What powers to expect from Sith Acolytes?

[Klesta]

My question is: what Force-skillset to expect from an advanced Sith Acolyte (or Dark Jedi Padawan) on the cusp of knighthood? I have no experience whatsoever in writing dark-siders so I have no clue.

I know one would expect the following:

• Telekinesis
• Force-sense
• Mind trick
• Force-lightning
• Force-fear
• (Possibly) One of Drain Knowledge or Mind Probe

Please forgive this question, but the reason why I'm asking this is for a future NPC sub, where, in its dev thread, the Acolyte is knighted, while at the same time the PC writing the dev thread faces the fallout of its actions.

 

[Jsc]

Depends on their preference for cult and creedo. Also, who their master is and what type of combat their Darkish Order ritualizes. Being a fansite the honest answer is probably, Anything. Blah blah blah. etc.

• Anything a Jedi Padawan might have plus an emphasis on their day job. (Assassin, Thug, Library Rat, Spy, Hunter, Duelist, etc.)

Now yeah. Movie buffs might frown upon Force Lightning as a basic skill but anybody who's played a video game knows? It's usually the first thing any Apprentice seeks to learn. It's a gimme at this point.

[member="Klesta"]

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

[member="Klesta"]

Honestly? What I'd expect of an initial Acolyte is this: not a damn thing. Anything else they gain and develop over time should be RPed out, taught to them by a Knight or Master. There isn't a list of 'expected powers', simply because all characters are different. You'd expect them to develop basic Force Sense, because it's the first natural skill any trained Force User develops. TK is useful, but not essential - some (remember Corran Horn?) can't use it at all. Mind Trick is a little more advanced, and Force Lightning even moreso - often being a Knight-level skill.

If you want to reduce it down to basics, I'd go with Force Sense, Burst Telekinesis (Push/Pull), Sustained Telekinesis (Grip/Hold), Force Jump, then perhaps one or two more esoteric abilities, preferably from a reliable trainer. Tapas is always handy!

When in doubt, keep it as simple as possible: the more advanced skills (Lightning, Tutaminis, Fear, Drain etc) are things to be learned either on the very cusp of Knighthood, or well into that phase.

Oh, and speaking for the NPC Codex, we will accept a certain number of powers, but focus on the level of those abilities: present us with an Acolyte with Master-level Pyrokinesis, and you'll be asked to change this. Keep the skills reasonable for their level and you'll be completely fine.

One last thing: remember, most will only ever learn 1-2 lightsaber forms. That should also be reflected in the submission!

 

[James Justice]

Honestly? I expect over-powered Force powers with no real backing for them.

I had an acolyte who thought they could take down an entire frigate of Hardened pirates I employed, handwaving past masses of them--(nevermind the fact that they were crashing a thread after they promised to help me OOC-ly..) so I in turn, I bombed the ship to dust. With. Them. On. It.

Another time, a Sith acolyte with 5 posts to their account comes up and uses "sense path" to determine where exactly James went in the big huge galaxy of billions of planets with millions of cities on each one. Right down to where James was.

Another time, A godawan comes up to my Akio and decides with ten posts to her name to use "drain life" on him. And all those posts were OOC posts to game threads.

Another time An sith acolyte comes up and tries to kill my Ardgal using the Force..... Ardgal is force dead and vong shaped.

The list goes on. I am not saying this to be salty but to give this idea: when in doubt, less is more. Give a good reason for all of your powers, and the more effort you have in developing a personality and the more effort you have in training, the more respect you will get for your powers that you possess--regardless of rank. ((Rank appropriate powers and skills should be had as my good sir, [member="Tirdarius"] pointed out))

Cheers.

 

[Jsc]

Over-powered Force powers.

Welp

 

[James Justice]

[member="Jay Scott Clark"] I edited and expounded on my initial thesis.

 

[HK-36]

Force whine?

 

[Blake Morrigan]

[member="Klesta"]

In my honest opinion. It just depends on what exactly you want to do with the character you've made. If you want to make an advanced apprentice along the lines of Malark (Starkiller) then you'll probably be OP and may as well be a knight. But understand that this site is not a video game. Video games are designed to make you feel good, and more often than not powerful. I see this time and time again, ppl come onto the site after playing NOTOR or something or god forbid Force Unleashed and instantly they are under the impression that...padawans and such can actually 'do' stuff that is done in those games.


So, what i often do is i look at the movies, shows, and ect. Clone Wars & Rebels is my base of reference a lot of the time. I like Ashoka because, as a Padawan you could SEE her as a young inexperienced force user. She only ever used force push, pull, and force jump. Rarely every diving out of those basic three which...lets be honest. Are extremely expected from Padawans and Apprentices. Even in episode 1 where she saved Ani by pulling down a massive rock, she had to stop, close her eyes, take a breath, focus, and pull it down. Which i honestly liked. She didin't just wave her hand and throw the damn thing. It showed her actually having to do what most newbs do.

By the book.

Think of a rookie fighter, wrestler, cop, ect. Commonly, more often than not. Straight from the academy. They are often very by the book. When firing their weapons they take the stance taught to them, hold the gun a certain way, blahblah boring stuff. Fighters do the same, and so on so forth. I like to think of The Force working a bit the same at first. A padawan would likely not have a solid grip on something they've only been using for so long. Assuming of course the age of the user...some padawans are like 300 and their excuse is 'ive been alive a long time so i got this'. Which...kinda works i guess? But seems kind of cheap.

Now, take a character like Blake. Blake, in her most basic form. Is a normal human. Is she force sensitive? Yes...strong in the force? Probably. But she does not know any combat forms, never really shot a gun before, and only used the force once in an outburst of anger. So, she is like 'Pre-padawan.' She knows nothing and can do nothing. Now take a Padawan who is fresh out their schooling as younglings or whatever and put them next to a Knight or whatever. Whoever their 'Master' is.

Chances are, there is a reason they have a Master right? To learn...to experience. To gain knowledge and utilize it. Rather it be combat, ways of thinking, battle tactics and. You guessed it. Force powers. As far as i'm concerned, you will only know four force abilities when you begin as a padawan. The basics. Jumping, running, pull, push, grab, ect. And your main prowess will likely be in physical combat with your trusty Lightsaber.

Take a backseat, learn ICly other abilities. Either from another character or, if you can't get them to stick. Holocrons or whatever. Spend about an entire thread learning an ability you want, and then in other threads just dabble with it. Practice makes perfect.


Think of it this way. No one just reads about fighting and combat online. Can't be an MMA fighter if all your knowledge came from a online document or some schmuck on Youtube. You'll need an instructor...a 'Master'. And then, you'd need constant training. Solo or otherwise. And over time you learn more and become better.



My advice. Make your padawan weak. Make them vulnerable. Because while we all wanna be our badasses we are here to tell stories yes? Where better to begin than at the beginning? RPing a weak character getting stronger is always fun. And best of all it feels 'earned'. And its hard for others to complain when you earn your power and status.




Just the opinion of a filthy casual. [member="Tirdarius"] is the pro here i'd say listen to him. lol

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

When in doubt, less is more. Personally I don't mind an acolyte starting out with an exotic power or two if there's good justification for it and also appropriate weaknesses to prevent them from being uber.


Can an apprentice have Lightning? Frankly, I don't see it as that special, but I daresay the acolyte would be at risk of hurting themselves for a good while and definitely won't be frying an entire squad of soldiers. To use a video game comparison, I think you can look at it a bit like how it's in the Jedi Knight games. Level one lightnng sends a single zap forward. Minor damage, low duration. Level 2 unleashes a single bolt, good for attacking single targets. Finally, level 3 sprays it out in front of you, hitting everything before you.


As an apprentice, Siobhan only had the basic core powers. Elpsis got empathy/precog and pyromancy in addition. The former she inherited from her mother, and it was frankly more of a handicap for her until well into masterhood because she kept getting headaches from being flooded with others' emotions and pain and sometimes lost focus in battle. And she lacked the focus and control to use farsight properly and visions scared her.


Pyrokinesis has always been her main offensive power from the get-go. It fit her fiery, passionature nature, but she wasn't summoning firestorms as an acolyte, and her other skills suffered as a result (e.g. she's still an incompetent duellist because she got no training and as a result uses a lightsabre the way Finn does). Naamah is an example of a rather weak Force-user who at times was written more like an NFU, even after achieving knighthood again.

 

[Klesta]

[member="Tirdarius"] As a writer I submitted two Knight-level light-sider NPCs, which, together, forms half the Confederacy of Independent Systems' IC supply of Jedi. (No Geonosians; my Confederate toon is now the most senior Jedi in Confederate service for protocol purposes, and Jessica's Padawan completes the roster) As a Confederate FA, I want to provide Force-trainers for both the light-sided and the dark-sided powers so that there is someone for light-sided as well as dark-sided Confederate Force-user PCs to train with, Knight-level all, with just one lightsaber form apiece. So I'd like to believe I have an idea of what to expect when it comes to subbing FU NPCs.

[member="James Justice"] I know better than to write dark-sided godawans. Plus Cathul, while initially trained under a dark-sider, was a Witch until she gradually became a Jedi in at least actions. (She may never be fully recognized as a Jedi because of her business dealing in real estate brokerage, insurance and banking)

But you should have seen Jessica use Electric Judgment as a Padawan: she could barely recharge a lightsaber, light a fluocompact bulb for limited periods or defibrillate patients with it. And Padawans using pyrokinesis would find lighting bonfires somewhat challenging.

 

[Dr. Xris]

@Klesta

DO YOU! I cant express that enough. Your character, your story. I trust you have been around the site long enough to know whats taboo and whats not. So be creative. Every force ability has the potential to be learned and used, granted some may kill you if you use them too early by sheer will power... Which would be hilarious honestly. Their are many ways as well. Be a Force artifact like some werid amulet, ring, sword, dagger, armor, cloak or w/e force imbued item. These items could boost your power and your already known force abilities.

Pick a nice skill set and stick with it.

 

[Ellie Mors]

...Untrained telepathy and/or telekinesis... and a vague sense of danger right before it happens...

That kind of thing, usually, if we're talking about completely fresh acolytes.

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

[member="Klesta"] Forgive me, I thought you wanted advice on the topic, not to spout your credentials.

[member="Elpsis Elaris"] has the right idea, as does [member="Blake Morrigan"] - when it comes to new characters, particularly ones in training, less is always more. You'll develop newer skills under the auspices of your teacher, as you should. If you come already knowing all there is to know, there's no use in trying to teach you.

 

[Klesta]

[member="Tirdarius"] My question was mainly one of fine-tuning. I know that it's often details like these that can make a difference in how it will be played out.

 

[Matreya]

To state the same as everyone else, basically none. [member="Darth Vitium"] has the idea of what i attempt more often to stick with at first breath. They know basically nothing. When you're a child and first begin schooling, you know nothing of what they teach generally - same here.

Now, at the cusp of knighthood, i have seen a range, and even roleplayed different styles. For my primary (now permadead), Zaiden, he began as nothing but quickly learned his natural talent under bent light Force Cloak. Inevitability he became a well known assassin on the site, one that focused primarily on stealth. Yes he knew one of the rarest skills, and was great at it, but i made him dabble in it in literally every single thread he was in - even bar threads etc. I wanted it seen by everyone that i put in the work.

Damien, he actually began as even less. He knew literally nothing. Voracitos got him as a clean slate to mold as he saw fit.

Valashu was originally a diff char so ill talk about her, she was made as a "destructive sith". As an acolyte she did use Lightning, but on occasion and it was heavily taxing.

Basically my point is, initially they should now little to nothing. Sure having some natural talents, or talents they find to be their inherent skills, but everything should be worked for. But in my opinion, as just reaching or on the cusp of Knighthood, of the bottom three you listed, i would only say lightning is feasible and even then it would need a lot of effort.

Post knight, with effort i could easily see Fear. At the beginning not so much. And drain would be at the latter end of knighthood.

 

[Drystan Talroth]

As a roleplayer nothing turns me off quite as fast as getting involved in a thread with overpowered low level characters. It's a pet peeve of mine when acolyte John Doe has been with the Sith for two weeks and already mastered lightsaber combat (All forms), force lightning, grip, drain life, and all of the other flashy powers from the KOTOR games. It's just as bad when Padawan Jane Doe masters battle meditation three days into her training. They're my second biggest pet peeve of RP'ers, preceded only by people who claim titles and ranks they don't earn. Emperor Phil, Darth Badassicus, and Grand Vizer Bob are all fine, but not when they're those things straight out of the gate.


From personal experience i've found that such characters tend to come from RP'ers who think of forum roleplay as a game, or who are poor writers. My personal favorite was a while back on a now defunct board, where a Sith acolyte two weeks into academy training decided that it was time that his master (my character) was in his way. So he boarded my ship, killed all of the crew, and attempted to instakill me with his ultimate dragon ball force rage lightning storm power. All in one post.