A technophile from a technophobic race, who sees the Force in the things she creates. A passionate seeker of knowledge who lets the Force guide his steps through the wilds and across the stars. A speaker with the Force behind his words, using rhetoric to undermine the Galactic Empire. A fighter who believes that everything is the will of the Force, and that it is its will that she protect those around her. Each Meet the Party article gives you an entire group of ready-to-play adventurers (maybe even some heroes) for your gaming needs for a variety of systems and settings. It’s time to let the Force bind the Galaxy together when being able to tap into it is a death sentence, as we Meet the Party for Star Wars: Force and Destiny from Fantasy Flight Games!

Force and Destiny finally brings, well, the Force to the forefront of Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars line of RPGs, after being present but low-key in Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion. If you’ve been reading Meet the Party’s offerings on those systems, then at least the basic of this is going to be familiar ground. But, in addition to all-new Force Powers, F&D offer several completely new species and an entirely new array of Careers with their accompanying specialties, in addition to the new Morality mechanic. They’re not easy to find (and, with the Empire hunting for them, they don’t want to be) but here they are!

Inisa-El-Vandi, Cerean Sentinel/Artisan

Bonus: +10 XP

Morality: 50 (Caution and Fear)

Motivation: Ambition (Discovery)

Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 1, Intellect 3, Cunning 2,  Willpower 2, Presence 2

Force Rating: 1

Wound Threshold: 12

Strain Threshold: 16

Soak: 3

Defense: 0 Ranged/1 Melee

Abilities: Free Ranking in Vigilance, Binary Processing

Talents: Mental Tools, Solid Repairs, Grit, Inventor, Imbue Item

Force Powers: Heal/Harm

Skills: Vigilance 1, Computers 2, Deception 1, Perception 1, Skulduggery 1, Mechanics 2, Lightsaber 2

Equipment: Ancient Sword,  Heavy Clothing, Datapad, Comlink (Handheld), 44 Credits

Inisa offers the group her technical expertise; when you’re a bunch of Force-users on the lam, it helps to have someone you can trust to maintain and upgrade your gear and whatever vehicle you get your hands on. She’s pretty good at keeping an eye out for trouble, she’s capable of a few dirty tricks, and she’s a capable fighter with that Ancient Sword of hers. Her training with it also means that, should the group acquire an actual lightsaber, Inisa will be the only one able to immediately use it without risking dismemberment. Imbue Item lets her commit a Force die to strengthen an item in some way, and Heal/Harm means she’s also good at patching up people (or, if she’s not careful, hurting them).

Kale Soral, Human Seeker/Pathfinder

Bonus: +5 XP, +1,000 Credits

Morality: 50 (Love and Jealousy, Ambition and Greed)

Motivation: Cause (Knowledge)

Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 3,  Willpower 2, Presence 2

Force Rating: 1

Wound Threshold: 12

Strain Threshold: 12

Soak: 3

Abilities: Free Rank in Two Non-Career Skills(Perception, Stealth)

Talents: Grit, Keen Eyed, Animal Empathy, Animal Bond

Force Powers: Seek (Control 1)

Skills: Perception 1, Stealth 1, Piloting (Planetary) 1, Piloting (Space) 1, Ranged (Heavy) 1, Vigilance 1, Resilience 1, Survival 1

Equipment: Blaster Rifle, Concealing Robes, Wilderness Survival Kit, Backpack, Comlink (Handheld), Extra Reload, 38 Credits

Kale is a man of many talents. He’s a good lookout, capable behind the controls of any vehicle he can find, a wilderness survival expert, the only group member who is truly stealthy, and it’s deadliest ranged combatant. Animal Empathy lets him use the Force to calm the beasts of the wilds, while Animal Bond has given him a Jubba Bird companion who can help the group recover strain (and, eventually, act as a scout). Force Power: Seek can let Kale locate objects and persons regardless of distance, see through illusions, and upgrade his Vigilance and Perception checks.

Dro Raal, Kel Dor Mystic/Advisor

Bonus: +10 XP

Morality: 50 (Enthusiasm and Recklessness)

Motivation: Cause (Overthrow the Empire)

Characteristics: Brawn 1, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2,  Willpower 3, Presence 2

Force Rating: 2

Wound Threshold: 11

Strain Threshold: 13

Soak: 2

Abilities: Free Rank in Knowledge (Education), Dark Vision, Atmospheric Requirement

Talents: Kill With Kindness, Nobody’s Fool, Plausible Deniability, Sense Emotions, Contingency Plan, Force Rating

Force Powers: Influence (Magnitude)

Skills: Knowledge (Education) 1, Charm 1, Coercion 1, Perception 1, Vigilance 1, Negotiation 1, Streetwise 1

Equipment: Slugthrower Pistol, Concealing Robes, Comlinks (Handheld, Long Range), Stimpack, 19 Credits

Dro is a talker, plain and simple. He can be convincing or threatening, and he can be wheeling-and-dealing or plying the crowds for info. Kill With Kindness makes him more charmng, while Plausible Deniability makes his lies and threats more believable. Contingency Plan let’s him recover Strain in an emergency, while Nobody’s Fool makes him resistant to the words of others. Force Power: Influence lets him fiddle with the emotions of those across the table from him, and with the only Force Rating higher than 1 in the group he has good potential for continued advancement in Force Powers. Not much of a fighter yet, though.

Inaya Morathi, Mirialan Guardian/Protector

Bonus: +2,500 Credits

Morality: 50 (Bravery and Anger)

Motivation: Faith (The Cosmic Force)

Characteristics: Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 3, Cunning 1,  Willpower 2, Presence 2

Force Rating: 1

Wound Threshold: 16

Strain Threshold: 13

Soak: 4

Abilities: Free Rank in Discipline, Free Rank in Cool

Talents: Body Guard, Toughened, Force Protection, Grit, Physician

Force Powers: None

Skills: Discipline 1, Cool 2, Melee 1, Resilience 1, Vigilance 1, Athletics 1, Ranged (Light) 1, Medicine 1

Equipment: Refined Cortosis Staff, Light Blaster Pistol, Emergency Medpac, Heavy Clothing, Stimpack, Comlink (Handheld), 33 Credits

Inaya is the toughest being in the group, and she puts that to good use by interposing herself between her fellows and whatever is threatening them. Body Guard will make it more difficult for enemies to strike at whoever she’s protecting, while Force Protection commits her Force Die to make herself even hardier. For damage that gets through she’s a more-than-capable medic. If she can see a fight coming there’s nobody better at getting the first draw. She’s a good shot and a good melee fighter, but that Refined Cortosis Staff is special: if someone with a lightsaber comes after the group, Inaya is the best and maybe only hope for buying enough time to deal with them.

Who They Are

Inisa-El-Vandi never quite fit in on Cerea. While her people were often cautious of off-world influences and wary of relying too much on technology, Inisa found that she enjoyed tinkering with devices from off-world, creating new ones and repairing damaged ones with the ease of natural talent. It was only when she realized she could also see where living beings were damaged that knew she had the ability to touch the Force. She left Cerea, concerned that her family might be threatened by Imperial hunters, and began to carefully explore the wider galaxy for things that the Jedi and other Force traditions might have left behind. The pride of her search so far is an ancient sword of the Jedi, but she hopes to find even greater relics (such as holocrons) in the future.

Kale Soral originally viewed his assignment to the Jedi Order’s Exploration Corp as a failure, as one of the Order’s trainees who had not been selected as an apprentice. Later, he came to see it as a calling, making the galaxy a larger and more wondrous place by finding his way to undiscovered parts of it. Even later, it saved his life; he was far afield in Wild Space when the Clone Wars began, and only returned to known space after Order 66 came down. The Corps was hunted down just like the main Order, but Kale quickly made his way back to the fringes, determined to gather and preserve as much knowledge of the Jedi and the Force as he could. He chafes at how much of the galaxy he came to love is now denied to him, but he has remained determined through all the long years of the dark times.

Dro Raal was born after the Empire’s rise, but he never felt he needed age to tell him that the Imperials were unjust. From a young age he’d always had a gift for reading other people and making convincing arguments, so he decided to use that gift to rail against the Empire. It wasn’t until the Inquisitorius came after him and he felt their hungry malevolence that he realized that maybe he had more in his favor than a way with words. Dro managed to slip away that time and began to try and practice his talent with the Force, but despite the danger he’s never stopped being a thorn in the Empire’s side. He’ll continue to speak out against it until it falls or it silences him forever.

Inaya Morathi, like many of her fellow Mirialans, handles the Force from a very spiritual viewpoint. A believer in the Cosmic Force, Inaya felt that everything, even the rise of the Empire and the fall of the Jedi, happens for a reason. But just as she senses some hidden meaning in such tragedies, she feels the Force calling her to stand as a guardian of the light in the darkness. Secreted away by her family and loved ones to protect her from the Empire, she trained as a warrior who could wrap herself in the Force to protect herself and others. When she felt the time was right she took her weapons and her training and went out into the galaxy, bravely seeking out her fate. She sometimes struggles with the sheer injustice that the Cosmic Force seems to allow, but has never faltered in her cause.

How They Interact

Inisa sees a kindred spirit in Kale, as the pair are both on the trail of a greater understanding of the Force in their own way. By and large she’s willing to follow the human’s lead, as he is the group’s expert on staying hidden, and Inisa has no desire to fall into the Empire’s clutches by being tempted into recklessness. Dro worries her because of his recklessness. While his passion and his cause are admirable, Inisa has serious concerns about the Kel Dor’s effect on the group’s safety. Inaya’s beliefs in the Cosmic Force are somewhat puzzling to Inisa, whose concept of the Force is much more pragmatic and immediately applicable. Despite this, she considers the Mirialan a trustworthy friend.

Kale views Inisa as something of an apprentice, although he would be chagrined to admit it, having never been a Padawan himself. But it’s not in the Force that he considers himself a mentor, but in the realm of secrecy and hidden movements. Inisa has the appropriate amount of caution, but her skills need to be fine-tuned a bit. Dro is something Kale never thought he’d see again: a Force-user brave enough to confront the Empire in a public setting. Standing up to the Empire was something Kale never considered before meeting Dro. The wordsmith will be a great light in the galaxy if Kale can keep him alive. Inaya is a warrior in a way that Kale would never see himself as, despite his skills. Her way of preserving the legacy of the Jedi is different from his own, and sometimes concerning in its lack of subtlety, but nonetheless a worthy one.

Dro sees Inisa as being someone like himself, an intellectual of sorts who has turned her knowledge of the Force to something besides direct combat. Surely if the Cerean can uncover some holocrons, as she hopes to, that knowledge will only help in the fight against the Empire. Despite his own tendencies Dro looks to Kale in many situations; Dro has only been on the run from the Empire for a short while, after all, while Kale has survived for decades. If anyone can be trusted to curb Dro’s enthusiasm when required, it’s the former member of the Exploration Corps. Inaya is protective of everyone in their little band, but she seem to put a little more effort into looking after Dro, which the young man is not reckless enough to resent. He actually views the Mirialan as something of a big sister in the ways of the Force, and is mustering the courage to ask her to train him to be a fighter as well.

Inaya thinks that both Inisa and Kale can sometimes be overly cautious. Not that caution is a bad thing, but surely the calling of a Jedi should be to answer the evils of the galaxy with their light at every opportunity? Still, they are worthy companions. Inisa’s gift with technology shows that the Force truly is in all things, a humbling display of the Cosmic Force that Inaya admires. Kale’s caution has paid off: he has been a persistent light holding back the Empire’s shadow for its entire reign, and Inaya does not think herself foolish enough to discount that. Dro is exactly the kind of being Inaya feels herself called to protect, someone who is actively trying to uphold the legacy of the Jedi. He’ll need her help to do it.

The Future

The Rebel Alliance may be standing up to the Galactic Empire, but in some ways that’s only made it more dangerous for a Force-user in the galaxy. If the group is merely unlucky they’ll be burned down by stormtroopers. If they’re truly unfortunate an Inquisitor will be trying to take them alive for reasons best not considered. Will Inisa, Kale, Dro, and Inaya master the Force and fulfill their destinies, or will the shadow of the Empire snuff out their light? That’s for you (and your dice) to determine!

Originally posted 9/3/15 on the Mad Adventurers Society!

Man, I had some TROUBLE with this one back in the day. Or, rather, I made some mistakes (can you find the competent ‘face’ character, cause I can’t) and some folks had some big issues with it. It sparked some great conversations, though, and was a good learning experience.