"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field
generated by all living beings. It surrounds us, penetrates us. It binds
the galaxy together."
-- Obi-Wan Kenobi, A New Hope
The ability to use the Force is a special ability indeed. Unlike the other hero abilities described in the Star Wars Heroes section, the Force cannot be used by just anyone. A hero must have a positive Force rating (that is, a Force ability greater than 0) in order to use the Force. The higher the ability, the greater the hero's training and skill (and, some say, enlightenment).
In the time of the Old Republic (from the prequel trilogy), the Jedi were both the masters and servants of the Force, keepers of peace and justice throughout the Republic. Their ancient enemies, the Sith, were adepts of the Dark Side of the Force, believed to have been wiped out by the Jedi long ago. The Jedi were proven tragically wrong when the Sith poisoned one of their own, a young Jedi Knight named Anakin Skywalker. He turned against the Jedi and aided Emperor Palpatine in hunting down and destroying them. By the time of A New Hope, the Jedi are all but extinct, save for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. After Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker begins training others in the Jedi arts (including his sister, Leia), described in various Star Wars novels, including Jedi Academy.
Generally speaking, Force-wielders are more common before the rise of the Empire and after its fall. During the Emperor's reign, any powerful Force-wielder is hunted down and either killed or turned to the Dark Side to serve the Emperor. Narrators are free to change this, of course, and it's possible some minor Force-wielders went unnoticed by the Emperor and his minions.
"Is the Dark Side stronger?"
"No, quicker, easier, more seductive."
-- Luke Skywalker and Master Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back
The Force has a Light Side and a Dark Side. Jedi (and all moral wielders of the Force) strive to follow the Light Side and resist the lure of the Dark Side. The Light Side of the Force embodies peace, joy, harmony, and life-affirming emotions and actions. The Dark Side embodies anger, fear, hatred, suffering, and destruction. Enlightened Force-wielders understand both sides are integral and necessary to the Force, neither stronger than the other, although the Dark Side is easier to use, and therefore easy to be corrupted by.
In addition to the normal rules for using Dark Side cards, Jedi must be extremely cautious about their own actions. For a Jedi any action based on fear, anger, hate, or the emotions of the Dark Side moves one of the hero's cards into the Dark Side Pool, regardless of suit or trump. Most people can slip from time to time without drawing the Dark Side's notice, but Force-wielders are especially sensitive to the Force, and to the siren call of the Dark Side. The hero can remove cards from the Dark Side Pool in the usual manner (described in The Drama Deck).
"A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never
for attack."
-- Master Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back
A hero can use the Force to do many amazing things. The hero's ability increases as his or her ability score rises. Actions a hero can perform using the Force are described below. Although the Force itself is a universal energy, some of its uses are limited by distance. Where required, apply the modifiers listed below to the difficulty of a Force action.
Proximity Modifiers
Line of sight +0
Up to 100 meters +4
Up to 10 kilometers +8
Up to 1,000 kilometers +12
Same planet +16
Same star system +20
Not in the same star system +24
Absorb Energy: A hero can use the Force to absorb and dissipate energy harmlessly. This requires an easy Force action to avoid sunburn from intense sunlight, average to protect against solar wind, and challenging to absorb the effects of a raditation storm. The hero can also absorb the effects of blaster weapons as a defensive action. The difficulty is average, plus the damage total of the attack.
Accelerate Healing: A successful Force action doubles the healing rate of the hero or another person touched for one day. The difficulty is easy for one card of damage, average for two, challenging for three, and so forth.
Affect Mind: (alias "the Jedi mind trick") The hero can use the Force to affect the minds of others. The target must be in the hero's line of sight, and the difficulty is based on the degree of change the hero wants: Easy for slight mispeceptions, minor changes to distant memories, or affecting conclusions the character doesn't really care about. Average for brief visible phenomena, for memories less than a year old, or if the character feels only a minor emotions about the decision ("These are not the droids you're looking for."). Challenging for short hallucinations, for memories less than a day old, or if the target has strict orders about the decision. Daunting for slight disguises to facial features, hallucinations affecting two senses, for memories less than a minute old, or for decisions which are very important to the character. Desperate for hallucinations affecting all five senses, in the memory change is a major one, or if coming to the wrong conclusion is nearly impossible. Note that some species are virtually immune to being influenced in this way, and this ability does not affect droids.
Control Pain: The hero or another person can ignore the effects of pain and injury. Difficulty as per Accelerate Healing. Allows the hero to redraw any cards lost to damage. These cards are placed face-up in front of the player and may be used normally, except they cannot be discarded due to damage. When the hero is out of "real" cards, he or she is unconscious.
Deflect: The hero must have a lightsaber for this action. It allows the hero to deflect blaster bolts by making an average Force (Guns) action. By increasing the action difficulty to challenging, the hero can not only deflect a blaster bolt, but choose were the bolt goes. The hero can make an easy Force (Athletics) action to hit with the attack as a contingent action.
Emptiness: The hero can enter a trance by emptying his mind and allowing the Force to flow through him. This requires an average Force action. Add the hero's action total to the difficulty of any attempt to detect him using the Force. When the hero emerges from the emptiness trace, all Force actions are reduced one level in difficulty for the same amount of time as the hero was in the trance.
Hibernation: The hero can enter a trance that reduces bodily functions with a challenging Spirit action. The hero chooses when he or she will awaken. A hero in hibernation appears dead. It requires sophisticated medical equipment or the use of Force abilities like Life Detection to determine otherwise. The hero consumes oxygen very slowly (about one-tenth normal) and can live a week or more in trance without food or water.
Sense: The hero can sense things through the Force. The hero can sense all living beings nearby. The difficulty is easy if the target has Force abilities, average if they do not. The hero can also use the Force to seek a specific individual. The base difficulty is easy, modified by distance. Add the target's Force to the difficulty, if he does not wish to be found. The hero can sense distant things, even see into the past or future. The base difficulty is easy, modified by proximity. Seeing into the past increases the base difficulty to average, while seeing into the future increases it to challenging. A hero who successfully sees into the future can lower the difficulty of related actions by one level. This accounts for the reknowned reflexes of the Jedi, because they can often forsee what's going to happen.
Telepathy: The hero can read the thoughts of others and project his thoughts into their minds. The base difficulty is easy, plus the target's Force or Courage (whichever is higher) if the target does not wish to be affected, modified by proximity. If successful, the hero can read the target's surface thoughts and send thoughts and emotions to them. By increasing the difficulty to challenging, the hero can search for a specific thought or memory in the target's mind.
Telekinesis: The hero can move objects using the power of the Force. The difficulty is based on the weight of the object, as if the hero were trying to move it with physical strength. So lifting a stone is an easy action, while lifting an X-wing out of the swamps of Degobah is superhuman. The hero can lift his own body with a challenging Force action, allowing him or her to levitate, or perform amazing feats of acrobatics. The hero can also use telekinesis to attack a target directly. This does action total damage each exchange, and normal armor and defenses do not protect against it. This sort of attack is used only by Dark Side adepts, however. Using it immediately moves a card into the hero's Dark Side Pool.