Time for another report with a little information on some big topics, and a lot of information on the day to day. I’ll go over some changes to availability of lightsabers and clarify on their use, discuss the common shortcomings of many Character Sheets I’ve seen submitted over the past few months, touch on how things are going on the possessions front, talk about what’s going on with the new system and pending GJW plot as well go over some competitions that have completed and current opportunities.

A quick note on some ongoing projects big and small within the Voice staff that I won’t go into too much depth on are: Space Combat systems for the ACC, updated Hand to Hand Guide (Wally), overhaul of the Writing Department in the Shadow Academy managed by the Headmaster but with Voice staff support, updating the Wiki for Order/Path/Tradition information--much of which is already in the Shadow Academy and some other proposals on how to bring opportunities to write to the membership. These are all being worked on, so if you want more information on any specific topic, let me know and I can loop you in. here isn’t much else to present out here in its current status, however.

Also for the other important part of the Voice team, check out the Combat Master reportfor information on the ACC and on-going projects.

Okay I’ll get on with it...

Lightsabers

This section will cover some changes and considerations with regard to lightsabers.

• Training & Armory Lightsaber: After some discussion on the topic, it has been decided that both the Armory and Training Lightsaber will be made available to Novitiates upon joining the DJB. This means that everyone in the entire DJB from day one will be able to wield a lightsaber.

• Lightsaber Forms: The Primary Lightsaber Form skill has been extended to Novitiate 1, formerly only available at Journeyman 1 rank. However, both Primary and Secondary Lightsaber forms are still available only to Force Users. As a reminder, a secondary form isn’t available until the Equite ranks. As far as what Lightsaber Forms can be learned, Form 0 is still the only form available until Knighthood.

• Lightsabers and Non Force Users: Lightsabers are available now to everyone in the DJB from day one, while some Form and Force amplified skill is available to Force Users. This does of course mean that Non Force Users (Mercenary and Loyalist Orders) can both carry, wield and use a lightsaber in combat, relying on their specific blunt weapon and bladed weapon skills in combat. Force users train in Forms and create a link between the Force and their weapon, so it goes beyond posture and parry and strike, and the weapon moves on instinct and as an extension of their body. Basically meaning, no Non Force Users is going to best a Force user in combat with a lightsaber, and it becomes even more insurmountable as their skill in a particular Form grows. So no deflecting blaster bolts or taking down even a basic practitioner of Makashi in direct lightsaber combat for Non Force Users, but they can still utilize the weapon.

Character Sheets

You can always go here for a good guideline on CS approvals. I’ll have some discussions below to bring to light the past few months of CS approvals.

• Weapon Loadout Remands: In this area, most remands come from adding Aspect details, and they don’t belong here. Examples like, “always goes for his lightsaber first” or “carries a sniper rifle but never uses it at range, instead preferring to use the powerful weapon point blank”, none of this belongs here. The next would be an unclear list, things like “many grenades” or “a mess of throwing knives”, or just simply listing weapons without making it clear how many. Just use numbers, make it clear so there isn’t any confusion. Possessions will replace Weapon Loadout when it comes, so for now just watch out for these things and expect push back to keep it clear.

• Physical Description Remands: In this area, like weapons, adding Aspect details is the most common reason for a remand, or in that same line of thinking, adding in unnecessary backstory. Something like “Jim has short brown hair, because he doesn’t want it getting in his eyes as he fights and doesn’t like to spend a lot of time in the morning styling it and getting it ready and prefers a simpler approach to life” is not appropriate, the only item that belongs here is “Jim has short brown hair.” The best way to think about this is, if you were just simply observing someone, what could you notice. Don’t draw conclusions about why, just stick to the descriptive facts.

• Physical Description Comments: I leave a lot of comments on CS I review, there’s a line somewhere on how much detail is too little where a remand would take place, but in general I try and provide some guidance on how to improve this section even if it isn’t in a remand. Perhaps a checklist of considerations on how to describe your character would be useful down the road, but consider things like: build/figure (small, stocky, powerful, slim), complexion (pale, dark), face (plain, soft, ugly), hair/hairdo (curled, short, pony-tail, facial hair, body hair), head/neck (round, thick), facial features (eyes, eyelids, nose, cheeks, chin, jaw, ears, lips/mouth, teeth, eyelashes, eyebrows, forehead), fingers (filthy, chubby, skeletal), arms/legs (short, stumpy, long), shoulders (thin, wide, square), marks (tattoos, scars, jewelry), gait/step (delicate, heavy), or even just general appearance of being pleasant or unpleasant to look at. Add on top of that details of attire to possibly add a description of what your character wears in general (realizing this may change story to story). I wouldn’t go into full detail on all of those, but draw out the distinguishing marks that stand out for your character and bring that into the CS. If needed, use Markdown to format sections to make it easier to digest for a reader. In the future I’m considering adding a reference guide to help that can be referred to instead of reiterating the same guidance CS after CS but I wanted to highlight it here since it continues to come up.

• Aspect Remands: There are three major reasons why these are getting remanded, but there are more, primarily needing to have a benefit and a downside to an Aspect, needing to capitalize the first letter of each word in the title, and just general proofing and grammar. There have been cases of Aspects being multiple in one which are remanded, as well as being small novels and far too long, remember it must remain under 150 words but anything over 100 can probably be looked at closely.

• Aspect Comments: It’s a good idea to review your Aspects, and then see how well they align with your chosen Skills. I’ve left comments, but never remanded, to help see how the entire CS all works together. For example, if you had an aspect “Steel Mind” where your character never showed emotion or faltered under stress in any situation and was hard to read, and you had 0 skill points in Resolve. It will be hard to realistically achieve the Aspect. That isn’t to say a character can’t just have that Aspect active as much as is allowable by the skills. I usually leave comments in this regard with suggestions but never have remanded, ultimately there could be a reason I missed on why it is that way but thinking about that type of thing helps.

• Species Remands: If you want to have a hybrid species, that’s fine. Wally has created a great example here. While the site will control what the primary species is on the CS, your secondary species must also be something you could select. However, when it comes to simply cultural background and blurring the lines into Legends, as long as it’s realistic and clear what’s going on there is room to make something work. Star Wars is a huge place. If in doubt, please feel free to ask and start a discussion if it goes into a gray area.

• It’s Cosmetic: You can have a prosthetic left side of your body, you can have a mechanical heart, you can have robot eyes, all of them function just like the organic equivalent in the DJB system. That is to say, they are purely cosmetic in nature. The same goes for any armor or armor attachments that might get listed in a Physical Description. If it’s intended to be used as a weapon with the exception of ‘your mind’ or ‘your fists’ then it goes into the Weapon Loadout where it can be more than just cosmetic in nature.

• Remember: You can have someone proof your CS (Voice staff [email:[Log in to view e-mail addresses]] or your unit leadership should be willing). You can preview your CS before submitting. Both are easy, and make the process go much more smoothly and result in a higher quality CS.

Possessions

With regards to possessions, there are multiple lists nearly complete, with more work done every day to decide what gets included, name it, describe it, cost it, give it graphics, decide on what aspects it can have, create aspects, stock them, control supply. Voice staff is primarily working on the lists themselves and descriptions and that work is well underway. Episode 7 gave new items to add to existing lists and many Legends items have had to be removed from work that began … a while ago… but it’s making good progress. Space and land vehicle lists are complete, droids is nearing completion, weapons both melee and ranged are done but need to add Episode 7 items, armor and back items are done, cybernetics and implants are done, and equipment is still a major disaster. I have lots of members helping keep this progress moving.

Plot and System

This is all still under consideration and discussion. The ultimate goal being to set everything up with regards to the new planet/system and plot out the next GJW. I don’t have any updates in this regard.

Active Competitions

• Through the Looking Glass: Captain Len Iode is running a Fiction competition where you end up meeting the character you’ve created for the DJB, and tell the story in at least 500 words. Submissions due to Feb 6th.

• Breaking the Wall: Kz'set di Plagia is running a Fiction competition where you explore the unique narritive style of breaking the fourth wall and speak to the reader. Submissions due by Feb 14th.

Competition Results

• Legends Never Die:
• 1st Place Qyreia Arronen
• 2nd Place Kah Manet

• 3rd Place Zagro Fenn

• Heroes are Made, not Born:

• 1st Place Alethia Archenksova

• 2nd Place Marcus Kiriyu

• 3rd Place Locke Sonjie

• Holiday Celebrations - You've Been Voluntold!:

• 1st Place Qyreia Arronen

• 2nd Place Mako Henymory

• 3rd Place Zagro Fenn

• Just What I've Always Wanted:

• 1st Place Qyreia Arronen

• 2nd Place Kordath Bleu d'Tana

• 3rd Place Shadow Nighthunter

• 3rd Place Leeadra Halcyon

Voice Staff Links

• Antei Combat Center
• Character Sheet Approval Guidelines
• Weapon Selection Guide
• Voice Competition Approval Guidelines
• Cluster of Ice
• Standard Fiction Grading Rubric

Cluster of Ice Requests

Organizers must send their pins and word counts (for now) to [Log in to view e-mail addresses], for Clusters of Ice to be awarded.

• Fiction Format: Pin#wordcount
• Run-On Format: Pin#wordcount#postcount

Conclusion

It’s been an exciting time with Episode 7, and now addressing how what we know now will impact the Brotherhood, and our systems. It’s all pending but it’s all in discussion. For now keep enjoying the opportunities as things come, and I look forward to seeing what comes of the changes to the Feud rules that Mav announced and hope to see some good stories and engagements.

If you ever have any questions, ideas, feel free to let me know. I do my best to reply quickly. Telegram works for a quick question but major proposals and long thought processes definitely get more reception in an email.

In darkness,

Evant Taelyan
Voice of the Brotherhood