Discussion The most whack Force Powers/Force Usage in Legends

[Alan]

THIS IS NOT A PERSONAL ATTACK ON ANY WRITER OR PEOPLE WHO WRITE THESE THINGS, IT'S JUST YOUR PERSONAL OPINION THAT YOU'RE FREE TO SHARE.​

1. White current.

2. Force vampires.

3. That time Sidious used a force storm to destroy a fleet, a storm, in space, and then never used that power again, ever.

4. The power level disparity between Comics/Book canon characters and the movies. The movies should be the basis for force powers, and then not "Luke can detonate Star Destroyers with his mind" level stupid.

What're yours?

 

[Sheila]

Coolect moment

Nomi Sunrider channeling the force light of the jedi into a directed wall. Something only a bare handful might be able to do. Force light and making a wall is able to be done but they generally don't have direction... she could direct it.

Though when it comes to the differences in scale and power. the moves show a more rigid view with many of the people and groups. Yoda hints a little with it being in Luke's mind but and this will be a small comparison but think of it like Dragonball universe. Power levels are tracked and used by the villains generally for status and ranking. SOme just have an innate level of power and never train, never strive to be stronger. Vegeta and Freiza only when they stop relying on their scouters and (well vegeta no doubt trained but he really started pushing himself) and sought to beat goku did their capabilities and power exponentially increase.

The comics, the books you have force users who are at times not trained or tied to the more rigid jedi temple and ideals. They don't have a scope or reinforced idea of a limitation. They can potentially have infinite growth. Now can powercreep become a thing oh yes and things can be crazy but that is also half the fun. matukai's in their descriptions are supposed to be masters of physical enhancements so them preforming feats of strength like hulk or juggernaut could just be scratching the surface. The white current is an illusion yes but they could be physically interacted with on par potentially with given enough training and focus. THe constructs can be even more powerful illusions.

 

[Kirie]

This is a super interesting question. I'm gonna come at it from the angle where I'm thinking about the ones I often see disrupting or derailing good stories, rather than ones I just think are weird (because that's a long list)

Over the years I've been here, my writing style has shifted and I don't use individual powers in my writing unless I need to provide my writing partner with an easy understanding of what I'm doing in PvP. I prefer to imagine that Force Users can do basically anything and that powers are just ways to focus the mind to achieve an effect. To that end, I don't think any one Chaos character or power is too strong, but I definitely agree the balance should be towards what people can do in the movies and tv.

Anyway here's my list

1) For a long time this was Wall of Light, a power which for some reason nobody could agree on its scale or effect- i.e. was it a targeted burst of energy, or a Force nuke? Could it be resisted, or not? The result? Anytime anyone used it there was immediately confusion, arguments, and a muddy story.

2) Tutamunis - This is one I think is often misused in PvP threads for blocking literally everything. It's generally fine and cool in pitched battles between super strong Force Users who can work around it, but with NFUs and less strong FUs it has a tendency to throw things out of balance a bit.

3) Same goes for Force Drain. This is often used as an unblockable 'I win' button to end a duel. IMO most of the people who use this one don't balance it with an appropriate drawback to allow their writing partner to respond.

4) Force Dead - This one is very strong in its own right, but I feel hardly anyone writing a character severed from the Force includes the many many drawbacks that would come with that. Yeah it's a big PVP advantage but in almost every other respect it's a massive debuff. Personally I think that's why it usually comes out half baked.

Overall, I like and have used any of the above. They just need to be treated with care and be fully fleshed out, and in PvP, should still leave your partner with options.

...

Maybe just avoid Wall of Light

 

[Alan]

4) Force Dead - This one is very strong in its own right, but I feel hardly anyone writing a character severed from the Force includes the many many drawbacks that would come with that. Yeah it's a big PVP advantage but in almost every other respect it's a massive debuff. Personally I think that's why it usually comes out half baked.

I have only seen Force Dead be used as a buff.

 

[Mellifluous Magenta]

I feel like all Force powers have a place, so for me it’s more about how they are used than the fact that they’re being used in the first place. In particular, I think there are a lot of powers that aren’t really meant to be “insta-casted” in live combat (like a wizard casting fireball to burn a charging bandit). What I mean is that a lot of the more difficult-to-counter powers are meant to be used in specific, controlled scenarios. Using them in live combat and claiming that you cast the power instantly (even though the other character might be actively shooting or swinging at you) is what makes them broken, imo.

Off the top of my head, some examples of powers that shouldn't be used in live combat (or at least used with care) are Force Drain, Sever Force, Force Light, Drain Knowledge, some of the other more intensive mentalist/mind-affecting powers. These are powers that I envision being used on a prisoner, not someone who is still an active threat to the caster. Force Light is one that I think is best used in some kind of ritual (or a similarly controlled setting).

That said, this is all relative. Obviously some characters are hyper-specialized around one or two powers. Also, I could see "down-tuned" or weakened versions of these powers being used in live combat, but it's hard for me to envision someone's entire Force connection being severed with just the wave of a hand.