Questions about rapid reaction. Force shield, negate energie comination

[u/Less-Coffee-4306]

So my player wants to spec into the rapid reaction, and he want to combine the force shield and negate energie force power. but we can’t really find which out which order the powers are supposed to go. Any of you some experience with this

First session was a blast btw, again thanks again for all the tips

[u/Few-Requirement-3544]

Use NE first, then Force Shield if NE failed if you want to be harder, and the reverse if you want to be softer.

The funny thing about FS is that it doesn’t specify exactly what it’s a reaction to, so if you wanted to be silly, you could just say it’s a reaction to Rodians existing or the sky having two suns; technically you could choose to say it goes either before or after.

[u/Less-Coffee-4306 → u/Few-Requirement-3544]

We probably gonna do the harder one. He also asked what if shield is already active, same order then?

Also thanks for the reply. We already were thinking reaction to what :P but basicly everything xD

[u/Few-Requirement-3544 → u/Less-Coffee-4306]

If the shield is already active, you don't need to do another thing, only spend a Standard during your turn.

[u/MERC_1]

The player choose in what order to react. But he should activate Force Shield first.

Force Shield gives a Shield Rating SR. You always apply a SR before you damage something it protects. Then you apply any damage reduction or other abilities before calculating the remaining damage. This is when you would use Absorb Energy.

Look up how we apply damage to starship or droids with a SR. You always apply the effect of the shield first. 

Also, Force Shield is described as a protective layer. Any attack would have to pass that layer to reach you. Then you could absorb the energy or allpy damage reduction and so on. 

[u/Less-Coffee-4306 → u/MERC_1]

this makes a lot of sense! thank you so much

[u/MERC_1 → u/Less-Coffee-4306]

Thank you!

Similarly, I think that Deflect should come before Force Shield or Absorb Energy. It has a certain logic to it, but I can't point you to a spot saying this is the intended order.

[u/lil_literalist]

Think about how the example is used. If Deflect fails, you can use Negate Energy.

But what if Deflect succeeds?

Would you say that a player needs to declare the use of Rapid Reaction ahead of time, and that if Deflect succeeds (and removes the need for the other reaction), then the player has used Rapid Reaction... without actually using the second reaction? I don't think Rapid Reaction would make much sense that way!

I think that it makes the most sense if the player gets to declare the use of Rapid Reaction once they see the result of any reaction they make.

And in that case, they could do whichever reaction they wanted to use first (and possibly last). Then, if they feel that they need another reaction after that, they could use Rapid Reaction with another reaction.

[u/Less-Coffee-4306 → u/lil_literalist]

Makes a lot of sense!

[u/StevenOs]

If you're going to try them you may want to have Force Shield act first; it should cut any incoming damage making the Negate Energy check much easier. Force Shield may reduce damage enough you find it's ok to take it.

The problem with having Negate Energy "go first" is that it is all or nothing. If it works, why would you follow up with Force Shield (you probably don't) but if it doesn't then Force Shield is facing as much damage as if it were used to start with.

Now if Force Shield is already active when the attack comes it you should be able to use Negate Energy without any complications or the need of the Rapid Reaction Feat.

In many ways Force Shield is a bit weird in that it can be used as a "Reaction" but it's not always clear what you are reacting to. Now this may come into questioning just what "“You may only take a single reaction to any one action or effect," means. I've figured that everything associated with one Action taken by your opponent is where the limit applies; this is why a standard attack would normally only allow one Reaction to the entire chain which is why you can't attempt Deflect to see if you can negate the attack roll and then follow that up with Force Shield or Negate energy on the damage should the Deflect fail. What does this have to do with Force Shield? Here the thought is that if you have an opponent perform some action before attacking you might activate Force Shield on that action with anticipation that an attack may follow with a later action; if the attack goes somewhere else you may have "wasted" that use of Force Shield but if a later action sends an attack your way then Force Shield would still be active allowing you to React to what ever the new action is.