Balancing the Concentration Force Power

[Darewildes]

I am running into a player being able to just spam the ability out of combat to solve really any of their problems.

I feel maybe it is something I'm not understanding, or perhaps getting wrong, but are their limits to it outside of combat?

Inside combat, easy, they have to focus on just that and their task. Can't take reactions to dodge, they are an easier target, negative emotions or combat sense makes it hard etc.

But then outside of combat during downtime, they roll to activate it to get the +4D to a skill, and if they fail that skill check they just attempt to use Concentration again to do the same skill check. Even if they fail to bring up Concentration they can just keep trying over and over if they have time to hang out on the ship.

Now I can start to come up with stuff to try to stop it, but I wanted to know if I am just missing something with how the power is supposed to work and/or if other GMs have run into this problem. And what they have done about it.

[Mamatried]

Hi.
Not sure i understand fully what you are trying to tell us here.

i know you have a balance issue with the use of the force and the control related powers in particular. I am however usure what excatly the problem is? is it that the force can boost up dice for skills and attributes?

a +4D is huge, and should require a very high roll on a fairly high control skill at that, not realistic for a low dice 1-4D in force dice really, it can happen but it is and should be rare as it needs high rolls.

Is the powers used correctly, enhance attibute does that, enhances attibute and the asociated UNTRAINED SKILL, not tranied skills........

[Darewildes]

One of my issues is trying to balance around them, able to always inflate their skill to a high degree. If they have 5D in a skill, they are always rolling 9D with turning on concentration.

Though it is more so the ability to spam it out of combat. As in they failed to bring it up, so they just try it again, and again, and again until it works. There doesn't seem to be anything built into the system to prevent them. At least as far as I can tell. Also out of combat and they are just hanging out, the difficulty would only be easy since they are calm and at peace. Which is very easy to clear, unless there are some other modifiers I am missing.

I know one limit is it can't work on skills that take more than one action. So say if they are repairing something and it is gonna take more than one repair roll over time, then I believe they can't use it?

[garhkal]

[Darewildes]

That was what I was worried about. I was hoping I was missing something. I hate to take away toys from my players but I can see this one becoming a problem.

Two ideas off the top of my head is if they fail the concentration roll I can say the force is clouded in their mind, and they can’t try again until they rest. That gets pretty close to the dnd long rest mechanic that doesn’t overly excite me. I love dnd but I also love some of the more unstructured elements of D6.

The other idea is if you fail a force power roll the difficulty goes up every time you try again during a certain duration.


Though if anyone else has run into this and have ideas I would be grateful for them.

[raithyn]

Two pieces of advice that you're probably already doing:

1. Only call for roles if the outcome is interesting. If the players are looking for info in an archive, don't roll to see if they pull the correct holo. Either they know what they're looking for or not. Instead, give them a puzzle they must solve to find or decipher the holo. Interrupt them with a protective archivist who they must charm to move forward. Make them fix the stuttering playback machine that's about to destroy the record. See if they notice the academic who's a little too into accounts of Imperial battle tactics as she slips something into her bag. Etc. Keep scenes cinematic, and provide consequences for needing multiple attempts at something. If the player fails, the world moves on in some way without them. If you use exploding dice, those would grant a success against any arbitrary target number given enough rolls.

2. Account for MAP. The power adds +4D but must be rolled the same round as the action it applies to. That gives -1D to both the power activation and the skill use. +3D is still nice, but every little penalty matters.

[garhkal]

[CRMcNeill]

Frankly, I don't think Concentration should be used in combat at all, at least not based on the on-screen events used to justify its existence. It's purported to be the power Luke used to hit the exhaust port with proton torpedoes, but that's not what Obi-wan was telling Luke in that scene. He wasn't saying "concentrate" or "focus", he said "let go" and "trust your feelings". IMO, the exhaust port should've been some variation on Force-enhanced combat, ala Lightsaber Combat.

Now, I can see a Jedi using Concentration for performing intricate tasks like building a lightsaber, or some other task that requires precision and focus, but combat has too many things going on at once, and the dialogue doesn't justify Concentration under those circumstances anyway.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[garhkal]

Plus as i have said before, when luke was traveling down that trench, he was going all out, which would have prevented him shooting at the same time.
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