So, continuing my solo D6 Star Wars game, I've come across an interesting issue which is normally used as a plot device for the GM to send subtle hints to Force Sensitive characters.
How to handle visions and dreams given through the Force.
I'm curious what sorts of solutions folks out there might have, then I'll share what I came up with going with my gut.
Dreams & visions are meant to be very vague. So I either roll on Mythic's Action/Subject twice and I don't make any clarifications questions/rolls until my character attempts to act on the vision or dream. I roll (using FU Alternative "Beat The Odds" chart) to see if the character interprets the dream right. My favorite way is to draw two or three cards (from my many decks) perferably with pictures on them and then I don't make any clarifications questions/rolls until my character attempts to act on the vision or dream. I roll (using FU Alternative "Beat The Odds" chart) to see if the character interprets the dream/vision right.
ReplyDeleteWhat is "FU Alternative"? I haven't heard of that before.
ReplyDeleteChris Campbell FU: The Freeform/Universal RPG the alternative "Beat The Odds" table.
ReplyDeleteI would grab a suitably dream-like book off my shelf (Lautréamont, any of the surrealists, maybe even Lovecraft's Dream Quest) open to a random passage, and use that as the dream.
ReplyDeleteIf I needed to see how accurately my PC interpreted it, I'd treat it as a rumour:
aleaiactandaest.blogspot.co.uk - Rumours
Thanks for the ideas guys. Also, thanks for the mention of Freeform/Universal RPG. I'll go take a peek at it when I get some time.
ReplyDeleteSince the character is not initializing the Vision through the Force, I needed to figure out a few things. Before the character rolls their Sense.
First, is the vision of the past, or future?
Easy enough: below 50 on a D100 gives a vision of the past, above 50 is the future. Rolled a 72, so the Future. This is important, because the Farseeing power has guidelines for how accurate the person's visions are depending on how much they beat the difficulty check with their sense. Also, the difficulty itself is directly affected by whether the person is seeing the past or future.
So, the easiest part is finding how accurate the vision is. This is covered by the Farseeing power in 2nd Edition R&E. He just barely beat the difficulty, as such the vision is 10% accurate, meaning it is extremely vague.
Now, how do I decide what the vision pertains to? I'm using Conjecture's GME, so it doesn't necessarily have any tools in it. However, in much of the Star Wars Universe lore there is a concept mentioned: "The Will of the Force." The Force has a will, and it exerts it when and how it sees fit. So, why not treat the Force itself as an NPC?
We go into UNE (Universal NPC Emulator) and because I already know "who" the NPC is, now we have to figure out what the NPC is showing our 'Jedi'. I decide to set the conversation mood as normal, the friendlier and peaceful moods are those of the light side of the Force, the insane, violent, and malevolent are the dark side.
We get: Friendly - Support: Current Story.
So, the Force reveals something which pertains to the current story or, as I decide, current chapter. He's just arrived at the Rebel Base with much needed supplies, and finds out that they're being plagued at night by hostile natives. So, for the support: current story, I decide that it has something to do with making the Rebel Outpost safer from attacks from the hostiles. But, due to the character's lack of skill/power in the Force, it is a very vague sense.
Chris Campbell Oh boy! I love your way. My way never was any good. However, I love the steps you take, a little longer, but making the Force an NPC is brilliant. All those steps really make the dream/vision really flesh out. It is so well thought out I'm going to steal it and use it for now on. Thank you so much 8^)
ReplyDeleteThanks Virginian John!
ReplyDeleteIt really sounds more complicated than it is. Took maybe 5-10 minutes to get everything set up. The longest part was deciding how to write out a super vague vision pertaining to the defense of the camp.
Luckily, I'd already used the Loom of Fate to decide that the colonists' ship was still located somewhere in the abandoned colony, and the vision pertained to that.