Jedi Training

 

Finding a Teacher:

     A character that wishes to learn one of the three Force skills must have a teacher; characters that already have Force skills find them easier to master with a teacher to instruct them.

     Characters who begin the game with Jedi skills must have had a teacher before the game began.  Whether or not the student can still contact is left up to the Gamemaster.  Perhaps the character mastered all the powers the teacher knew and moved on.  Maybe the teacher was killed; maybe the student and teacher had a falling out; or perhaps it was just time to move on.  The teacher may have even turned to the dark side and watches the student from a distance, hoping to eventually lure the former pupil down the path of darkness.

     In a universe where the Jedi have nearly been eradicated, finding a teacher is a most difficult task.  A character’s search for a suitable Jedi teacher should be the focus of an epic quest, probably spanning several game adventures.  The character must prove the commitment to becoming a Jedi even in the process of finding a teacher.

     Once found, the teacher may not be quite what is expected.  Obi-Wan, Yoda, and Luke are exceptions since almost all Jedi were hunted down by Darth Vader and the Emperor.  A prospective teacher is likely to have never fully completed her Force training-someone who knows enough to begin instructing the character, but lack a full understanding of the Jedi way.

     The prospective Jedi character may have to turn to one of the other “ways of knowing the Force,” such as the Tyia.  Individuals who know these ways will often be isolated on a primitive world or hiding form the forces of the Empire.

     No matter the circumstance, the quest for a Jedi teacher should not be an easy one.  It should be filled with danger, designed to test the mettle of those who seek this powerful knowledge.

     When you Gamemaster, you are expected to exercise firm control when it comes to Jedi characters.  You can add whatever limitations you feel are necessary to maintain “game balance.”  You are not even obligated to allow Jedi characters-you do not have to provide a teacher simply because a character wants to become a Jedi.

 

Other Forms to Learning:

     While teachers are the preferred means of mastering the Force, potential Jedi have other routes open to them.  They may be able to find a Holocron, an extremely rare device used by Jedi to record lore and lessons.

     Jedi also used datatapes, old-fashioned paper books and many other means of recording their knowledge of the Force.  While most of these items were destroyed during the reign of the Empire, a few objects were hidden away in secret retreats and on distant worlds, waiting to be accessed by new generations of Jedi.  Luke Skywalker searched many worlds for documents containing lost Jedi lore; many of his lessons at the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV were based on the information he gathered in his journey.

 

Taking on Pupils:

     Jedi characters can instruct others in the ways of the Force.  A character must have a Force skill of at least 3D to teach it and the Jedi can only teach Force powers that she knows.

     By tradition, a character studying with a master may not take on a pupil.  A Jedi character will seldom take on more than one pupil at a time, but some instructors-such as Luke Skywalker-will accept several students at once.

     A character should be wary of teaching anyone with Dark Side Points Jedi abilities-any time a character teaches such a person a Force skill or power, the teacher receives a Dark Side Point.

    Jedi characters are also responsible for the actions of those they teach.  If a Jedi’s pupil turns to the Dark Side, the Jedi is morally obligated to resolve the situation if possible.

 

Learning Force Skills:

     Force skills are die codes that govern a character’s ability to manipulate the Force in various ways.  Control dictates the Jedi’s ability to master his bodily functions, Sense allows a Force-user to feel the Force in his surroundings, and Alter allows a character to change and manipulate the way the Force affects and interacts with others.

     Force skills may be learning in two ways:

1.      From a Master

2.      Through Research

 

Learning Skills From a Master:

     To learn a new Force skill a pupil must undergo one week’s worth of intensive training and pay 10 Character Points.  This amount may be may not be reduced by spending additional Character Points.  The Force should never be taken lightly and is never quick or easy.  At the end of the week, the student gains the new skill with a code of 1D and knows three Force powers of the Master’s choosing.

     To improve a Force skill by one pip costs a number of Character Points equal to the current number before the “D”.  Double the point costs if a teacher is not available.  Characters with a teacher must spend one day per Character Point spent.  Training time may be reduced by one day per every additional Character Point spent.  A Jedi may learn a new power when a skill increases if he does not have a teacher.

 

Learning Skills Through Research:

     It is possible for a talented student to learn and improve Force skills through researching Holocrons and ancient text.  To do so, a Jedi must spend a month of intensive research with a tome or two weeks with a Holocron before even attempting a new Force skill.  Then the character spends 20 Character Points and makes a Willpower roll with a difficulty of 15 for Holocrons and 20 for texts.  If successful, the Jedi knows the new skill with a rating of 1D, and know one power contained in the Holocron or text.  The Character Points are lost regardless of the success of the Willpower roll.

     Once learned, the skills may be improved up to 3D through research.  The base cost and time required for increasing a skill by one pip through research twice the number before the “D” in the skill’s die code, and a number of days equal to the amount of Character Points spent.  To improve a skill using a Holocron, not text, the Jedi must first convince the keeper of the lore contained in the Holocron he is worthy of the knowledge and, of course, he may only be taught the powers contained in the Holocron.  Once the student has gained the keeper’s trust and selected a power to be taught, he may roll a number of dice equal to his Knowledge plus the instructing die code of the Holocron’s holographic Master.  For every full five points over 25, the base cost is reduced by one Character Point, and the time required is reduced by one day.  No matter how spectacular the roll, the cost may never be fewer than x where the original die code is ‘x D’, and time may be fewer than x days of intensive research.

     A Jedi may also improve his knowledge of a particular skill through using text.  Assuming the Jedi understands the text he may roll a number of dice equal t the Research, Ka Lore, Jedi Lore, or Sith Lore plus a number of dice equal to the text’s complexity rating versus a difficulty of 25.  As above the cost of a one pipe improvement decreases by one for every full five points, the difficulty is beaten by, but can never be reduced below x.

     Learning through research should never be as easy as learning from a Master.  Finding a Holocron or text should be the culmination of several adventures and then proving yourself worthy to a Holocron’s keeper or having a text accurately translated should be the focus of at least one night’s gaming.

 

Learning Force Powers:

     Force Powers are different effects a Jedi may use to manipulate the Force.  A Jedi may not use a power he has never learned but may be able to “stretch” a known power to have a different effect.  To do so the Gamemaster determines if the desired effect is in the spirit of the power and then assigns a higher difficulty depending on how far removed the new effect is from what the power was designed for.  There are three ways to learn new Force powers:

1.      From a Master

2.      Through Research

3.      Through a Spiritual Journey of Self Discovery

 

Learning Powers From A Master:

     Jedi characters may gain a new power after raising a skill by one pip or at the cost of five Character Points and seven days of training with his Master.  If the desired power is composed of multiple skills, the cost is five times the number of skills required.  Thus, to learn Affect Mind from a Master, without having to first improve Control, Sense, or Alter the cost would be 15 Character Points, and take one week of intensive training.

 

Learning Powers Through Self Discovery:

     In certain situations, a Jedi may go on a spiritual quest.  The cause of this could be as part of atonement, a rite of cultural acceptance, an attempt to gain harmony with one’s soul, to contract the Spirit Fathers, or any of a number of other cases.  When a Force-user decides to attempt a quest of self-discovery, he must first separate himself from society.  This is accomplished in one of two ways:

1.      Simply travel to a remote location

2.      Enter a meditative state that removes him from his surroundings.

     The nature of the quest must reflect the character’s personal beliefs or culture.  A character based on Native American lore may opt to enter a sweat hut and mediate to the point of exhaustion, at which time he hopes to receive a vision that will unlock the hidden knowledge of the Force.  A cybernetic Artificer may decide to connect his consciousness to a computer generate reality via CyberLocke, while a Naturalist might climb the highest mountain of her Homeworld.  At any rate, the quest should be more than just something to do on you day off; it should become a religious experience.

     At the end of the quest, the Gamemaster decides if he wishes to award a vision.  This is solely up to the Gamemaster to decide if the player receives a vision.  Then the Gamemaster decides the nature of the vision.  Is it a glimpse of the future?  Is it a blessing from your god?  Have the Dark Lords of Ancient smiled on you with a gift of power?  Understanding the vision may be handled in one of two ways.  First is the role-play method.  Here the Gamemaster describes or acts out the vision to the player.  If the player can figure out the meaning, he receives the enlightenment.

     The second method is the quick and dirty mechanical method.  Here the player simply rolls Willpower to determine if he understands the vision’s meaning.  The difficulty should be determined by the Gamemaster based on the extent of the quest and how well it was played out.  A highly physical quest is likely to award a Control power, while staying in Rage to the point of incapacitation should grant a Sith Power.

     This system is designed for role-playing and thus does not require the expenditure of Character Points, but at the same time, the player does not receive any points for the experience of the quest.  It should be reinforced that few characters should ever receive more than one vision in their lifetime and certainly not in the same adventure.  Players should not look to quests as a means of gaining power when teachers and text are unavailable, but as an essential step in their character’s growth.

 

Force Powers:

     Using a power is just like any other action.  One power equals one action and reduces the dice pool by 1D regardless of how many actions are incorporated into the power.  By the time a Jedi masters a new power it is second nature to him.  He doesn’t think, “Okay… first I’ll activate Control, then Sense…” he just opens himself to the Force and does it.  If a Jedi whishes to use Projective Telepathy, he may roll both skills with no penalty.  If he wishes to use the power and dodge in the same round, all die codes are reduced by 1D, not 2D.

 

Dramatic Force Use:
     During stressful times when many lives hang in the balance a Jedi may reach out with the Force and attempt to use a power hasn’t yet learned.  At a dramatically appropriate moment, a Gamemaster may allow a Jedi character to spend a Force Point and 10 Character Points so he may use a power he has never learned.  The effects of the power last one round, the use may not learn the power in this manner, the Jedi must make all rolls with normal die codes, the points are lost even if they effect fails, and if used for selfish reasons the character gains two Dark Side Points.

 

Jedi Ranks and Training (expanded)

From birth to age six:

 

Throughout the Old Republic, standard midi-chlorian testing was applied to youths aged two to six years old in an effort to ascertain Force adeptness. Some candidates were selected as early as birth. However, their training was often delayed in an effort to allow for basic motor skills and speech patterns to develop. Only in the special case of orphans residing in the temple would any younger applicants be cared for. This extensive testing was more concentrated in the inner and mid-rim worlds, and was not a precedent on the outer-rim planets. Ideally, the candidate would be selected by the first three years of life. These were the most important and dangerous years during development, because at this time, the mental and physical connections in the brain were made. If these connections and thought patterns are already developed, it becomes much harder to re-train the brain and remove undesirable attributes. By approximately ten years of age these characteristics and personalities are firmly set in place.

 

However, not all Jedi agreed with this training doctrine. Some critics of this method raised moral questions such as the parents' right to keep their children and the ethics in determining a life path for an individual before they reached an age where an informed decision could be formed on their own. However, such concerns were looked upon as minor in comparison to the will of the Force, and were deemed utterly irrelevant by the Jedi Council.

 

Until age thirteen:

 

The Jedi candidate was raised and trained in the Jedi Temple, often taught by several Jedi Masters. There they learnt to live by the Jedi Code, study the methods and techniques of the Lightsaber (both construction and utilization), and received basic Force training. This continued until age thirteen, where upon the candidate is taken on as a Padawan Learner by a Master. Contact with one's family was permitted, if deemed appropriate by the temple's teachers.

 

At the age of Thirteen:

 

If the Jedi trainee was not taken by a Jedi Master as a Padawan learner by age thirteen, then the candidate was placed in service to the Republic in another fashion other than a Jedi Knight. These positions included Agri Corps, Scouting and Exploration, Medical, Shipyard Construction, Accounting/Administration, and Ambassadorial Aide/Intern just to name a few. The assignment was dictated by the Jedi Council based on the students aptitudes, as well as their current level of Force ability. Although the dutiful students usually accepted these postings, they were not required to. Some candidates that did not make the grade choose to return to their homes or set out on their own. The students had no say in if or how the prospective master chooses a Padawan. The most a potential Padawan could hope for was to catch rumors of the visitation of a Master, and then prepare to put their best efforts forward in hopes of being selected.

 

From Padawan Learner to the Trials:

 

Once chosen by a Master, more advance training in the Force occurred, in conjunction with Lightsaber construction techniques and other advanced skills. The Padawan stage of training was no less than ten years in length, and otherwise lasted as long as necessary.

If for whatever reason, a Padawan continually failed the Jedi trials and the Master refused to teach he/she any longer, the Council retained the option to assign another Master to that student. If the failure was the Padawan's fault (frustration at the teachers, an inability to cope with the personal restrictions and hardships of Jedi life, etc.) and they were not turned to the Dark Side, they were allowed to choose to abandon the Jedi way and serve the Republic in a civil service manner similar to a temple dropout. In this instance, they were closely monitored by the Jedi, due to their potent Force Abilities and potential misuse. If a Padawan's repeated failures were the cause of Dark Side leanings, and they abandon the Jedi way and were turned to the Dark Side, then monitoring of their activities was assumed by the Jedi Shadows. These intrepid guardians would assume their responsibilities and liquidate the fallen Padawan only if they became an active threat to the order and stability of the Republic, or a threat to innocents by their direct actions. If the fallen Padawan preyed upon the Underworld (gangsters, henchmen, assassins etc.) the Shadows would not interfere, and merely direct Sector rangers or other local law enforcement agents in response to criminal activity. If Force use against innocents was a direct contributor to that activity, a Shadow may have stepped in and carried out their duty.

 

The Trials:

 

The Trials were intended to be a crucible; a test of character as well as ability. The Trials were not set in stone and were custom fitted to each Padawan. They were an examination of the Padawan's commitment, ability, and moral grounds. The Padawan's fears, their hidden wants and needs, their passions, or their tragedies; all were weighed and somewhere amidst the Psyche laid the key, the measure by which the Council could judge the Padawan's worthiness. How they dealt with the trial, as much as whether or not they physically succeeded or failed was the true trial.

Normally the Trials were only given to those without the taint of the Dark Side, in the hopes that one mistake would be sufficient warning to drive home the dangers and responsibilities of being a Jedi Knight. Completing the trials without temptation (no Dark Side Points) was considered an "A" grade. One Dark Side Point would be a "B" or "C" grade, and 2 or more would receive a "D" or "F". Although one would think that a ranked A+ Padawan would be the most desirable outcome, this was not completely the case. The straight A student would have problems of their own - since without failure, there was no chance to learn from one's mistakes. These Jedi, although noble and heroic figures, retained a fundamental lack of understanding of the Dark Side, and the ease with which one could be lured. For the others, if through the course of training or in the aftermath of the trials, they atoned for the stain of evil on their soul gained during the Trials, the experience would have had a greater value to them. It would have also yielded a better knight in the long run, than if they never had faced those kinds of risks.

 

Beyond the Trials:

 

If they were successful in the Trials, then the Padawan was granted the title of Jedi Knight. They were given permanent accommodations at the Jedi Temple, and received assignments according to the wishes of the Jedi Council, the Senate or the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

However, the transition from Jedi Knight to Jedi Master was slightly different. It was more than simply taking on a Padawan Learner. The Knight's first Padawan was to have complete his training, before the Knight could assume the title of Master. Nevertheless, one must point out the distinction between the title "Master" that was used by the Padawan when addressing his mentor, and "Jedi Master", the title that was used between fully trained Jedi and outside the Jedi hierarchy. A Jedi Knight that did not retain a current Padawan were encouraged to make an annual visit to the Temple to watch the current crop of initiates. They had the option of not selecting a Padawan, but they were required to periodically appear and review the available candidates.

 

 

 

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