Force Wizard – Alter Force Power

June 8, 2020 Linda Whitson Astral Projections, Force Wizard 0

“Force Wizard” is my series on the Force powers in Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars RPG lines. It is primarily aimed at new players/GMs, and more experienced players playing a Force-sensitive character for the first time.

In earlier SWRPGs, Alter was one of 3 main categories of Force abilities/talents/skills. Sense provided information, Control affected the self, and Alter affected others and/or things. However, the FFG SWRPG’s Alter power is focused almost entirely upon altering the natural physical environment. While presented in Unlimited Power , the Mystic book, Alter thematically fits several Seeker specializations–notably Hunter, Pathfinder, and Hermit. GMs might want to mix things up by giving a Nightsister or even an Inquisitor adversary Alter, for non-urban and non-space encounters.

The Basic Alter has two Short range effects, each costing 1 Force pip and lasting until the end of the wielder’s next turn. Each option is single activation only and the wielder must be touching the ground they want to affect. Option A makes all Short range terrain Difficult and Option B makes it Normal terrain. It only works on soft, malleable terrain–mud, sand, vegetation, soil. If your party is being pursued, make it easier for your friends, more difficult for pursuers, or do both (in different rounds). Taking the first/earliest PC slot in two, or more, consecutive rounds is probably your best bet in a chase but will depend on the full initiative order and other factors.

Alter is one of those powers with the pricey Range upgrades of 2 Force pips per activation. Which, as usual, means “Not happening!” at Force Rating 1 (FR1), and probably not happening reliably until you hit FR3. Range can be activated multiple times and has the standard effect of extending the Range one band for each Range upgrade bought. With 2 Ranges in the tree, that’s a maximum of Long range for 1 Range activation.

This power is heavy on Control upgrades, with 7 out of a total of 11. Read the Fine Print (text) on these as nearly all of them have more details. Most of the Controls expand on the Basic Alter but some have other useful effects. One of those is the 5XP Control on the left, just below and linked to the Basic power. This one functions a lot like the Forager talent, but dialed to eleven. The wielder can sense where there’s food, water, and “critical supplies” out to Extreme Range. The GM may rule there aren’t any, depending on the environment. It is single activation and requires spending +1 Force pip plus a successful Average Survival check along with the Force power check. Since the Basic power requires being in a natural environment, I don’t think it will work on a space station or vessel. Well, perhaps on an Ithorian herdship or something similar.

The “Forager” Control and the linked 10XP Control below dovetail with the Seeker’s Pathfinder specialization. This upgrade adds 1 Boost to Perception and Vigilance checks by using the senses of non-sentient animals. A GM might allow the PC to find out things they wouldn’t otherwise. This is also single activation and costs +1 pip.

The remaining Controls enhance the Basic power. The top right 10XP Control grants all characters within Short Range of the wielder concealment for +1 pip. So don’t do this during a melee combat, unless you can activate Strength upgrade/s to exclude all enemies. (See Strength details below.) The tier 2 middle left Control expands the type of terrain you can Alter. The Basic power affects natural terrain types that you can change the form easily. With this upgrade, you can Alter ice, stone, packed soil, etc.–but it still must be natural.

Below and linked is a 15XP Control to make portions of the affected ground Impassible. The text says the area is “no more than 3 meters across,” which still leaves the size of this subsection up to GMs, since it doesn’t give a width. This upgrade can be activated multiple times for +2 pips each, so you can make one sizeable area or separate large “roadblocks” of impassable terrain, if you have the pips to spend.

The other 15XP Control, on the far right, gives you the ability to make pockets of corrosive atmosphere in the affected area, multiple times, for +2 pips. It works like the Impassable Control. This Control will come in handy if your opponents are able to ignore the ground conditions, like fliers or those in airspeeders/space vehicles. The final Control upgrade, bottom left, costs 20XP. It upgrades Difficulty of all opponents’ checks once, while those opponents are in the affected area, for the power’s duration, for +2 pips.

Speaking of duration, the lone Duration upgrade extends Alter’s terrain effects from the wielder’s next turn to as long as the wielder stays on the affected ground. Commit 1 Force die after activation to do so. This is best for situations where the party is hiding out or ambushing others. It can also impede or stop opponents from closing with your party in combat–or aid a rearguard action.

The 3 Strength upgrades (5/10/15XP) all have the same effect and can be activated multiple times. Spend +1 Force pip to allow as many characters as you have Strength upgrades to avoid the effects. Depending on how many targets you can affect, your entire party could get through the area. Or you could use the Concealment and Difficulty Upgrade Controls during melee, and not worry about adversaries benefiting.

The 25XP Mastery upgrade has different effects if Light or Dark pips generated the Force pips spent on activation. If no Dark pips were used, add 1 Light pip to results of all other Force power checks made inside the Alter affect. If no Light pips were used, add 1 Dark pip to all results.

What to buy and when to buy it? As I mentioned, you can’t use the Range upgrades at FR1, but you may want to consider buying the 5XP Range that soon anyway. Why? It gives you access to the very desirable Control upgrade which lets you Alter nearly any type of natural ground–and you can use that at FR1.

Other good upgrades at FR1-2 are any of the Controls that take only 1 pip to activate. They are all quite useful and since it’s only 1 pip to activate Basic plus 1 pip for one of those Controls you have a reasonable chance of doing so at FR1. If you want to go deeper into the tree, that first Strength upgrade is a good next choice. The Duration upgrade is worth considering at FR2-3, since you can still use other Force powers/talents while maintaining Altered terrain. While the other upgrades are pretty useful, they also cost a little more and most of them are more or less situational.

A possible exception is the Increase Difficulty Control, since upgrading the Difficulty of a single check normally costs 1 Destiny Point (and you’re limited in how many DPs you can spend and when), whereas this Control allows upgrading the Difficulty of multiple checks made by multiple opponents, for a (minimum) cost of 3 pips (1 for the Basic plus 2 for the Control). You’ll be spending 60 XP on the shortest path (straight down the left column) to reach this upgrade. But it could be worth it.

I think Alter has a lot to offer to Mystics, Seekers, some Sentinels, and other Force users with a focus on nature and the Living Force. Next time, we’ll check out Conjure, the second Force power from Unlimited Power. Until then, MTFBWYA!

Force Wizard Index (Book/s)
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Linda Whitson

Contributing Writer & Copy Editor at D20 Radio
Linda Whitson is a long-time RPGer, amateur musician & artist, & an officer in the Rebel Legion Star Wars costuming club. Linda met her husband in an AD&D game and they have 2 teenagers, an anime fangirl daughter and a son who plays on his university's quidditch team. She is the Lead Mod of D20 Radio's forums and Copy Editor for the blog. Linda can be reached at GMLinda@d20radio.com

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