Hey guys! I've been peeking around the forum for about a week, but this is my first post. I'm running a new game in about a week, but I had a couple quick questions for people who've run game. I'll post the questions themselves before the tl;dr context.
Are character creation rules underpowered? Do I need to take steps to balance a team without a dedicated doctor?
Let me put things in context. I've roleplayed regularly for years, but the majority of this has been free-form play with a group of close friends. I'm also about five sessions into an online (voice chat) EotE game run by one of those afforementioned friends. It's following character creation and is running pretty smoothly. I'm also scheduled to start running a face-to-face EotE game with some friends in about a week and a half. I haven't actually run a game that requires dice rolls since I was in middle school (about a decade and a half ago), but they're highly experienced players. I've run a couple of sessions with combinations of these people in Shadowrun and Unknown Armies, so I can speak to the fact that they know their way around a book and know how to properly roleplay. It's a team of 4, and some of them seem to lean towards min/maxing their characters, albeit not in an unhealthy way. I have the first couple of adventures planned as well as setting information and a distinct blueprint of the larger "season". I'm happy and excited with what I have in mind, and I know these guys trust my narrative skill.
Anyway, I've sent these guys off to make characters in the interim with the assumption that we'll look them over, make adjustments, and figure out how they work together at the start of the first session. The players are concerned that the rules are excessively harsh to starting characters. So far the general makeup seems to be a disgraced Imperial politico, a tech droid, a gand bounty hunter, and another combat-oriented character who's species and spec are still up in the air. They say they've run some dice rolls, and they're getting two-shotted by rival level threats. I made it clear that since they're starting characters, they aren't going to have to look at facing against an equivalent team of rivals. They still seem concerned. They've told me that droids are underpowered but that the player really wants to play one. I pointed out that droids seem to be built for highly specialized roles, and that their capacity for absurdly high characteristic breakdowns makes them powerhouses in the long-term. They seem concerned that the starting credits aren't enough to get the gear they want. Either they can't afford to use the additional obligation to buy their equipment (because they've already sunk too much obligation into XP bonuses), or the credits even with those circumstances flat out isn't enough. I'm a bit sympathetic to this. I know my doctor needed the highest obligation/credit bonus possible to get the equipment he needed, and while he had some left over, he also wasn't shopping for the more expensive weapons and armor. The droid can't afford a gun because he can't afford to spend the obligation on credits. The gand wants a chemical sprayer (adapted from the flame thrower but with poison effects). I thought it was a cool idea and we negotiated on a cost of 1200 with doses costing 25 a piece, but that doesn't leave him with enough money to get armor or other accessories. The unnamed third mercenary apparently can't afford armor. I don't have any worries about the fourth guy. He's a trooper and a pro who will make the systems work for what he wants. They've also expressed to me that the last few games they've played together have been low level and they're sick of starting at nothing.
I'm of two minds about it. I want to make my characters happy, and I know they have expectations they want for this game. On the other hand, it's my first time properly GMing in a long time, and I'm worried about game balance. Based on the distribution of characters, it seems like the game will veer towards combat, and I don't want the characters to mow through everything in front of them. I know the game can work with starting characters, but that might not be the game they want. I don't think they'd be intentionally malicious, but is there a chance they're passively leveraging their experience to gain an upper hand in this game?
They've asked for an extra 1000 starting credits at creation or slight bonuses to experience (either in the terms of extra experience or to boost one ability up to 3. I flatly vetoed the latter). For people who have played a combat heavy game before, is their perception that starting combat characters are at a disadvantage fair? Should I concede to their requests, or am I setting a dangerous precedent by kowtowing? I know kit has a major effect on gameplay, but I also know any starting boosts to credits will largely be negated a few sessions in as they start getting paid for their missions. I also worry, will this credits bonus give an unfair advantage to these three characters vs. the politico who likely doesn't need handfuls of money? If I go this route, should I give him experience to compensate?
I'm wondering if I should adjust the difficulty of the game to match their desires to play non-standard starting characters. My initial impression, following their concerns, is to play a session or two with starting level and see how it works out for everyone. The setting I have in mind is one where the Empire is approaching its centennial celebrations, where rumors of the Emperor's death or ill health is causing power plays amongst the political elite that's spilling into the outer rim, and where the idea of a galactic rebellion is nascent. I was planning on having the characters start out as low level smugglers/bounty hunters with opportunities to develop their own cartel. But their concerns have made me think that I should adjust the level of the game (either from the start, or with a time jump after the first couple sessions), raising the difficulty by having them continually under the run from the high burden of obligations or press-ganged into service as a sort of Imperial Suicide Squad.
More briefly, I'm concerned about their lack of a medic. The group I'm playing in right now is running swimmingly, but it's also incredibly well balanced. We have a combat beast, a pilot who also has decent skills in combat, an all things tech droid, and my doctor who seconds as the team's face. It works well, but I know those medic skills have pulled us out of the fire a few times.
Should I compensate, perhaps with the addition of an NPC medic droid? Or should they be okay without one?
**** that was long. I thank anyone who manages to read this, much less provide input.