using your lightsaber

Lightsabers are an integral part of the powers of the Jedi and Sith, from Anakin Skywalker to Sabine Wren, from Darth Maul to Asajj Ventress. It is highly probable that someone is going to raise their lightsaber to fight during Force Multiplier.

You must have a Force Power greater than zero to wield a lightsaber.

components of the lightsaber combat mechanic

Every character will have the following:

• A specific force association with some form of the Force: the Light Side, the Dark Side, or Balanced. This connection is what gives you the ability to bring your feelings into the combat. This is noted in your character sheet and in a reminder Card.

• A force power rating, typically between 3 and 6. This is noted in your character sheet and in a reminder Card. This defines how many Combat Emotion Cards you can select from your Deck for this combat.

• A deck of ten combat emotion cards, which you will use whenever you are in a lightsaber fight. While the majority of the cards may be Emotions based on your specific Force Association, you may also have a few Emotions for the other Force Associations. There can be a glimmer of love in the darkest Sith, a moment of anger in the best Balanced Force User, and a feeling of Balanced detachment in the best Jedi.

  

  There are three important aspects of these cards:

  • An emotion. In this case, there's a Light Side love Card, a Dark Side anger Card, and a Balanced detachment Card.

  • A combat strength. In this case, love adds three (3) points to a combat, anger adds two (2) points, and detachment only one (1) point.

  • An optional restoration score. In this case, the love card is a strong emotion, but it does not restore any Force Stones used in that combat. The anger Card allows the player to restore one (1) Force Stone used in that specific combat. The detachment Card, while weak, allows a player to restore two (2) Force Stones.

  These Cards are reusable; you will always have ten (or more) Cards to draw from during the entirety of the game. You should feel free to look at these Cards and their Emotions.

• A closed pouch of force stones, containing somewhere between twelve and twenty Stones. These represent a fixed, finite, limited number of times when you can reach into the Force and find more power for your fight. white stones represent the Light Side, black stones represent the Dark Side, and amber stones represent Balanced use of the Force. While the majority of Force Stones are those of your Force Association, there may be others with a different Force Association. Desperate fights may call for desperate uses of the Force, in ways you might not want or expect.

  

  These are examples of some of the Force Stones that might be in a Balanced Pouch, a Dark Side Pouch, and a Light Side Pouch. As you can see, each Pouch contains a mix of Stones, with an unknown fraction from a different Force Association. Do not assume that this fraction is the same as shown in these images!

  The Stones are a one time resource. When you use one (or more) in a given combat, you must discard them in the container the GM has provided for them. The Combat Emotion Cards provide a way to restore some of the Stones you use, but they represent a shrinking pool of resources. DO NOT LOOK IN YOUR POUCH OR COUNT THE STONES!

how to fight with lightsabers

For the first example, we're going to define these Force users:

It's important to note that despite the titles, Padawan Barbie is stronger in the Force than the Sith Lord Darth Hungry. The ways of the Force are mysterious, indeed!

step one — declare combat ⚔️

Point to your opponent and declare "Combat!" Count to three. During that count, others can join the fight. You can point to more than one opponent, if you think your connection to the Force makes that a viable strategy.

step two — choose your combat emotion cards

Select a number of cards up to your Force Power from your deck of ten Combat Emotion Cards. The cards may be from any Force Association in your deck. Set your remaining unselected Emotion Cards to the side.

You start with zero total points.

step three — strike a pose with your lightsaber

Carefully find a stance and position your lightsaber, as if you were going to engage in an actual, physical lightsaber battle. Make sure that you do not make contact with anyone or anything else. Be cognizant of your environment! Please do not maim your opponent, burn gouges in the ceiling, melt the scenery, or confuse any friendly animals that might be wandering through the Temple area!

Darth Hungry pulls out their lightsaber with two blades, with an evil grin! They are prepared to bend Padawan Barbie to their will!

step four — take action!

You have several options when it comes to each round of the combat:

• You can play one (or more) of your combat emotion cards. There is a number on the card, from one to three, to add to your running total.
• You can pull one (or more) of your force stones from your closed pouch. Each Force Stone adds one to your running total.
• You can use a combination of combat emotion cards and force stones.
• You can decide to end your role in the combat, potentially conceding the battle.

From your pose, describe your action. If you're using a Combat Emotion Card, you must take it from the smaller set of cards you've chosen for this specific combat. Use the emotion to describe how that's powering your attack. Add the points for the cards and the Stones into your running total.

Everyone else in the combat has an opportunity to respond. They must tie or surpass the current largest cumulative point total in order to continue.

If you're using a Force Stone, describe how you're reaching into the Force to aid your attack, as you reach blindly into the Closed Pouch.

If the Force Stone(s) you pull match your Force Association, you can continue the combat. If any of the Stones don't match your Force Association, you cannot do anything more in the combat, leaving your opponent free to press their attack...

You don't have to respond. If your total is less than the highest total, you can concede.

By conceding, the eventual victor will be able to claim their prize...

step five — are we done yet?

Once everyone has had a chance to respond, there are four possibilities:

• Two or more people want to continue fighting. The combat is not over. Return to Step Three and repeat the process, starting with the person with the lowest cumulative total.

  If Padawan Barbie has a cumulative total of three to Darth Hungry's two, Darth Hungry gets to go first in the next round. Strike a Pose, Darth Hungry!

• Two or more people have the same cumulative score, but want to continue fighting. The combat is not over. Return to Step Three and repeat the process, starting with the last person to play in the previous round.

  If Padawan Barbie had only tied Darth Hungry's score of two, they must play again to start the next round. You cannot be strong if you do not commit to the Force.

• All of the cumulative scores for each player are the same. Everyone walks away from the fight. No one wins or loses.

  If their scores were equal, both Darth Hungry and Padawan Barbie would walk away from the Last Piece of Cake on the Force Dessert Table.

• There is one combatant with the highest score. Those with lower totals do not want to or can not continue. The highest scoring person can require the loser(s) to provide one common Forfeit, applicable to all of those who lost the combat. This is one task or effect that is appropriate to everyone who lost the challenge.

  If Padawan Barbie's total of three is the highest cumulative score, they can take the Last Piece of Cake on the Force Dessert Table. Additionally, they can ask Darth Hungry to give them their secret bag of Chocolate Force Sprinkles to add to the Last Piece of Cake, as Darth Hungry's Forfeit.

  Force Cards and Force Stones are NOT transferable. You cannot ask for them in a Forfeit.

step six — restoration

When you use a force stone in combat, you must discard it in a receptacle provided by the GMs. You've used up this one-time Force Power, from your precious reserves, in your attempt to win a battle. However, as you may have noticed from the example combat emotion cards shown above, some Cards allow you to restore some or all of the Force Stones you used during this combat.

Cards that add a lot to your cumulative score, like the love card, are powerful, but they don't help you restore the one-shot Force Stones you use in that combat. Weaker cards, like the anger or detachment cards, shown above, have an advantage. They allow you to restore some of the Force Stones you use in that specific combat.

If you choose and play Combat Emotion Cards and Force Stones during your combat, you may be able to get back some of those Force Stones back. Once the combat is resolved, you can look at the cards you played, and add up the number of Force Stones you can restore. You can restore up to the number of Force Stones you used, but no more.

Force Stones are restored from a Closed Pouch specifically prepared by the GMs for a specific Force Association. You will reach into the Pouch, randomly choosing Force Stones to restore your character's Force Pouch. These Closed Pouches contain a mix of Force Stones, so these replacement Force Stones may change the probabilities of future combats.

combat between three or more force users

The lightsaber mechanic doesn't change if there are more than two people involved in the fight. Suppose a new Force User walks into the area, carrying a delicious Naboo-style seafood pizza, giving us:

Combat follows the same sequence of six steps outlined above, with each person getting a chance to match or raise the cumulative score.

The combat could go something like this:

• Equilithium Batry, seeing Darth Hungry and Padawan Barbie heading towards their Naboo-style pizza, declares "Combat!" in self-defense. Darth Hungry and Padawan Barbie join the fight, because the aroma of the Gungan cheese is captivating.


• combat emotion card selection
  • With a Force Power of six, Equilithium Batry selects six (6) cards.
  • Darth Hungry selects four (4) cards.
  • Padawan Barbie selects five (5) cards.


• round one
  • Equilithium Batry plays their detachment card. "I am detached from your entreaties for a slice of my pizza." The score is one.
  • Darth Hungry plays their anger card. "I am furious that you won't even consider sharing a slice!" The score is now two.
  • Padawan Barbie plays their love card. "I love Gungan cheese! It's just so perfectly pink!" The score is now three.


• round two
  • Equilithium Batry must go from a score of one to at least four to continue. They play their clarity card, worth two, and pull two Balanced Force Stones. "I want to be very clear. This is my pizza!" This is four points, so their score is now five, and this is the score to beat.
  • Darth Hungry, with a score of two, plays their greed card, worth two and pulls three Force Stones from their Pouch. "I will have that pizza for myself! All for me!" This adds five to their score, making a total of seven, now the score to beat. Unfortunately, one of the Force Stones they pulled was a Light Side Force Stone. Darth Hungry's score is now frozen at seven.
  • Padawan Barbie, with a score of three, plays their compassion card, worth two and their hope card, also worth two, and pulls a Light Side Force Stone. "I would hope you can have some compassion for both Darth Hungry and me, by letting us have a piece of that amazing delicacy!" Padawan Barbie's score is now eight.


• round three
  • Equilithium Batry plays their harmony card, worth two and draws another two Force Stones. One is a Dark Side Force Stone, which ends their progress. "I seek to bring the Light Side and the Dark into harmony as I walk my path. I will consider sharing this pizza, but it must be my choice." Their cumulative score is now nine.
  • Having drawn a Force Stone not of their Force Association, Darth Hungry can only watch as the combat continues.
  • While Padawan Barbie could keep going, knowing that both their opponents are now frozen, they choose to relent. "It is only fair that you get to decide how much you will share, and with who." Their score is eight, less than Equilithium Batry's nine.
  • The combat is over. With a high score of nine, Equilithium Batry wins, and gets to decide what happens next.


• restoration
  • Equilithium Batry drew four Force Stones. The cards they played would let them restore four Force Stones. Equilithium Batry draws four replacement Force Stones from the Balanced Replenishment Bag.
  • Darth Hungry drew three Force Stones. The cards they played only let them restore two Force Stones. Darth Hungry has used up a valuable resource, drawing two replacement Force Stones from the Dark Side Replenishment Bag.
  • Padawan Barbie drew one Force Stone. The cards they played would let them restore two Force Stones. Padawan Barbie draws a single replacement Force Stone from the Light Side Replenishment Bag.


• pizza!
  • As the person with the Equilithium Batry offers the first slice to Padawan Barbie. In the cause of Balance, they give the second slice to Darth Hungry. They take the third. Everyone eats!

Even though Darth Hungry and Padawan Barbie might be working together to get some of Equilithium Batry's Naboo-style pizza, their combat scores are their own. They collaborate by forcing Equilithium Batry to use more of their cards and spend more of their Force Stones to remain in the combat.