Cypher Star Wars

Dipping back into Star Wars today, let's look at just how easily we can run a game in this setting via the Cypher System. Since my wife and have been playing the online game lately, we'll look at the Old Republic for now, but if this has enough future entries we'll expand out to the other eras of the setting.

The Old Republic, for those unfamiliar, is a time in the deep past of the setting, thousands of years before the events of any of the movies. The Galactic Republic is vital and strong, with a powerful army and the backing of the full Jedi Council on their side. They hold sway over important and familiar worlds like the world-wrapping planetary city of Coruscant. Of course, they're not unchallenged - the Sith Empire challenges them for dominance, led by the fractious Dark Council of Sith Lords and backed by the power of the Imperial Army. The entire known and settled galaxy is wrapped in conflict between these two forces, with worlds like Alderaan, Hoth, Tatooine, and more as battlegrounds.

Both the Jedi and Sith benefit, regardless of the choice of Descriptor, Type, or Focus, from the use of the Magic flavor to represent the Force. Jedi might benefit from Descriptors like Calm, Honorable, Graceful, and Strong-Willed, while Sith might prefer to lean toward Brash, Driven, Impulsive, and Vengeful to best show the flavor of their contact with the Force. Still, being part of either faction doesn't restrict which side of the Force an individual of each side leans toward; Jedi slipping into darkness and Sith aspiring to light can happen.

Bounty hunters, smugglers, spies, and soldiers in military service all also make an appearance and can be compelling characters, even if they can't handily fight with a lightsaber. Smuggling weapons to insurgents behind enemy lines, exploring lost secrets of forgotten civilizations, discovering exotic new worlds, and trying to turn a profit between the two behemoths can fill an entire campaign and then some.

The Great Hunt happens periodically, drawing the greatest bounty hunters of the galaxy in pursuit of acclaim. Spies duel with blaster rifles and vibroknives in the shaded alleys of the great cities. Smugglers and scoundrels run blockades for profit and adrenaline, daring the military pilots to even try to catch them in their starfighters. Vast battlefields churn into mud beneath the tread of soldiers, driods, and vehicles of war across countless worlds, the titanic engines of war grinding against each other. Jedi and Sith duel in leaping, spinning flashes of lightsaber duels in a bid to tip the balance of the war in their own favor - and some even defect to the other side, drawn by the Force and their own internal compass.

There is no emotion, there is peace
Peace is a lie, there is only passion
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge
Through passion, I gain strength
There is no passion, there is serenity
Through strength, I gain power
There is no chaos, there is harmony
Through power, I gain victory
There is no death, there is the Force
Through victory, my chains shall be broken; the Force shall set me free

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Lightsaber - Artifact

Level: 1d6+2
This complex device must be constructed by a skilled user of the Force, to avoid any chance of damaging the components during assembly. When activated, it produces a beam of plasma, the color determined by the hue of the focusing crystals inside it. It functions as a light weapon, making attack rolls one step easier, but deals damage equal to the artifact level. On a depletion roll, the power cell of the lightsaber has been drained and needs to be replaced, a task which requires disassembly and reassembly by a Force user.
Depletion: 1 in 100

Thermal Detonator

Level: 1d6+1
These spherical devices have a rather obvious button on them, which arms the device when pressed; it can then be thrown, dealing plasma damage to everything within a short range of wherever it lands.