Lightsaber

The Lightsaber is perhaps the most iconic weapon in Star Wars. Fans of Star Wars have attempted to swing Star Wars as a Space Age Sci-Fi when it's in actuality (still something of a sci-fi) more of a space age fantasy story - The Lightsaber is clear evidence of this, being essentially a sword that fuses concepts of magic and science - the only real confusion here is though, that it's scientifically impossible.

Wookiepedia has a great article on Lightsabers, but here I'm presenting some setting changes to the lightsaber that are in effect in all of my games.

How it works
The Lightsaber has several important parts that work together to produce a blade of plasma.

The lightsaber uses a high powered laser beam that shoots through the saber's crystal chamber, and through the focusing lens.

The lightsaber carries a very small power supply, capable only of producing enough power to produce extremely small bursts of laser, meaning the laser beam itself isn't designed to be part of the actual weapon, but merely part of the ignition sequence. The lightsaber holds an emitter matrix that produces a magnetic field, and disables this magnetic field when the saber comes into contact with certain objects, but the field is only disabled in small bursts.

It's not normally possible to create a magnetic field shaped like a pipe with pointed edge, but this is where the psionic crystals enter the picture. When energized, the psionic crystals warps the realm of what is physically possible, for just a second, allowing the magnetic field to take an impossible shape - and once created, the field remains intact, despite the emitter flutters.

The air trapped inside the magnetic field is quickly turned into plasma because of the energy beam that projects directly towards the edge of the saber, and combined with the effect of the emitter matrix, this is what allows the saber to actually cut objects, as the heat from the plasma escapes. This also means that the plasma inside cools down, and some of it escapes, replaced with small amounts of air from outside (nearly abysmal amounts), requiring re-ignition. Every time the saber makes contact with something, it causes a new laser burst inside the blade, making the distinct sound effect of lightsabers clashing.

Lightsabers and liquid
Lightsabers and liquid are time old enemies - alone the fact that liquid can get inside the saber, ruining it, is half the work of creating a functional hilt design, because even ordinary moist will upset the delicate setting of the saber, but liquid, especially water, has proven a much more considerable foe for lightsaber wielders.

The emitter matrix causes a flutter of the magnetic field, allowing the plasma inside a chance to escape - Eventually this results in the plasma escaping and cooling down inside the field, requiring another burst of laser energy.

A lightsaber submerged in water causes a complete overload of the emitter matrix and will short out the energy cell, if only momentarily (as modern sabers have built in circuits that can detect an impending overload).

The work around for this is easy, simply requiring the emitter matrix to have a secondary setting that ignores certain types of liquid (most frequently water). This, however, does lower the output of the saber, making it slightly weaker as the cutting power is reduced.

One might initially think that it would be a problem to ignite a lightsaber underwater as well, but that isn't the case - the lightsaber doesn't require air in order to be able to fuction, any substance that will heat up from an attempted ignition will form into plasma inside the saber's magnetic field, and water will do just fine - though other liquids may not work due to requiring too high temperatures to become plasma, or they may at best take longer before the blade actually forms, expending more energy.

Lightsabers and vacuum
Seeing as lightsabers require some sort of substance to form a blade, the vacuum of space, and in some cases an artificial vacuum or a vacuum in other locations, will of course prevent the use of lightsabers - unless of course the user had a contingency for such matters.

One easy way to avoid these problems would simply be igniting the saber before leaving a space craft (assuming we're talking about a vacuum in space), which would allow the blade to function at optimal rate for at least a good while.

That doesn't always cut it though, so other measures have been invented - and many rely on these methods now, more than they would on prior means. Certain gas-types, especially isotopes of common gasses, have proven especially good for plasma conversion.

A gas expands upon being converted into plasma, and gas follows the rules of osmosis, meaning it will spread.

This means that if a small canister of compact gas was kept inside the lightsaber hilt, the lightsaber would not need rely on an atmosphere to be able to ignite - and actually the performance of the blade would be solid, and not depending on surroundings or other variables that are difficult to control.

It's not as easy as just installing a canister though - trying to fill the lightsaber with gas requires extra circuitry and a pump that can monitor the pressure inside the magnetic field, within nano-seconds as well as it being capable of communicating with the emitter matrix, letting it know to allow excess gass to escape - lest the hilt would explode rather than a blade form.

Extremely small amounts of gas would be required to form a reliable plasma blade, if done this way, and most modern light sabers utilize this technology.

Deflecting attacks
At this point, one might realize just how much trouble it is to make a lightsaber, even though it's basically just a slightly more impressive vibroblade.

The real saving grace of the weapon (pun intended), is it's mystical ability to deflect, practically any incoming physical attacks. The powerful crystals inside the saber causes it to deflect most objects that approach it, which is actually through to be a defensive mechanism of the crystal itself, leaving some to wonder of the crystals actually are sentient - though studies have no suggested that they are.

Plasma bolts, laser beams and any physical psionic attack can be deflected with the saber, some of them can even be reflected back at the opponent, with some luck or practice.

Certain projectiles can even be reflected, but this functions more akin to how a baseball batter strikes a ball, and this is of course, provided that the projectile doesn't melt upon contact with the plasma blade.

The ability from the crystal is not only found when using a crystal in conjunction with a lightsaber - in fact, other devices seem capable of harnessing this power, through other somewhat scientific means, but these are even more obscure.

The lightsaber was invented as an answer to armor technology eventually surpassing most readily available personal weapons, and the discovery of the deflecting capabilities were purely serendipitous, as the real goal was inventing a melee weapon with the effects of a plasma blaster.

Damage to a saber
When a saber is damaged, in most cases, modern sabers are so advanced, that upon ignition, they run a diagnostic within less than a nano-second, and then either turn on or refuse to do so, giving an error message through small flashes of a diode somewhere on the hilt.

In rare cases, or more frequently with older sabers, the hilt may simply malfunction and at best short out, or at worst explode.

Hilt explosions are rarely very serious, but usually renders the lightsaber nearly salvageable.

Vital components
The lense is the mos vulnurable component, requiring the very tip of the lightsaber to be formed of very durable material, as the lense, for protective purposes, must be set fairly deep in the emitter.

Commonly the emitter is made from a lightsaber resistant material, such as durasteel, which is incredibly heavy and very difficult to work into small shapes, requiring a lot of effort, and basically for the emitter to be entirely handmade as one of few parts of a lightsaber.

You've probably often thought about why the fighters in a lightsaber duel didn't just let the blade glide down and destroy the the other's lightsaber - and this is why. Durasteel can be cut by a lightsaber, but only through prolonged exposure.

The emitter matrix is difficult to destroy, but also some of the most delicate to tamper with. Fortunately, by now, droids used by lightsaber artisans have specialized in optimizing the emitter settings. Otherwise, the emitter matrix is pretty difficult to mess with, but will most likely be the first thing to encounter a new limitation, given an unfamiliar situation.

The crystal chamber can contain several crystals - there is actually not necessarily a limit to how many, but this is also a fairly delicate matter. The crystal settings can easily be upset and apart from someone extremely gifted with the right tools and mechanical aids, only a psionic can detect a problem in the crystal settings.

The gas canister isn't found in all lightsabers, but in most. If it runs out of gas, which it will of course eventually do, it can only be used within an atmosphere.

If the power cell runs out of juice, the saber can actually still be activated - but only through mysterious means.

Color of the blade
Plasma assumes a different color depending on what gas it's made from, atmospheric conditions, pressure and temperature - Though while the blade color of a lightsaber is heavily dependent on all of these conditions too, the crystal within the saber actually produces a color in the saber, which is most often the same color, or a bi-product of the colors of the multiple crystals inside the blade.

Some species perceive light in different ways than humans, and some atmospheres produce completely different colors than we have on earth, but a normal PIDU unit will automatically attempt to sync with what is considered the species "standard" - it's therefor rare to have completely differing ideas of the blade color of a lightsaber, if it's been seen at two different locations, but the nuances might vary, and someone with a blue lightsaber might find that his saber looks violet, teal or in some rare cases, a completely different color, when seen on a planet with a very different composition.

The center of the blade is always white, and it was long speculated why, but as it would turn out, the psionic energies in the saber apparently traps the laser beam used to ignite the plasma, however, the laser beam cannot remain a laser beam and becomes an angular trapped beam of light incapable of doing anything but serving as a nice torch.

Length, width and stability of the blade
Everything about the lightsaber blade is decided by the crystal in reality - it's length and width are decided by the way the crystal is cut and it's size. It's a small science in it's own.

While the saber can start out wide and become more narrow towards the end, so far, the reverse has not proven possible. A saber blade cannot be bent nor in any way deviate from straight lines, excepting the very edge, whis is actually pointed. It's possible to make the edge more rounded, which is often done with training sabers, to make them less lethal.

Training sabers on purpose use gas that becomes plasma even under extremely light pressure and temperature, meaning they have no cutting power and on top of that throws up a very powerful magnetic field that doesn't let anything pass. Despite this, a pointed magnetic field can still stab someone or poke out an eye!

The integrity of the blade, is determined by the integrity of the crystal, and it's surface.

A crystal with good integrity produces a stable blade - typically a worn saber will produce a slightly more rippling blade (Anakin's/Luke's lightsaber in the original version of episode 4) and a crystal with cracks in the surface will produce an outright fluttering blade (Kylo Ren).

If the surface is left unpolished, the blade will become compact and will seem dimmed - a polished crystal will glow very brightly and cast a bright blade.

The blade width can also be regulated by cutting the crystal differently, again - this is a minor science in it's own right.

Maintenance of a lightsaber
A lightsaber frequently needs replacement of various easily replaced parts. These include, but are not limited to: Circuitry, wiring, the lens and the power cell.

A lightsaber that hasn't had maintenance done in a while, which has seen regular use, is in ranger of shorting out. While a huge danger if it happens in combat, it's not really that big of a problem otherwise, as it poses no danger to the saber's integrity otherwise.

A lightsaber that is left unused for a while will eventually suffer minor damages as well, including but not limited to: drained power cells, matted lens and perhaps (in rare cases) rust.

Building a Lightsaber
Only a Psionic can build a lightsaber, because only a psionic can adjust the crystal and the emitter matrix in correct relation with each other.

Building a lightsaber often involves simply installing the components in a prefabricated hilt, perhaps after making some customization to the hilt, this is why many Jedi end up with nearly identical lightsabers (notice how General Grevious actually wields 4 lightsabers that are in fact nearly identical to lightsabers wielded by other people, one of which being Obi-Wan Kenobi, whom he is fighting in that scene).

The Sith used the same method, and through the ages, many lightsaber hilt designs have come into existence, often the lightsaber artisans find that there is a bit of a tend to it, some types of hilt seeing a spike in popularity during certain times, over others.

Of course it's important to pick the right hilt, a stocky hilt might be a poor choice for someone with small hands and vice versa, but it mostly comes down to personal preference.

Lightsaber Crystal
A lightsaber crystal is a crystal that has formed around midichlorians. Studies prove that midichlorians seem to travel more or less unhindered, towards each other when their host dies.

They cannot simply inhabit a new host, as they lack both the motivation to do so as well as the the freedom to so - midichlorians continue believing they are in fact their host, even after death, but many of them are not fully conscious as their former host would not have reached a state of enlightenment allowing them to function in a "midichlorian state".

Midichlorians, for the same reason, flock together, and fuse with the soil, resulting in crystal formations.

Lightsaber crystals, as mentioned, are capable pf performing psionic feats if urged to do so. The urging can happen through scientific means or through psionic manipulation. Crystals are difficult to destroy, as they protect themselves, making them very hardy. They can get cracked or even chipped though.

The color of a crystal depends on the minerals in the soil they form in. Crystals from Ilum were commonly green or blue and rarely yellow, where as crystals from Korriban were most commonly red, but sometimes yellow, orange or violet.

At times crystals could be found in other locations, in different colors, there being practically no limit (apart from anything matte or outright dark).

Lightsaber types
There are many different lightsaber types, all suited for different combat styles.

Standard lightsaber
Also known as a straight hilt or a plain lightsaber, these lightsabers have always been the most common.

Most lightsaber fighting styles are designed to work with a plain saber, and many lightsaber modifications and upgrades function best on a plain saber - how ever, the plain saber, while versatile, lacks a specific area in which it excels over the other types.

Polesaber
The polesaber, saber staff or double-bladed saber, is in reality just two straight hilt lightsabers fused together. The style associated with the Polesaber was Sun Djem.

The obvious advantage of the Polesaber, is the ability to switch between the versatility of a standard saber, and the offensive power of having two blades, by carrying only a single (very large and unhandy) weapon.

The Polesaber was commonly used by those who couldn't afford to spend too much time training the finer arts of complicated lightsabrer styles, but still needed an edge in combat - such as Jedi Sages and Sith Sorcerers.

The polesaber was generally not a popular choice with others however, as the long hilt was somewhat cumbersome to carry around, and not easy to conceal at all.

They were also expensive, considering that twice the amount of components were needed to make them work.

Curved Saber
The Curved Saber hilt is specialized for the Makashi style, which is focused on more elegant wrist moves, and generally a more calculated and reaction based combat style, needing extreme agility.

The curved hilt obviously still has a straight blade, the only real difference is that the hilt is curved - which is done by making the emitter very compact and moving it very close to where the blade sprouts. A lot of the parts in a lightsaber do not need to project directly straight, but the parts that do can fit in the front end of the saber.

Lightsaber Pike
The Lightsaber Pike was used by some Honor Guards in various institutions through out the galaxy, usually a symbol of meager psionic potential. The Pike was entirely useless when it came to lightsaber combat styles - Except the style Sun Djem, which is used for Pole Sabers.

The Saber-Pike is incredibly heavy due to being made from lightsaber resistant material, which of course means that being struck by the blunt end of the staff is like being mauled with a club.

The Saber-Pike has been subject to numerous attempts of modifications, trying to use the saber-pike as a frame to build a rifle around, or combining it with a vibro weapon at the blunt end to make it more lethal are common methods.

Shoto Saber
A Shoto is a one handed, and shorter, lightsaber - used either by very small individuals as if it was full-sized, or as an off-hand weapon by Jar'kai users.

A shoto is often considered a back-up weapon, many might wonder why they're even made, and if it isn't a waste of crystal.

When the possibility of making a dual-phase full-size saber has been around for as long as it has, it does leave one to wonder why indeed, but the answer is rooted in times when lightsaber crystals were very rare, and finding crystals big enough to make a full-size blade was not something taken for granted - further more, with crystals being so rare, it was wasteful to hoard the few crystals around that could be used to make a full size saber.

Shotos, as backup and off-hand weapons, were by the Jedi not considered as personal as the main weapon, and Jedi were buried without them, meaning that there would be quite a few shoto sabers available to the Knights in need, within the order.

The Shoto saber can be used in tight quarters where a full sized blade can't be wielded, but it used to mainly be a means for less experienced Knights to gain an advantage in melee combat, without having to master a melee style, during a time where lightsaber duels were not exactly common.

Great Saber
The traditional great saber comes with a long hilt, which is because the Great Saber was invented by lightsaber users of abnormally large size, who wielded them like ordinary sabers.

The Great Saber become moderately popular among other users of normal size, many of whom kept the longer hilt, the reason being that the only fighting style that takes full advantage of a great saber, namely Djem So, makes use of the longer hilt in creative ways, while clumsy and seemingly redundant, the longer hilt serves a purpose.

The term "great saber" originally referred to a saber with a longer blade, but this function is now widely available through phase technology, and so the name now refers to a saber with a longer hilt, even though this isn't necessarily a guarantee that the saber will have a longer blade too.

Force Sabers
Force Sabers take advantage of the fact, that the crystals necessary to build a lightsaber, are technically psionic in nature. While the crystals seem to behave a certain way, when certain things are done to them, science only goes so far as of yet with these crystals - however a psionic who has become attuned to certain crystals can sometimes make them do things. Force Sabers are built on that notion, allowing a psionic to form an energy blade from multiple crystals. The energy necessary to ignite the blade, and may other components of the weapon simply are absent in these more or less "magical swords". They do not even have a focusing lens.

These weapons are notoriously demanding to use, and require an abundance of resources, and are not even necessarily more effective than their normal counterparts, but they were precursors.

Protosaber
Interestingly, the protosaber has seen something of a comeback as the lightsaber has started gaining popularity for certain tasks, requiring abundances of energy and gas for plasma, such as cutting through a durasteel hull on a ship in space. The more modern adaptations are really just an optional installation for an intake in a normal lightsaber, and a carried battery pack and gas canister.

The protosabers of old existed, not because there weren't good enough energy cells available, but because the emitter matrix wasn't advanced enough to work with a magnetic field that defied the laws of physics yet, and as such, it wasted enormous amounts of plasma at all times, meaning protosabers could realistically only be used within an atmosphere, and only with a belt, or back mounted battery pack, lest they were only able to keep active for a minute or so.

Still, a duelist who had confidence in his abilities might unplug his saber and see how far the internal batteries got him.

Lightfoil
Also known as an artificial lightsaber, lightfoils can also only be created by a psionic, and it's doubly true in this case, because the crystals for a lightfoil are artificially created. Normally, lightfoils have white blades, because the artificial crystals do not have a natural colour, but science has long since overcome this obstacle, making it possible to create colored artificial crystals.

Lightfoils have slimmer blades than normal sabers, making them look more akin to rapiers in comparison - the blades are also somewhat weaker.

Lightfoils require differently adjusted parts. It's possible to create a hilt with working parts, that can be converted from foil to saber very quickly, but the transition will never be flawless. Most lightfoils do not harbor such ambitions though.

Lightsaber modifications
These are modifications found on some lightsabers. The, in some cases, drastically change the way the lightsaber works or appears.

Overcharged Blade
A blade overcharge modification requires an external extra power cell. The reason the cell is external, is so it can quickly be replaced in case one needs to overcharge again. Over charging requires plasma vents, which is a cross-guard upgrade - alternatively, more advanced technology is necessary.

Overcharging the blade results in there being too much plasma inside the magnetic field, causing it to leak out as the field flutters. This will leave plasma burns on the victim, applying the traditional damage effect of a plasma weapon to a lightsaber, making it effective against even those who are armored against lightsabers.

Blade Flangs
Blade Flangs are protrusions of sorts that exist close to the emitter on the lightsaber, made often of durasteel, protecting the hand of the one who wields the saber.

Blade flangs serve no purpose other than affording protection against a blade-slide, aiming to damage the lightsaber or the hands of the one wielding it.

The Jedi mainly made protective blade flangs, but the Sith found a different purpose for them entirely, using them to actually increase their offensive value - adding spiked or sharp flangs enabled the sith to sometimes wound their opponent in a blade slide even if the opponent had defensive blade flangs.

Plasma Vents
Plasma Vents are traditionally shaped as cross-guards - but it's possible to install a plasma venting system that doesn't look like cross-guards.

Only the plasma vents that look like cross-guards actually have a positive function other than allowing an overcharge - and in order to install cross-guard vents, it's necessary to installe cross-guard shaped defensive blade flangs first, and modify them to function as plasma vents - this is because only durasteel could withstand the heat of constant venting plasma.

Solidified Cross-Guards
Solidified Cross-guards casts an additional magnetic field around the vented plasma flames of a regular plasma vent cross-guard exhaust, making them blades in their own right. They normally come with a button to toggle the magnetic field on and off.

The advantage of having the cross-guards solidified is that the plasma venting can happen outside an atmosphere, and that the cross-guards can actually parry a lightsaber blow, which would otherwise just pass through the vented plasma.

There is no real disadvantage, other than this being fairly expensive technology required, and requiring a power crystal, and then of course, it's not possible for the cross-guards to remain solidified during an overcharge.

Additional blade-phases
A lightsaber's length is determined by the crystal - but small adjustments can be made without replacing or even cutting the crystal, and most hilts have either internal or even external buttons that are for this purpose. These adjustments are enough that a saber can be shared between two users, without one experiencing that the saber is too short or such.

However, in order to achieve a significant reduction- or increase in blade length, a phase modification is needed. The tricky part is by no means installing the phase option - it's a simple modification, which is why it's so common - but rather, the vital component is an additional crystal. The blade simply switches between several available pre-installed and pre-attuned crystals to instantly switch between blade lengths.

In the Old Republic era, finding crystal caverns so packed full that acquiring a crystal shard capable of producing many lightsaber crystals was not exactly detectives work, and as such, most people who had lightsabers with this modifications used crystals produced from the same shard, but earlier it was uncommon to find enough crystals to even produce one lightsaber, and as such it was almost unheard of that someone had a phase lightsaber with same coloured crystals on their blade settings.

Various ignition switch options
The most common option is the held switch - this is because dropping an ignited lightsaber can be very dangerous, and as such, most agree that having a "deadman switch" is a good option.

The deadman switch can prove difficult to work with under some circumstances, and others may want a toggle-switch that leaves the lightsaber ignited.

It's of course possible to combine these options, the most common option being a held switch and a slide-switch that cannot be toggled unless the blade is already ignited, thus keeping the held switch pressed down. This option is very popular.

Another option is the internal activation - this requires intimate knowledge of the saber's construction, and can only be activated by a psionic with fair mastery of both the art of scrying and telekinesis.

Used mainly by Jedi Masters and Sith Lords who didn't want their pesky apprentices to assassinate them in their sleep, this option places the activation button on the inside of the hilt, and for obvious reasons, it's a toggle switch, as no one can afford the loss of concentration necessary to hold down a button using their psionic powers, while also in a situation where they might need a lightsaber.

Some decide to install a safe-guard option instead, having an internal toggle button on the inside that unlocks an external activation method, allowing the owner of the weapon to quickly disable the saber.

Hilt fusing
Fusing the hilt of a lightsaber with either another lightsaber hilt, or with an entirely different object is a simple matter that any weapon technician can perform, requiring no particular skill with lightsabers.

Some have fused a shoto into a rifle, to acquire a saber bayonet, others have fused two sabers together to make a polesaber, or fused a shoto to a straight hilt, to produce a Great Saber (an inadvertently created, perhaps the most awkward polesaber in history at the same time) or fused a lightsaber into a suit of armor - power armor often being the classic choice here, as with such armor on it'd be impossible to effectively draw and wield a lightsaber.

Hilt fusing is considered unorthodox and is widely uncommon - the vast majority of all people who ever lived and owned a lightsaber, never owned more than one through out their entire life time, and the majority of these people were either Jedi or Sith, having no real need of additional weaponry.

Basic styles
The Basic Styles do not really allow the user to do anything they couldn't already do with normal weapons - the only thing that the basic styles enable, is the usage of lightsabers while performing feats already learned.

Shi-Cho: Required to learn any of the other styles (including Jar'kai). Shi-cho style is basically just an extension of normal swordsman training, to also adhere to lightsabers. Shi-cho allows the user to count as "trained" with lightsabers. In the lightsaber journal entry, there is a passage written about what happens if one isn't trained with lightsabers an attempts to use them.

Requires: Combat Training: Longsword

Jar'kai/Sun Djem: Jar'kai is the art of dual-wielding lightsabers - Sun Djem is the art of wielding a saber staff. Jar'kai/Sun Djem doesn't offer any bonuses, except allowing the user to dual wield/wield a saber staff with no penalties.

Sun Djem counts as dual-wielding still, but only adheres to double-weapons.

When dual-wielding, you add 50% of the damage from the smaller (less damaging weapon) rounded up, any effects from either of the weapons applies in full to all attacks you make, as long as you are dual wielding.

You may also split your attack pool in two, allowing you to attack the same target twice, or two different targets. Attack pool must be split evenly (rounded down), and the weapon damage is also split and divided (rounded down).

When dual-wielding without the appropriate merits, 1's subtract, 10's are not re-rolled, and the added damage is rounded down, further more, only effects from the weapon wielded in the main-hand apply.

Jar'kai/Sun Djem cannot be combined with Soresu or Djem-So. Only in limited form, may Jar'kai be combined with Makashi (only the dual-wielding variant).

Requires: Shi-Cho and Combat Training: Dual-wielding merit or Combat Training: Double-Weapon merit.

Melee styles
The Melee styles center around dueling and crowd-control. While one can argue, that a person trained with the basic styles can

Makashi/Djem-So: Makashi and Djem-So are styles developed for dueling.

Makashi and Djem-So, are mechanically the same, with some minor exceptions.

Makashi allows the user to use agility only, instead of MAV, and when using a curved-hilt lightsaber*, the user gains 9 again on attack rolls. Uniquely, it's possible for a Makashi user, to combine Jar'kai when dual-wielding two sabers, and Makashi, if the other weapon is a shoto.

*Bear in mind that curved-hilt lightsabers do not function with most other styles.

Djem-So can optionally allow the wielder - if using a straight-hilt saber, to rely purely on strength instead of MAV. Further more, Djem-So users can still use Djem-So when using a lightsaber that is longer than normal.

Djem-so is for the most part, inferior to Makashi, but seeing as it isn't relying on a curved-hilt saber, it still allows the user to benefit from the mastery of additional styles.

Makashi/Djem-So allows the user to perform the riposte attack option, for free.

Alternatively, if the makashi/Djem-So user has entered full-defense, the Makashi/Djem-So user can, at any time he/she would have otherwise been allowed to riposte, make a free feint-attack (doesn't deal damage, but lowers defense).

Djem-So II: When using a "greatsword" lightsaber, you gain 9 again on damage. When using a normal lightsaber, you can still act as if having reach (normally a feature attributed to greatsword lightsabers), due to having learned how to properly use the full lenght of the lightsaber.

Makashi II: The second dot of Makashi allows the user to quick-draw, ready and fire(attack with) a secondary weapon, that the user is also trained with, optionally holster said weapon and ready main weapon for attack, if it isn't already - all in one action for one action point and one willpower.

Djem-so/makashi III: The third dot of Makashi/Djem-So allows the user to subtract their dots in Djem-So from the penalties to strike a specific target - but this only works for striking specific targets on the opponents body and doesn't include their hands and weapons - it's not a disarming technique, but a technique to bypass armor or render the opponent defenseless.

Djem-So/Makashi IV: The fourth dot of Djem-So/Makashi allows the user to, by spending an action point, use a force power as an attack, when the force power would normally have been a full-round action.

Djem-So/Makashi V: The fifth dot of Djem-So/Makashi is called "Warding strikes". When the Djem-So user goes all out, he can spend one action point to activate this power, and in turn, despite going all out, against a single designated target, against whom all the user's attacks must be directed against, the attack with the highest amount of successes will function as a replacement for defense against. Unlike normal defense, the successes do not subtract from the additional damage the opponent can potentially do, the opponent can simply not hit the user unless the opponent scores more successes on an attack than the user did on their highest attack.

Requires: Shi-Cho, melee 3 and either strength 3 or agility 3.

Shien: Shien is a chaotic style, that carries it's user through battle by making the user unpredictable, and unreadable.

Shien allows the user to fend off multiple attackers, in so far that, in regards to melee attacks, the shien user's base defense always is at a minimum of 1.

Further more, the Shien user can attack outside of initiative at any point AFTER the first turn during an initiative roster has been created (the shien user cannot use this to ultimately cheat in the initiative order!).

Shien can be combined with Jar'Kai and Makashi (if off-hand is shoto), but cannot be used with Sun Djem.

Shien II: You can now skirmish on the battle-field - there are no restrictions on when you need to have taken your movements - note that you still provoke attacks of opportunity if you pass through TWO threaten fields of the same opponent, but you no longer do if you only pass through one.

Shien III: You can split your attack pool in as many bits as you have agility, but the splits must be even and rounded down. The weapon damage is also split evenly and rounded down. If using Jar'kai or Sun-Djem, then you round up on both values instead!

Shien IV: Even when you're out of action points, you may ALWAYS perform attacks of opportunity. If an opponent for some reason lose their defense, you may spend an action point and attack out of initiative, like with Shien I after a successful defense move.

Shien V: Spend a WP to prevent melee attacks from lowering your defense, for the duration of the battle - Unless the battle greatly changes character. This only works when using Shien - If using Juyo or Niman, it's one WP per round you intend to keep up this effect. Cannot be combined with full-defense or going all-out!

Requires: Shi-Cho, Time 2, melee 3

Ranged styles
Ataru: Snipers were horribly ineffective against Jedi, because the Jedi sensed that they were about to come under attack, and react fast enough to dodge bullets. That doesn't mean that the Jedi immediately knew how to fight back when under fire though. Ataru form was developed to help Jedi dispatch a marksman who had the drop on the Jedi.

Ataru allows to the user to perform a free "riposte" move against a ranged opponent, but using the damage of the shooter (unless the shooter is using a weapon that cannot have it's projectiles redirected by lightsaber), and further more, allows the Ataru user to move it's speed in meters, every time it has successfully defended against an incoming ranged attack.

The Ataru user may forego either the move action or the riposte, in order to be allowed to perform an acrobatic act (athletics roll or such) and may - at own discretion, use the force to enhance aforementioned action.

Ataru can be combined with anything - but cannot be used if the user has only a Shoto - nor if ther user's saber is longer than ordinary.

Ataru II: You've learned how to roll with the damage, allowing you to do a dexterity+athletics roll, to try to "negate" damage you've received. This costs an action point, but can negate any kind of damage.

Ataru III: You leap out of harms way, and may do this action outside of initiative. As with the dot 2 ability, it costs an action point and is done the same way, but this essentially counts as an additional defence roll, giving you two chances to avoid an attack. It costs 1 wp in addition, as it can be used to counter act an enemy attack, even after it essentially connected.

Ataru IV: Reverse of dot 3, you leap in to defend someone else, putting yourself in harms way. Anyone who is within twice your speed, that you could feasibly get to, you can leap to the defence of, allowing you to roll defence on behalf of others. This can be done outside of initiative.

Ataru V: You've mastered the art of throwing your lightsaber, a difficult technique. Abilities 4 and 1 are now possible to do at range - In ability one, you can throw you lightsaber at someone as a riposte, using your own lightsaber damage, even at range. Ability 4 allows you to defend someone who is outside of your range.

Requires: Shi-cho, energy 2, time 2, melee 3, athletics 3 and base speed of 10

Soresu: Ataru was a great help when there was a single marksman, or a few gunmen, not working together properly, but when facing a trained unit of soldiers, the Ataru form was no longer sufficient for the Jedi to stay alive - Soresu how ever, made that possible.

When using Soresu, the user always has a minimum base defense of 1 against ranged attacks.

Further more, the Soresu user can, after successfully defending against a ranged attack, make a full attack (provided the user has the action points) against the same (or an immediately adjacent target), using the damage of the shooter's weapon - and can do this outside of initiative (entirely!).

Soresu can be combined with Sun Djem, but is incompatible with curved-hilt sabers or Jar'kai.

Soresu II: You subtract your dots in Soresu from the penalty to target an opponents weapon or what ever limb they're using to attack you with - Tactical lightsaber disarm (literally)! This is the only power from Soresu, that isn't entirely focused on melee vs. ranged attacks - this power also works against melee opponents.

Soresu III: You become immune to suppressive fire and aiming offers no bonus to hit you. In addition, as long as you refrain from attacking anyone, you can use your weapon damage from your lightsaber as a concealment bonus (penalty to hit) versus ranged attacks.

Soresu IV: Anyone who is within 1 move action of your current position, you can roll defense on behalf of - which doesn't prevent them from also rolling defense. The successes are added to each other. Only works against ranged attacks.

Soresu V: You spend one WP to prevent your melee defense from lowering from ranged attacks, for the duration of the battle, unless the battle greatly changes character. This cannot be combined with going all-out or full-defense. This only works when using Soresu. If using Niman, the cost is one WP per round this effect is upheld.

Requirements: Space 1, time 2, melee 2, Shi-cho

Advanced Styles
Juyo

Juyo is a very aggressive style the attempts to be the ultimate dueling style, but ultimately would fall short of the damage output found in Jar'Kai/So Djem or the raw efficiency in Makashi. Because very few people had the ferocity and confidence to utilize the original principles of Juyo, which were too demanding, the style is rarely taught.

Juyo allows the combination of Ataru and Shien, as well as Djem-So.

Requires: Djem-So, Ataru and Shien, melee 4.

Niman

Niman is the "master of all styles" - Practically impossible to master, though obviously, it's mantle has acquired it a large - and growing number of students.

Mastering Niman, is considered in a similar way as having a black-belt in "lightsaber", and only Weapon Masters and the Jedi Order's Battle-Master are known practitioners and guaranteed to master this art.

Niman allows the user to combine all of the styles, with some restrictions: Makashi is too recent a style to be usable with Niman, that instead is based on Juyo principles - though considerably less agressive.

Niman still doesn't allow the combination of styles that are listed as incompatible.

Requires: Melee 4, Juyo.

Lightsabers in the Old Republic
In the Old Republic era, Lightsabers were fairly common.

At the pinnacle of the various psionic orders in this Era, lightsabers were so common that they could at times even be found as memorabilia among the possessions of commoners, though for the majority of the era, ownership of these weapons were highly restricted.

Nearing the end of the Old Republic Era, lightsabers were rarer than they had been for hundreds of years.

Lightsabers during the Zakuul Era
During the Zakuul Era, the number of lightsaber wielders was at a lowpoint, but lightsabers were once more very common and widespread.

Post Scream Era
Following the scream, almost all lightsabers had lost their ability to function. A few lightsabers survived the scream, for various reasons - most of which included them having some sort of shielding or pure luck.

Most of the lightsabers that survived the scream would eventually short out, and the vast majority of people who were capable of repairing them were dead.

A few managed to track down the, now incredibly rare, crystals needed to make new sabers and successfully make new sabers, other's salvaged parts from the many broken lightsabers to repair the ones that had merely shorted out, some would learn how to create artificial crystals and some learned entirely different techniques to craft new lightsabers - the so called neo-lightsabers, signature weapons of the Morabani Marauders.