a dark side campaign.
The Gamemaster ultimately decides which elements of this book are available to players and their heroes. A GM might decide that most of this material is only available to Gamemaster characters. That's the GM's call. But if the GM wants to add a touch of the dark side to the game, we suggest starting slowly. Introduce a new rule here or a new item there to see how it fits into the game. If the campaign doesn't fall apart around you, add another element. Just as in the Star Wars universe, the dark side can be extremely tempting and hard to control; be careful not to overdo it.
When Is a Character Dark?
A character achieves the distinction of falling to the dark side in two stages: tainted and dark.
When a character attains a number of Dark Side Points equal to half his Wisdom score, that character is considered to be tainted. A tainted character tempts fate with each appeal to the dark side, but also has the option of working his way back to the light through heroic deeds, the use of Force Points, and by atoning for past misdeeds. Effectively, the character accomplishes this by reducing his number of Dark Side Points to one less than half his Wisdom score.
When a character attains a number of Dark Side Points equal to his Wisdom score, that character is considered to be dark. (A tainted character can also become dark by failing a Wisdom check, as described under Dark Side Templates in Chapter Two.) This
character is now effectively lost to the dark side. Even if the character finds a way to reduce his Dark Side Points total to one less than his Wisdom score, the dark template remains in place. Only a truly epic act of heroism and atonement can return a dark character to the light.
Rules for the Dark Side
This chapter provides additional rules for dealing with dark side characters, especially Force-users who habitually call upon the dark side of the Force. We recommend using these additional rules if you plan to incorporate any of the material in this book into your campaign.
Long Term Effects of Using the Dark Side
While the dark side offers a quick path to power for those who feel the flow of the Force, it also extracts a high price from those who dip into the well too frequently. This price takes the form of a long-term withering of the character's physical attributes. Early in a darksider's career, the ratio of power to negative effect runs in favor of the power the dark side provides. Each time a Force-sensitive character calls on the dark side, however, the urge to again feel that electric flow of power grows stronger. It becomes easier to gain Dark Side Points, to fall deeper and deeper into the darkness. In the middle stages of a character's career, as the character becomes first tainted and then dark in nature, the power the dark side provides begins to collect what is owed to it. With great effort, a balance can be maintained-for a while. As a character reaches higher levels, the long-term effects of dark side use begin to show. The character grows weaker in body, all the while growing stronger and stronger in the dark side of the Force. Eventually, the darksider's body begins to fail as it is corrupted and rotted away by the darkness and evil flowing through it.
Corruption and Dark Characters Whenever a hero with the dark template attains a new character level, he or she immediately and permanently reduces Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution by 1 point.
There is no saving throw for a dark character. The only way to offset this effect is to replace the lost point with an ability increase at the appropriate level (as described on Table 3-l: Experience and Level-Dependent Benefits in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game).
As with tainted characters, no ability can be reduced two times in a row by dark side corruption.
If a dark character eventually finds redemption, any ability decreases due to the corrupting effects of the dark side remain.
Gaining Force Points Characters who have acquired either the tainted or dark template have a limited ability to gain Force points.
Dramatic heroism is no longer an option for characters who have taken the path of corruption. Instead, a tainted or dark character gains Force Points in the following ways:
Corruption and Tainted Characters Whenever a hero with the tainted template attains a new character level, he or she must check to see if the corruption of the dark side has had a permanent lasting effect. To do this, the character makes a Fortitude saving throw against a DC of 10 + the number of Dark Side Points the character possesses at the time of the level advancement.
If the save succeeds, the character has managed to stave off the debilitating effects of the dark side for the time being.
If the save fails, the character immediately and
permanently reduces Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution by 1 point. The character's player chooses which ability withers. The only way to offset this effect is to replace the lost point with an ability increase at the appropriate level (as described on Table 3-1: Experience and Level-Dependent Benefits in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game).
No ability can be reduced two times in a row by dark side corruption. So, if Jog Saveen, a tainted Force adept, fails her saving throw at 6th level and reduces her Strength score from 14 to 13, then if she fails her save at 7th level she must reduce either her Dexterity or
Constitution score. She can't decrease her Strength score two times in a row.
Even if a tainted character later returns to the light, any ability decreases due to the corrupting effects of the dark side remain. The memory of this deadly touch remains long after the effects are applied.
• Each time a tainted or dark character gains a level, he or she gains one Force Point.
• A tainted or dark character, once per level, can gain one Force Point by accepting one Dark Side Point.
In addition, the Drain Force feat allows a character to gain one Force Point by stealing it from another
character.
Gaining Dark Side Points
Characters can gain Dark Side Points in any of three ways;
• Using a Force Point to call on the dark side.
• Using a dark side Force-based skill or feat.
• Performing an evil act.
A character can use the Force to increase his chance of success on any d20 roll (ability checks, skill checks, saving throws, and attacks). Calling upon the dark side of the Force, however, is sometimes far more effective than calling upon the light side. When a character calls upon the dark side of the Force in this fashion, he gains a Dark Side Point. The hero's intent doesn't matter. Good or evil, he gains a Dark Side Point. It also makes no difference if the check ultimately fails; the dark side promises much, but sometimes delivers nothing.
Example: Set Harth, a Jedi guardian with a penchant for solving situations with violence, is losing a battle with a Sith warrior. Fearing for his life, he decides to throw everything he has into an all-or-nothing attack. But he suddenly doubts that the 2d6 bonus dice he'll get for calling on the Force will be enough; he needs a little extra power. Set Harth decides to call on the dark side instead, gain-ing 3d6 bonus dice rather than 2d6. He tells himself that he'll never do it again, and that a single Dark Side Point won't hurt him.
Characters may be intrigued by a number of options in the form of skills and feats that draw on the power of the dark side of the Force. Examples include Drain Knowledge, Fear, Force Lightning, and Hatred. Many of these dark side skills can be used untrained-making them that much more tempting for Force-users to employ in desperate situations. But, as with calling on the dark side of the Force, the success or failure of the task and the hero's intent when employing the skill do not figure into the hero's Dark Side Point gain.
Example: Although Set Harth defeated the Sith warrior, the battle left him weakened-and the warrior had anticipated just such a turn of events, As Set Harth returns to his ship, an assassin droid
ambushes him. Knowing that he is too weak to fight it, he tries to use the Force to switch it off. Unfortunately, the Sith warrior has disabled the droid's power switch, and Set Harth realizes that the only way to deactivate the assassin droid is to drain its power cells. He reaches out with the Force and finds a sort of energy void-a conduit to the dark side-into which he can empty the droid's store of energy. Using the Drain Energy skill untrained, however, is too much for Set, and the droid contin-ues to attack him. Now Set Harth has gained another Dark Side Point-and he still must contend with the droid.
beneath a mask of virtue. Whether an act is evil or not often boils down to a question of motivation, and motivations can be hard to identify.
When a Gamemaster is in doubt about whether to award a Dark Side Point to a character, he or she should consider the character's motives: Did the character act out of anger?
Hatred? Cruelty? Vengeance? Pride? Did the character choose an option simply because it would allow her to spill an enemy's blood? Was greed or envy involved? Jealousy?
The Gamemaster should always remember that simply feeling anger, fear, bloodlust, or any other similarly negative emotion is not in and of itself of the dark side. The journey to the dark side begins when a character allows such negative emotions to determine his actions rather than the will of the Force. A Jedi may hate a Sith, but if he kills the Sith in self-defense he does not necessarily gain a Dark Side Point.
Knowing when a character allows base emotions to sway her actions can be difficult. When questions arise as to the motive behind a character's actions and whether or not the character should receive a Dark Side Point-the GM should look for certain hallmarks that identify these emotions.
Fear
"Fear is the path to the dark side . . ." -Yoda
All sentient creatures experience fear at some point in their lives; it is a defense mechanism designed to impel creatures away from danger. Characters feel fear when they believe they may lose something valuable to them. Fear for their own lives is the most common motivator, but the fear can be for the lives of friends or loved ones, or even for something as trivial as the loss of a possession or an opportunity.
A character acts out of genuine fear when he aban-dons reason and logic in order to eliminate or escape a threat.
Unreasoning fear is characterized by despera-tion and frantic attempts to escape the danger at any cost. Characters who use the most lethal weapon available (regardless of their proficiency with it), attack all-out without first determining the actual degree of danger, or abandon threatened allies to save their own lives are almost certainly acting out of fear. Their journey to the dark side has begun.
Example: Bal Serinus visits a planet in the Corporate Sector.
She notices a local following her and decides to confront him.
She corners the stranger in an alley, and he responds by reaching into his jacket for something. Bal Serinus draws her lightsaber and attacks before he reveals his weapon. As he falls to the ground, she discovers that he was reaching for a Note that all three of these conditions are cumula-tive
with one another. If Set Harth had spent a Force Point to call upon the dark side while using Force Grip to choke the old servant, he would gain 3 Dark Side Points at once.
Acts of Evil Evil is not always easy to recognize. An innocent act may ultimately result in great suffering. An act of revenge may save the lives of millions of people. The pure at heart can lash out in anger. Evil may lurk
Acts of anger or hatred give the dark side a hold on a character. Acts of revenge and cruelty strengthen that grip. Using the Force to perform evil acts is innately an evil act-and even when a Force-wielding character performs such an act without calling upon the dark side, he risks corruption. While one or two such acts may not imperil a Force-user, doing evil without apparent repercussions teaches the character that he can do so as often as he likes. The dark side has seduced many Force-users this way.
The Gamemaster may wish to remind characters of the repercussions of taking such an action, particu-larly when dealing with inexperienced players. "You know, killing that helpless enemy would be an evil act," the GM might warn, for example.
Example: Backed into a corner by the assassin droid, all looks bleak for Set Harth. Then, a little old man appears and commands the droid to shut down. The wizened man explains that he was the Sith warrior's servant, and that he will share what he knows of the Sith if Set Harth transports him off the planet. Set Harth agrees, but only if the old man tells him what lie knows first. The old man refuses and becomes evasive. Tired, hurt, and frustrated, Set Harth ignites his lightsaber and threatens the servant. "Tell me now or you'll die here!"
he says. Once again the old man refuses, and Set Harth gives in to his anger and cuts the old man down. He gains another Dark Side Point and is beginning to feel that adhering to the Jedi Code is only slowing him down.
datapad. Bal Serinus acted out of fear-fear that the stranger was a threat-without actually waiting to see if he really posed a danger to her.
Anger
"fear leads to anger" -Yoda
Like fear, anger is almost unavoidable for sentient beings. It is symptomatic of frustration-stress without a suitable means of release. Such tension results in violent behavior, aimed at relieving the frustration all at once. It can be brought on by a variety of factors, but most commonly relates to fear. The fear of the consequences of failure can create tremendous surges of anger in sentient beings.
Characters acting in anger lose the ability to show mercy; the target of the character's anger must feel his wrath. A character gripped by anger often takes unnecessary risks in order to punish or destroy the target of his ire. Victory is not good enough if the foe is still moving. The character does not wish to address the situation when he is more rational; he
needs to vent his fury now, while his blood is boiling and his enemy is within reach. Such a character deliberately gives his anger free rein, and thus gives in to the dark side.
Example: Set Harth finds himself at odds with a dark side marauder. Both want the same Sith artifact. While fighting over it, they become separated by a falling column. The column traps the dark side marauder, and Set Harth easily claims the artifact. But in the grip of anger, Set dashes through a hail of falling masonry to personally finish off the trapped marauder. His anger is so great that he cannot accept his own victory.
Hatred
"anger leads to hate" -Yoda
Stress can also result in a more subtle kind of anger:
hatred. Hatred is a simmering resentment, the outward expression of which may start small but gradually escalates into full-scale acts of violence. Hatred festers inside a character until eventually she comes to believe that the target of her hatred some-how has less right to exist than she does. In her own mind, she reduces her enemy to a nebulous menace, the source of all the things she despises and of all the ills that plague her. To her thinking, the object of her hatred consciously attempts to thwart her. But it is not a personal vendetta; her enemy clearly threatens all that he touches. She has a right and
even a duty to destroy him and, what's more, to undo all that he has wrought.
Hatred is often identifiable by an accompanying sense of righteousness; the character feels that she is morally bound to eliminate the thing she hates.
For her, considerations such as perspectives and mitigating circumstances are not a factor. Lenience is not an option. Justice is hers to administer, and she does so with the assurance that anyone can plainly see the correctness of her decision. But whether she is right or wrong, the very fact that she chooses to act on her belief and nothing else brings her one step closer to the dark side.
Example: In killing the stranger, Bal Serinus angered a local Hutt crime ford, because the stranger was his messenger. Now his bounty hunters chase after her, and Bal Serinus is filled with indignation. She feels completely justified in having killed the man with the datapad-how was she to know who he was? As the first bounty hunters close in on her, she decides to teach them a lesson about trifling with her. She could present her side of the story and smooth things over with the Hutt, but she decides that anyone who would put a price on her head over 3 misunderstanding is beneath her contempt. She'll kill all the bounty hunters, then the Hutt, for the crime of inconveniencing her.
Example: With the Sith artifact in his control, Set Harth returns to his hideout on Nar Shaddaa to unlock its secrets.
He soon learns that he can use it to control the nervous systems of others, moving their limbs by remote control-pulling their strings like puppets. In no time, he has assembled a group of helpless citizens and petty criminals, all forced to walk, dance, grovel, or otherwise serve him purely for his amusement. That manipulating them with the artifact causes them excruciating pain isn't important to Set;
anyone who objects joins his troop of unwilling servants.
And if one of them becomes too weak to continue-well, Nar Shaddaa's deepest levels are full of such useless refuse.
Aggression
"A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never
"A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never