Dark Side point

What can I say? Evil people have evil viewpoints.

Good?
Bad?
I'm the guy with the gun.

-- a Character about to belong to the Gamemaster

Who cares if everyone else is having a nice time?

The best advocate for one's own happiness is always going to be oneself.

If it was unacceptable to gather to oneself what makes one's life better, the people who know us would not make it so easy to do.

Let me just point out a few supposed "oversights"!

I want my reader to keep in the forefront of their mind: These are not loopholes. These are not errors or honest oversights or innocent miscalculations.

These are certainly not abuses of the Gamemaster's work, or the other players' social tolerance.

These are subtle tools built into the system from the start.

Anybody who does not spot them is simply not paying attention; anybody who DOES spot them, but refrains from their use, is hobbling themselves for a nebulous reward that may never deliver.

"Oversight" One:

Dark Side points are recorded at the top of the character sheet.

Anybody who cheats on this will inevitably get caught. Anybody who gets caught cheating this hard will not just get tossed out of the story containing that character, but will get blacklisted from the society. Their characters in any story will be rendered inconsequential.

... That's it.

That is all of the consequence built into the system for cheating oneself out of earned Dark Side points.

Did I write, anywhere in this segment, that this is the only consequence at all?

I did not!

The actual hidden tool is that these Dark Side points, once earned, should be faithfully recorded. Would you deny yourself Character Points? Why in the name of a good time would anyone deny themselves free dice?

That would be worse than mere self-deception. That would be self-defeating!

"Oversight" Two:

Anybody can access the Dark Side.

The Character absolutely does not have to be Force Sensitive in order to make use of the Dark Side of the Force. Obviously this is easier for practiced Force manipulators, yes, absolutely; but that is not a requisite condition.

Get angry. Get possessive. Get anxious or frustrated. Hell, get desperate! Get upset that the story keeps refusing to go the way you want it to go.

Tell the Gamemaster that you're going to pull on the Dark Side. It does not matter what you have already done this initiative round, so long as you are not incapacitated or deceased.

1. A character who has the Control Skill at any die rating will roll that. They need to match or beat an Easy difficulty, which falls in the range between six and ten. Can't we roll better than a five? Sure we can! The Dark Side of the Force absolutely jumps to serve a Force user.
2. If the character sheet is completely lacking in the Force Skill labeled "Control", default back to the Perception Attribute. The goal to beat instead will be a Moderate difficulty. That is the range from eleven to fifteen. Not a guaranteed success, but certainly doable!

⇣

Success!

You knew what number you needed to beat, and you rolled it. In front of the Gamemaster, even. All sincere and earnest in demeanor. All aboveboard. Purest destiny in motion.

Congratulations!

The first thing that happens now is, the Dark Side of the Force gives you one free, gratis, immediate use Force point. It cannot be saved for later. It happens now, right now, no hesitations, no takesy-backsies.

This does not retroactively alter anything in this round which has already happened. But it absolutely, in accordance with that first line under the header "Use the Force", doubles all of your dice. Your pips will stay the same, mostly to make the math faster. So what? The dice are the heart of the dice action, not those pips, so your dice are what the Force point expands for you. Your shot with a blaster? Doubled. The damage it applies? Doubled. Your total dice to dodge? Doubled. Need to make a Strength check? Doubled!

The Dark Side of the Force is your tool. It makes you faster, wiser, better informed, more accurate, more durable, with greater Stamina, and frankly better looking. It makes you more effective when effectiveness matters.

Oh, and at the end of this round, remember that you must increase your Dark Side point count by one.

You earned it!

⇣

Failure!

You swung; you missed.

Too bad, so sad.

Hah, no! Let's start this subtopic again, with less reliance on the invisible {/sarcasm} tags.

The dice roller generates its results based on the exact second when a user clicks its button, taking into account every bit of the time-date stamp. And if you're using real world, physical dice? My dear supplicant, we all know that the multiverse at its essence is a cold, uncaring morass of dispassionate subatomic particles. Seemingly cruel results are all too easy to get because there is no such thing as a detectable particle of "benevolence".

Sometimes the dice are going to crap out.

It's nothing personal.

(Feel free to nurture that personal resentment from not getting what you deserve, though! It will prove useful when you really need to lash out later!)

Make a note to increase the stat you roll on your next Personal Growth opportunity.

Consider whether you're clever enough to fool not only your Gamemaster, but also everyone else in the group, if you start using modestly weighted dice. (That's a risk with a high potential penalty. Be very sure of your innate superiority before you unilaterally break the rules.)

But hey! Anything worth trying is worth trying again! You will have additional opportunities.

Also, increase the Dark Side point counter on your character sheet by one. You earned it, even if you did not get a splashy success this time!

⇣

Next Time!

Now that you grasp the possibilities, you intend to do this more than once in an adventure.

My guidance is not for those who are timid in the face of a great time, after all.

Look at that current count you have, up there under alleged-oversight one. The count you faithfully and accurately keep, now.

At the next story beat where you have a chance to do something awe-inspiring, you will know the moment to reach for the Dark Side yet again. When you reach for your dice to unlock access, also reach for your banked Dark Side points.

The Dark Side Points add dice to the roll to deliberately call the Dark Side
but the difficulty does increase each time the character tries to call upon the Dark Side within an adventure.

— Exalted Councillor Kummer_Wolfe

As for that difficulty increase, it is a consideration but for one who has practiced this built-in tool of the system, it not a major barrier. Within a given adventure, each subsequent attempt to unlock the Dark Side carries a +3 boost to the difficulty. That is not three increased difficulty levels, so if a non-sensitive had a difficulty of 13 the first time then their next attempt is likely to be a 16.

Which they will be rolling with at least one additional die because of that prior attempt's earned Dark Side point.

Remember that the boosted dice of additional Dark Side points will continue into the start of the next adventure, my reader, while the difficulty will reset to its starting position. The only restriction is that you not do anything foolish to your own resources!

"Oversight" Three:

A regulation d6 can never roll less than a total of 1.

Even a koala, considered by many who study them to have less intelligence than a frog, can grasp a number theory this simple.

Even the common sugar ant understands that the smallest quantifiable count is "one".

When the Gamemaster gives a player a portentious gaze, possibly with raised single eyebrow, while requiring

Roll one d6 and tell me the result.

the lowest possible result is, in fact a one.

What does that mean for the strategic adventurer?

It means that the first Dark Side point carries within it no down side!

No risk at all!

Because it is not possible to roll a die and get less than its lowest number.

It's that simple.

What is really more important at this point in the story: success? Or an ethically soothing affection from the rest of the social group?

"Oversight" Four:

Every story ends.

We must return, briefly, to that earlier point about the uncaring morass of dispassionate particles. As one Champion of the Light has been heard to admit:

Entropy is running
and no matter how you try,
you can't win 'em all.

-- Diane Duane, September 8, 2016

A character who refuses to make heroic choices is not a hero.

A person who tries to eradicate all risk to themselves is doomed to true failure.

Mortal beings are we.

Every character's story ends.

Once you can accept that your story must someday end, why throw away this chance of glorious success over the modest risk of a momentous, plot-redefining conclusion that is guaranteed to matter?

Yes, eventually a character with the inherent sense to employ this power boost is going to roll a lower number on that "one d6" than their total number of Dark Side points.

Do not forget that you have until the end of that scene in which to atone.

Make of yourself a fulcrum, of your skills a lever, and rid the world of the enemy's plot device!

Save those who are not necessarily worth saving!

Spend a Force point in a genuinely selfless manner!

Commit to spending two sequential adventures actively seeking to do good while confounding evil. Specify in your own words what choice of yours was unethical enough to lure the Dark Side to you, and how you will choose better in similar circumstances. Be prepared for two entire stories of tediously unprofitable scrupulously compassionate, other-oriented storytelling.

Surprise Exalted Councillor Kummer_Wolfe by personally making for him the no-onion version of the Ratatouille Galette for his personal enjoyment!

And if all else fails, you are unable to make amends for prior choices, and you do lose custody of your character to the Gamemaster's control?

Why, you finished your story in one impressive scene! One that can be retold to future social groups for years!

And then your former allies spent the remainder of your character's existence with you as the most important component of the entire collective story.

"Oversight" Five:

Anybody
can do evil.

Everyone is eligible.

Everyone has the option to earn their own Dark Side point.

Override personal autonomy in the name of convenience?

⇢

Evil.

Make someone feel bad about the shirt he is wearing?

⇢

Evil.

Refuse to let someone escape their past life?

⇢

Evil.

Dismantle someone's hope for a healthier future?

⇢

Evil.

Respond to weeks of diligent work by treating both creator and creation as your adversary to be squashed?

⇢

Evil.

Hurt someone until their will crumbles?

⇢

Evil.

Covet admirable possessions?

⇢

Evil.

Preserve suffering?

⇢

Evil.

Propagate despair?

⇢

Evil.

— - preachy pedantic nuns, probably

Goodness, it's ridiculous to believe that the so-called "Lightsiders" actually get anything accomplished at all! They hobble their options so severely.

Oh, they may claim to be enjoying their lives!

But only a patsy lets their personal happiness depend on the charity of others in the social network.

And, really, all that matters is that you matter.

Earn some Dark Side points during the dramatic roleplay scenes. Use others' work to compound your own advantages. Torment the unimportant bit characters so that they will serve your purposes. Savor the bonus dice your collection of Dark Side points provide for that Dark Side access check in combat!

Rest assured: everyone else in the society has been attempting their own version of this same strategy all along. They are not as insightful about it as you will prove yourself to be.

One last helpful note

Inherent strength may itself be an inherent vulnerability.

A West End Games rule that has been ignored in our campaign goes like this:

When a character with Dark Side Points uses a Force skill, her skill roll gets a bonus of 1D per Dark Side Point. Characters who accept this bonus are particularly susceptible to its temptations and must be sure to act with the purest intent or they will receive more Dark Side Points and risk going over to the dark side.

A Jedi may refuse this bonus, but the difficulties of all Force power should be increased by at least one difficulty level to reflect the intense concentration the Jedi must have to avoid the dark side's temptations.

A character who has gone over to the dark side (as described in Chapter Four, "The Rules") no longer receives this bonus.

— page 141,
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game Second Edition, Revised and Expanded
by Bill Smith, published by West End Games in 1996.

Thus far, our "Mystic Mob" associates have not been subject to this bonus or its accompanying difficulty.

However, since this is an unspoken House Rule, it is very much subject to restoration!

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