Been both playing and running EoTE for some time now and one thing has become apparent and that is the lack of interest for the most part in people playing non-combat support roles. Namely the slicers, mechanics, colonists and so forth that don't always have a high velocity role in a group dynamic, but none the less have a very vital role in the group.

They're the ones who patch up the wounded, fix the ship, find supplies, navigate space and get information, after all anyone knows an army doesn't fight on happy thoughts alone and RPG's tend to be somewhat 'gear-centric' in their reasons for many players to evolve over time so they can continue going on wilder and more dangerous adventures.

There will always be some kind of requirement to resolve conflict via violence in most RPG's, evil empires, corrupt officials, crime syndicates and so forth aren't exactly the most diplomatic of people. Not to take anything away from people who play those types of characters, but I think mechanically it's time to take a look at what support mechanisms are available for everyone else that doesn't necessarily have Brawl, Melee or a Ranged skill line in their careers.

The short answer is that there aren't many.

The long answer looking at the numbers is that they've basically got very little...

Guns, knives, sharp objects, explosives etc:

160

Armour and environmental clothing

22

Attachments for armour, equipment and weapons

41

Weapon and armour qualities

27

Spaceships and vehicles

123

Attachments for vehicles and ships

21

Communications and detection gear

23

Medical, cybernetics and drugs

33

Survival gear

22

Tools, disguise, fields and carrying equipment

32

The short, sharp and possibly unpopular criticism is that- FFG needs to take their hand of the 'make guns' button and start balancing their games around everyone, regardless of their career being able to obtain materials which give them a tangible, in game benefit to their skills.

At the moment, it's really easy to make someone that thumps, bashes and shoots their way through a game as their primary focus, get the necessary equipment and qualities to do their job.

But what about the others?

Very few of these items are of much interest to a social or technical based character, the medical characters get 'some' items which will give them a tangible benefit to their role in the group.

But after that, what are they really aspiring to get or want to obtain which will help them become a better mechanic, con artist, computer hacker or negotiator, there are very few items which give a bonus, take a setback dice, lower a difficulty and NONE of them have any qualities which have any types of bonuses that some of the weapons and armour have as an additional effect.

You can't get a superior toolkit to knock down difficulties fixing things, socially useful clothing that makes you fit in with certain crowds, a rigged set of sabbac cards for extra help cheating or an underground trade-sheet for the traders to work out where to sell their wares for the most profit. Heck, you can't even buy a hotted up computer full of illegal software and circuits so to speak, which would make most slicers feel at least 'adequate' and in their role.

So I appeal to FFG

If you're going to make more career books, the last thing the politicos, surgeons, slicers, mechanics and traders need is another bloody gun.

If you applied the same creative effort into the guns-sharp objects-bombs, plus all their attachments, qualities and combat mechanics to the general working gear and equipment that other classes would gain benefits from. Then you would have people wanting to play the non-combat careers a lot more as they have reasons to aspire to obtain, own things and not just buy a suit of armour or gun with their cash.

Probably should send an email to customer service.

Meh, I don't know what the big deal is. Mostly I try to avoid quantifying all the extraneous equipment because it's really not that interesting, and oftentimes its presence or absence can be determined through dice rolls (advantages or triumphs). Out of combat skill rolls don't need the granularity...and there's only so many ways to say "this equipment gives you a boost die on Medicine rolls". Plus I find it easy to make up my own: I just gave the Mechanic player in my game some custom overalls + coat that gives +1 Soak, has a hard point, and allows him to carry a variety of tools with increased odds of having that "handy tool I need right now" at his fingertips.

You do know that the colonist book is next, right?

You can't get a superior toolkit to knock down difficulties fixing things, socially useful clothing that makes you fit in with certain crowds, a rigged set of sabbac cards for extra help cheating or an underground trade-sheet for the traders to work out where to sell their wares for the most profit. Heck, you can't even buy a hotted up computer full of illegal software and circuits so to speak, which would make most slicers feel at least 'adequate' and in their role.

.....or can you?

You sound very creative and a RPG is a place of imagination. A collaborative effort between GMs and players could generate many of these items you speak about. Some experimentation on how much they help and some tweaking and presto, you have items your players can take or some ideas to run by your GM.

Your ideas sound very interesting. I am going to look into making some items for my players if they are interested.

Meh, I don't know what the big deal is. Mostly I try to avoid quantifying all the extraneous equipment because it's really not that interesting, and oftentimes its presence or absence can be determined through dice rolls (advantages or triumphs). Out of combat skill rolls don't need the granularity...and there's only so many ways to say "this equipment gives you a boost die on Medicine rolls". Plus I find it easy to make up my own: I just gave the Mechanic player in my game some custom overalls + coat that gives +1 Soak, has a hard point, and allows him to carry a variety of tools with increased odds of having that "handy tool I need right now" at his fingertips.

In addition, aside from Medicine and Mechanic, most of the other skills don't have need to generate more than a success and a couple three advantages to provide maximum benefit. Many of the skills are pass fail. In addition there aren't as many downgrades associated with the non combat skills as there are with combat. So there are more combat gear options principally because there needs to be as a counter to those obstacles.

Aside from the explorer, all of those character archetypes haven't had a source book yet. I'll save my judgements until I see what is to come. I know FFG will not let me down.

Heck, you can't even buy a hotted up computer full of illegal software and circuits so to speak, which would make most slicers feel at least 'adequate' and in their role.

.....or can you?

Speaking to that specifically, there is some great information in JoY on items like "spikes" and the kinds of effort needed to create them. No doubt when the Technician book comes out, there will be more such info.

Aside from the explorer, all of those character archetypes haven't had a source book yet. I'll save my judgements until I see what is to come. I know FFG will not let me down.

A perfectly valid point.

The EotE core rulebook just hit the one year mark since it was released, with only a few non-adventure supplements released so far (two career books and a location sourcebook) And FFG has been avoiding the "crank out material at breakneck speeds!" approach that was endemic of D&D4e and applied to 3rd edition to an extent as well (both the WotC and Paizo versions).

I'm sure there are plenty of sourcebooks in the works to cover the other EotE careers (Far Horizons, the Colonist book, is slated for Q3 this year) as well as the AoR careers, all of which are bound to offer up more "shinnies" for non-combat and non-pilot PCs alike.

But then again, if you look to the movies, the heroes in the Star Wars films weren't generally motivated by greed. Han was through most of A New Hope, but a large part of that was needing to settle his Debt Obligation with Jabba. Leia was more interested in providing leadership for the Rebellion (plus being a princess she was largely accustomed to having the majority of her personal needs seen to by servants and support staff), and Luke's interests was at first avenging his family and friends lost to the Empire before transitioning towards becoming a Jedi Knight. The only material object Luke really had to seek out once he'd accepted the call to adventure was a replacement for the lightsaber he'd lost at Bespin, and for him that was more about building said replacement rather than going through adventures to acquire one as a reward. And even that was simply a part of completing his training as a Jedi rather than seeking a "uber-cool" new weapon to use.

This is where the GM needs to get creative with house rules and homebrew equipment.

You can make your own, or buy, a super souped up set of slicer gear. That maybe discards a bunch of difficulty dice and/or setback dice. But such a rig might weight a lot, and be highly illegal.

A doctor could have the option for a full medical bay, multiple bacta tanks, all the equipment and medical droids you could need, maybe a nano fabricator for bionic replacements, etc... Again, exceptionally expensive and takes up ship space, but well worth it.

A ship with a full medical bay would be a good asset. You might sell your services to a convoy or paramilitary group needing top of the line medical treatment.

Check out the Explorer book. There's all sorts of interesting doodads, like specialized scanners, traps, etc you can use for ideas. Also consider that "shiny things" for the social character tend to be less equipment oriented, and more like building a network of contacts you can exploit. Saving that money for bribery or to throw an expensive party to lure in your mark is also fun.

For techie characters, let them accumulate the resources to build their own custom droid or speeder (or like my group's Jawa, talk with the GM about figuring out rules for deploying mini surveillance/explosive bots on a whim with an expenditure of credits and a successful Mechanics check).

This is also why I tend to keep my campaigns loot-minimal, and dole out story rewards more often instead

I'd like some non-combat stuff to spend my creds on. A top-of-the-range toolkit, fer instance, giving me a boost die (may be enough to turn a failed check into a success, may make the job look better, may do nothing) would be enough enticement.

Would you settle for one that just offered a free Advantage (like a Superior weapon) rather than a Boost?

I'd settle for a pat on the head and a box of crayons.

Lowered expectations for the win!

Mine is a simple path. [nods solemnly]

.....or can you?

You sound very creative and a RPG is a place of imagination. A collaborative effort between GMs and players could generate many of these items you speak about. Some experimentation on how much they help and some tweaking and presto, you have items your players can take or some ideas to run by your GM.

Your ideas sound very interesting. I am going to look into making some items for my players if they are interested.

I'll have a look through some of my old D6 books like Gundarks, Cynabar's and various Galaxy, should still have the D20 Arms and Equip guide and see if I can come up with something work-able in the way of conversions.

Was planning on doing up a DIY build your own ship as a project but might put that on the backburner as there's still plenty of them for people to use.

Probably also soon to be unemployed, so time might be free for things like this.

Aside from the explorer, all of those character archetypes haven't had a source book yet. I'll save my judgements until I see what is to come. I know FFG will not let me down.

Fair comment, I had considered that but from what I've noticed at least with the current group is that we don't really have a problem with people wanting to play scouts, hired guns and so forth even prior to the career books. Over time you can diversify with new careers and enough xp, one thing I have also noted is that the longevity of the characters seems to be fairly decent in that regard.

If my players want a specific shiney, I will make it.

Super spy gadgets, concealed or hidden things. Clothing, you can do a lot with clothing if you think about it. Dressing up in certain styles to gain a boost die with a certain culture.

Just make it up

WEG had some good books to:

Gundarks FT Personal Gear

Galadinium's Fantastic Technology

Cracken's Rebel Field Guide