wait, CAN a Lightsaber deflect magic missiles?

[LaughingMan42]

I don't know about you all, but when I read Sosa's news post about how Brain was demonstrating his great need of INT enchanted items when he suggested a Lightsaber could deflect a magic missile, well I was bursting at the seems to discover the truth concerning the Jedi master's weapon's effects on this "never-miss" projectile of Arcane origin. (Run on sentence For the WIN!)

So anyway, I punched into google, and was unsurprised that that issue had already been resolved by various groups, to varying conclusions.

What was surprising was that a the front page results included a group that had some sci-fi leanings, where the poster included a quote in the signature:

"So what you’re asking is “can a lightsaber block a magic missile?” The answer is no. A magic missile always hits its target. Period. The Jedi would move to block the missile, the missile would move, the Jedi would move to intercept again, the missile would move again, etc. Eventually the Jedi would tire or make a mistake and that’s when the Magic Missile would hit." -- Red Mage"(looking at that now, being signed 'Red Mage' this quote may have an origin in Sosa's old column, and I would therefore only be embarrassing myself posting this to the forums here. Can anyone confirm this is a quote from "Twinkin' Out with Red Mage"?)

The interesting part is that these are (assertably) Sci-Fi fans, an ethnic group one can easily picture worshiping before a Jedi shrine, complete with Lightsaber mounted upon its Holy visage. These Sci-Fi fan(atics) have downplayed the ability of a Lightsaber to deflect a Magic Missile, either among themselves, or by agreeing with the opinion of a third party (e.g. Sosa) in the belief that the Arcane anomaly is just as unbeatable as it purports to be.

On the other hand, another front page result which i would pin as definitely fantasy originated has simply assimilated the lightsaber into the ranks known as magic weaponry, and properly endowed it with properties equivalent to those displayed in the Sci-Fi canon. (though i personally believe 2d6+3 to be on the low side for Lightsaber damage)
These properties include the effects of attempting to block a magic missile:

"A trained mystic knight (one who has acquired a proficiency) can perform many special feats with a lightsaber. Among the more impressive of these is missile deflection. With a successful Wisdom check, any small magical or non-magical missiles can be deflected, including the magic missile spell."

When I saw these two differing accounts, I immediately rushed to the 8-bit theater forums, secure in the knowledge that I would find a heated discussion concerning the exact utility of a Lightsaber wielded by a skilled user when he is said wielder is facing down an approaching Magic Missile, and the results, down to specific nit-dismembering detail of the event.

Imagine my surprise when, upon scouring the forums and utilizing the search feature, no such heated debate was discovered!

So I took it upon myself to create this very topic, even going to the lengths of creating an actual account and reading through those really very nice rules and assenting to abide by them.

I'm sure that by this point in the post, those of you who actuality bothered reading this far into it, wish very much I hadn't bothered, or at least wish there was a clause in those rules concerning lengthy, and unorthodoxly explicit posts with so very much use of italics.

In any case, if Sosa's whole point was that he had expounded on the matter in the "Twinkin' Out with Red Mage" column on this very site, then he has made a grave tactical error. If he means to suggest that the rulings on RPG mechanics that he fervently espoused in that column have any merit in a discussion of actualized RPG mechanics, then he will have to account for the supposed utility of febreeze in various RPG combat situations.The topic of Febreeze came up many times in that Column, and i'm sure I don't have to remind you of the ridiculous assertions made by all parties on that account.

So my point is:
(Dear Red Mage,)
Can a lightsaber deflect a Magic missile?

Conflicting answers found through Google:
-The Sci-Fi nerds say 'No, Red Mage said they can't'
-The Fantasy RPG nerds say 'Yes, as long as the Lightsaber is magic too'
-and this Sosa guy says 'Brian says they can, and he's "smelly" so i'm going to say that only a Shield spell can block a Magic Missile'

[Kroze Gamegod]

Ooooh...
You bring a tough debate to the table here.
Now I have personally had this discussion with my friends in the past as well over long nights of D&D and Exalted games and we came to the conclusion that the lightsaber is defently a magic embued weapon due to the crystal inside of it.
The ruling is as stated about what a mystic knight can pull off with a lightsaber.

Personally, I think Sosa is using his unholy powers over the internet here to manipulate it to work in his favor, and as much as I have learned in the Sosa School for Fabreeze, I would have to side with Brian on this one.
EXCEPT for one small detail..
The lightsaber NEEDS to be wielded by a Jedi Knight to stop this Magic Missile and can not do so by itself.

Thats the only hole I can find in this, Brian did NOT state if the wielder of the said lightsaber was indeed a Jedi Knight or not so Sosa must of assumed that he was talking about the lightsaber by itself in which case he would be right.

So in conclusion, the answer is both depending on the condition.

[LaughingMan42]

Oh. My. GOD.
I wrote an entire post, several paragraphs in length, exhorting my opinion on a relatively small detail (or so it would seem to most outside observers) of a news post now two days old. I wrote the post in the kind of high language that i have become convinced is an open invitation to ridicule, unless used in sparse segments on your own webspace, where you can set the linguistic bar as high or as low as you desire. So I wrote it in the General Forum, (where the titles invariably read 'anything but spam' but they would more truthfully advertise 'anything your fellow forumites do not reject' - a much narrower standard) fully expecting some kind of dismissal of the entire affair as irrelevant, if for no other reason then that my natural flow in pros is reminiscent of a student textbook.

However, low and behold; not only do I receive an honest response but, furthermore, the response has taken it's cue from my style in prose, and is entirely written in a consenting style!

This is far, far beyond the experience i have had on other webcomic forums, even those one might expect to have a userbase composed of like minded individuals. This is the very pinnacle of intelligent discussion and -I must say- it is a refreshing change from some of my former haunts.

Here I have come, and here-
Here I shall stay.

EDIT:
Right, there is a topic at hand.

Originally Posted by Kroze Gamegod

The lightsaber NEEDS to be wielded by a Jedi Knight to stop this Magic Missile and can not do so by itself.

Yes, that would be correct. Even a lightsaber, magical or otherwise, has been shown to obey Newton's laws of motion, so a lightsaber by itself would just sit there, and could do nothing to deflect a Magic Missile.
(yes, that's right it's a joke...)
I am willing to concent that Brian did not make it clear that the Lightsaber in question was not being wielded by a Jedi Knight. But who is the wielder,
and what degree of proficiency is required in order to utilize a Lightsaber to deflect Magic Missiles? What if there is no official Jedi Order in the campaign? Clearly, this will have to be decided on a case to case basis, so the the DM (GM) is going to have to be tricked into letting it happen consulted with pertaining to this particular issue.

[Meister]

Magic Missile originates from D&D, which as we know is d20-based, so we need a source for the lightsaber that works along the same basic ruleset. Thus, what we need to do first and foremost is look into a Star Wars d20 book and see if there's anything we can work with.

Alternatively, you could look at the D&D rules, specifically the description of the shield spell:

Shield creates an invisible, tower shield-sized mobile disk of force that hovers in front of you. It negates magic missile attacks directed at you.

Depending on what meaning you want to assign to the word "force" here you could argue that a well-trained Jedi wouldn't need a lightsaber to block magic missiles in the first place.

I'd go with the Star Wars d20 book, myself, as splitting hairs over how George Lucas happened to name his Jedi mojo something that already has a defined meaning in the English language is just asking for someone getting hurt at the hypothetical Star Wars/D&D crossover gaming table.

Originally Posted by LaughingMan42

Here I have come, and here-
Here I shall stay.

Make yourself right at home. But you better come up with stuff like this on a regular basis.

[Grandmaster_Skweeb]

It mentions that the shield spell is made of 'force' and (obviously) so are magic missiles. Thus the two energies cancel each other out. Now, the question is what energy is the beam of a lightsaber? From the movies, books, comics, etc. the effect of a lightsaber is what appears to be intensely focused heat-based energy. It cauterizes woulds instantly, melts high density metals, turns water to steam instantly, so on and so forth.

D&D 'Force' energy is different. Theres no temperature variance at all. it's like an invisible wall (in the case of Shield), or projectiles (magic missile), hell even a hand (bigby's grasping/interposing/clenched fist).

Seeing as how force is uneffected by temperatures of any sort it leads me to believe that no matter the power of the lightsaber, or skill of the jedi, the magic missile would simply pass through the saber unhindered.

[Elminster_Amaur]

the effect of a lightsaber is what appears to be intensely focused heat-based energy.

The lightsaber would be made completely out of highly focused LIGHT. Hence, lightsaber. Now, I don't know about you, but I would think that concentrated high-energy light could deflect pretty much any naturally occuring projectile, including lasers.

Magic Missiles, being MAGIC, inherently alter the laws of nature. So, only something else that also inherently alters the laws of nature (i.e. another form of magic) could deflect something like a Magic Missile. I would classify the Lightsaber as a non-magical weapon, even if it does qualify as masterwork. One would assume, however, that the Jedi's Force Push would be capable of deflecting the Magic Missile, but the Jedi himself would have very little time to realize that between the time he realizes that his lightsaber didn't deflect the missile, and the time that the Missile reaches a point close enough to be undeflectable. The Jedi, of course, having nearly instant reflexes, would have to be able to dodge, and then force the Missile to hit something other than himself using Force powers, and not a physical weapon.

A Sith, on the other hand, could probably stop a Magic Missile quite easily with his Force Lightning.

[Fifthfiend]

it is a refreshing change from some of my former haunts.

Oh you poor child.

Come on in, have a seat by the fire.

Let's never speak of that awful place again.

[Squishy Cheeks]

A light saber can absorb or deflect energy based attack into it's matrix. [See "Attack of the Clones"] Light sabers repel each other and blaster shots, and yet Force lightning is absorbed into the blade, for the most part, anything not absorbed is deflected. Also a skilled jedi does not need a lightsaber to deflect energy attacks, Yoda was able to contain and reflect Dooku's force lightning in clones, and Vader deflected Han Solo's Blaster shots with his palm in empire.

Even if the magic missile did adjust to try and hit it's target, a jedi would notice this and force the missile to hit something else (like the ground), thus losing it's potency.

[Fifthfiend]

but the Jedi himself would have very little time to realize that between the time he realizes that his lightsaber didn't deflect the missile, and the time that the Missile reaches a point close enough to be undeflectable.

Aren't Jedi semi-precognitive? So they'd probably know instinctively whether or not a lightsaber would be up to the task at hand.

[Mashirosen]

If Bao-Dur is wielding one, a lightsaber can do anything -- a science fact elegantly demonstrated by playing KOTOR 2 kind of a lot. Bao-Dur is made of science, and science is empirically tuffer than magic, QED.