum, Shoaneb Culu, Thon (no Tchuukthai stats, sadly), Tott Doneeta, and Vodo Siosk-Baas. A whole lot of high-level Jedi all around.
Next is the chapter "Dangers of Study," delivering plenty of dark side threats. Named characters are Azrakel, the Blackguard, Brakiss, Carnor Jax, the Dark Side Spirit template, Hethrir, Irek Ismaren, Kueller, Massassi Abominations, Nightsisters of Dathomir, Prophets of the Dark Side, Sedriss, Shadow Academy Students, Sorcerors of Tund (no Croke stats, sorry Andy), Tamith Kai, and Xanatos. A good mix of low-level and high-level threats. There's also a whole lot of dark side creatures: Two-Headed Battle Hydra, Beck-Tori, Chrysalis Beast, Derriphan, Droch, Dxun Tomb Beast, Hssiss (Dark Side Dragon), Marsh Haunt, Nighthunter, Shyrack, Silooth, Sith Warbird (the picture is more funny than threatening), Sith Wyrm, Storm Beast, Taozin, Terentatek (finally! I have been waiting for these for a long time), and Tuk'ata Sith Hounds.
The book ends with the Studying Abroad chapter, which lists a lot of Force-strong locations. Light side spots include the Chu'unthor, Dantooine, Ossus, Yavin 4, and Ruusan, while dark side sites consist of Dxun and Korriban.
All in all this is a fantastic book. If you liked the old Hero's Guide and Power of the Jedi books, you'll find a lot to remember in here, and there's just so much for any aspiring Force-user in this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment