hello im trying to plan a build for a f&d campain. im really wanting to build a character that is great at lightsaber combat. i would really like to do two lightsaber even though i know two lightsabers isnt that great i personally like the idea. the specilazations ive been looking at is ataru striker and makashi duelist. would like insight and suggestions. on a sidenote has anyone come up with a broken build yet for f&d. i remember when i played star wars saga edition a few years back there was a untouchable jedi build that was really strong.

We have a Makashi duelist in our game. He is THE person for fighting other lightsaber users, but with no ranks in reflect, he's out of his league versus blasters.

What do you see your character doing other than swinging a saber? Does the character shoot with a blaster? Fly a ship? Woo the ladies? Sneaking around?

You might find that you also like being a charming noble. In that case, Makashi duelist is the way to go. You may think of your lightsaber user being a natural pilot, in that case, Ataru is your way to go.

In short, think of what else you want your character to do, and find a lightsaber spec that fits well with that.

ya being stealth and flying ships would be nice. any species and characteristic insight i find that all the species are rather interchangeable and donesnt really mater in a machanics scence.

You'll probably want Agility 4, which means selecting a species with a high agility is a good start. Other than that... Brawn is good for taking hits, Willpower is good for suffering strain and using the Force.

question what is a characteristic you wouldn't mind if you had a one in it?

Ultimately, it depends on what you see your character taking a back seat and letting someone else handle.

Strong brawny things?

Charming silver tongue stuff?

Quick thinking? fast-on-their feet thoughts?

Deft of hands sneaky things?

Strong minded perceptive skills?

Massive fount of knowledge and intimacy with the electronic or biologic body?

question what is a characteristic you wouldn't mind if you had a one in it?

Nothing! A one will cripple a character, don't take any. Even two's are problematic. The best all around starting build for a Jedi is human, and take the +10 Xp's option, and have four threes and two twos. Put a three each in Brawn, Agility, and Willpower. Put the fourth three in whatver else you want to be good at. Int is a good choice, but make sure you have a three in whatever stat your saber tree specializes in. Make sure you have (at least) one level of skill in both Vigilence and Cool, to improve your initiative. You will probably need to use one of your Human bonus skills to make sure both are covered. Don't try to be a 'one trick pony' that is great in one area and hopeless in all others. Try to be good in your best area (dueling) and acceptable in other areas.

There are many more skills out there than a starting character can learn. Part of the GM's job is to challenge the players so you should expect that you will be having to roll against skills you do not have much, or even most, of the time. With only one green in the pile you will almost always fail, and even with two you will probably fail. If you succeed it will probably be with disadvantage, and the GM can use that against you.

question what is a characteristic you wouldn't mind if you had a one in it?

The best all around starting build for a Jedi is human, and take the +10 Xp's option, and have four fours and two threes.

ok you what do you mean by four fours because it is imposible to have four stats at four? the best you can do is four stats with a 3 form what ive been able to mess with. also if you have 4 other players that are doing something diffrent wouldnt it not matter if your character was a one trick pony?

question what is a characteristic you wouldn't mind if you had a one in it?

The best all around starting build for a Jedi is human, and take the +10 Xp's option, and have four fours and two threes.

ok you what do you mean by four fours because it is imposible to have four stats at four? the best you can do is four stats with a 3 form what ive been able to mess with. also if you have 4 other players that are doing something diffrent wouldnt it not matter if your character was a one trick pony?

Oops, I meant four threes and two twos. [Edited in my post].

In some cases (Knowledge skills, for instance) only (usually) one person needs to be good at something but there are many more cases where your one, and subsequest constant failures, will hose the party.

Suppose your Brawn is poor, and you are always failng Athletics and Resilience rolls, and the party frequesntly has to stop what they are doing to fix your injuries, diseases, and poisonings?

Suppose your Agility is poor, and you are always failing Stealth rolls, and the party gets in many more fights because they can never sneak past the bad guys?

Suppose your intelligence is poor, and you keep failing Knowledge (Education) rolls because of it, and you keep breaking laws you don't even know about, and the party has to deal with Imperial, or at least planetary government, attention because of it?

Suppose your Cunning is poor, and you couldn't make a Deception check to save your life, and you can't hide the fact that you are a Jedi, and the whole party gets hunted because of you?

Suppose your Will is poor, and you are always rolling poor initiative when surprised (Vigilence) or failing to resist when the Force is used on you (since your Will and Discipline will add to their difficulty), and the party has to deal with more bad guys shooting first and with the Force powers used on you?

Suppose your Presence is poor, and you can't ever make a Charm roll, and you anger someone because of it, and the whole party gets in a fight because of you?

A stat of one will not only cripple you, it will cripple the party. Not only will you be unlikely to make the rolls as listed, but you're the one whose difficulty rolls the GM will upgrade with Destiny, and the Despairs you roll will really hose the party.

If your starting with the base xp you will be a student and not a master. That being said play whatever you want to play and grow into the character don't worry about power gaming. If you get a boost of xp you will be a master -- power game all you want.

Having a single 1 or even 2 1s isn't really the end of the world. Having previously messed around as a shooting-heavy droid that started at 2/5/2/1/1/1, and eventually bumped up to 3/6/2/1/1/1, I can say that obstacles will be there, there can be annoying, but as long as you're not trying to over-extend yourself into doing things your character isn't made to do, and you let the rest of the party do what they do and work in-conjunction, overall it can still be fun.

That said, I also wouldn't recommend going up to a 5 with a fresh character, you make quick work out of any task. Even with the GM properly adjusting and creating creative challenges, and it being neat to be able to trample things when it comes down to you using a skill tied to that crazy characteristic, you can still mostly do that with a 4, and doing that gives you more free reign to consider another single characteristic/skill to put emphasis on and create a slightly more versatile/multi-faceted character. So basically, if you want to be a bit specialized going up to a 4 and maybe leaving a characteristic at 1 isn't a bad option, and it can make things interesting and challenging when you need to find better ways to get a boost die or two to help out when you get challenged in your weak characteristic.

And of course, going for a bunch of 3s is perfectly fine and great, and makes you kind of a swiss army knife. But it can get boring if the whole group goes for 3s. Even with difference in skill ranks and talents earned, it still sort of creates a bunch of overlap if everybody is doing it. That and you're essentially stretching yourself even further. Which can be perfectly fine if that's the character you want to make - but if you're focused on being a force-user, you've got a lot to balance out between force ratings, dedications, force powers, talent trees, and skill ranks.

So yeah. Do whatever you think sounds the most fun. Don't worry about trying to cover every base and being prepared for every minute situation, and don't worry about trying to make sure that as long as your character's around, there'll never be a failure for certain types of skill checks; just make a fun character.

I have been thinking base Shien Expert (great vs blasters if you follow the left hand side of the tree) then once you get supreme reflect multiclass into Shii-cho Knight. the reflect of the Shien makes the enemies have to come in close (or allow you to get close; and if that doesnt work at least you can use the improved reflect to deal the damage to them instead) and then once your close you can use the shii-cho knight to keep your self going even longer in the fights as well as allow you to re-roll a bad lightsaber roll. if multiple enemies get close all the better with sarlacc sweep and multiple opponents talents. the only downside to this character type is it will be extremely pricey in terms of exp. needed to actually build. if you go with this build i also recommend your lightsaber gets defensive 1 and you use armored robes. the more dice that the enemies have to roll gives you a greater chance to use your improved reflect. also be advised this build has you being more let them strike first initially.

I know of a Force-user build that isn't really broken, just synergises really well. Pathfinder/Sage. You get access to 5 FR (from memory), meaning that you can ride sil 2 creatures, and 1 more FR means you can become a Rancor rider!

Just imagine:

"Nothing could save us now, we're heavily outnumbered!"

"Wait! What the..."

*Rancor noise!*

"Rancor! RUN!"

"Sir! It appears to be attacking the enemy! And it looks like there's someone on it!"

Add Aggressor/Enforcer (both for full effect), then build into Fearsome, and you have a character made for terrifying everything on the field

In some cases (Knowledge skills, for instance) only (usually) one person needs to be good at something but there are many more cases where your one, and subsequest constant failures, will hose the party.

Dump stats make for interesting characters. Weaknesses only serve to make strengths that much more valuable.

And hosing the party?? What ever happened to group skill checks and skilled assistance? This is not the game where everyone has to pass a Stealth check or be discovered, or pass an Athletics check or fall to their doom. Most of the time the PC with the best dice pool will be able to attempt the task for everyone, with assistance coming into play if appropriate.

Not every character needs to be optimized as if to ward off all probabilities of "bad dice rolls." Roleplaying a PC's weakness makes that PC that much more human. Or Twi'lek, or whatever. So, Failing is okay. As long as it doesn't happen ALL the time. Which it won't.

And anyway, if your play group is so unforgiving of failure in an RPG, maybe it's time to play a board game instead.

Suppose your Brawn is poor, and you are always failng Athletics and Resilience rolls, and the party frequesntly has to stop what they are doing to fix your injuries, diseases, and poisonings?

Also, helps us players who enjoy the spotlight to enjoy it even more 4 dice are just so much more gratifying that 3.

Suppose your Agility is poor, and you are always failing Stealth rolls, and the party gets in many more fights because they can never sneak past the bad guys?

Suppose your intelligence is poor, and you keep failing Knowledge (Education) rolls because of it, and you keep breaking laws you don't even know about, and the party has to deal with Imperial, or at least planetary government, attention because of it?

Suppose your Cunning is poor, and you couldn't make a Deception check to save your life, and you can't hide the fact that you are a Jedi, and the whole party gets hunted because of you?

Suppose your Will is poor, and you are always rolling poor initiative when surprised (Vigilence) or failing to resist when the Force is used on you (since your Will and Discipline will add to their difficulty), and the party has to deal with more bad guys shooting first and with the Force powers used on you?

Or, if the subject in this scenario simply feels insecure in his weaknesses, maybe he could stop projecting that insecurity into the relationships around him and realize that we are all better when we accept each other for who we are.

Suppose your Presence is poor, and you can't ever make a Charm roll, and you anger someone because of it, and the whole party gets in a fight because of you?

A stat of one will not only cripple you, it will cripple the party. Not only will you be unlikely to make the rolls as listed, but you're the one whose difficulty rolls the GM will upgrade with Destiny, and the Despairs you roll will really hose the party.

Thirdly, this advice fails to take into account one very important factor: Skill ranks . Once you take that second and third skill rank, your dice pool will be a respectable size once more. Tired of failing those Charm checks? Just pop a session's worth of XP into the Charm skill, and next time won't be so painful. See? Problem solved. Everyone can go back to "optimizing" their PCs.

Here's a little nugget: "The GM's primary goal is to create an entertaining and memorable game in which everyone has fun."

If this isn't happening, it ain't because you have an Agility rating of 1. It's because your GM isn't doing his job properly, and it's time for a gentle suggestion that he re-read at least the opening paragraphs of chapter 9, "The Game Master." (Also that's where the above quote is from)

question what is a characteristic you wouldn't mind if you had a one in it?

Thing is, for any alien species, a characteristic at 1 is already built in. So I'd just pick your favorite species, try to play to your strengths, and don't worry about shoring up stuff you're not good at. At least during character creation. Focus on what you're good at, and become better. That way you become more valuable to your team, because "that's the guy that can do 'XYZ' really good." And on the flip side, they know not to come to you for "ABC" when it needs doing.

Lastly, (sorry for the triple post!!) the way the characteristics in this system are built, it's impossible to be a "one trick pony." Even if you play (for example) a Wookiee with Brawn 5, you are gonna be AHHmazing at no less than 4 skills. Plus you are big and intimidating, and a meat shield, and a veritable pack mule. That doesn't sound even close to "one trick."

I know of a Force-user build that isn't really broken, just synergises really well. Pathfinder/Sage. You get access to 5 FR (from memory), meaning that you can ride sil 2 creatures, and 1 more FR means you can become a Rancor rider!

Just imagine:

"Nothing could save us now, we're heavily outnumbered!"

"Wait! What the..."

*Rancor noise!*

"Rancor! RUN!"

"Sir! It appears to be attacking the enemy! And it looks like there's someone on it!"

Holy Sith Lords, a quadruple post. I'm on FIRE tonight.

Ahem. Pathfinder + Sage will get you a very affordable FR 4. For the 5 & 6, you'll have to delve into another spec or two. Seer would do it for you in one shot. So if you wanted to be "Rancor rider," that'd be the way to go, for the low price estimate of 420 XP plus expenses.

This isn't an MMO requiring 'builds'. Ideally, make a character who is fun for you to play and fun for the GM and other players too.

There is more to this game than combat so there's no need to make an overpowered character or worry about 'DPS'. This isn't D&D 4E. It is intended to be a cinematic, narrative game.

Play whatever you think will be cool. Choose a species (and dump stat if necessary) that will be fun to play. Worry about stats later - the system ensures you'll be good at something , and a good GM will play to your strengths. Spending all your initial character XP on characteristics is good advice.

Nothing wrong with having a 1, as long as it's a facet of the character. Our Mirialan ex-Jedi, ex-motorcycle cop has Cunning 1, and is a naïve, hopeless romantic who just can't grasp the idea of 'covert actions'.

"Freeze! You're all under arrest!"

I know of a Force-user build that isn't really broken, just synergises really well. Pathfinder/Sage. You get access to 5 FR (from memory), meaning that you can ride sil 2 creatures, and 1 more FR means you can become a Rancor rider!

Even that depends on the game though. By and large, rancors are unruly, feared creatures. It's pretty difficult to transport them around to planets you visit, or take them into a settled area without the locals (or law enforcement) taking offence.

There's good reasons a Pathfinder might want a bird-sized or dog-sized companion instead, especially if your game sees you travelling a lot. There's more to choosing an animal companion than just the stat block.

A Sludge Panther seems a good compromise; a Nemesis-level creature that's still Silhouette 1 and is easier to take around with you on adventures.

According to Legend, the witches of Dathomir formed special bonds with their Rancors, even what you might call friendships. So it's situational, but having a large, unruly creature on your side might not be such a bad thing every now and then

You could just get a ship with a large enough cargo bay, keep the rancor in there, use Mental Bond to call him should you need some "heavy cavalry"

Yes, I'm sure you could make it work, somehow. But it might not take well to being caged up all the time, and might get a bit of wanderlust or go looking for its mistress... And you're not going to take it on many adventures, the way a cat or dog or avian companion could follow you around.

Then there's the matter of feeding it. Hope there's a regular supply of twi'lek dancers!

My point is that - just as characters shouldn't necessarily go after the biggest weapon with the biggest damage - there are frequently other considerations beyond the raw stats, depending on the type of games you're playing. .