No.

I guess I'll say it but if you want your pilots separate from certain ships maybe you should just play Attack Wing instead.

If the pilots and ships had been separate from the start I think it's safe to say that you would not recognize the game we have today. Those nice pilot abilities you see on certain ships would probably be replace with far less interesting things just because you lose all balance that putting a given effect on a specific ship would have. Having the pilots we know now be able to jump around from ship to ship while keeping the same pilot ability is really a lot more work than it needs to be.

Now if you REALLY think you need to see a specific pilot in a different ship that is where the discussion of new pilot cards for other ships comes. You want Steele in a Defender that would be a new pilot but you'll also need to consider that it may bring a new ability as well. I'm sure everyone could go over lists of pilot abilities and pick some that really should only work with the SHIP they are on instead of the pilot they happen to be tied to. If we look at Tycho I have to believe that a big reason he can ignore Stress when it comes to actions is because he's in an A-Wing. Another great idea could be to put Turr in a Decimator; look at that a large ship that is almost always going to get a shot every turn and then after that could Boost or BR despite having neither of these things in its action bar.

I guess I'll say it but if you want your pilots separate from certain ships maybe you should just play Attack Wing instead.

Attack Wing isn't Star Wars...

Thing is, there's only many ships where it makes sense anyway. Sure, I get we want to see Stele in a Defender, and Luke in an E-wing; I get that entirely. In fact, their native abilities are pretty neat in those ships, too.

But how many people want to see Howlrunner in a Decimator? Were people demanding that Colonel Jendon be found flying a TIE Bomber? How many people are clamouring for Vader in a Phantom (That double action and PS 11...mm...)? Corran in an HLC Outrider is just as bad.

The biggest problem I have with letting pilots be hot-swappable between ships is that the powerful combos will often not be the thematic ones. The number of pilots that should fit in multiple ships is relatively small; it'd make just as much sense to simply release the cards with their flying the correct ships and be done with it.

You need to look at it as a game and not just a representation of the Star Wars lore.

Well, I'm a Star Wars fan, not a tournament player. So I wouldn't say I NEED to do that.

If you're going to weigh in on a discussion about game design, then yeah, you need to look at as a game. It doesn't matter if you're casual only or play tournaments, solid, balanced game design is the core of a successful game and that is what keeps players playing it and that keeps designers designing it.

There's plenty of resources available to make homebrew pilot and upgrade cards if you want to make your own mods.

You need to look at it as a game and not just a representation of the Star Wars lore.

Well, I'm a Star Wars fan, not a tournament player. So I wouldn't say I NEED to do that.

In that case just say whomever you want is actually flying a given ship and stay FAR away from the actual game mechanics.

I'm not sure about FFG's SWRPG but for many of the roleplaying games I've been into there is no need to tie what things are called when it comes to game mechanics to what they need to be called in character. A case in point is the Jedi base class in SWSE; the name may say "Jedi" and it certainly helps with that but there are other ways to build a "Jedi" and also many ways to use that class with a character that has nothing to do with the Jedi.

I guess I'll say it but if you want your pilots separate from certain ships maybe you should just play Attack Wing instead.

Attack Wing isn't Star Wars...

Correct...but he isn't referring to the lore here. He is discussing game mechanics, which you counter statement has nothing to do with...

OP has suggested a swappable pilot mechanic...like what attack wing has. If you want to see the game this kind of system creates you should go play attack wing.

OP has suggested a swappable pilot mechanic...like what attack wing has. If you want to see the game this kind of system creates you should go play attack wing.

But I do what to see a swappable pilot mechanic. But I don't want to play a Star Trek game.

I think you can see my conundrum.

OP has suggested a swappable pilot mechanic...like what attack wing has. If you want to see the game this kind of system creates you should go play attack wing.

But I do what to see a swappable pilot mechanic. But I don't want to play a Star Trek game.

I think you can see my conundrum.

1) A post at the bottom of page 1 of this thread has the rules to swap a pilot to another ship.

2) Look online for a template to make custom cards, and make what you want.

3) Get your friends together to play some X-wing with your new game mods.

4) Optional: Upload your custom cards and share them in this forum.

Conundrum solved.

Eh...that sounds like a lotta work. I'd really rather FFG just remake the game from the ground up.

Eh...that sounds like a lotta work. I'd really rather FFG just remake the game from the ground up.

Then, to quote the famous Dread Pirate Roberts: "Get used to disappointment."

I think it could've been interesting. Alsso some pilots could be restricted to some ships or experts on only one type and thus costing more on others. There would've been tns of options to balance them so i don't think it wouldve been that much harden than balancing everything else. E.g. modifucations can also be used on all ships and still ahve to be balanced.

As above, it would be more detailed and cool, but it might not be balanced. You'd sacrifice too much for it I think.

Eh...that sounds like a lotta work. I'd really rather FFG just remake the game from the ground up.

Of course you do...

I think it could've been interesting. Alsso some pilots could be restricted to some ships or experts on only one type and thus costing more on others. There would've been tns of options to balance them so i don't think it wouldve been that much harden than balancing everything else. E.g. modifucations can also be used on all ships and still ahve to be balanced.

Most modifications may be universal but they are also affecting things at a pretty basic level. You've got modifications that:

1. Boost a basic game stat: Hull, Shield, Agility

2. Give the ship access to an action it doesn't normally have: Target Lock, Boost

3. Tries to make an under used, one shot, game mechanic a bit more viable: Munitions Failsafe

4. Allow large ships to act as something a little more than a basic fighter: All the "large only" upgrades.

Now there are some pilots with abilities that could fit into one of these categories but some abilities are very different. I guess if I'm mentioning Modifications I need to hit the two special cases as well.

5. A modification that makes using another upgrade easier although it is unique: Experimental Interface.

6. A modification that allows especially agile ships, as defined by the Boost ability, to avoid certain types of attacks that may not come from a traditional "kill zone" of a ship: Autothrusters.

I'll give you that some pilot abilities do have rough translations when it comes to certain upgrades but there are often some difference and they using those options does have an opportunity cost by preventing the use of other things.

My reply to this topic on reddit:

I'd argue that the pilot ability represents not only the pilot, but how the pilot flies that ship. Soontir Fel might be getting his focus when stressed specifically from his familiarity in how an Interceptor handles. Also, we have crew versions of some pilots. Luke as a gunner has a different ability than Luke as a pilot. So while it would be interesting to put, say, Wedge in a B-Wing, his pilot ability might be a different one than his X-Wing ability.

In fact, they could put out a card only expansion (not that they will) with just alternate pilot cards. Luke in a Y-Wing, getting to focus when he spends a target lock, or Howlrunner in a bomber, dropping bombs with a barrel roll template. (to the sides, instead of behind) That kinda stuff.

Just swapping pilots around seems boring to me. And probably would devolve into less diverse lists, as the "best" pilot/ship matchups become dominant.

So, since the game is out and I, like most of you love it, I'd say no... with a big BUT. That is if I was on the design team I would have tried to make it happen.

There are ways I've theory hammered some options, but it would have made the game very clunky... I personally would have liked to seen a pilot card for one reason... flying generic squadron pilots. Rogue squadron had multiple different ship classes in it, so it would lead one to believe that any generic pilot of that level would be PS 5/6 and have an EPT (ept's no longer tied to ship card but now the pilot card). but any rookie would be a 2, and the other squadrons could fill the gap.

With named pilots I do see and fully respect the balancing issue... the answer would be ship specific name pilot cards. Example: the base X-wing box would come with a Wedge pilot card that is "xwing primary". if this pilot card would be used on any other ship you gain stress when using the ability and the stresses stack so beware with abilities that can be used repeatedly. It would change a few things but for the most part the stress tax would limit effectiveness of almost any severely broken combos. Then this opens up an option for card packs or more cards in the "aces" editions where named pilots can get unique abilities in other craft. I also don't see anything wrong with two or more pilots having the same or very similar abilities (pilots talk and teach each other tricks).

If I was king for the day when the game was being designed named pilots would NOT have EPT slots... they have text that is their special ability. VI on a named pilot says, oh ya, this guy/gal had a surge in their ability for this fight. I guess every athlete has on days and off days. Some of the EPT effects could have been built into ship modifications so you could still pair some effects with named pilot effects, but the EPTs would really be for building generic elite pilots.

And finally (off topic) the falcon upgrade card should cost the points to add the attack, shields, and hull in addition to the evade action. The fact that Lando, Chewy, and Han can all fly the yt1300 with those 'special modifications' they brag about at the same time just drives me crazy.

That is if I was on the design team I would have tried to make it happen.

All indications show that they did in fact try to do that and it didn't work out. For further proof of that look at Attack Wing which does do it and has serious balance issues at least in part due to that design decision

I don't get the complaining about Corran and Marek. Admittedly Corran is most iconic in an X-wing, but Corran was a member of Rogue Squadron, and the Rogues canonically flew E-wings at times. And as for Marek, he preferred the Tie Advanced over the Defender and Missile Boat anyway (Granted, later sources called the specific model he flew the Avenger, but it's just a later production model of the X/1).

Also, pilot ability cost isn't a simple math problem. Abilities work better/worse on different ships. Luke's Ability would be awesome on an A-wing (With autothrusters it'd be a garunteed evade every time), but rather lackluster on the Falcon. Chewbacca is great on the large hull of the Falcon- Not so much the B-wing. Vader just wouldn't have much to do on the shuttle.

My reply to this topic on reddit:

I'd argue that the pilot ability represents not only the pilot, but how the pilot flies that ship. Soontir Fel might be getting his focus when stressed specifically from his familiarity in how an Interceptor handles. Also, we have crew versions of some pilots. Luke as a gunner has a different ability than Luke as a pilot. So while it would be interesting to put, say, Wedge in a B-Wing, his pilot ability might be a different one than his X-Wing ability.

In fact, they could put out a card only expansion (not that they will) with just alternate pilot cards. Luke in a Y-Wing, getting to focus when he spends a target lock, or Howlrunner in a bomber, dropping bombs with a barrel roll template. (to the sides, instead of behind) That kinda stuff.

Just swapping pilots around seems boring to me. And probably would devolve into less diverse lists, as the "best" pilot/ship matchups become dominant.

This. I would love to see some of the various pilots in different ships with different abilities. Vader in a Defender with a free evade when he barrel rolls or something, Corran in an X with an s loop instead of k turn, stuff like that. Kayak in a y wing for a heroes of Yavin pack. Not every pilot needs to be in every ship, tho. I don't care if 'gundark' ever switches into another TIE, for instance. But there's a few I would like to see. The list of pilots that they haven't made is much longer tho. Zev in an x-wing please!

Frankly, I think it is too late to separate pilots from ships in Star Wars: X-Wing, but let me unpack that a bit, so that I am not misunderstood.

First of all, I am all for the kind of variety and fun (and every other real or imagined promise of awesomeness) that separating the pilot from the ship might provide in an idealized setting. One of the primary ways in which FFG manages a power balance in the game is by ensuring that no one ship has more advantage than it is worth in points. One might argue that FFG isn't doing this job perfectly, but only a fool would argue that they are doing a poor job. The fact is that all ships are presently playable at all levels of play (even if some are more in vogue than others). I am not suggesting the balance is perfect, or that it necessarily should be, but rather that it is at least easily managed.

If you separate the pilot from the ship, what you're essentially doing creating a new type of card, that lets you move Pilot skills and abilities to different ships.

That sounds so fun in theory, but in practice it would RUIN THE GAME.

Okay, I went full on caps there. They told me never go full on caps because you'll sound like a raving idiot, so I'll dial it back a bit...

What I mean is if they did that some pilots will have better skills than others, and better abilities. In fact, because some pilots have much better abilities and pilot skills than others - you would end up seeing the same few pilots in everyone's build. Also, since some ships have (arguably) better stats, builds, abilities, upgrade slots etc. You would end up seeing the best pilots on the best ships at every tournament - and that is all you would ever see.

New expansions would be disposable, unless they include either a very good pilot, or a very good ship to put another very good pilot on.

I understand that Star Trek: Attack Wing was influenced in part by X-Wing, and one of the things they wanted to do, to be different, was to separate the "Captain" from his or her ship. Instead of adding variety to the game, it rather robbed the game of variety. In a single year, the game put out thrice as many ships as X-Wing - such that one would expect the meta to be filled with variety - but in practice you only ever saw the top five captains flying on the top five ships for over a year.

It seems to me that as the number of expansions increases, the various synergies between ships and upgrades increases exponentially - creating potentially game-breaking Ship/Upgrade combinations. Turning the pilot into (effectively) just another upgrade, will (necessarily) accelerate this process, and for this reason, I am radically against it.

I don't mind the idea of, say, an X-Wing version of Corran Horn with a similar (well better actually) PS, reflecting his greater proficiency in that craft, complete with another ability which likewise reflects his mastery of that particular craft. That sort of thing doesn't lend itself to the wholesale unbalancing of an already delicate system.

I've lived through this very thing sucking the life out of STAW, and frankly, I would hate to see it happen again.

That's my opinion though. I don't mind dreaming about the perfect ideal where they somehow manage to implement the notion without utterly destroying the balance of the game - and if that were even possible, I'd be on board with that - but I am a realist, and believe that if they went this route, they wouldn't be able to put the genie (of balance) back in the bottle.