Jedi are known as the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy. Not soldiers, as Mace Windu pointed out. Becoming a solider takes away from your other studies.

From a meta standpoint, FFG set it up so that if you want to be outrageous with a lightsaber, your Force powers won't hit the same level. The Force is already a powerful asset that most characters don't have access to, so it prevents Jedi from becoming too powerful and unbalanced in the party... ...For instance, Influence can quickly put a Colonist face out of the job if someone sinks enough XP into it. If a Jedi character could become really good at Influence and lightsaber combat, then honestly, why do we have the Colonist? He's going to remain in the shadow of the Jedi who is better at persuasion and better at killing things. The only time the Colonist will get mileage is when the GM uses a species that is immune to mind tricks.

This present system lets everyone have their niche and while the Jedi are the most versatile (every career can get combat and non-combat, plus Force Powers to boot), they can't be good at everything.

I can't think of anything, either, but then again, I'm not an EU junkie, so most of the more esoteric stuff is a mystery to me. However, maybe we can find some clues in the Force user adversaries they included in the back of the beta:

• Accomplished Mechanic
• Cautious Smuggler
• Dandy Gambler
• Elite CSA Intrusion Specialist
• Grizzled Trader
• Murderous Fugitive
• Scarred Gladiator

The thing is, most of these (sans Force-sensitivity) are covered by other careers and specs in EotE. I suppose they could start rehashing old specs and making them "Forcey", but that seems weak to me. They might forego specs altogether and come up with some sort of new Force concept, like what they did with signature abilities trees. Maybe they'll add "mini-specializations" to existing specs, or come out with "talent modifiers" that add Force use to existing talents.

At this point, I'm having a hard time just speculating what they have in mind.

This line and AoR are on my "I'll take one of everything" list, while for Edge I'm content with Core, Fly Casual and the as yet unnamed Bounty Hunter book.

One of my biggest complaints about the system is the near inability to improve FR without diving deep into a non-combat specialization. Either FR needs to be increasable by every specialization, OR it needs to be a characteristic, OR a universal spec needs to be put in with one or 2 FR+ talents and a Dedication Talent, along with Parry, Reflect and a couple of (Lightsaber, lore, etc.) skill is now a class skill talent.

What is wrong with it being hard to build up Force rating and being best achievable by going into a non-Combat spec. Seems very reasonable and balanced to me. You want to be the best with a lightsaber AND the best with Force powers? XP-based RPGs don't work like that. And buying it up independent of a specialization doesn't really fit with the Dedication approach of raising other stats.

I honestly completely disagree. I can find a multitude of ways for Force and Destiny to expand on careers. For example, here's what I can come up with off the top of my head for a consular:

Consular

Mediator : The mediator makes it their goal to work with multiple groups to help promote positive discourse. The empire has made an effort to create divides between species, factions, and groups that once knew peace. The mediator works to re-unite these people together and promote peace.

Most of the mediator's talents will revolve around promoting interests between outside parties, not themselves and the group. For example, when two groups of farmers on a backwater region threaten to attack one another, the negotiator can pull both groups together to cooperate.

Jar'Kai Practitioner : While most Consulars emphasize the Niman form of lightsaber combat, some Consulars are much more martial and utilize two blades.

While the general emphasis is on Niman (thus Jar'Kai will include Niman Technique as a talent), Jar'Kai emphasizes dual wielding lightsabers in combat, and thus has talents that revolve around it.

Charlatan : Sometimes in order to achieve peace, Consular's must use the force to give themselves the advantage. The Charlatan serves this purpose by clouding the minds of those the Consular is working with.

A conflict-riddle specialization, the Charlatan's main emphasis is deceit and charm against those who have been mentally weakened through the force. Example talents would be gaining conflict in order to downgrade or decrease the difficulty of a charm or deception check. In-game terms, the idea would be to cloud an individual's mind, almost crippling them, in order to get the better end of the deal.

I had a few other ideas for the Sentinel and Mystic. I suppose I can see the challenge with Guardian and to a lesser extent the Seeker, but I definitely think it's possible to expand on them. You just have to look at the overall goal of each career and find an alternative way of how they could fit that goal.

As far as boosting up Force Rating, there are specs that are very much combat-orientated specializations that have nothing to do with using a lightsaber, with each of these being found under the Guardian, Seeker, and Warrior specializations. So if you want to be a combat badass and still be able to increase your Force Ratings, options already exist to allow you to do so. The only thing you're not getting is additional ranks in Parry or Reflect, which is a fair trade for the other things you're getting from those non-LS Form combat specs.

And if you've really got a wild hair up your you-know-what about having to pay the non-career cost for those specs, there's always the Force Sensitive Emergent out of the Age of Rebellion book, which adds some resiliency as well as talents useful for keeping a low profile, and the ever handy Touch of Fate and Sense Danger talents.

Personally, I would love to see some way to use "sith alchemy", at least at low level. I had the idea of a medic chiss obsessed with the force and manipulating the nature with that.

I tend to agree with the OP, I don't see a lot of need for more Specializations of the Careers in the CRB but I would like to see some of the other Force traditions, creatures, and source books on the Sith and Sith Sorcery, Rebels, and the new film(s).
From looking at the Beta of F&D it's almost a Specialization book as it is and although I'm sure the folks at FFG could come up with a few more they've pretty much covered everything you'd need, with the exceptions of fleshing out some of the other Force traditions.

5) Also, Dathomiri Magick in general could potentially be expanded on... It's canon after all.

I avoided anything animated and Star Wars like the plague and still do, so unless they added some weird stuff in The Clone Wars, the only thing special is that they sing and tame rancors. One of which is a narrative thing and the other is already in the rules.

I know there was at least one Dathomiri Witch in TCW, but I ignored it since the old canon was that none had left Dathomir because they were shipwrecked on a virtually unknown world. They weren't really a thing in a galaxy until the heroes of Yavin arrived in The Courtship of Princess Leia ... Did George Lucas give them weird new powers?

They just announced a new Adventure book ( https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2015/4/10/chronicles-of-the-gatekeeper/ ) that includes a new playable species. Maybe instead of having specific books for careers, the new player options will be in Adventure and region/theme-based Sourcebooks.

Other force traditions can be handled with new specializations. and there are a lot to play with. Blazing chains, zhieson sha, and so on.

Also, I've been a strong opponent to the idea of a generic Padawan specialization, but that Age of Rebellion Recruit specialization keeps me wondering if you're not onto something...

The problem with a Padawan spec is how, narratively, the setting would presume ALL Jedi have to be in it it just from their upbringing, whereas not everyone who signs up with the Rebellion is necessarily going to go through that basic training.

Also, I've been a strong opponent to the idea of a generic Padawan specialization, but that Age of Rebellion Recruit specialization keeps me wondering if you're not onto something...

The problem with a Padawan spec is how, narratively, the setting would presume ALL Jedi have to be in it it just from their upbringing, whereas not everyone who signs up with the Rebellion is necessarily going to go through that basic training.

Truthfully, I think the best way to handle the "My PC is a former Jedi Padawan!" angle is instead of requiring some kind of universal specialization, simply set a list of criteria that reflect the PC went through the required fundamental training that all Jedi Padawans would have.

I've got a section in the v2.0 (work in progress) of my Ways of the Force document, with the current list of mechanics-based requirements being this:

- Force Rating 1

- One rank in the following skills: Discipline, Knowledge (Lore), Lightsaber, Negotiation

- The Sense Force power

Met that list? Congrats, your character was a Padawan prior to Order 66 and the fall of the Republic. After that point (and generally when most campaigns are likely to start) you're on your own for training, and thus will have to abide by the Force and Destiny specializations.

5) Also, Dathomiri Magick in general could potentially be expanded on... It's canon after all.

I avoided anything animated and Star Wars like the plague and still do, so unless they added some weird stuff in The Clone Wars, the only thing special is that they sing and tame rancors. One of which is a narrative thing and the other is already in the rules.

I know there was at least one Dathomiri Witch in TCW, but I ignored it since the old canon was that none had left Dathomir because they were shipwrecked on a virtually unknown world. They weren't really a thing in a galaxy until the heroes of Yavin arrived in The Courtship of Princess Leia ... Did George Lucas give them weird new powers?

I approve of this image. However, I obsessed over the old, and since I don't read Star Wars novels anymore, the old canon is my reference for RPGs. I'm not saying everyone else has to dislike TCW as much as I do, I'm simply presenting personal taste when I say I don't like their new, more medieval witch feel. The old singing sorceress was good in my mind, and on the off chance my players ever crash on Dathomir, that's what they'll find.

I get it. I own/have read everything from Splinter of the Mind's Eye to the latest weirdness with Abeloth. The main books focusing on the Nightsisters (Courtship of Princess Leia and a couple mentions in KJ Anderson's Young Jedi Knights) left a much more subtle creepiness to them. Even the inclusion of Charal from the ewok adventures did little to change that. My PCs are currently on Dathomir and I am using an amalgam of TCW and everything else. I enjoyed the scenes with the Nightsisters, but I would alter the "Clone Wars Look" with the more traditional black/not clown look in my minds eye. I feel like they had to keep it borderline because kids watch that show.

I may forever have to "unlearn what I have learned" from 30 years of Star Wars EU, but honestly, after the YV and Aboleth I felt that the canon had gone silly. As a concept, the Vong were neat and creepy. I hated the idea of Abeloth from the start. It's Star Wars, you don't have to reach like that. Anyways, it's just my opinion. I'm quite happy for the reboot.

The Vong and Abeloth are right out in my universe as well. One of the lead causes of that weirdness is actually that a newer batch of authors were coming in, many of which cut their teeth on D&D and fantasy heartbreaker novels. Sure, Zahn, Stackpole, and Luceno (the big three awesome authors) were still around, but these new authors were responsible for large chunks of the New Jedi Order, Legacy of the Force, and Fate of the Jedi series. The Vong in particular felt like a D&D race that did not belong to me, and Abeloth just didn't fit.

My view is that of an old traditional skeptic who loved the Original Trilogy and anything that emulated that feel. Of course, I don't stick religiously to that old canon, apart from the films.

That's why I struggle with future Career books. They pretty much cover all but a handful of Force Traditions like the Jensaarai already, and produce Jedi that feel a lot like the first batch in the Jedi Academy trilogy, which I love, so it already feels very complete.

I have a LOT of faith in FFG. The writers love their work and are obsessive about the EU. I don't see how they are going to do it, but I trust that they will do it well. I'm chomping at the bit for the remaining Edge of the Empire careers. The two I wanted most are the last two to hit. (But I have really enjoyed the in between!)