Unlimited Power -- Sourcebook for Mystics

[Vondy 1,460]

7 hours ago, Nytwyng said:

I know of GMs who are more than happy to allow players to respec their characters if their career book is newly released.

As a GM, I’d allow it, just as I accepted the ability to do so with my Sentinel after Endless Vigil was released.

Insofar the the player can keep the essential concept and aesthetic of the character consistent I let them rebuilt characters when new books come out.

If its just a rank min-max powergrab I might say no, but if it really suits the character and works for the game... why not?

[AeroEng42 50]

4 hours ago, SonofScarlet said:

On signature abilities there's no argument. One is direct work with the Force (Prophesy), and the other is all about Force powers (Unmatched Destiny). That is clearly on the side of the Mystic. Though out of the powers you mentioned that grant power with the force, only two of those are not Dark Side related (induce auto conflict), and of those only one actually helps the character's Force rolls without automatically opening them up to Conflict (natural mystic). Unlike Empty Soul and One with the Universe which go contrary to the Consular modus operendi of buffing others and only help the character.

The design has been very solid, and removing any kind of fluff descriptors I think its very well balanced. I just think (and this is just me here) mystic isn't necessarily my go-to spec anymore for a Force heavy character or one who's dedicated to Force-based mechanics. Sure once I've mustered enough experience for Unmatched Destiny, maybe, but before that Sage/Ascetic reads way better than Seer/Prophet unless I'm specifically going down the path of corruption, then yeah, nothing beats Seer/Magus.

I think in that discussion, though, you hit on the subtle differentiator between Consular and Mystic Force affinities: the very real possibility of corruption by the Dark Side. Unlimited Power spends a lot of words talking about how Mystics are generally not found in the Jedi Order because they seek the Force in all its manifestations. A Jedi who specializes in Force techniques would most likely be a Consular because they are pursuing the Light Side and ways to use the Force for the benefit and defense of others. Mystics, on the other hand, are, in my mind, driven primarily by the desire to wield as much power of the Force as they can, to follow its flow regardless of whether it is light or dark. How many times have we heard in the movies and shows about the power of the Dark Side? That is the temptation that all Mystics face, and it makes sense that Consulars would be more contemplative in their use of the Force (like Empty Soul and One with the Universe) because they would be considering the morality cost of their Force use more than the average Mystic.

That said, if you were to start Mystic and branch into Consular, or even stay in Mystic and accrue XP for a while, a Mystic should be significantly more powerful than a Consular at equal XP, both as an individual and for the party, at least in my opinion, and regardless of alignment. I haven't tried the math yet in terms of builds, but looking at the trees and combos, that should be correct, I think. But I also think you are right that at lower to moderate XP, the Consular's strength in the Force grows faster.

[ExpandingUniverse 626]

Mine came this morning... WOOTWOOT!! I'm only 41 pages behind of replies and the usual shenanigans

[Random Bystander 105]

I got mine from Shiny this morning too ?

[Evilref 39]

Damp/damaged books

 

Both the copies of Ultimate Power my group bought have 'rippling' damp/uneven pages in the back third of the book from damp.

 

Speaking to the retailer, they've found that all the copies they have left also have that, or worse look like they're faded or discoloured. In some cases the issues are at the front, rather than the back, because of how books get shipped/boxed up.

 

Similarly a couple of friends who bought from other companies have the same, so it looks as if a significant number of the copies shipped into the UK have some damp/distress.

 

[OriginalDomingo 762]

I received my copy yesterday, but (apologies to some who read these forums and might have worked on it) I’m underwhelmed. Some of the descriptions of things are repetitive and rambling. Nonetheless, there seems to be a large amount of white space on the bottom of pages, and the reused Hutt artwork on p 73 is pure filler and not even remotely related to the section or book in general. The powers are interesting and so are the alchemical crafting rules, but to be fair, they can’t all be winners. It sits fine along with the rest of my collection, but if you are strapped for cash, you could miss buying this one.

[ExpandingUniverse 626]

5 hours ago, Evilref said:

Damp/damaged books

 

Both the copies of Ultimate Power my group bought have 'rippling' damp/uneven pages in the back third of the book from damp.

 

Speaking to the retailer, they've found that all the copies they have left also have that, or worse look like they're faded or discoloured. In some cases the issues are at the front, rather than the back, because of how books get shipped/boxed up.

 

Similarly a couple of friends who bought from other companies have the same, so it looks as if a significant number of the copies shipped into the UK have some damp/distress.

 

I have ONE PAGE of the core rules with a rippling from damp so I'm not bothered about it TBH...but for larger portions of any book is a bit of a kick in the teeth

[ExpandingUniverse 626]

20 hours ago, Random Bystander said:

I got mine from Shiny this morning too ?

My go-to supplier WOOTWOOT

[ExpandingUniverse 626]

1 hour ago, OriginalDomingo said:

.....you could miss buying this one.

WHAT? HERESY!! HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST I DON'T NEED A BOOK. Each to their own. I haven't even had a good read of it yet as it came on a school night. The wife is out tonight so I've decided to have a SW book night - which is reading a sourcebook with one of the films on for background noise/soundtrack ?

Edited June 8, 2018 by ExpandingUniverse
There, their, they're

[Daeglan 5,950]

6 hours ago, Evilref said:

Damp/damaged books

 

Both the copies of Ultimate Power my group bought have 'rippling' damp/uneven pages in the back third of the book from damp.

 

Speaking to the retailer, they've found that all the copies they have left also have that, or worse look like they're faded or discoloured. In some cases the issues are at the front, rather than the back, because of how books get shipped/boxed up.

 

Similarly a couple of friends who bought from other companies have the same, so it looks as if a significant number of the copies shipped into the UK have some damp/distress.

 

contact the customer support email. They may help you out. Include pictures. 

Edited June 8, 2018 by Daeglan

[Absol197 5,296]

So, here's a thing I was thinking.  Let's take a look at two alchemical talismans:

Protective Amulet
Effect:  Continuous immunity to extreme heat, cold, vacuum/suffocation, gravity, and corrosive atmosphere, and the Burn weapon quality.
Cost:  300 credits, Rarity 4; Easy check; 3 hours to craft.

Shield Amulet
Effect:  Once per session, reduce the damage dealt by a Force-based attack by half.
Cost:  1,000 credits, Rarity 8; Daunting check; 2 hours to craft.

... I'm fairly sure that the costs of these two got switched.  Let's take a look at these two if we switch the costs, and see if things make a bit more sense.

Protective Amulet
Effect:  Continuous immunity to extreme heat, cold, vacuum/suffocation, gravity, and corrosive atmosphere, and the Burn weapon quality.
Cost:  1,000 credits, Rarity 8; Daunting check; 2 hours to craft.

Shield Amulet
Effect:  Once per session, reduce the damage dealt by a Force-based attack by half.
Cost:  300 credits, Rarity 4; Easy check; 3 hours to craft.

 

Thoughts?  The two entries are right next to each other on the table, meaning they could have been switched.  The other talismans are generally reasonable.  Just reading through, the most powerful ones are the Token of Resistance (1,800/9, Formidable), Neural Charm (1,200/7; Daunting), and the Healing Accelerant (600/5; Daunting), it seems that the continuous talismans tend to have much higher difficulties, costs and rarities.  If we switch these two, they go back to being roughly even.  At least the arguably most powerful talisman isn't the literally cheapest and easiest one to make.

Alternatively, I noticed the order of the templates described is not quite the same.  Maybe if we switch the order in the table to match the order in the text?  If we do that we get the following:

Original	Adjusted
Amulet of Power (500/6; Hard; 4 hours)	Amulet of Power (500/6; Hard; 4 hours)
Fetish of Fear (300/4; Average; 2 hours)	Fetish of Fear (300/4; Average; 2 hours)
Healing Accelerant (600/5; Daunting; 8 hours)	Neural Charm (600/5; Daunting; 8 hours)
Neural Charm (1,200/7; Daunting; 6 hours)	Protective Amulet (1,200/7; Daunting; 6 hours)
Protective Amulet (300/4; Easy; 3 hours)	Healing Accelerant (300/4; Easy; 3 hours)
Shield Amulet (1,000/8; Daunting; 2 hours)	Shield Amulet (1,000/8; Daunting; 2 hours)
Talisman of Fate (4,000/6; Hard; 10 hours)	Talisman of Fate (4,000/6; Hard; 10 hours)
Token of Resistance (1,800/9; Formidable; 8 hours)	Token of Resistance (1,800/9; Formidable; 8 hours)

 

[Random Bystander 105]

Interesting and feels probably more accurate- the more I look at alchemy crafting the rubbisher the system feels

[penpenpen 1,748]

I'd personally throw out the protective amulet as it's just boring. Even at 1,000 or 10,000 credits it's way too useful and adds nothing that makes things more interesting.

Edited June 9, 2018 by penpenpen

[ExpandingUniverse 626]

21 hours ago, ExpandingUniverse said:

WHAT? HERESY!! HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST I DON'T NEED A BOOK. Each to their own. I haven't even had a good read of it yet as it came on a school night. The wife is out tonight so I've decided to have a SW book night - which is reading a sourcebook with one of the films on for background noise/soundtrack ?

The Force is with me.... the wife is going shopping with my mom... Star Wars day at my house... all welcome,,, there's room for rpg's, card games and board games. I plenty of 'adult' soft drinks etc etc

Slagging off new films can be done in the garden ?

[EliasWindrider 2,714]

39 minutes ago, Absol197 said:

So, here's a thing I was thinking.  Let's take a look at two alchemical talismans:

Protective Amulet
Effect:  Continuous immunity to extreme heat, cold, vacuum/suffocation, gravity, and corrosive atmosphere, and the Burn weapon quality.
Cost:  300 credits, Rarity 4; Easy check; 3 hours to craft.

Shield Amulet
Effect:  Once per session, reduce the damage dealt by a Force-based attack by half.
Cost:  1,000 credits, Rarity 8; Daunting check; 2 hours to craft.

... I'm fairly sure that the costs of these two got switched.  Let's take a look at these two if we switch the costs, and see if things make a bit more sense.

Protective Amulet
Effect:  Continuous immunity to extreme heat, cold, vacuum/suffocation, gravity, and corrosive atmosphere, and the Burn weapon quality.
Cost:  1,000 credits, Rarity 8; Daunting check; 2 hours to craft.

Shield Amulet
Effect:  Once per session, reduce the damage dealt by a Force-based attack by half.
Cost:  300 credits, Rarity 4; Easy check; 3 hours to craft.

 

Thoughts?  The two entries are right next to each other on the table, meaning they could have been switched.  The other talismans are generally reasonable.  Just reading through, the most powerful ones are the Token of Resistance (1,800/9, Formidable), Neural Charm (1,200/7; Daunting), and the Healing Accelerant (600/5; Daunting), it seems that the continuous talismans tend to have much higher difficulties, costs and rarities.  If we switch these two, they go back to being roughly even.  At least the arguably most powerful talisman isn't the literally cheapest and easiest one to make.

Alternatively, I noticed the order of the templates described is not quite the same.  Maybe if we switch the order in the table to match the order in the text?  If we do that we get the following:

Original	Adjusted
Amulet of Power (500/6; Hard; 4 hours)	Amulet of Power (500/6; Hard; 4 hours)
Fetish of Fear (300/4; Average; 2 hours)	Fetish of Fear (300/4; Average; 2 hours)
Healing Accelerant (600/5; Daunting; 8 hours)	Neural Charm (600/5; Daunting; 8 hours)
Neural Charm (1,200/7; Daunting; 6 hours)	Protective Amulet (1,200/7; Daunting; 6 hours)
Protective Amulet (300/4; Easy; 3 hours)	Healing Accelerant (300/4; Easy; 3 hours)
Shield Amulet (1,000/8; Daunting; 2 hours)	Shield Amulet (1,000/8; Daunting; 2 hours)
Talisman of Fate (4,000/6; Hard; 10 hours)	Talisman of Fate (4,000/6; Hard; 10 hours)
Token of Resistance (1,800/9; Formidable; 8 hours)	Token of Resistance (1,800/9; Formidable; 8 hours)

 

From a game mechanical perspective, how often will the things that each amulet protect against come... protective amulet almost never, shield amulet most sessions.  From that perspective it makes sense

[Thebearisdriving 312]

Does anyone else dislike that the profit requires inspiring leadership to access the upper tiers?

the spec is really good for a couple character types except that none of them have any need a leadership buff. 

Just bugs me that it’s the ONLY path at all, and not in the same way as infiltrator or gambler. 

[Vondy 1,460]

On 6/6/2018 at 8:25 PM, AeroEng42 said:

Mystics, on the other hand, are, in my mind, driven primarily by the desire to wield as much power of the Force as they can, to follow its flow regardless of whether it is light or dark.

That would likely be true of many mystics, but another motivation would be "to live in harmony with the living force." Indeed, a mystic is "a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect." As such, a great many mystics might have very little interest in "power" as understood by dark siders, or consider the dark side a dangerous, disruptive, distraction from their goal of being "one with the force." After all, a dark-sider seeks to dominate and gain power by bending the force to their will, which is anything but a contemplative self-surrender allowing one to become "one with the force." Many mystics might choose to focus on "soft-power" applications of the force like foresee, seek, sense, and prophecy. 

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

There is one thing missing on these crafting tables. How to craft a Holocron. 

[EliasWindrider 2,714]

26 minutes ago, Tramp Graphics said:

There is one thing missing on these crafting tables. How to craft a Holocron. 

not sure that alchemy is used to craft a holocron, but I agree that either the mystic or consular book was the appropriate place to include those rules

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

1 minute ago, EliasWindrider said:

not sure that alchemy is used to craft a holocron, but I agree that either the mystic or consular book was the appropriate place to include those rules

Well, Alchemy is the skill used to craft Force imbued objects after all. 

[EliasWindrider 2,714]

2 minutes ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Well, Alchemy is the skill used to craft Force imbued objects after all. 

there is no alchemy skill in the game, so no it's not

lore and discipline (character's choice) are the skills

Edited June 9, 2018 by EliasWindrider

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

Just now, EliasWindrider said:

there is no alchemy skill in the game, so no it's not

You know what I mean. ?

[EliasWindrider 2,714]

5 minutes ago, Tramp Graphics said:

You know what I mean. ?

you meant alchemical crafting rules are used to craft force imbued objects, excepting lightsabers (which have their own rules), and holocrons among others for which there are no rules

I.e. it's not a strong argument.

Edited June 9, 2018 by EliasWindrider

[SavageBob 1,389]

3 hours ago, Thebearisdriving said:

Does anyone else dislike that the profit requires inspiring leadership to access the upper tiers?

the spec is really good for a couple character types except that none of them have any need a leadership buff. 

Just bugs me that it’s the ONLY path at all, and not in the same way as infiltrator or gambler. 

You mean Inspiring Rhetoric and Improved Inspiring Rhetoric? To me, that's the very definition of the Prophet. If you read the fluff, the spec is intended to represent a leader, a mystic who inspires a following. What better way to inspire your faithful than with those two talents?

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

8 minutes ago, EliasWindrider said:

you meant alchemical crafting rules are used to craft force imbued objects, excepting lightsabers (which have their own rules), and holocrons among others for which there are no rules

I.e. it's not a strong argument.

Alchemy is used to craft permanently Force Imbued objects. A Holocron is a permanently Force Imbued Object.