Any suggestions about how to go about building an intelligence agent? I didn't find the spy class super compelling for an intelligence operative like Winter or Iella from the books.

Winter and Iella are two different types of operatives I think. Winter is known for her holographic (read photographic or eidetic) memory. Iella is a former law enforcement investigator. Winter wouldn't have strong combat skills but Iella would due to her CorSec training. Both are considered cool under pressure. I could see the Ambassador specialization mixed with some stealth and skulduggery would work for Winter. The Marshal Specialization from Far Horizons along with the Slicer Specialization could work for Iella.

One thing to consider about Winter. She is supposed to be a dead ringer for Leia except with white hair. Unless she disguises her face some any Deception check should probably have a Setback, maybe.

Were I to make an intelligence agent similar to Iella, I would go with Scientist. She starts with Intellect of 3, and I'd bump it up to 4 with Dedication. Hidden Storage, Knowledge Specialization, Researcher, Utility Belt, and Careful Planning can make for a really "intelligent" Intelligence Agent. Being a human gets her started on the necessary skills like Deception or Charm, and she can figure out the rest with a little extra Experience, or just branch into another specialization for some easier skill training.

Going a more traditional route, I could see the Ambassador or Agitator working really well for either concept. Even Quartermaster might do well with talents like Bought Info and Smooth Talker.

In any case, you need some Education to be an intelligence agent; and general Knowledge about the Core Worlds, Outer Rim, and criminal Underworld can't hurt. You will also find some skill with Computers to be useful, and it's great to be Streetwise. Deception and Skulduggery can be your best friends as an agent, but don't forget that you will occasionally have to Negotiate face-to-face with a foe, perhaps even turning on the Charm to keep the hostilities at bay.

In Far Horizon there is a page to suggest some different colonist charcters, mixing various classes, and one of them is the Intelligence Agent, which is a combination of Scholar (for Brace and Well Rounded) and Thief (for Bypass ecurity, Indistiguishable and Master of Shadows). That sounds like a good combination for a stealthy agent, maybe adding also the Infiltrator spec from AoR could give a more action-oriented feel to the character.

To better answer your question, what sorts of things do you want in your agent? Where should his or her focus be?

To better answer your question, what sorts of things do you want in your agent? Where should his or her focus be?

A very good question, which brings up another point.

I can't remember off the top of my head how many authors have portrayed Iella Antilles or Winter in their novels, but it's gotta be a fair few. Different authors might write the characters a little differently, depending on what they need out of them for the story. Different aspects of the same character, y'know, like Lando Calrissian's stats in the Jewel of Yavin.

So perhaps it'd be good to write, in plain language, what you're looking for...and then peruse your available talent lists (chapter IV) and skill descriptions (chapter III) to see what would be helpful, game-mechanically, in portraying your vision of that character.

Were I to make an intelligence agent similar to Iella, I would go with Scientist. She starts with Intellect of 3, and I'd bump it up to 4 with Dedication. Hidden Storage, Knowledge Specialization, Researcher, Utility Belt, and Careful Planning can make for a really "intelligent" Intelligence Agent. Being a human gets her started on the necessary skills like Deception or Charm, and she can figure out the rest with a little extra Experience, or just branch into another specialization for some easier skill training.

Wow, that's a pretty good selection of talents.

I wanted to play a Bothan Spynet agent in our new game. I was also unimpressed by the Spy career, so I went with Thief. Instead of stealing things, I steal information.

The skill selection is great for all kinds of sneaky work. I focused on Deception and Stealth, but Computers was helpful.

Indistinguishable, Hidden Storage, Bypass Security, Street Smarts, Stalker, and Shortcut all help.

Then if you want to have combat options you can pick up Gunslinger or Scoundrel (or Recruit which has very little in the way of career skill overlap).