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[PSessum]

It never made sense to me that those from a warrior society would forgo a pretty powerful weapon like a lightsaber. I also didn't want anything for my kit to not have a purpose. So, instead of lightsaber trophies hanging from a belt, I have been playing around with the idea of using lightsaber hilts for vibroswords or beskads. So, it isn't really a loophole, more of a repurpose.



Still fleshing out ideas and these are just prototypes so there is more work to be done with them, but I wanted to see what they looked like and how they fit in the hand.

[PSessum]

Playing around with other lightsaber hilt vibro/beskad combos. If anyone recognized the hilt as belonging to a jedi, especially a well known jedi, they would know you were not to be trifled with.

[Shurik Bhar'vani]

It never made sense to me that those from a warrior society would forgo a pretty powerful weapon like a lightsaber. I also didn't want anything for my kit to not have a purpose. So, instead of lightsaber trophies hanging from a belt, I have been playing around with the idea of using lightsaber hilts for vibroswords or beskads. So, it isn't really a loophole, more of a repurpose.

I will say from a canon standpoint, it was less "Forgoing the weapon" than the fact that crafting a lightsaber wasn't a mass-production possibility; if I remember from the EU, you needed to be Force-Sensitive to be able to craft a lightsaber in the first place that wouldn't be so power-hungry that it drained the onboard energy cell within seconds.

Also, one of the biggest strengths of lightsabers is the ability to deflect blaster bolts, which is something that would be nearly impossible without Force-assisted reflexes. Mandalorians also tended to hard-counter lightsabers during the Mandalorian Wars with things that couldn't be deflected, like flamethrowers. And shotguns.


With the absolute nerd out of the way, most of them look good. If you were to use lightsaber trophies as the hilts of weapons i still recommend giving the hilts the standard CRL-level "heavy battle damage" effect. And maybe avoid some of the more easily-recognizable hilts, especially Maul and Ventress like you have below.

[PSessum]

You mean Ahsoka Tano and Rey. I used them specifically because they are recognizable. As a concept, it would be particularly intimidating to face a person who took out a known Jedi. What better way to have a psychological advantage in a fight with a Jedi than if they realized you were the one to take out someone they knew?

These are just mock ups I made for fun. So they aren't in any way perfect or finished. I just thought they would be interesting.

[Celtkhan]

Items that are specifically linked to a known character in the Star Wars universe are forbidden on mando builds. You can’t use Luke’s lightsaber as a trophy or Ahsoka Tano’s hilts on a beskad.

[PSessum]

Items that are specifically linked to a known character in the Star Wars universe are forbidden on mando builds. You can’t use Luke’s lightsaber as a trophy or Ahsoka Tano’s hilts on a beskad.

That's why I said they were mock ups made for fun. The CRLs are limited to what is "official" for the group, not what I put on a shelf because it tickles me. Playing around helped get the creative juices flowing. The "blades" are not glued into the known Jedi sabers so if I wanted to use them later with a different hilt, I can.

[Straka Zulu]

To also geek out a bit: IIRC, lightsaber blades have no weight, meaning no physical feedback to their momentum.  Making it more likely that a non-Force User would be just as likely to remove their own arm as that of an opponent.

That said, I think using the trophy hilts as the housing for a vibroblade is a neat idea.  I would still make them appear damaged, somehow, though.  Like a fresh patch of metal over a heavily carbon stained wound in the hilt.   Just my 2cr.

[PSessum]

To also geek out a bit: IIRC, lightsaber blades have no weight, meaning no physical feedback to their momentum.  Making it more likely that a non-Force User would be just as likely to remove their own arm as that of an opponent.

That said, I think using the trophy hilts as the housing for a vibroblade is a neat idea.  I would still make them appear damaged, somehow, though.  Like a fresh patch of metal over a heavily carbon stained wound in the hilt.   Just my 2cr.

To geek out a bit with you: A warrior would most likely practice to effectively wield a weapon. Also, I imagine that there are possible force users among Mandalorians. That could explain Din's fast reflexes for example. I appreciate the input, and for sure worth consideration. Since I have no desire to make an actual lightsaber to go with my possible future kit, it is a non-issue.

That said, feel free to use and adapt the idea. I would love to see what someone else comes up with.

[jethroskull]

I like the idea. I have a hilt that is total custom and had decided to do something similar with it.

[PSessum]

I like the idea. I have a hilt that is total custom and had decided to do something similar with it.

Cool. I would love to see what you do with it.

[Seras Vaintir]

To geek out a bit with you: A warrior would most likely practice to effectively wield a weapon. Also, I imagine that there are possible force users among Mandalorians. That could explain Din's fast reflexes for example. I appreciate the input, and for sure worth consideration. Since I have no desire to make an actual lightsaber to go with my possible future kit, it is a non-issue.

In Legends, a prominent member of clan Skirata was Bardan Jusik, AKA Gotab, who left the order in the final days of the republic to join Kal Skirata and his adopted sons in a small redoubt on Mandalore. He was a force user who lived as a mando, not as a jedi.

We also see non-force-sensitive mandos wielding the darksaber,  though like you said, practice could make up for lack of inherent ability with it and deflecting blaster bolts becomes less necessary when the saber wielder is wearing beskar'gam.

I think it really comes down to the fact that lightsabers are preciously rare in the galaxy, and if damaged could often be difficult or impossible to repair. There was an episode of the clone wars cartoon series focusing on the attempted black market sale of Ashoka's lightsaber and that was just a crude padawan built one. Lightsabers are a high value item that aside from marshal authority dont really lend themselves to warfare for most beings. If you showed up with a working one on your belt without main character-level plot armor, it would seem just as likely to be jumped for it as opposed to triumphantly saving the day with it.

That said, I really like the idea of using the hilts to retrofit vibro sabers into as a personal trophy, so long as they dont look "too clean"

[PSessum]

First, "main character plot armor" is a great phrase that I will be stealing.

There are a lot of arguments that could be made, like force sensitivity might be a requirement for Jedi training, but Jedi training isn't a requirement for force sensitivity. But no need to get too far in the weeds. Basically, this was a fun concept I wanted to try. I have a lot of time on my hands and I like 3d print things so I can see how they look and feel in the hand. I'm not trying to rewrite history.

However, I don't understand the idea of a weathered trophy. Wouldn't it be a matter of pride and you would want to show it off? Also, you don't kill a Jedi by breaking their lightsaber hilt, you kill them by hitting them in the squishy bits. One could do that without damaging the hilt. I can see taking out the crystal, wear it as a necklace, and place a vibroblade or another weapon you were more familiar with. Not trying to get the rules changed or anything, it is just the idea of a damaged trophy, especially when it is a functional weapon, eludes me.

But again, I'm making some stuff for fun. When I put together a kit for approval, it will be in line with the CRLs.

[MadCelt]

Then there's the cultural stigma associated with the lightsaber.
<waves dismissively>
"What? You some kind of jedii waving that stick in the air?" 

Personally,  I dig the idea.
The perspective could be one of adding insult to injury.
"I took your weapon and made it better." 

[PSessum]

Then there's the cultural stigma associated with the lightsaber.
<waves dismissively>
"What? You some kind of jedii waving that stick in the air?" 

Personally,  I dig the idea.
The perspective could be one of adding insult to injury.
"I took your weapon and made it better."

I hadn't thought about the insult to injury angle. That is a good point.

[Straka Zulu]

Damaging the lightsaber before you take it from the Jedi could hurt them, in a way.  They do bond with the crystal to help it focus better.

[Arminius]

To further elaborate on what Straka said. When a force-user bonds with a kyber crystal their presence in the force is transferred in a way to the crystal, essentially becoming an extension of themselves. So it would make sense that damaging a kyber crystal would at least stun or incapacitate them for some time, probably even knock them out for a few hours or days.

[PSessum]

To further elaborate on what Straka said. When a force-user bonds with a kyber crystal their presence in the force is transferred in a way to the crystal, essentially becoming an extension of themselves. So it would make sense that damaging a kyber crystal would at least stun or incapacitate them for some time, probably even knock them out for a few hours or days.

I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not disputing that fact. And maybe it is my tactical experience overthinking it. It just seems, to me, that with the hilt being covered by the hand/hands that when overpowering a force user, the hilt would take the least damage. The hilt is a very small, and moving, target. It would be easier to hit a force user in literally any other part of the body first. While I won't deny that doing damage to the crystal will harm a force user, I think the damage done to the hands, fingers, or wrist to get to the crystal would have a great impact on their fighting ability.

This has gone more into the weeds than I intended. I just thought it was a cool concept. If, and that is a HUGE if, I choose to do that with my own gear, I will make a generic hilt to make a vibroblade out of.

[OriKad]

I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not disputing that fact. And maybe it is my tactical experience overthinking it. It just seems, to me, that with the hilt being covered by the hand/hands that when overpowering a force user, the hilt would take the least damage. The hilt is a very small, and moving, target. It would be easier to hit a force user in literally any other part of the body first. While I won't deny that doing damage to the crystal will harm a force user, I think the damage done to the hands, fingers, or wrist to get to the crystal would have a great impact on their fighting ability.

Speaking as a trained stage swordsman, the idea in the fight wouldn't be to specifically damage the crystal to cause distress to the Jedi.  The idea in the fight would be to disable the weapon by any means available.  Chances are this will also damage the wielder's hands significantly... and if the dissonance with a broken crystal causes emotional distress in addition to the physical distress of mangled hands, well, that just makes winning even easier.

But to take it out of the weeds, I'll go into the reason for the rule:  Teenagers.  Excitable teenagers who're all like "I wanna be a jedi mandalorian!"  Instead of having to deal with a slow and lengthy process of explaining why not, it's far easier to just say that lightsabers on any mando kit have to be trophies that look too damaged to continue to function, even if from a mature and well-reasoned perspective it's far more likely that a warrior who can kill a Jedi would likely be able to take their saber undamaged.

[PSessum]

But to take it out of the weeds, I'll go into the reason for the rule:  Teenagers.  Excitable teenagers who're all like "I wanna be a jedi mandalorian!"  Instead of having to deal with a slow and lengthy process of explaining why not, it's far easier to just say that lightsabers on any mando kit have to be trophies that look too damaged to continue to function, even if from a mature and well-reasoned perspective it's far more likely that a warrior who can kill a Jedi would likely be able to take their saber undamaged.

lol, excitable teenagers are why we can't have nice things. I guess, when you think about it, even if you got a hilt undamaged, the life of a Mandalorian is pretty rough. Any pristine trophies on the belt would be pretty banged up after a few missions. From a practical/tactical perspective, I personally wouldn't want a anything on my gear that didn't serve a purpose. Which is why I liked the idea of turning a lightsaber trophy into a usable weapon.

Thanks for the interesting exchange. Hope you have a good weekend.

[jethroskull]

“Kyber Reclamation Society; you can give or we can take.”

[Bojeneldar]

AWESOME!! I have had the same idea. I went looking for a thread to get my question answered. I love that someone else is trying to do this! I didn't see an answer in all that, so I'll ask. Is it allowed? No Canon/known sabers, cool. But the concept itself? Thank you

[PSessum]

AWESOME!! I have had the same idea. I went looking for a thread to get my question answered. I love that someone else is trying to do this! I didn't see an answer in all that, so I'll ask. Is it allowed? No Canon/known sabers, cool. But the concept itself? Thank you

I am clearly not the expert, but I think as long as it isn't a canon/known hilt, not a functioning lightsaber, and is properly weathered and all that, it might pass as a vibro sword or beskad.  When it comes time, I am going to submit the bottom one for feedback. Until then, I am just going to have them for display because it was a fun project to work on during the pandemic. Good luck with your idea, I would love to see what you come up with.

[PSessum]

“Kyber Reclamation Society; you can give or we can take.”

I love that. I'm going to resin print a damaged kyber crystal to wear as a necklace trophy.

[Odran Krayt]

just a thought that popped into my mind about the damage, lore wise, if you are likely to get jumped for having a functioning saber, it may be better to only display the broken ones, since they are less likely to get grabbed. Boba Fett, in Legends, did carry a functioning saber or two in his pouches, at least when he trained Han Solo's daughter, but didn't display it, only pulled it out to use as a knuckleduster to punch her in the gut.

[PSessum]

It seems that people are pretty willing to jump a Mandalorian for their armor already.