Control Difficulty: Difficult

Sense Difficulty: Moderate

Alter Difficulty: Moderate for willing familiars, opposed check vs. familiars resist mental attack or Control roll for unwilling familiars.

Required Powers: Absorb-dissipate Energy, Affect Mind, Control Mind, Life Bond, Life Detection, Life Sense, Magnify Senses, Receptive Telepathy, Projective Telepathy

Effect: This power allows a character to bind another character to his own will, creating an ever-submissive servant bound by the Dark Side to his master. The person may or may not be willing to be bonded; if this power is used unwillingly on the target, the target gets a Difficult resist mental attack check to resist being bonded by the Dark Familiar power. When this power is learned, it may be used successfully only once; if the first attempt fails, another attempt may be made on a different target, or the same target (though any target gains a +1D to their willpower check each time the power is used on them after the first). This power may be used multiple times, each time adding a new familiar to the users repertoire, by spending 15 character points.

The use of this power gives the master and familiar certain advantages. They each gain the ability to automatically use the Receptive Telepathy and Projective Telepathy powers only with each other (the familiar need not be Force-sensitive to use this power with his master). Furthermore, the master can locate his familiar at will by direction at any time, from any distance. The familiar takes a -2D penalty to all Willpower checks against his master, and the familiar must make a Difficult willpower roll to directly disobey his master. The familiar gains the ability to use the Feed on Dark Side power (at a 2D Control and Alter skill level if the familiar is not Force-sensitive), and also gains +2D to all endurance checks. If a characters familiar dies, the character suffers a permanent loss of 1D to Strength (this loss may be negated by taking a penalty of a Dark Side Point); furthermore, the Dark Familiar power is unusable and a new familiar may only be gained by spending 15 character points.

To use this power, the target must be either willing to be bonded, or prone or helpless. The user of this power places his hand upon the forehead of the intended familiar, and calls upon the Dark Side to bond the two of them. Black Force energy dances across the users arm, splashing over the forehead of the familiar and traveling into the users body. When the bonding is complete (which usually takes 1-2 hours, during which visions of the Dark Side pass through both user and familiar), the user and familiar both automatically gain 2 Dark Side Points.