Yes that's my thread title, and I'm standing by it.

Some of us may remember that old issue of WEG's Star Wars Adventure Journal, where they gave us stats for all the R2 models, all the way up to R7, who we've recently gotten in Stay On Target.

I'd like an R3 for my campaign. They have that groovy clear dome, and you can see their brains. Any old-school action figure guy can attest to how awesome that is.

But unless I'm missing something, there's no stats out there for him. Has anybody home-brewed this? Or have I not bought the right books? How would you stat an R3?

They aren't different enough i think to differentiate in this system

I imagine only slight narrative differences

There are distinct differences between all of the astromech models. I suggest using the various d20 Saga edition write-ups as a basis for conversion into FFG.

There are distinct differences. I don't think there is enough granularity in this system to account for it. Not something worth getting bogged down on.

Here's my take based on the Wookiepedia entry for the R3.

R-3 Series Astromech [Rival]

The R-3 series astromech droid is very similar to its predecessor, the R2-series astromech, with the major cosmetic difference being the clear plastex or transparisteel dome. The transparency gave the droid's internal sensor package greater range and showcased the R3's other major distinction, its newly updated intellex V computer brain. The R3's Intellex V was capable of housing an immense amount of data; those units bought by the Galactic Republic had a database of every vessel in the Republic Navy. Armed with this information, the R3 worked in cooperation with gunnery crews, security troopers, and naval chiefs of operation aboard capital-scale ships and battle stations. Though its primary function was as a capital ship astromech, it could still operate as a plug-in droid for starfighters, holding up to five (5) hyperspace coordinates in its astrogation buffer. The R3 had a genial and chummy personality, which allowed it to coordinate easily with large crews of organic sentients.

Due to the sensitive nature of the R3's programming, the rather expensive model was sold only to recognized government militaries. The Galactic Republic purchased 125 million of the droids during IA's initial production run, and later the Galactic Empire used R3s aboard its Star Destroyers and Death Star battlestations.

• Brawn: 1
• Agility: 1
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2
• Willpower: 1
• Presence: 1
• Soak Value: 3
• Wound Threshold: 11
• Defense: 0/0
• Skills: Astrogation 3, Computers 3, Cool 2, Mechanics 2, Piloting (Space) 2.
• Talents: Known Schematic [Once per game session, the droid's controlling character may spend a maneuver to make a Hard (ppp) Knowledge (Education) check. Success means he is familiar with a buildingor capital ship's design. He now knows the location of critical components or facilities within the ship or vehicle, as well as his own location. He can also plan unconventional routes around obstacles. Additional success, advantage, or triumph results can reveal other useful information at the GM's discretion].
• Abilities: Droid (does not need to breathe, eat, or drink and can survive in vacuum and underwater; immune to poisons and toxins).
• Equipment: Arc welder (Melee; Damage 3; Critical -; Range [Engaged]; Stun damage), built-in repair tools (counts as tool kit), general purpose scanner.
• Cost: 10,000.
• Rarity: 6.

Overall, not that much different than the standard astromech. Added the Known Schematic to replicate the ability to store information in the Intelex V brain and general purpose scanner due to the boosted signal from the transparent dome. The higher cost and rarity reflect the droid's sensitive nature. If you want to play this droid as a PC (which I am), I strongly recommend the Commodore Spec for its talents [solid Repairs, Known Schematic, Galaxy Mapper, Familiar Suns, Fire Control] as a strong beginning spec or a great one to follow mechanic and/or slicer.

For the most part, the various R-series astromechs (starting with the R2 at least) can be handled by the Astromech Droid stat block. Thus far, only the R7 got a separate stat block in Stay on Target, and it's not that much different from a regular astromech unless it's been slotted into an E-Wing, at which point it gains a couple of talents.

For a PC, you can generally cover most of what an Astromech does by taking Technician/Mechanic as your starting career/spec, although in one campaign I'm in a PC opted to go for an R4-series agromech and take Engineer/Mechanic instead since our Duros Explorer/Fringer has the Astrogation side of things pretty much covered. You could also go the route of Ace/Rigger if you want your droid to be skilled at starship and vehicle operations while having the option to start tricking out the party's ride.

I could see an R4 unit having a slightly lower astrogation check (2 ranks instead of 3) (they only stored one jump point in their buffers) and giving them a rank in Pilot (Planetary) for using repulsorlift vehicles. I would even consider giving them the Durable Talent since their cones are larger to allow for more space between components and components that are larger, simpler, and less costly to produce. I'd even think about swapping the ranks in Computers and Mechanics. All this is based on reading wookiepedia. Something like this:

R-4 Series Astromech [Rival]

The R4 had the same outward appearance of an R2 or R3 droid below the neck, but to save money on production, items such as the video display screen and miniature fire extinguisher were omitted. The holographic projector/recorder unit was retained, but relocated to the top of the head dome to allow for use of a cheaper, less miniaturized unit with a smaller rotational axis. The droid's Intellex VI computer was advanced, but geared toward common repulsorcraft designs and specs for commercially available space transports. The computer brain was designed with more space between the components, lowering production costs, but requiring a larger head dome, and likewise eliminated many of the function indicators and gadgetry found on other R-series head domes. The R4 was unsuited to the task of starfighter astromech; it could only hold the coordinates for a single hyperspace jump in its astrogation buffer, a one way trip for any fighter jock.

The droids were rugged; able to shrug off the nicks and dents common to a working garage environment as well or better than other R-droids. IA was pleased to discover that, with regular maintenance checks, the R4 outlasted its design parameters for operational life, weather endurance, personality matrix stability, and time elapsed between recharge sessions.

• Brawn: 1
• Agility: 1
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2
• Willpower: 1
• Presence: 1
• Soak Value: 3
• Wound Threshold: 11
• Defense: 0/0
• Skills: Astrogation 2, Computers 2, Cool 2, Mechanics 3, Piloting (Space) 1, Piloting (Planetary) 2.
• Talents: Durable 1 [subtract 10 from Critical Injury rolls made against the droid].
• Abilities: Droid (does not need to breathe, eat, or drink and can survive in vacuum and underwater; immune to poisons and toxins).
• Equipment: Arc welder (Melee; Damage 3; Critical -; Range [Engaged]; Stun damage), built-in repair tools (counts as tool kit).
• Cost: 7,500.
• Rarity: 3.