So, I've been toying with the idea of buying a new specialization for my outlaw tech (part of this was because our crew has no "face" character, and because an outlaw tech that can negotiate would be nice). But the cost of 30 xp doesn't seem worth an extra career skill or two and then have to wait a while to be able to buy into the talents.

What are some folks ideas on this? What are the pros and cons? Do you regret giving your Marauder the talent "Kill with Kindness"?

The pro is you can take more talents.

Better question would be whether its worth the cost for a new career?

Which depends on on the rest of your character and how much of the talents you intend take.

Personally i've had characters with multiple specialations, and they've hugely effective.

Depends on how much XP your GM gives out, and how quickly your characters are allowed to progress. If it takes 3 sessions just to purchase the spec, that could be frustrating.

In the long term, though, if it's your second spec and it's non-career, it's only 6 skill ranks to pay for itself. Obviously this is more useful if you have less initial overlap. My son was an Explorer:Scout, and was happy to branch into Bounty Hunter:Assassin (plus it made critical sense for the story).

Well then here is the question (meta game question): Would it be worth buying into the Entrepreneur spec with Outlaw Tech? It seems like it has a good number of helpful talents (especially since my crew seems to be only allowed to go to a planet only once due to the risk of bounty hunters or imperial incarceration).

I'd say so. Cheap Grit and Strain recovery is nothing to sneeze at, plus you get a good face skill. Also, if your GM is "generous" with Fear checks as I am Discipline is always handy.

The Entrepreneur specialization would only give your Outlaw Tech one new career skill he doesn't already have: Negotiation. I guess you'd have to really want the Talents in the Entrepreneur tree, because you could buy two non-career skill ranks in Negotiation for less than the cost of a non-career specialization.

That's what I was thinking too. Plus, if I went into something like Engineer: Scientist or even Mechanic from my own spec, I'd have the ability to boost ranked talents. I've always been super indecisive when it comes to characters. Not sure why.

So, I've been toying with the idea of buying a new specialization for my outlaw tech (part of this was because our crew has no "face" character, and because an outlaw tech that can negotiate would be nice). But the cost of 30 xp doesn't seem worth an extra career skill or two and then have to wait a while to be able to buy into the talents.

What are some folks ideas on this? What are the pros and cons? Do you regret giving your Marauder the talent "Kill with Kindness"?

Do you have a good Presence? If you do, depending on the difficulty of the Negotiation checks, that might be all you need and maybe buy a rank or two of Negotiate non-career.

His presence is average, a 2. Dumped a lot into Inelect at the beginning. Should have put one more in presence for the fun of it, but he's my first character. You play, you learn.

To be effective then I would say you need to probably bite the bullet and dip your toes into another tree. To be fun, sometimes the guy who takes on stuff and is crummy at it is far more fun at the table. One of my guys standard lines whenever I would call for a different kind of skills check was "I'm a very accomplished Negotiator......I'm a very accomplished Pilot.............I'm a very accomplished bomb disposal expert..........." He didn't have skills in any of it....

If you plan on keeping the character for some time, as in a long / lot of XP worth of play, it is worth it. I have 3 specializations and do not regret it at all. Bounty Hunter: Survivalist, Gadgeteer, FSE.

A second specialization can do wonders for a character. You can still progress down the trees, within a reasonable amount of time, when you have two specializations. One good example is the case of a hard-luck street doctor who, maybe, has resorted to peddling his skills (or drugs). Doctor, of course is an obvious choice, but Explorer, Trader adds that ability to be a sort of a 'Breaking Bad' character. One specialization would leave the character seriously lacking, but both specializations make the character complete.

But, I will say that a person who is used to 'multi-classing' in other RPGs to min-max their character will likely get carried away at the short-term benefits. I know one person who is contemplating a 3rd specialization after already picking up Scout and Assassin to get Dodge. Stalker, and Grit several times. I foresee unhappiness ahead. I think it's unwise to min-max and it's better to build with character development in mind.

I'd say don't worry about it. Sometimes 'failure' makes more fun and the game more interesting.

Then again it's your character so do what you want to make it fun for you

My character is an Outlaw Tech/Mercenary, and I love it.
His main focus is on the Outlaw Tech tree, but by buying the Mercenary tree, I am able to spend XP for both Leadership and for his weapons, considering going into brawl later down the line. Between not having to spend the extra XP on my fighting skills and leadership (He has recruited a medic and pilot NPC with it) it has alone paid for itself, as well as the talents in the tree. It also gave my character more flavor, since I RP him now as both an Outlaw Tech, who does Mercenary work on the side, and it has really developed quite well, kinda like the Gadgeteer Bounty Hunter, but a 100 times better IMO, and it suits him very well.

Would Trader (Explorer) not be more useful than Entrepreneur? Only one skill gets duplicated, similar focus, plus it reads as a more shady business man, which compliments the theme of "Outlaw" Tech a little better.

I recommend Smuggler: Scoundrel to add the "face" aspect to your character.

Four new career skills different from Outlaw Tech [Charm, Cool, Deception, Ranged (Light)] and a mix of combat/social talents, then if you still need negotiation, take a rank or 2 as a non-career skill.