Post by Gilvan Blight on Jul 22, 2005 13:42:19 GMT -5
Found an interesting article on the Star Wars RPG site that expains how Anakin is able to beat Dooku (and how Luke beats Vader for that matter) in Ep III so quickly.
Q: How could Anakin defeat Dooku so easily at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith? I think Anakin was probably 12th to 14th level or so -- Obi-Wan was only 15th in A New Hope, and he beat Anakin in their duel on Mustafar -- but Dooku was already 18th level in Attack of the Clones. Shouldn't Dooku have won unless Anakin just got a lucky critical hit? Are the listed character levels off the mark?
A: This isn't the only time this has happened -- after all, Luke (8th or 9th level) beat Vader (18th or 19th level) in Return of the Jedi. Obviously, luck can have a lot to do with it: A critical hit can turn the tide of battle very quickly. However, there were two other things at work in both cases described here.
First, Dooku/Vader wasn't trying to kill Anakin/Luke -- the bad guy was trying to turn him. Thus, they were probably holding back, perhaps fighting defensively or even using total defense simply to frustrate Anakin/Luke enough that he might call on the dark side out of anger. Once they realized they were in mortal danger, they'd probably stop pulling their punches, but by then, it might be too late to turn the tide.
The other thing at work in both fights was Palpatine. He not only wanted to turn Anakin/Luke but also wanted to get Dooku/Vader out of the way. That being the case, he could have done a few things to boost the odds in his favor:
(Note that, in the case of Force Mind and Control Mind, the fact that Anakin/Luke was fighting someone Palpatine wants killed was probably enough to consider them an "ally" if Palpatine so wishes. However, this sort of thing would be subject to GM approval.)
With so much working in Anakin/Luke's favor, it's quite plausible that the objectively weaker combatant could win each battle.
Q: How could Anakin defeat Dooku so easily at the beginning of Revenge of the Sith? I think Anakin was probably 12th to 14th level or so -- Obi-Wan was only 15th in A New Hope, and he beat Anakin in their duel on Mustafar -- but Dooku was already 18th level in Attack of the Clones. Shouldn't Dooku have won unless Anakin just got a lucky critical hit? Are the listed character levels off the mark?
A: This isn't the only time this has happened -- after all, Luke (8th or 9th level) beat Vader (18th or 19th level) in Return of the Jedi. Obviously, luck can have a lot to do with it: A critical hit can turn the tide of battle very quickly. However, there were two other things at work in both cases described here.
First, Dooku/Vader wasn't trying to kill Anakin/Luke -- the bad guy was trying to turn him. Thus, they were probably holding back, perhaps fighting defensively or even using total defense simply to frustrate Anakin/Luke enough that he might call on the dark side out of anger. Once they realized they were in mortal danger, they'd probably stop pulling their punches, but by then, it might be too late to turn the tide.
The other thing at work in both fights was Palpatine. He not only wanted to turn Anakin/Luke but also wanted to get Dooku/Vader out of the way. That being the case, he could have done a few things to boost the odds in his favor:
- Use Force Mind or Improved Force Mind to give Anakin/Luke a bonus to a key attribute.
- Use Control Mind (from the Dark Side Sourcebook) to grant Anakin/Luke a bonus to attacks and skill checks.
- Use Sith Master (a class ability of Sith Lord, also from the Dark Side Sourcebook) to temporarily give Anakin/Luke extra ranks in critical Force skills (such as Battlemind).
(Note that, in the case of Force Mind and Control Mind, the fact that Anakin/Luke was fighting someone Palpatine wants killed was probably enough to consider them an "ally" if Palpatine so wishes. However, this sort of thing would be subject to GM approval.)
With so much working in Anakin/Luke's favor, it's quite plausible that the objectively weaker combatant could win each battle.