I am about to start playing in a campaign and we are pretty overloaded with combat oriented players. The GM mentioned wanting a "face" character. I am a minmaxer and don't typically do the greatest with social characters but want to accommodate the team and fill the gaps. I need help coming up with a suitable character. I prefer deception and intimidation over the friendlier alternatives. I feel I do need to be able to defend myself a bit. Somewhat like Han Solo but more political. Maybe a trader that takes advantage of people. A hustler. Any thoughts?

Name: Kain Rohana

Human

Colonist- politico

Motivation (ambition: power): Kain wants to be a political puppet master. Pulling strings from behind the curtain. Not wanting to be known but gaining power and influence.

Obligation (betrayal): Caught manipulating a high level member of some government official on some planet. Charged with treason. Fled prior to execution. No bounty, but exiled from planet for fear of execution. (Important planet so obligation is not pointless)

Any possible help on the back story would be cool. Maybe obligation could be tweaked.

Politico can be a good "face" character.

So could a Correllian Smuggler, but with more of a focus on Presence and Presence-based skills, at least as compared to Han.

If you want to be a face that intimidates and still be formidable in combat, look no further than Colonist: Politico. Check out the talent called "Scathing Tirade" it allows you to hand out strain by scaring the tar out of your adversaries. Give yourself a good Willpower and maybe some cunning for when you need a good lie on the spot.

I see that you are not really wanting to play a face character...

Not sure where the group is with a Mechanic, but our Mechanic has tons of fun. Also, keeps people up with Med checks.

Be sure to think outside of the box with a Mechanic though.

The environment can be your weapon.

We have a mechanic. I like the politico. Now I just need a good back story. Maybe an ex-envoy. Caught swindling, cheating, or stealing? Maybe exiled for manipulating a higher up official?

If you want to be a face that intimidates and still be formidable in combat, look no further than Colonist: Politico. Check out the talent called "Scathing Tirade" it allows you to hand out strain by scaring the tar out of your adversaries. Give yourself a good Willpower and maybe some cunning for when you need a good lie on the spot.

I still think I dont quite get how "scathing tirade" works. Both mechanically and narratively. Could you please enlighten me a bit?

Ever seen the last samurai? There is a scene where a guard stops them and the translator goes off yelling about how the guard doesn't want to be the one that disobeyed the order of the emperor. The guard is sufficiently scared by the lying tirade to let them pass.

I know you say you have too many combat classes and need some social skills, but there is Hired Gun/Enforcer which is all about intimidation, and uses Streetwise in new ways beyond the social/mercantile nature to replace any Knowledge check, as well as, buff Brawl damage.

Strain is a catch-all for your non-lethal damage. It represence mental trauma and fatigue.

Coercion is the skill in FFG Star Wars Roleplay typically used for intimidation. It's a social skill to represent a battle of wills against an opponent.

Scathing Tirade allows you to make a coercion check against an adversary in short range as an action to deal strain for each uncancelled success generated, plus additional strain equal to the number of uncancelled advantage. Note that strain suffered in this way is not affected by soak.

The improved Scathing Tirade also gives the affected target a setback die as well.

Finally, the Supreme scathing tirade allows you to suffer one point of strain on yourself to do that as a maneuver. Effectively allowing you to perform Scathing Tirade up to 3 times a round at the cost of significant amount of strain to yourself.

When a target's suffered strain exceeds their strain threshold the adversary is "knocked unconscious." this could translate to anything narratively. Usually as a GM I say that the target was so intimidated that it gave up or ran away rather than pass out from the verbal abuse.

A classic example of scathing tirade is the intro scene to Full Metal Jacket. I decided not to link the video because of explicit language that might not be suitable for public boards.

When a target's suffered strain exceeds their strain threshold the adversary is "knocked unconscious." this could translate to anything narratively. Usually as a GM I say that the target was so intimidated that it gave up or ran away rather than pass out from the verbal abuse.

Or they could faint from stress or anxiety. Just too much to handle.

If you want to be a face that intimidates and still be formidable in combat, look no further than Colonist: Politico. Check out the talent called "Scathing Tirade" it allows you to hand out strain by scaring the tar out of your adversaries. Give yourself a good Willpower and maybe some cunning for when you need a good lie on the spot.

This spec can be really fun and different if you think outside the name also. You can play it like a fire and brimstone preacher. A singer/perform with a social agenda. A pirate holonet broadcaster. Lots of different ways to come at shooting off your mouth and inspiring/pissing off people.

When a target's suffered strain exceeds their strain threshold the adversary is "knocked unconscious." this could translate to anything narratively. Usually as a GM I say that the target was so intimidated that it gave up or ran away rather than pass out from the verbal abuse.

Or they could faint from stress or anxiety. Just too much to handle.

Just don't expect to do it in 1 hit.

If you want to be a face that intimidates and still be formidable in combat, look no further than Colonist: Politico. Check out the talent called "Scathing Tirade" it allows you to hand out strain by scaring the tar out of your adversaries. Give yourself a good Willpower and maybe some cunning for when you need a good lie on the spot.

I still think I dont quite get how "scathing tirade" works. Both mechanically and narratively. Could you please enlighten me a bit?

Ever seen the last samurai? There is a scene where a guard stops them and the translator goes off yelling about how the guard doesn't want to be the one that disobeyed the order of the emperor. The guard is sufficiently scared by the lying tirade to let them pass.

A player of mine used this as a Scathing Tirade. They were sneaking into a base of the Zann Cosortium and when they tried to recover a prisoner, they were stopped by Grunts A and B. The politico broke out a Scathing Tirade explaining that he and the "officer" were wearing helmets so as to not cause panic among the grunts by openly announcing who they were and walking around the halls.

Orders higher up wanted them there to do their job and not to cause any issues until an issue needed to be brought up. Of course, if anyone disagreed, things could get interesting. . .

It was, sadly, the ONLY scathing tirade of the campaign before it ended, but it was well worth it.

darkdeal, the politico in my campaign was in a similar boat (also a minmaxer that wants to be able to fight and has the belief he can talk), but he did the following:

Took Politico as his starting career and raised his Presence to 4, Cunning to 3 (he was playing a Zeltron).

Bought Assassin as a secondary career.

Raised the weapon skills Assassin grants.

From there, he could still fight when needed, and split his XP between being a beastly politico and having the ability to slay a target discreetly. The game didn't last too long (bi-weekly meeting times and real life tends to get in the way), but it was a pretty solid build.

In my coming game, one of the players asked to play a Quarren Politico/Slicer with a VERY skewed view regarding the political situation on Dac. "It's Dac, not Mon Calamari! Why don't we just name the kriffin' sector Mon Cala! How about the Mon Cala Galaxy, does that work?!" Great opening for certain types of scathing tirades, which can be useful in battle if you throw enough insults.

Oh, and since he's a Quarren, and Quarren are known for warriors, he'll probably have some sort of useful combat skill. Not to the level of the Gadgeteer or the Heavy, but he can hold his own at least.

If you want to be a face that intimidates and still be formidable in combat, look no further than Colonist: Politico. Check out the talent called "Scathing Tirade" it allows you to hand out strain by scaring the tar out of your adversaries. Give yourself a good Willpower and maybe some cunning for when you need a good lie on the spot.

I still think I dont quite get how "scathing tirade" works. Both mechanically and narratively. Could you please enlighten me a bit?

Conceptually, it's utterly destroying your opponent with a verbal beat-down so devastating that the other man is completely shattered. It's Monkey Island Sword Fighting, its the WWF back in the good ol' days, when the Hulkster could really work the mic.It's . . . well, it's this:

Since Full Metal Jacket was a bit inappropriate I was trying to find a good Doctor Who rant last night, but I didn't look very hard. Thanks Desslok.

A tirade like the one given by The Doctor fits neatly within one or two rounds of combat in this system—yet another reason why I am so enamored with Edge of the Empire.

"Give the order, Colonel Run-Away," indeed.

I wasn't meaning I wanted to be in the front lines of a fight. I just don't want to stand and take it if someone attacks. I think I will just pick up a point or two of light ranged for a blaster. Stunning someone could be useful if I need to interrogate.

Since Full Metal Jacket was a bit inappropriate I was trying to find a good Doctor Who rant last night, but I didn't look very hard. Thanks Desslok.

Of course, for the considerably less NSFW version of Scathing Tirade, might I suggest Malcom Tucker? Yes - that potty mouth is our next Doctor. . . .