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Force Unleashed is for those players who want to explore a setting in depth, in this case, the “Dark Times” of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. This era is not about having continual blazing fights, but rather, being aware of the environment your character is in and the repercussions of that character’s actions. Glorified battles are at the climax of a story. The designers draw on a contrasting mixture of setting elements to give a strong push towards a complex gaming experience that favors more role-playing and problem solving. Furthermore, Wizards provides two new game mechanics that develop both character concepts and plot lines; The Force Unleash feature and Organizations. Unfortunately, for some players, this might be too narrow of a setting for them to feel comfortable playing in, with demands on character concepts and more logistics challenges than Sith apprentices, they might feel more bogged down while waiting for the good fight.
The Soft Chew-Contrast of the setting
The galaxy is has been expanded; so it is smaller. The galaxy has been explored, documented and integrated when compared with other Eras-of-play. However, whatever world you visit, the Empire is there or just an hour away from arriving. Whatever atrocities the Emperor is committing on this planet, there are hundreds of planets that he has done same to, is doing, or just about to do. Despite the vastness of the Empire, the integration has made most planets very much the same and the government is very connected; which makes the Force Unleash’s galaxy awfully smaller than other times within the Expanded Universe.
There is only one enemy, the Empire, and that is everyone. When you are fighting the empire, you are fighting the man and those closest to the man; call him Palpatine. The Emperor has almost a whole galaxy of minions; ISB, TIE fighters, starships, inquisitors, Emperor Hands, and stormtroopers, but his greatest minion is not Darth Vader; but rather, “The System.” There is only one game in town; the Emperor’s. The system has been pushed into all aspects of everyday life. The ordinary citizen of the Empire is a part of that system which makes them all potential adversaries. The deadliest foes are easy to recognize, however, the most dangerous are the mundane Joes who might not let you ship-off without your flight manifest properly authorized; or the guy who thinks setting you up will put him in good standing with COMPNOR granting him the business license that he wanted; to the schmuck on the street who just happens to connect the face to the Empire’s wanted posters.
You can do whatever you want, but you need to get this done first. There is no rebel force, Jedi Academe, Senate or Council to use as a resource/ally in Force Unleash. Heroes cannot rely on the team of engineers to keep their ship up and running, or an unlimited food & medical stores paid by the taxpayers. The Allies they find are few and far between, hard earned, and perhaps not that trustworthy. Yet at the same time, there are no Jedi Masters who will tell you where you are going or judge how successful your actions are. No new missions from generals or senate. The PCs are free to do whatever they want to do; at the price of nearly every mundane logistical issue have to be solved by the heroes. You want to blow up the TIE fighter factory, but you will need to get some explosives first.
If evil and corruption ARE the rule of law, then by being good, makes you the outlaw. The Force Unleash setting takes the heroes to the only position that they can play; the criminal. Here you get play the bad guy, but with just cause. You cannot rely on the system, because you are fighting the system. The heroes have to go underground and work with those live within the shadows of civilization. Because the heroes are good, they get to play the villain, the Robin Hood of the Expanded Universe.
The Crunchy Bits
New Species-Naturally this campaign guide outlines the Aleena, Felucian, and Togruta species; which play a significant role within the video game. The seven other species expand more of the setting, each having been victimized by the Empire. The Togorian and Whiphid get +4 to their Strength abilities, all other races have the boring +/-2 modifiers to their abilities. Species special abilities are a little more creative, the Aleena’s Quick Energy grants bonuses to Dex-base skills and increase speed; Gran’s get to take only one swift action to aim. Overall, the Felucian seems to gain the stronger abilities, receiving Force Sensitive Feat and a Force Power, even if they are untrained in Use the Force. Yorkora is a race designed as a perfect support role for the setting as the underworld hero; they gain Gather Information as a Race Skill and get to reroll deception checks. Character Classes-The new Talents presented for the heroes in “Force Unleash” are a little soft in comparison to other campaign settings. The designers have chosen benefits that work well within the setting’s challenges, which encourage problem solution and role-playing. The Jedi have fewer Talents than most of the other classes and they seem more sporadic, however, they have the largest background and concept written up. Playing a Jedi requires more explanation of how you came to be during a time where Jedi were hunted down. The Nobel hero gains a new Talent Tree, Ideologue, which expands their support to other PCs. Additionally, she can have influential friends. The Scoundrel gains the new Talent Tree, Smuggling, which enhances their concealment, deception, and allows them to attack opponents flat-footed from hidden weapons. The Scout receives the Spy Talent Tree, which works with blending in and surveillance. The Soldier is glossed over, only gaining an expansion of the Mercenary Talent Tree, which is outlined in “Threats of the Galaxy.”
Prestige Classes-For as soft as the Heroic Talent Trees are, the Prestige Class Talents are unexpectedly hawkish. The Bounty Hunter, Elite Trooper, Force Adapt, and the Jedi Knight all gain additional Talents that are combat orientated; the assumption being that between 1-7th level logistics are the PCs major concern. By 8th level the heroes should be in a position to actually fight the Empire. The “new” Prestige Classes presented in “Force Unleash” are far more plentiful than any other supplement-double or triple than some other campaign guides. Most fit perfectly within the setting, Enforcers (who are elite police officers) are perfect for the GM, while Infiltrators (who are advance spies,) Saboteurs (who are good at destroying things,) and Medic (who has greater in-the-field healing) seem obvious for those freedom fighters who have no support from an organization like the Jedi Council or Rebel Alliance. Additionally, they expand on the Master Privateer (also outlined in “Scum and Villainy”) and throw in an interesting tid-bit, Independent Droid (who is just a mouth watering advancement for those Droid aficionados, both GM and PC alike.) Unlike the Prestige Classes presented in Saga Edition, the “Force Unleash” Prestige Classes very definite to their capacity. PCs certainly need to check with the GM if taking these Classes will be useful within the campaign, because it would be both wasteful and a disappointment if adventures had no need for a spy or saboteur.
Equipment, Droids, Vehicles, and other Stats- Overall, equipment and droids are a little light; although there are New Talent Trees for various degreed Droids (this is not continued in other campaign settings.) It would have been better if these New Talents were presented as Feats instead, because Talents are more of a restricted resource than Feats. There are several swoops and speeders detailed along with a good amount of starships. The Expanded Universe Stats are thorough, without needing to run online to the Holonet or Wookiepieda for more details. Naturally, they outline NPCs from the video game but also add such characters as General Thrawn and Tarkin. Skills-Some skills’ tasks are expanded which can only be performed by those who are trained. Game mechanics are provided for “building something from scratch” and “bribery.” The building system is ineffectual, only creating several D20 roles and modifiers based on size and hit points of said object. In actual play, I can see many GMs just using this as a way to determine how long it will take to make something. The expansion to bribery is a little more dynamic for PCs because it actually considers the amount of the bribe, risk to the official, and if it is within their duties. These aspects are fitting for the setting, encouraging choices for the PC, and some role-play; after all, you can bribe a customs officer to ignore those boxes in the back of the ship but she might have a thorny time getting you weapons that are restricted.
Feats, Destiny, and The Force-There are 20 new Feats and only two of them are non-combat orientated; apparently, your class talents favors role-playing while Feats enhance your combat prowess. The good thing is they allow these new feats to be added to the Heroic Class Feats rather than just your Character Level bonuses. Additionally, there are three new Destinies; one can be used in any era, Creation; while the other two, Champion and Liberation, favors the setting. There is a little bit of everything added to the Force. Force Powers, Talents, Traditions, Techniques, and Secrets all get something. However, what any Force-using hero is going to check out is the new feature; “Force Unleash,” which combines Feat, Destiny, and the Force together.
Force Unleash-What seems to be an entertaining mechanic to incorporate Lucasarts’ raw approach to the Force; in closer inspection, is a tricky system to employ. The idea behind unleashing the Force is that your training is a little unrefined; so therefore, you can unleash it for great power, sacrificing subtlety and control. Saga Edition changes it to having greater power, but only during highly specific circumstances. First, you have to take the “Unleash” Feat, as a Force-user, then when using any Force Power you may spend a Destiny Point to “Unleash” the Force, outlined within the guide. Unfortunately, The Unleashed Feat is applied to eleven Force Powers, basically doubling their effects. The difficulty is that “Force Unleashed” requires the use of the controversial Destiny system. So, if your group enjoys building a grand story which using Destiny is apart of, you gain a higher quality to that story. The trick is that you have to have a story or at least an outline of the story at the start of the campaign to fit destinies into. If your group does not use the destiny system or is not plot driven, then it is a colossal waste of a Feat and compensated by additional “house-rules.” The final criticism of this new feature; although it incorporates a major aspect of the video game, the feature goes against most of the setting and background. If the setting is about being subtle and hitting the Emperor where he does not expect it; then why would you be unleashing the Force in such a brash manner?
Organizations-This is a whole new feature added to Saga Edition, a whole chapter is dedicated to it; however, old veterans of D&D have seen this before. Organizations are groups that a hero can join which by working within the organization’s goals and by gaining ranks, be granted additional bonuses. It is the combination of the “Honor” system created by Oriental Adventures for AD&D and Factions from 2nd edition D&D “Planescape” (there are probably more, but I have not followed them.) Any hero, despite their class, can join the Black Sun, Bothan Spynet, House Organa, or many others groups who reside during the dark times. When you do join a group, the hero tallies their score +/-1, based on positive/negative criteria, which is different based on the group. If a hero kills someone for a bounty; naturally, that would help their score if they were in the Bounty Hunters Guild, yet might hinder them if they had join the House Organa. Furthermore, as adventures are finished and the campaign progresses the actions taken by the Hero can be judged by the Organization; thus, changing the score. The score is used to determine the Hero’s Rank (between 1-5) within that Organization. The higher the Rank, the greater the benefit. Organizations serve two purposes within the game, 1st present an opportunity to reward role-playing. The score/rank system is partially based on the heroes actions, choose to do something that the group likes and you will gain in your score; while acting against the group reduces your score. Thus, if the PCs role-play towards the group’s agenda the hero will be rewarded in this manner, rather than, relying on just the combat orientated EXP system. The 2nd thing Organizations offer is plot. By being a part of another group’s agenda there is motivation, dichotomy, and inter-party challenges; all create opportunities for the GMs story.
“Many of the Truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view” Obi-wan Kenobi
The Competitor-For those who look for the simple, clean, and direct fight; “Force Unleash” will be a letdown. The setting demands too much explanation, conceptualization, and indirect consequence for there to be any excitement. The Destiny system is usually not favored by the PC or GM competitor, which makes the “Unleashed” feature uninteresting, or worst a big debate on house-rules to use it. The Organization feature does not offer large enough benefits to deal with constant consideration “of-what-you-are-doing.” Sure, there will be one Talent, Feat, Force Power, Equipment, or ship that you will like, so you will just pester the GM to include it in another Era-of-play. The question “is it worth paying for it?”
The Novelist-“Force Unleash” favors the players who enjoy creating a good story. If the group uses the Destiny system, then they will enjoy this setting even more. Three new Destinies and the “Unleash” feature will add to climatic scenes. The use of Organizations can create motivation and dilemmas for the heroes to face. Although these new feature mechanics might be enjoyed by the novelist player; the rich contrast within the setting and background offers much more entertainment.
The Realist-This is the setting for all those players who want to role-play every last detail to get that realistic feel. The party being required to fend for themselves; create many logistical challenges that can be role-played through. It is doubtful that you will find “Unleash” feature that interesting; but, the use of the Organizations will be favored. The fact that Organizations rewards behavior and choices that your hero makes, to rise up the ranks, offers a different type of advancement.
Final Conclusion Wizards of the Coast reaches out to a smaller market with “The Force Unleash Campaign Guide.” By creating a Star Wars setting that has several contrasting elements; those groups who want to delve deeply into a setting will find this intriguing and satisfying. Unfortunately, for those groups who want to solve all challenges with a lightsaber or blaster, will find that this campaign guide inferior.
4 Content- There is large amount of well written information here, however, there are a few gaps. Because of the complex nature of the background, any GM will, depending on their preferences, wish that some areas receive more detail. 5 Style- The artwork is fantastic within this guide, being able to use concept art from the video game really helps.
