Lightsaber Creation 101

[Dapper Dog]

Creating a Lightsaber is actually not very difficult; the hardest part is finding a suitable crystal to generate the energy blade. The following rules are cribbed from the Game Master’s Kit and adjusted for the game.

Obtain the Materials

The basic materials to make a lightsaber hilt roughly cost about 300 credits and can be easily found in any market. If one is on a budget one can scrounge up the materials from a junk yard or salvaging parts from other technological devices. This would be an Average Streetwise Check to scrounge up the materials. This does not cover the Crystal.

Each success on this check grants 50 credits worth of supplies. Threat reduces this total by 10 credits, Despair means one of the parts is faulty and will fail at some dramatic moment unknown to the creator. Triumph can double the total materials per Triumph or find higher quality materials which add a boost die to the creation check. This check can be done once per time slot.

Creating the Hilt

Just because the parts are easy to come by does not mean one can just sap together a hilt. Proper knowledge is needed; this can be taught or found in a holocron. With the proper knowledge creating a hilt requires an Average Mechanics or Knowledge Lore check. Without this guidance the difficulty rises to Daunting for the check. The base time is 6 hours or about 3 time slots. Jedi and Sith trained characters are assumed to have this knowledge.

A successful roll on this check creates a Lightsaber hilt, each Success beyond the first reduces the time to create by 1 hour up to a minimum of 2 hours to create the Lightsaber hilt. A failure means that one has failed to create a hilt after six hours of work.

Any Advantage rolled can be used to reduce the cost by 25 credits per Advantage.

Any Threat rolled increase the cost by 25 credits per Threat rolled.

Please see below for additional uses of Threat, Advantage, Despair, and Triumph.

Benefit for Building a Hilt

The first attachment, including the Crystal, can have one Mod installed for free without making a roll but this still counts towards the total mods that can be installed on the Attachment. Another benefit is that a hilt you create is easier to modify when adding attachments, this reduces the difficulty by 2 as long as you work on the hilt by yourself. This advantage does not apply if you receive aid.

Once done the player should have a basic hilt as listed on Page 177 of Force and Destiny.

Reforging a Hilt

Reforging a Lightsaber is easier than starting from scratch, the materials cost is reduced by 50% and the crafter gains a Boost die to the Mechanics check. They gain an additional Boost die on this check if this is a lightsaber they created.

[Dapper Dog]

Addendum Rules

The rules above are for making a standard hilt lightsaber, there are other forms that can be created.

• Precision Lightsaber: This requires 450 credits worth of materials, 12 hours of construction time with a Mechanics roll of Average. This will craft a shoto lightsaber hilt for example.
• Defensive Lightsaber: This requires 900 credits worth of materials, 12 hours of construction time with a Mechanics roll of Hard. This will craft a guard shoto lightsaber hilt for example.
• Double Bladed Lightsaber: This requires 900 credits worth of materials, 12 hours of construction time with a Mechanics roll of Hard. This will craft a double bladed lightsaber hilt for example.
• Pole Lightsaber: This requires 450 credits worth of materials, 12 hours of construction time with a Mechanics roll of Hard. This will craft a lightsaber pike hilt for example.

Additional Hilt Templates

Precision Lightsaber Hilt: Skill Lightsaber; Dam 0; Range Engaged; Encum 1; HP 3; Special Accurate 1; One Handed; Other: -1 damage to installed crystal.

Defensive Lightsaber Hilt: Skill Lightsaber; Dam 0; Range Engaged; Encum 1; HP 3; Special Defensive 1; One Handed; Other: -1 damage to installed crystal.

Double Bladed Lightsaber Hilt: Skill Lightsaber; Dam 0; Range Engaged; Encum 2; HP 4; Special Linked 1, Unwieldy 3; Two Handed; Other: Attachments and crystals cost double.

Pole Lightsaber Hilt: Skill Lightsaber; Dam 0; Range Engaged; Encum 2; HP 4; Special Cumbersome 3, Defensive 1; Two Handed; Other: None.

Additional Construction Results

Below are additional uses for Threat, Advantage, Triumph and Despair. Any choice that can be generated by Advantage can also be triggered by a Triumph just as any choice that is generated by Threat can be triggered by Despair.

1 Advantage

• Lightweight: Decrease the Lightsaber encumbrance by 1 to a minimum of 1.
• Two-Handed: Increase lightsaber damage by 1 and encumbrance by 2, now requires two hands to wield and can only be selected once. This cannot be selected for two handed lightsaber hilt.

2 Advantage

• Disguised: Adds a setback dice to discern the lightsaber for what it is when not ignited.
• Counterweight: Increase lightsaber encumbrance by 2, it loses Unwieldy and gains Cumbersome of equal value instead, this can only be selected once..

3 Advantage

• Crossguard: The hilt gains a crossguard and gains Defensive 1 or increase the Defensive quality by 1 and the user can disarm an Engaged opponent with 2 Advantage or a Triumph. This can only be selected once.
• Customizable: Increase the lightsaber’s Hard Point by 1, this can only be selected once.
• Delicate Balance: The lightsaber loses the Cumbersome quality and gains the Unwieldy quality at the same value, can only be selected once.
• Personalized Design: This lightsaber generates an additional Advantage on all successful Lightsaber checks, anyone else using the weapon generates a Threat automatically, this can only be chosen once.

4 Advantage

• Inbuilt: The lightsaber is constructed as part of another weapon, choose another item of at least Encumbrance 1. This increases the total encumbrance of the item by that of the lightsaber hilt. While the lightsaber is ignited the item cannot be used and it takes a maneuver tos witch between the item and the lightsaber. This can only be selected once.
• Energy Bleed: The lightsaber gains the Stun 2 quality or increase the Stun value by 2.

1 Triumph

• Fine-Tuned Emitter: Add an automatic Advantage to all combat checks made with this weapon, can only be selected once.
• Personalized Inlay: Reduce the difficulty of checks to modify an installed crystal by 1, this can only be selected once.

2 Triumph

• Integral Attachment: Increase the hard points by 1 and then may add one attachment with hard point cost of 1 or less, that is not a crystal, to the lightsaber at 0 credits cost. This can only be selected once.

1 Threat

• Heavy: Increase the Lightsaber encumbrance by 1.
• Exhausting Effort: Upon completion of the lightsaber, success or fail, the crafter suffers three strain.

2 Threat

• Oddly Weighted: The lightsaber gains the Cumbersome 2 quality or increases that quality by 2.
• Fragile Casing: Increase the difficulty checks by 1 to repair the Lightsaber.

3 Threat

• Awkward Grip: The lightsaber gains Unwieldy 2 quality or increases that quality by 2.
• Misaligned Emitter: The lightsaber takes a maneuver to ignite instead of being an incidental, it only takes an incidental to shut down though. This can only be selected once.

4 Threat

• Erratic: Once per combat encounter the GM may spend a Despair to cause a short in the weapon, this causes it to be damaged by one step and the wielder immediately suffers 3 strain. This can only be selected once.
• Poor Focusing Lens: The lightsaber gains the Inaccurate 1 quality or increases that quality by 1, if it has Accurate it decreases that quality by 1.

1 Despair

• Faulty Inlay: Increase the check to modify the installed crystal by 1; this can only be selected once.
• Tragic Accident: During the construction the crafter loses focus and does grievous damage to themselves and suffers an immediate Critical Injury, this can only be selected once.

2 Despair

• Unstable: The GM may spend a Despair from any combat involving the Lightsaber to cause it to sputter and then go out. It cannot be used again until repaired with an Average Mechanics check.

1 Triumph on a Failure

• Learning Experience: The character has learned valuable lessons from the failure and gains a boost die on the next attempt to create their lightsaber; they do not lose any materials from the attempt.

2 Despair on a Failure

• Horrible Accident: The crafter failed to create a lightsaber in spectacular fashion and they suffer a Critical Injury with a +20 modifier and lose all the materials in the process.

[Dapper Dog]

Force Users and Modifying Crystals

Force users have an innate connection crystals and when modding them they may roll their Force dice up to their Force Rating when trying to modify Force crystals. Normal Force users may utilize Light pips to add success or advantage on the roll while Sith or Dark Side users may utilize Dark pips to do the same thing.

So for example Ginz the Bothan Jedi decides to modify his crystal with two Modifications on it, this is a Lightsaber he made so the difficulty is normally Formidable but he decreases that by 2 to just Hard and he has Mechanics 1 with Intellect 3 and a Force Rating of 2.

Ginz Lightsaber Crystal Modding - Hard: 2eA+1eP+3eF+3eD 1 failure, 1 advantage, 4 Light Side, 1 Dark Side


With that roll he can gain 3 successes and 1 advantage total or 1 success and 3 Advantage due to the use of Force rating, or other variation. He could add another success or advantage if he is willing to flip a Destiny and spend the Dark pip and suffer strain... but he decides to stay true to the Light.