I'm HIT!!

Let's see

• In A New Hope, not one of the main characters are hit in combat. The only exception is Obi-Wan Kenobi, and that is when he is killed by Vader
• In the Empire Strikes Back, Luke loses his hand.. and that's the only real hit (although one could argue that his is slightly hurt by flying crates, sent by Vader)
• In the Return of the Jedi, Luke is hit once with a blaster (on his cybernetic hand), Leia is hit once with a blaster (and is almost out of the combat for it). Then there is the final combat between Luke, Vader and the Emperor.
  

See? Very few actual hits, and those that are tend to put the character out of action.

Now... roleplaying game... for instance: Star Wars Saga.. yupp, I can take numerous hits without going down. Actually, not even when I'm hit by a light saber am I in any real danger of going down with a single blow.

I'd like to see more games that focus on the maneuvering, the parrying and riposting, feinting, taunting. Any single hit would end the fight, so make sure you don't get hit!

Lose your temper, and lose the fight!

The way I see it, you could perhaps have a system with "combat advantage" points. You can reduce the opponents combat advantage, or spend a maneuver to increase your own. When you have reduced him to 0 points, he is at your mercy, and you can deal with him as you please.

Just make sure, you don't get hit yourself...

Don't be reckless, overconfident... don't overextend yourself..

Move those feet.. taunt your opponent... make him attack you! You can avoid his angry attacks..moving out of the way. Then, you got him!

You got him right where you want him... now what do you do?

Discovering the Force - Star Wars Saga

This is an excerpt from when my Bothan Explorer Bieter Ke'frey discovers that he has an affinity for the force. In game terms he reached a new lvl and got himself the Force Sensitive-feat for that level.
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Bieter sat down on a wicker chair in the outskirts of the village square. The celebration had died of a little, it was late.. well, actually it was almost early again. His head throbbed a little, probably from the strange local wine they had been drinking all night.

A few people were still up dancing around the big bonfire in the middle of the square, others were sitting in the shadows talking or just enjoying the night.

Bieter looked at the cup in his hand as if waiting for it to speak, to give him answers. It didn't. In a way he wanted to fill it up again so that the wine could at least give him some rest for the remainder of the night. That wasn't the right way though, he knew he had to discover this on his own.

He stood up and walked over to the small shrine in the village. He couldn't understand the writing or the pictures there, although he guessed they where part of their local mythology and traditions. Normally, he would take pictures of them or at least try to sketch down what he saw. He would take notes and cross-reference with databases on his small datapad. Not this time. He sat down in front of the altar and just tried to experience.

He was a bothan, and therefore, he valued information, knowledge and hard facts. What he was looking for now was something different, something that may actually be weakened by hard facts. He just had to feel.. to sense and be a part of.

There it was... he wasn't sure exactly what it was.. but some kind of sensation. He felt sad, people been mourned for at this place. He felt happy, people had celebrated joyful occasions here.

He felt!

Within the silence of the shrine, that nagging feeling he had been carrying the last day or two grew stronger. He had felt it for the first time many years ago, the first time he entered the ruins of an old jedi temple. A feeling of connection. After that, he hadn't felt it again for many years.. not until he was chasing that stormtrooper. When focusing on the hunt, on the task, his senses had become sharper, his movements more intuitive and fluid.

Only thing was, this time the feeling didn't go away. It stayed with him, vague, weak and easily overwhelmed by the other things around him. Now, with all distractions gone, he felt it grow stronger. He couldn't explain it better than it beeing a feeling of connection. He was connected to all things.

A few minutes later he stood at the edge of the forrest. He had to know if this was for real. After some hesitation he started to run into the woods. Extending his senses, he started to feel the trees and the bushes around him. Finally he closed his eyes as he continued running. He didn't need to see anymore, he knew where to put his feet, he knew where to turn to not run into any trees. He smiled as he realised that this was true, that the mysterious thing he had been studying this whole time was there, was in him, guiding and helping him.

Some time later he woke up again, with a black eye proving that while the Force may be in him, it was still a fickle helper. Somehow he had missed that big old rock potrouding from the ground and it had sent him flying a few meters through the air before hitting the ground again. Well, well, it was better than nothing.

One final test left. He went back into the village and sought out Dreyne. He had something important to ask... and he had to do it in a special way.

20 meters away he saw Drayne. In his mind he spoke
- Dreyne, I need to ask you... are we gods?

Although no sound was heard, no voice was used, Dreyne looked up in his direction.

My Star Wars Indiana Jones character

My vision is that of a daring explorer that seeks out the farthest and most secret ruins. His goal is to find the hidden knowledge of the force, the Jedi and the Sith.

Basically, I want to make my character into some kind of Indiana Jones-wannabe. However, I also have a plan for how he will develop. At first his knowledge of the force is purely theoretical. As time goes on, his explorations and his exposure to force-intensive locations will make him force capable.

In game terms the plan is as follows:

Start out with a Bothan Scout. Nothing extraordinary here.

At 3rd level, he gets a feat that is not from his class feats. This is where I choose Force Sensitive (with the permission of the GM). With this feat, he will be able to use the skill Use Force untrained. This won't let him do much, but there are some simple things he can do. It's nothing powerful, but it adds to the feeling that the character is on a journey to something new. He will also get his first Force Talent.

At level 4 he gets a bonus feat from his class. With the Skill Training feat, he picks the Use The Force skill as a trained skill (which is possible for all Force Sensitive characters). This expands his number of force tricks radically. As contradictory as it sounds, this is the reason I'm not sure yet if I want to pick this skill at lvl 4 or at lvl 6. My goal is that he should progress slowly into the secrets of the Force, and picking the Use The Force-skill at lvl 4 might be to fast. Keep in mind that I also want to preserve the explorer/ scout part of the character.

An alternative would be to pick any nice, agility-based feat from the scout feat list.

At levels 5 and 7, he will add two additional force talents. This is because I intend to move him into the Force Adept class at lvl 8, and for that he needs 3 force talents.

So, finally, at lvl 8, he should cover all the prerequisites for moving into his first prestige class, the Force Adept. His long studies and his deeper knowledge of the Force has let him build his own understanding of the Force and he has embarked on an even deeper journey.

Finally, as a homage to the original character, he will also build himself a Light Whip as soon as he can get the Weapon Profficiency (Light Sabre) feat.