Confusion over the Core Skills - and how they interact with various Force Powers - has been a common theme since the CS redesign several years ago. In order to further the goals of CS 2.0 and combat the misinformation that has developed regarding these skills, the following explanations and examples have been created.
Core Skills
Often referred to as “Core Skills”, the four skills that most directly relate to someone’s physical and mental attributes are the source of a great deal of confusion. Hopefully, the following explanations and examples can serve to clarify their use and their interaction with other Skills and Force Powers.
Might
Might is the most easily understood of the core attributes as it governs raw physical strength. It is important to keep in mind that Might has a close relationship with Endurance. A character can only maintain their peak physical strength so long as their Endurance allows. It is also important to pay close attention to how Might scales at higher levels. Absent modification from a Feat or Power such as Amplification or Let The Wookiee Win, a character will generally not have superhuman levels of strength. The same holds true for the relative power of an unmodified melee attack.
Athletics
Athletics is the relative speed, dexterity and coordination of a character when compared against another. While this is largely accurate, there are some very important distinctions in CS 2.0 to keep in mind. First, Athletics has a close relationship with Endurance. Athletics measures a character’s control of their own body to pull off feats of balance or movement. Endurance governs how long a character can maintain peak speed or agility.
Endurance
Endurance is commonly viewed as the relative toughness or resistance to injury of a character. In CS 2.0, however, Endurance is focused on physical stamina. A character with relatively high Might or Athletics will only be able to maintain the maximum use of those attributes relative to their level of Endurance. Endurance is also affected by the current circumstances. How long has a character been fighting? Did they just sprint 300 meters through the jungle to get to the fight? Are they well-rested prior to an arranged duel?
Resolve
The manner in which Resolve interacts with mental Powers such as Illusion and Mind Trick is often wrongly assumed to be a straight comparison with a clear winner and loser. Instead, there are a variety of ways that Resolve can interact with offensive Force Powers and none of them translate to a binary pass or fail check. For instance, a skill may work for a while but fade sooner than expected. It may take longer to work. It may have reduced effectiveness in terms of the desired "outcome" (e.g. someone isn't paralyzed in fear but merely shaken). The writer could choose to make the attack totally ineffective if they want, but it is not a requirement (and judges have docked realism for people writing their own powers too dismissively). Ultimately the situation and circumstance dictates the efficacy and overall effect of the ability.
Bringing it All Together
What does high X, low Y look like? Some combinations of these have relatively easy real-world analogues. Others do not.
High Athletics, Low Endurance
A character with high Athletics and low Endurance could dodge or traverse obstacles well, but wouldn’t be able to do so for very long before becoming fatigued.
High Athletics, Low Endurance & Might
A character with these attributes would be capable of jumping far, throwing accurately or otherwise performing skilled actions for short periods of time. Dancers and figure skaters would fit into this category.
High Athletics & Endurance, Low Might
Characters with high levels of Athletics and Endurance but low Might would make good track athletes, excelling in areas like hurdles and decathlons.
High Might, Low Athletics & Endurance
Possessing high Might with low Athletics and Endurance would lead to a very strong character that tires easily. Common examples might be a professional power-lifter or a lineman from American football.
High Endurance, Low Athletics and Might
Characters with a high rank in Endurance coupled with a low rank in Athletics and Might would make excellent cross-country runners.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the deal with Handedness now?
With the release of CS 2.0, Ambidextrousness is no longer determined by your character’s handedness as selected on their Character Sheet. Rather, going forwards Ambidextrousness requires selecting the applicable Feat. There are two Feats: one for
Journeymen and one for
Equites. The Journeyman Feat
Ambidexterity allows the character to wield a weapon (or use some other instrument or utensil) with relative skill in either hand, though they still suffer some lack of coordination in their off-hand.
I Am Not Left Handed, a Feat available at
Equite 2, allows for complete ambidexterity - a character with this skill effectively has no dominant hand.
How can I suggest changes / venues / species / feats?
New Venues can be submitted to the
ACC Staff. New Species should be submitted to the
Voice Staff. While no new Feats are planned at this time, suggestions for them can be submitted to the Voice Staff and will be retained for later review.
Do I need to list "Droid" under Languages if I take the Droid Whisperer Feat?
Taking
Droid Whisperer is treated the same as adding an additional point in
Linguistics. If you don't list Droid under your
languages, you can't speak it, even with the Feat.
How come certain Feats grant +1 to skills and others just say that they boost the skill?
One of the goals of CS 2.0 was to remove any Feats that give you a flat +/-n to skill levels. In the interest of doing so while maintaining clarity, it was determined that Feats could add or subtract ranks from a particular skill only if they were doing so in specific situations. Any Feats, however, that have a permanent (or relatively common) effect on a skill do not specifically raise or lower skill levels.
Lightsabers: Particles or Waves?
Given how silent the movies are on the nature of lightsabers and the extent of contradiction in the Extended Universe (most of which is now non-canon), there's been a lot of confusion on how exactly lightsabers work, and on how they interact with Force Powers and other, more mundane weapons. Before answering that, there's a pertinent quote from
Heir to the Jedi.
- "The blade was not pure light, of course: it was energy from the same sort of power cell that fueled blasters, given form by passing through a kyber crystal as superheated plasma that arced at the top and returned to the hilt. It didn't give off heat until it touched something solid; the rest of the time, its power was contained by a force field."
- ―Heir to the Jedi, Chapter 3
The important part here is the last sentence. There's no thermal radiation until it touches something, and the power itself is contained by a force field. As such, it's pretty clear that it should be treated as a physical weapon, rather than an energy-based weapon (such as a blaster). Accordingly, while
Barrier can turn a lightsaber strike,
Deflection cannot be used to deflect nor absorb one. Also in keeping with canon, the
ends of electrostaffs can resist lightsaber strikes - but the shafts are not protected.
Do I need to be touching the droid in order to use Mechu-deru?
No, physical contact is not required to bestow sentience upon a targeted droid. However, it would need to be within line of sight. The mind moves the Force, and the Force is what then imbues sentience. You would need to be looking at the object. The closer it is, the less concentration it would need, the further away it is, the more concentration you would need.
Can I use Lightning to short out weapons and fuel cells?
No, you can't. Weapons such as lightsabers, electro-whips, and vibro-weapons are built around the concept of using a power cell. In order to keep that cell from frying the user whenever they are used, it is implied that these are insulated systems. The same concept goes for fuel-cells on jetpacks and flame projectors, as well as blasters. Unless their canisters have sprung a leak, a surge wouldn't cause an explosion.
Can I use Telekinesis to deactivate my opponent's lightsaber?
As humorous a concept as that presents, it just doesn't work in the realm of good writing. If such an easy answer existed we would have seen it on screen by now. As such, we can safely answer "no" when presented with this question. Best to just avoid it.