Contribution to Force Powers

[Jeseth Cloak]

Before you read on, this isn't anything official. At all. The staff can feel free to take whatever I've written here and use it for their stickied thread on Force Powers (I did steal their template, afterall), but unless that happens this is only my opinion on the matter. My character's main specific special ability (aside from energy) wasn't covered in any of the existing Force Power descriptions, and I feel it's a big part of the Star Wars universe (and exercised frequently by two or three core trilogy characters). So, without further delay, here is my post on:


Empathy/Persuasion

Convincing a bartender in a local cantina that you have in fact, already paid your tab is one thing - strengthening the resolve of an entire battle fleet, or detecting a target‘s deepest thoughts and feelings, is another. Empathic skill levels break down first by the complexity, and secondly by number, of subjects you are trying to influence. Darth Sidius, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader are examples of Force users with a high level of empathic ability.


Apprentice

An Apprentice level Dark Jedi (or a Padawan level Jedi) would be able to block out the use of immediate short term memory, cause a subject to temporarily (and hesitantly) change his/her opinion, or obscure recollection of a single event. At the end of your apprentice training you will be able to influence a subject to carry out a single (simple) physical action. This ability is more commonly referred to as “persuasion.” The more complex the mind of your subject, and the stronger their will, the more difficult it will be to influence them or cloud their judgment.

"You don't need to see his identification."
-Obi-Wan Kenobi, Episode IV: A New Hope

Knight

As a Knight, you will begin to learn how to detect/influence the emotions of others as they enter your presence. Training would usually begin with simple minded creatures; controlling a rampaging beast by invoking in it a feeling of trust/fear, is one example of a feat that a Knight skilled in empathic abilities would be able to accomplish. Additionally, the number of targets you can influence increases as your skill develops. At this level, you may be able to cloud the judgment or change the general mood of any number of people within your immediate line of sight. The more complex the emotional state of your subjects, the more difficult it will be to influence their feelings.

Dark Side applications of Knight level empathic abilities could amplify a subject’s fear, anger, sorrow or remorse. Light Side applications could include calming a subject, or even inducing a state of perfect clear-thought/feeling within yourself.

"The dark side clouds everything. Impossible to see, the future is."
- Yoda, Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Master

As a Master specializing in empathy you will be able to sense the presence of others from great distances, influence the minds/feelings of many subjects beyond your immediate visible range, and (in one-on-one confrontations) draw out any and all passing thoughts and emotions from your subject's mind. Due to the difficulty of imposing your will upon others, it is nearly impossible to actively engage in combat while executing Master level empathic abilities. Battle meditation (the ability to influence the emotions/thoughts of thousands) is one example of a Master level empathic ability.

“Your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... sister! So, you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too.”
-Darth Vader, Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I like it. I'll add it to this:

http://swf-agglomeration.net/forcepowers.html