The Dark Forces Saga, Part 4

Of the Crudest Matter

By By Abel G. Peña and Jason Fry
With Special Thanks to JF Boivin

We present the fourth in a series of articles adapting the world of the Dark Forces PC game to the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. If you missed the earlier installments, you can catch up with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

When students at the Jedi Temple had difficulty connecting with the Force, Master Yoda often asked the future Jedi Knights to focus on the fact that they were in truth luminous beings, rather than merely the crude matter that made up their physical bodies. However, Dark Jedi -- creatures of desire, hatred, and infatuation with the mortal world -- have little use for such distinctions.

In this installment, the light is shined on the backgrounds of two of the crudest members of Jerec's Dark Jedi crew: the muscle-bound Maw and the unhinged swordsman Boc.

Maw, the Half-Man

A Boltrunian over seven decades old but appearing no older than thirty standard years of age, Maw was a specimen of peak physical conditioning. He fed off the hate of others to keep the debilitating effects of the dark side at bay and used anger to fuel his grav-workouts, letting the dark side surge alongside blood and adrenaline. Cords of muscle ran like durasteel cables throughout the length of his body. At least, they did until Maw crossed blades with Master Qu Rahn, who executed a sai tok on the Dark Jedi, severing his legs from his torso.

Maw took the loss in stride; leg workouts had always been a pain in the choobies, anyway. Though he initially relied on a repulsorlift carriage to get around, Maw ultimately opted for the crutch of the dark side. With the same diligence and intensity with which he sculpted his massive body, Maw practiced Force flight until hovering became as second nature as walking. He quickly adapted to the advantages that free flight granted, honing a radical style of lightsaber combat based on the fighting techniques originally developed by the airborne Majestrix of Skye.

Maw was once a vain Jedi Knight, but his refusal to take on a Padawan and his general selfishness meant that he never attained the rank of Jedi Master. He had always been a relentless tracker, though, and was attached to a group of Jedi Shadows, Jedi investigators intent on rooting out and destroying any sign of the dark side. After the Clone Wars, Maw and his clan of compatriots were hunted down by Inquisitor Jerec, who succeeded in turning Maw to the dark side while the rest were slaughtered by Jerec and the newly turned Dark Jedi. Jerec afterward took the animalistic Maw under his wing, teaching him to smell the panic of his prey and taste their fear like a trained bloodsniffer.

Maw took Morgan Katarn's head after Jerec severed it with his Jengardin double-bladed vibroblade and, along with the Dark Jedi Boc, used it and the heads of Morgan's fellow Rebel conspirators to "decorate" the walls of the Sulon spaceport. Maw's tyranny came to an end, however, when he taunted Kyle with details of his participation in Morgan's death. Kyle sunk his lightsaber into Maw's deltoid, through the chest, and out the latissimus dorsi -- a blow the already once-halved Boltrunian could not survive. The last thing Maw sensed before dying was the delicious gush of loathing from his killer.

Maw: Male Boltrunian* Jedi Guardian 7/Jedi Investigator 4/Dark Side Devotee 3; Init +2; Defense 23 (+2 Dex, +11 class); Spd 10 m, fly 10 m; VP/WP 120/18; Atk +17/+12/+7/+2 melee (4d8+5/19–20, lightsaber) or +14/+9/+4 ranged; SQ contact, (x2), dark side talisman +2, dark side skill emphasis (Fear), deflect (defense +2, attack –3, extend defense and attack), favor +1, Jedi Knight, Permanent Hover, profile, target bonus +2; SV Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +10; SZ M; FP 4; DSP 10; Rep 7; Str 20, Dex 15, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 11. Challenge Code F.

Equipment: Lightsaber**.

Skills: Computer Use +4, Craft (lightsaber) +5, Gather Information +4, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (Jedi lore) +8, Knowledge (Sith lore) +4, Read/Write Basic, Search +3, Sense Motive +6, Speak Basic, Spot +4.

Force Skills: Battlemind +8, Drain Energy +7, Enhance Ability +7, Enhance Senses +5, Fear +6, Force Defense +6, Force Strike +6, Heal Self +3, Move Object +5, See Force +4.

Feats: Cleave, Combat Expertise, Dodge, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (lightsaber), Flyby Attack, Force-Sensitive, Mobility, Spring Attack, Trispzest Mastery, Weapon Group Proficiency (simple weapons, blaster pistols), Whirlwind Attack.

Force Feats: Alter, Control, Dissipate Energy, Lightsaber Defense, Sense.

Special Qualities: Permanent Hover -- Maw has perfected Force flight to a degree that he no longer needs to make any skill checks when hovering between 1 and 2 meters off the ground. Anything above that requires that Maw make a DC 20 Move Object check, allowing him to travel at 10 meters per round, soaring as high above the ground as he wishes. At this point, Maw is required to spend vitality points as per the Move Object skill.

*Boltrunians are a near-Human species.

**Maw has built his own lightsaber.

Boc the Crude

The Twi'leks have a respectable legacy of heroism: Tottdon'eeta, New'arforrth, Siolo'urmanka, and Aaylas'ecura are all Jedi heroes championed in song on their Ryloth homeworld. But Ryloth has also produced its share of bad seeds, among them such disgraceful Twi'leks as Kopecz, Orn Free Taa, Reess Kairn, and Bib Fortuna. Boc may have been inspired by the former, but he is remembered among the latter.

Though born Force-sensitive, circumstances would prevent Bocas'eca from becoming a Jedi. Ryloth's assigned Jedi scout, the Twi'lek Anoon Bondara, was killed the year Boc was born, and his Force-sensitivity went unnoticed until much later, when the Human Jedi Nejaa Halcyon deemed Boc too old for training. Familiar with the stories of Twi'lek warriors such as Tott Doneeta and Newar Forrth, Boc felt cheated out of his destiny.

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Boc learned all that he could about these heroes, such as how the invincible Tott had battled hordes of darksiders in the Old Sith Wars, or how Newar of the Nercathi clan led the Third Legion of Light to victory at the cost of his own life in one of Ruusan's seven battles, his pyre ashes crystallized and shaped into three idols in his likeness. Gifted with a rare power, Boc used the Force to read the impressions from these idols and access fragments of Newar's memory. Boc was fascinated by the grisly images he saw of Jedi victory at Malrev IV and Ruusan, and he felt more determined than ever to become a Jedi warrior.

However, when the Empire rose up, so did alien prejudice and the Twi'lek slave trade. Boc became the manservant of the pitiless bigot Vice-Admiral Terrinald Screed. When Inquisitor Jerec came across the Force-sensitive Boc, he demanded that Screed hand him over for execution, but Jerec didn't kill the Twi'lek. Instead, he ripped the information about Ruusan from Boc's mind. Taking the Twi'lek as a slave, Jerec rewarded Boc's strength in the Force with a brutal indentured servitude, a cruel quasi-apprenticeship that naturally exacerbated Boc's hatred toward Humans. But in the end, Boc emerged a Jedi after all -- a Dark Jedi.

Boc's treacherous lightsaber skills escalated in direct proportion to his mounting malice. Boc often duped opponents into believing he wielded one unreasonably fat lightsaber, later splitting the modified weapon into two separate fire brands and launching into an awkward but deadly imitation of Jedi Forrth's two-bladed Jar'Kai style.

The copycat tactic ultimately didn't help him, however. Upon meeting Kyle Katarn, Boc smashed the lightsaber Master Qu Rahn had given to Kyle. But Kyle later used Yun's lightsaber to end Boc's Jedi dreams, cutting the Twi'lek down at the foot of a statue honoring Newar Forrth in the Valley of the Jedi.

Boc: Male Twi'lek Force Adept 4/Dark Side Marauder 6; Init +3; Defense 20 (+3 Dex, +7 class); Spd 10 m; VP/WP 84/16; Atk +11/+6/+1 melee (2d8+2/19–20, lightsaber) or +12/+7/+2 ranged; SQ Low-light vision; SV Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +6, SZ M; FP 3; DSP 9; Rep 3; Str 15, Dex 16, Con 15, Int 13, Wis 11, Cha 8. Challenge Code E.

Equipment: Modified lightsaber (2).

Skills: Hide +4, Intimidate +7, Jump +5, Knowledge (history) +4, Knowledge (Sith lore) +5, Read/Write Ryl, Speak Basic, Speak Lekku, Speak Ryl, Spot +6, Tumble +5.

Force Skills: Battlemind +13, Enhance Ability +9, Fear +7, Force Defense +6, Force Strike +8.

Feats: Ambidexterity, Force-Sensitive, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (lightsaber), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Niman Mastery, Power Attack, Two-Weapon Fighting, Martial Artist, Skill Emphasis (Battlemind), Weapon Group Proficiency (blaster pistols, blaster rifles, primitive weapons, simple weapons, vibro weapons).

Force Feats: Alter, Control, Lightsaber Defense, Psychometry, Sense.