So my group is about to start diving into Edge of the Empire and ive been mulling over different character concepts that I would like to try out. One thing Ive allways wanted to play is a podracer, in this case most likely a washed out former one with debt the size of a rancor to nasty Hutt and no way to repay it in the current racing climate.

So looking over the options ive been thinking what would be the best career, Specialisation and species for a racer and Ive come to the conclusion that I could use some help. Im not very familiar with the system and Ive never made a character before with these rules. The options that seemed most likely to me was either a smuggler with the pilot specialisation or a technician with the mechanic spec.

Also drawing a bit of a blank on the species side. I know that one race cabable of podracing that there are rules for in the system are the Xexto, but those rules are in the Age of Rebellion, Stay on Target sourcebook which we do not have access to. Our GM however does have pretty much every other book. So some suggestions on species would be great to.

Well, since I'd be suggesting the Ace career and the Hotshot specialization, I really think that you have a lot to gain from Stay on Target.

Explorer Driver seems a good fit as well... As far as races go I guess any race would do but agility should be the main focus of your characteristics.

Thanks for those quick replies. Ill definetly have to give the explorer driver a look, had missed that one completely. Its from the explorer sourcebook I take it? Ive only really looked in the core book sofar.

Tried to look around for the Stay on Target book, but doesnt seem to be available anywhere as a pdf and its impossible to get right now from any store in Sweden, so maybe Ill look into that later. Been thinking of getting some of the Age of Rebellion stuff for a chronicle of my own, our current GM has gotten all the Edge of Empire stuff so could compliment each other pretty well.

Doc, the Weasel has some talent trees that pretty much give you everything you might need, by you can always start with Ace (Driver) from the AoR core and then work into hotshot.

Thanks for those quick replies. Ill definetly have to give the explorer driver a look, had missed that one completely. Its from the explorer sourcebook I take it? Ive only really looked in the core book sofar.

Tried to look around for the Stay on Target book, but doesnt seem to be available anywhere as a pdf and its impossible to get right now from any store in Sweden, so maybe Ill look into that later. Been thinking of getting some of the Age of Rebellion stuff for a chronicle of my own, our current GM has gotten all the Edge of Empire stuff so could compliment each other pretty well.

BeggingforXP has all the talent trees available for DL. It's missing the career skills so you still need the book for that, but it's got he actual tree and talent run downs, so you should be able to use it.

http://beggingforxp.com/2014/star-wars-talent-sheets/

PDFs of the books will never be available because the Lucasfilm license for RPGs is so old it considers e-books of an RPG to be an actual "electronic game" like a video game, so it's under the license currently held by Electronic Arts. The only exceptions are "promotional materials" like free to download adventures.

If you do find a PDF of an actual book, it's pirated.

There's also OggDude's character generator for general use. Even though there are no talent descriptions, if you were to build a Hotshot you could kinda give the specialization a "trial" before deciding if you wanted to buy the book and flesh out your pod pilot with all the proper gear and the full rules for new talents.

I keep forgetting OggDude. That's a top-notch piece of software there. While he had to keep a lot of details to "Turn to pg XX" to keep from replacing the books, he also includes an editor system so if you are dedicated and inclined to do so you can replace it all to the actual rules.

Honestly I'd go with explorers driver tree, ace pilot works to but if you're sticking more eote themed I think this one might fit better. Given ace pilot will give you more tree's that focus on piloting. If all you have is the core then smuggler-pilot is your best bet.

Aside from that, look at any species that starts with an Agility of 3.

I would also suggest looking at Corellian humans as an option. A free rank to piloting of your choice and ability to rank it to 3 at character creation. It is in Suns of Fortune.

Driver's a good base with the Xexto from SoT being a good compliment. That would allow you to multitask without taking massive strain on yourself (your ship may be different).

Start With A Species That Has Good Agility, And Not At The Sacrifice If Cunning. maybe Fargul, Then Bump Up Willpower For The Cool. After All, When That Light Blinks, It Will Be A Cool Check. For Career, Explorer. Driver Specialization. Skills Will Be Pilot Planetary, Cool, And Perception.

There You Go, A Hot Roders build

I would personally start with either Explorer/Driver or Ace/Driver. I think Explorer's career skills work better for a podracer, but I'd give the edge to Ace simply because it makes Rigger cheaper (one of the specs from Stay on Target). Rigger is all about pimping out your ride.

As an alternate to Driver, Hotshot would work (as others have said). There are some cool Talents near the bottom, including one where you cause competitors to crash, which works for a podracer.

I would think it interesting to also specialize into mechanic (besides the driver spec) so you can get your hands on that bad motivator talent!

I would think it interesting to also specialize into mechanic (besides the driver spec) so you can get your hands on that bad motivator talent!

If it's anything like real life, racers have teams that include mechanics. There's no reason that the mechanic on the side of the track couldn't utilize Bad Motivator if you don't want to spread the character thin on skills and talents.

Actually, I am thinking of the podracing scene in the movie where the racers did "a lot of modifications themselves", sabotaged each other's pods and did their repairs on the fly.

I see benefits of side stepping into the mechanic but I do agree this is only if you are in it for the long haul.

Yeah, on the professional circuit there are professional mechanics. In the dirt league most people modify their own vehicles, and at least before NASCAR became big business I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a driver who didn't at least know the ins and outs of how his vehicle worked and couldn't make his own repairs. Besides, that scrappy independent feel is important to the Outer Rim, right?

My cousin was chief mechanic for Sammy Swindell, during his brief run at NASCAR. Tony was always a great driver, but an even better mechanic. And most of the drivers he worked for were at least good mechanics, but even better drivers.

So, I would definitely agree that there would tend to be a lot of overlap there, but I think most people tend to be slightly better in one area or the other.

[EDIT: Fix Sammy’s last name, because he never swindled anyone that I know of. ]

May I suggest the Gran? (I dont know what makes you humans worse at podracing than us Gran, but clearly nobody makes a big deal of Mawhonic's participation, while everybody seems to think the Skywalker kid is special...)