Thinking about it some more, I don’t want to go all the way to Burning Wheel, but I can’t ignore it for ideas.
I still think David’s Weasels, as reimagined by Luke & David for the RPG, remind me of the Sith, just like the Mouse Guard remind me of the Jedi. There’s something about that interaction that works for me.
So, I’m thinking a second Nature because we have rules for Nature already. Sucks to keep track of something else, but “suck it”, I say.
The Dark Side nature thing will be easy to use, and easy to find uses for, just like Nature (Weasel) has all sorts of things to make the Weasels more nasty & sneaky & powerful than Mice. Something like:
Aggressive, Deceiving, Cruelty, Revenge
Like Dwarven Greed, the Dark Side doesn’t go away. So you can’t tax it. Maybe you can only use it when you work within the Dark Side nature, so it never can be taxed… but then the Aspects have to be written so it’s easy to use it & tap the power of the Dark Side.
Interactions for the Dark Side nature… like Greed, there has to be a test that results in bad stuff ™ if there’s a failure.
The easiest mechanical thing is to Tax. Tax Jedi Nature if you fail the test. Another mechanical thing to do would be to throw down a Condition, but I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.
So…
Why would you ever tap the Dark Side?
Because Jedi Nature sucks? Jedi Nature has to be written so that it’s handcuffing & difficult to work within, especially within the style of story that is being told. As I was reminded in the first thread, Nature is not necessarily a help. It’s kind of a overarching Obstacle.
As long as the story & the Obstacles push against Jedi Nature, then tapping the Dark Side is going to be something that the players will be getting at… I think.