Years ago, I played Rolemaster, that had an ultra-specific skill list. With if one didn't have "Left handed nosepicking" any such attempts meant a -25 modifier to the roll, which generally meant one might cut their own nose off if unsuccessful or worse yet, doing it with their right hand. I've seen what specific skill lists can do for a game, I would much rather see creative use of a general list as FFG has done.

Ah Rolemaster, those were the days But Rolemaster had nothing on Chivalry and Sorcery 3rd ed, with Skillscape supplements. Hundreds of skills, at 7 different levels of native difficulty each with its own XP cost purchasing chart... never again. EotE hits a very sweet spot with its skill list.

One last thing on dice that we are all forgetting for some reason. On pg12 of the CRB there is a chart that allows for the use of normal RPG dice (i.e d6, d8, d12). You will need several of each and also of different colors to track which are boost die, setback die, and so on. 2 different colored d6, 2 different color d8, and 3 different color d12 should work, of course you will need several of each of these dice in the different colors you have selected. Also you will need two d10's to roll percentile.

I would suggest anything but using the conversion chart. That will definitely slow things down obnoxiously. Orokos.com has a great free dice roller if you don't wanna pay for the app and I am sure there are others (Google Hangouts has a plugin for it as well I believe).

I would suggest anything but using the conversion chart. That will definitely slow things down obnoxiously. Orokos.com has a great free dice roller if you don't wanna pay for the app and I am sure there are others (Google Hangouts has a plugin for it as well I believe).

Yea I agree that the conversion chart is by far not the way to go. It is however still an option.

I will shamelessly plug my talent sheets here if you are looking for a specialization reference.

I will shamelessly plug my talent sheets here if you are looking for a specialization reference.

I'm with Doc here. These sheets are invaluable to players!

Okay. You all persuaded me. I'm going to grab it. To those telling me to get the Beginner set, yes, it might be a good introduction, but it would put back the purchase of the actual set. Finite funds!

They don't seem to have an app for Windows phones, but maybe I can persuade my mate to do a website version and I'll just use the phone's browser.

The character classes do sound a bit restrictive and it sounds a bit fiddly that new skills can be introduced as you go along (tracking in a supplement? so what if someone has invested a lot in whatever skill the GM was using as a proxy before buying the supplement and finding an official skill?). But I'll go ahead and buy it and judge for myself. At least I know for certain it has a helpful community around it.

The character careers/specializations aren't as restrictive as they sound. Some of them are quite broad. For example, the Broad career of Smuggler can have specializations of a Pilot, Thief or a generalist Scoundrel.

What if you wanted to be a pilot that wasn't a smuggler. E.g. some Imperial fighter pilot or just any legitimate pilot, really. Do you have to be under the Smuggler heading to be a hotshot pilot?

Okay. You all persuaded me. I'm going to grab it. To those telling me to get the Beginner set, yes, it might be a good introduction, but it would put back the purchase of the actual set. Finite funds!

They don't seem to have an app for Windows phones, but maybe I can persuade my mate to do a website version and I'll just use the phone's browser.

The character classes do sound a bit restrictive and it sounds a bit fiddly that new skills can be introduced as you go along (tracking in a supplement? so what if someone has invested a lot in whatever skill the GM was using as a proxy before buying the supplement and finding an official skill?). But I'll go ahead and buy it and judge for myself. At least I know for certain it has a helpful community around it.

The character careers/specializations aren't as restrictive as they sound. Some of them are quite broad. For example, the Broad career of Smuggler can have specializations of a Pilot, Thief or a generalist Scoundrel.

What if you wanted to be a pilot that wasn't a smuggler. E.g. some Imperial fighter pilot or just any legitimate pilot, really. Do you have to be under the Smuggler heading to be a hotshot pilot?

There is an Ace career in the Age of Rebellion beta book that had a pilot career. The Ace career focuses more on fighter pilots/Gunners/Drivers in the Rebellion. If you can't get a hold of the beta or your GM will not let you use it, The official book should release in a few months.

What if you wanted to be a pilot that wasn't a smuggler. E.g. some Imperial fighter pilot or just any legitimate pilot, really. Do you have to be under the Smuggler heading to be a hotshot pilot?

Explorer/Driver has pretty much all the piloting-critical skills and a number of Talents that affect both Planetary and Space piloting. Or, as was said, Ace/Pilot brings more of the feel of a military pilot because of its Career Skills.

But all that aside, even if you don't plan to be an outlaw, the Smuggler career isn't inappropriate to build a commercial or military pilot. I think it's reading too much into the name and not looking deeper. If you just want to be, say, an "legal" pilot, take Smuggler/Pilot and select Coordination, Perception, Pilot: Space and Vigilance as your Career Skills, and take the Pilot spec, and fluff it however you want.

The fluff for Smuggler is there as an archetype and a trope and a character-building aid but by no means does it need to be followed to a T. But that doesn't mean the mechanics can't be used to build other kinds of pilots.

I didn't read through every single post so I don't know if anyone mentioned this. As far as the dice are concerned there is a table in the book that allows you to roll regular polyhedral dice and convert the results into the EotE symbols. it is a bit clunky but does work. Also there are templates available to download and paste on regular dice to convert them to EotE dice. So there are a few different options available until you can get a couple of sets of EotE dice.

What if you wanted to be a pilot that wasn't a smuggler. E.g. some Imperial fighter pilot or just any legitimate pilot, really. Do you have to be under the Smuggler heading to be a hotshot pilot?

No, as others have mentioned there is the Explorer/Driver, and Ace Pilot in AoR, but even then it doesn't matter. First, because Piloting is Agility-based, and you can buy any skill you want; and second, because you can always buy the Pilot specialization later. You could be a Hired Gun/Marauder who decides he wants to fly, purchase the new specialization and you have access to all the appropriate Talents.

What if you wanted to be a pilot that wasn't a smuggler. E.g. some Imperial fighter pilot or just any legitimate pilot, really. Do you have to be under the Smuggler heading to be a hotshot pilot?

No, as others have mentioned there is the Explorer/Driver, and Ace Pilot in AoR, but even then it doesn't matter. First, because Piloting is Agility-based, and you can buy any skill you want; and second, because you can always buy the Pilot specialization later. You could be a Hired Gun/Marauder who decides he wants to fly, purchase the new specialization and you have access to all the appropriate Talents.

So you can buy specializations outside of your 'class' (not sure of the nomenclature but whatever "Smuggler" is).

I'm ordering the book and so should have it before too long, now. Another question if I may: how much between the core rule books is duplication? I'm getting EotE, but I imagine at some point I would like to have the extra classes and equipment or whatever else there is in AoR as well. But it would be annoying if the books were largely the same bar a small bit of difference to make me buy it. All the other concerns I had I'm no longer worried about and like I say: I'm buying the book already. But I'm curious if there's a huge amount of overlap between the books. Are we really going to get Wookie three times over? Or do they do different races in each book?

What if you wanted to be a pilot that wasn't a smuggler. E.g. some Imperial fighter pilot or just any legitimate pilot, really. Do you have to be under the Smuggler heading to be a hotshot pilot?

No, as others have mentioned there is the Explorer/Driver, and Ace Pilot in AoR, but even then it doesn't matter. First, because Piloting is Agility-based, and you can buy any skill you want; and second, because you can always buy the Pilot specialization later. You could be a Hired Gun/Marauder who decides he wants to fly, purchase the new specialization and you have access to all the appropriate Talents.

So you can buy specializations outside of your 'class' (not sure of the nomenclature but whatever "Smuggler" is).

I'm ordering the book and so should have it before too long, now. Another question if I may: how much between the core rule books is duplication? I'm getting EotE, but I imagine at some point I would like to have the extra classes and equipment or whatever else there is in AoR as well. But it would be annoying if the books were largely the same bar a small bit of difference to make me buy it. All the other concerns I had I'm no longer worried about and like I say: I'm buying the book already. But I'm curious if there's a huge amount of overlap between the books. Are we really going to get Wookie three times over? Or do they do different races in each book?

The nomenclature is Career and Specialization, but people use class interchangeably for both sometimes. Smuggler is a career. Pilot is a specialization. You can buy specializations from outside your career, but they are more expensive (not prohibitively so, though).

We don't know for sure yet. But best guess is a lot. These games are designed to be standalone, so Age of Rebellion and Force and Destiny will reprint the whole of the rules. A little annoying, but being the only one buying books at my table, I don't mind having more copies of the rules.