Then why give it mechanic talents (solid repairs @40 exp cost)? If he has no formal training in mechanics how can he be really good at repairing a ship...it just seems kind of stupid.

My guess: It was either originally a part of the Commander Career skill set or the Commodore Spec skill set and was replaced with another skill.

Or, and this one is tragically the more likely; the person who designed the tree gave it as much thought as they did the whacky tree designs in EotE (by which I mean "Hey, this is cool looking and entirely impractical! Let's do it!").

Though I will note, the "Mechanics" side of the Commodore tree is entirely skippable with (at this time) no drawback for skipping it.

Also if you really want the Mechanics side and wouldn't mind snatching up some Squadron Leader talents, that tree has Mechanics and would be only 20EXP for a Commander/Commodore to grab.

Agreed, you can jump into another spec and make it work/make sense.

Then why give it mechanic talents (solid repairs @40 exp cost)? If he has no formal training in mechanics how can he be really good at repairing a ship...it just seems kind of stupid.

Because their talents don't require Mechanics to be a high rank or a career skill. They just help them do better at Mechanics, which can be narrated a lot of ways.

My guess: It was either originally a part of the Commander Career skill set or the Commodore Spec skill set and was replaced with another skill.

Or, and this one is tragically the more likely; the person who designed the tree gave it as much thought as they did the whacky tree designs in EotE (by which I mean "Hey, this is cool looking and entirely impractical! Let's do it!").

Though I will note, the "Mechanics" side of the Commodore tree is entirely skippable with (at this time) no drawback for skipping it.

Also if you really want the Mechanics side and wouldn't mind snatching up some Squadron Leader talents, that tree has Mechanics and would be only 20EXP for a Commander/Commodore to grab.

What's really odd is that Squadron Leader has Mechanics as a career skill but no talents related to it while Commodore has the talents but not the career skill

What's really odd is that Squadron Leader has Mechanics as a career skill but no talents related to it while Commodore has the talents but not the career skill

*The need to perhaps do their own Fighter maintenance.

Then why give it mechanic talents (solid repairs @40 exp cost)? If he has no formal training in mechanics how can he be really good at repairing a ship...it just seems kind of stupid.

More likely those talents are there so that the Commodore can pitch in and do that task in a pinch, particularly if the ship's dedicated Engineer needs to spend his action doing something of far more critical and immediate importance (like reducing the ship's current System Strain rating so that they're not dead in the water after taking an ion blast that pushed the ship over it's System Strain Threshold) or getting a critical component, like the ship's engines or weapon systems or even hyperdrive up and running. This way, even though the Commodore may not have a lot of ranks in Mechanics, those talents still make a successful roll really count for something.

My guess: It was either originally a part of the Commander Career skill set or the Commodore Spec skill set and was replaced with another skill.

Or, and this one is tragically the more likely; the person who designed the tree gave it as much thought as they did the whacky tree designs in EotE (by which I mean "Hey, this is cool looking and entirely impractical! Let's do it!").

Though I will note, the "Mechanics" side of the Commodore tree is entirely skippable with (at this time) no drawback for skipping it.

Also if you really want the Mechanics side and wouldn't mind snatching up some Squadron Leader talents, that tree has Mechanics and would be only 20EXP for a Commander/Commodore to grab.

What's really odd is that Squadron Leader has Mechanics as a career skill but no talents related to it while Commodore has the talents but not the career skill

It almost feels like this is the squadron leaders

Then why give it mechanic talents (solid repairs @40 exp cost)? If he has no formal training in mechanics how can he be really good at repairing a ship...it just seems kind of stupid.

More likely those talents are there so that the Commodore can pitch in and do that task in a pinch, particularly if the ship's dedicated Engineer needs to spend his action doing something of far more critical and immediate importance (like reducing the ship's current System Strain rating so that they're not dead in the water after taking an ion blast that pushed the ship over it's System Strain Threshold) or getting a critical component, like the ship's engines or weapon systems or even hyperdrive up and running. This way, even though the Commodore may not have a lot of ranks in Mechanics, those talents still make a successful roll really count for something.

So no talents relating to his career skills would be more appropriate than your specific role play version? There is no mention of anything mechanics or engineering in the class description. Of course he doesn't have pilot either, so I guess from a role play stance you can do whatever you want. I guess the question that I ask is how is computers more appropriate than mechanics?

Interesting thing about the commodore is he brings astrogation and computers together. It is the only spec to do that..

I would imagine story wise the Commodore would be a character that has the ability to lead a capital ship but might not currently own one.

Or like Pirates of carribean everyone seems to pirates, and captains and adventurers in those movies. Ok enough for a reference for parties of commodores

I would imagine story wise the Commodore would be a character that has the ability to lead a capital ship but might not currently own one.

Or like Pirates of carribean everyone seems to pirates, and captains and adventurers in those movies. Ok enough for a reference for parties of commodores

Pretty much this.

Commodores can be in a leadership role on a ship without actually captaining it. Think of all those officers on the bridge of a star destroyer, leading their specialized teams (comms, gunnery, navigation, etc).

They definitely could fit in a campaign that featured a group that is stationed on a large ship. You could even let everyone have a different role (pilots out in space, gunners at turrets, mechanics in the engine room), then they come together outside of combat for the ship-side story. It works for Macross/Robotech.

This actually makes some sense from a real life perspective. I believe in most professional navies, would be commanders serve in every aspect of the ship, in order to understand everything they are in command of. This could be represented by skills or talents. In this case, with limited skills, it makes sense to provide talents, but make career skills out of knowledges which they would have studied.

This is definitely a generalist specialization, which is begging to be crossed with another specialty, as noted above. ie. making an engineering officer. You just have to decide what career you want, since it ultimately impacts signature skills.

I can't speak for the Navy, but in the Army it's not terribly unusual for senior officers to have very little idea of how things work beneath them. This really hits home when the Army thinks that anyone that hits COL can be a capable administrator. I can't say that this is the source of so many budget issues, but it must contribute.

This actually makes some sense from a real life perspective. I believe in most professional navies, would be commanders serve in every aspect of the ship, in order to understand everything they are in command of. This could be represented by skills or talents. In this case, with limited skills, it makes sense to provide talents, but make career skills out of knowledges which they would have studied.

This is definitely a generalist specialization, which is begging to be crossed with another specialty, as noted above. ie. making an engineering officer. You just have to decide what career you want, since it ultimately impacts signature skills.

Yeah that fits with what the old WEG Rebel Alliance Sourcebook says about the training Alliance midshipmen (Their closest equivalent to naval officer cadets) go through shifting between various posts on their ship until the captain feels they are ready to become ensigns. Since FFG didn't detail how the Alliance trains someone fresh from the farm or city who wants to be a naval officer, or a ground officer for that matter that's the only source I know of covering the subject.

Of course until the various career books are out we have no clue what the signature skills will be so you either have to hope you pick the career that bests suits your plans or have a GM who will let you rebuild if it turns out the career you picked was the wrong one.

I think the biggest issue here is that Commodore should just be called Naval Officer.

I think the biggest issue here is that Commodore should just be called Naval Officer.

Yeah but by that logic Tactician should be Army Officer or Commander as Officer with Commodore as Navy, and Tactician as Army.

I think the biggest issue here is that Commodore should just be called Naval Officer.

Yeah but by that logic Tactician should be Army Officer or Commander as Officer with Commodore as Navy, and Tactician as Army.

True, but there is no confusion over what the Tactician does.

Two words: Skilled Assistance. The Commodore should be overseeing repairs; let the Engineer crawl around in the ductwork with a hydrospanner (and give the Commodore the benefit of his ranks in Mechanics).

That brings up the gray area of whether both characters can use their talents while performing skilled assistance. Specifically with ranked talents, do you use the higher rank or add them? If the latter, then some horrible rules abuses emerge.

That brings up the gray area of whether both characters can use their talents while performing skilled assistance. Specifically with ranked talents, do you use the higher rank or add them? If the latter, then some horrible rules abuses emerge.

I'd say go with the higher ranks, though honestly it's not come up very often in any of the games I've played, as the PCs are all different enough with the only talent "overlap" being Toughened, Grit, and Dedication.

Andy Fisher gave some commentary on the Commodore on yesterday's Order 66 podcast.

Andy Fisher gave some commentary on the Commodore on yesterday's Order 66 podcast.

The discussion of the commodore begins at 37:25, and specifically Phil brings up the topic of commodore and mechanics at around the 42:30 mark.

Why can't a starting Commodore be a First Officer? This way he can be in command of the ship when this superior is away. He can go on away missions with PCs and can take command of his own ship later on in the character's life.

Personally, I don't like the Commodore spec. Having three talents that are better suited for a Mechanic seems like a waste of talent space to me. Andy said it was intentional but doesn't make it right. AoR Specs have a bad habit of having talents that don't fit the 4 class skills they grant and I feel that's not what specialization means.

You're right, everything should just make you better all the time at everything and there should never be any need to make tactical decisions about anything. Everything should be a career skill and every talent should make you awesome at everything you might want to do.