A 2-player party would usually be somewhat limited in what they will be able to do. There is so much a single starting PC can become proficient in; and i am afraid my players.might sour at their limitations.
So i was thinking of giving them an extra free non-career Specialization. That way, they will be able to cover more skills quicker.
Any suggestion of something else i might go with? Or what i should be wary of?
Honestly, I dont think you would really NEED an extra free specialization, as long as their specializations were complimentary, like a Bounty Hunter Assassin, who can be great support, and a hired gun who can be your main fighter. Like Chewie and Han. Chewie could stay and lay down fire cause he was better suited for open combat, while Han could pick em off with his scoped pistol
I get that. But would it also cripple them for most of Space Combat without a pilot?
First of all, depends on what kinda campiagn is being run. Bounty hunting? Merc? Travelling proformers? Spice dealers? Without those kinda details it's difficult to give anything but general advice. Small teams of people have to be more conservative and focuses.
One idea might be having an npc that they control who is a specialised at something they can't cover. Another is them regularly hiring npcs out of their own pocket to do small jobs. Otherwise. Focus on what they are intending to do and occationally throw a curveball. While generally most of the challenges will be directed toward their skills set, they have to work for it?
Edited by LordBritishSome groups enjoy facing the occasional challenge they aren’t good at, or finding creative ways to use their skills to solve problems. For example, I had a charming character and an athletic character—neither of whom was much good in a fight—challenge their opponents to a dance-off instead.
If your group isn’t like that, they can always get a droid.
Start at knight level. Easiest way to begin at a higher proficiency.
I agree with 2Pirate51 - a little post-creation starting XP will round anyone out. You may also want to suggest they look at specialisations that have the Well Rounded talent in them. Recruit - the Universal specialisation from Age of Rebellion - has a bunch of talents that make skills into career skills, too.
Doc, the Weasel's talent trees may help:
I'm a bit confused at the principle of the request. The implication is that a 2-person (PC) party would be unable to do things, say, a 4-person party could not. That makes sense from the perspective of the absolute number of skills, specializations, etc. But what I don't understand is why it is being read as a limitation.
Is there a minimum size at which can be expected to "do" things? If you hit 4 people, who's to say you wouldn't balk at doing activities that would be better accomplished by a party of 8?
Are Han and Chewie always at a loss because there was just 2 of them?
It's just my opinion as a GM, but I dislike rewarding PCs for the simple act of showing up. I find that can give them a sense of entitlement, which makes them vulnerable to setbacks and disappointment. When it comes to inherent things, like specializations, I'd agree with the suggestion that they should be seeking out NPCs to assist them. But I don't see why that is a bad thing. Just gives them more opportunity to build bridges, interact, and roleplay.
Isn't this exactly the in-fiction reason droids exist? Can you provide your players with an Astromech, and use the associated rules from STAY ON TARGET?
I'm a bit confused at the principle of the request. The implication is that a 2-person (PC) party would be unable to do things, say, a 4-person party could not. That makes sense from the perspective of the absolute number of skills, specializations, etc. But what I don't understand is why it is being read as a limitation.
Is there a minimum size at which can be expected to "do" things? If you hit 4 people, who's to say you wouldn't balk at doing activities that would be better accomplished by a party of 8?
Are Han and Chewie always at a loss because there was just 2 of them?
I imagine SolkaTruesilver just wants to recreate a full, balanced party with only two players. Your Han and Chewy example is a good one - each has a broader skill set than individual starting characters would normally have.
That said, some of our most memorable sessions have been when we've had to improvise our way out of situations because the "tech guy" (or whoever) didn't show up that week. 
I imagine SolkaTruesilver just wants to recreate a full, balanced party with only two players. Your Han and Chewy example is a good one - each has a broader skill set than individual starting characters would normally have.
That said, some of our most memorable sessions have been when we've had to improvise our way out of situations because the "tech guy" (or whoever) didn't show up that week.
I know, I know...I'm being a hardass...I just think it's starting off on the wrong foot even TRYING to get to the point where a 2-person party can be "full, balanced" as a party with more people. It's apples and oranges.
Mind you, it's the GM's job to accommodate the flow of the story to adjust for the party size -- rather than putting the burden on the players to be "all things for all situations". If the GM is setting the party up against foes worthy of a 4-person or greater party, then that's just bad GMing. But if the problems being posed are solvable by 2 people, though by means which are not immediately obvious to skillset, well...that's what creative roleplaying is all about! Overcoming adversity is, as you suggest, productive of some of the greatest RP experiences.
Its just that i dont want my players to be deprived of a gameplay experience. Supprot/active is fine, but Star Wars is in part about Speshships, and if both players are interested in more charismatic or combat-heavy, they might miss some piloting or mechanics skills that would also make Space Combat an interesting part of the game.
Just trying to open some venues for them so they dont feel restricted at the beginning od the game. They would be able to enjoy the game's full spectrum and potential without being forced into a career they "have" to take to just be functionable.
I mean, juet gaining the Pilot specialization doesnt make you a super pilot right off the bat. But it does allow you to more easily spend XP to at least have fun during the Space Sequence despite it not being your core character's design.
Or, vice versa. You wanted to be a star pilot at first, but now can be an efficient gunner.
Thr above point about trying to make do with a missing party member is great, and would be my approach in a normal party just missing someone. But the formula eventually would get tired, in my opinion.
All in all, this is just a free 30 xp aimes at making the overall game more agreeable to a smaller party.
Personally, I would be inclined to look at it from a totally different perspective. Work with the players to build the characters they want to play and know the skills they have, then either build the campaign with a greater focus on these skills or adjust the encounters in the adventures you are running to take into account their abilities. If there is no pilot in the group then perhaps take a broader overview and simplify the space scenes so that they can still play through them but aren't as dependent on those skills to do so. If they don't have slicing skills then build in alternate options in the encounter for how they might overcome that particular challenge.
Rather than give them free stuff to get them more rounded out, make the adventures a little more focused to suit the party. Of course, don't take out challenges outside their skillset entirely but provide alternative methods or some additional factors that still make it something they can overcome with their given skillsets.
Ace is a good career for piloting, combat and a little social skill action..
I think it's up to the GM to tailor the adventure to the characters, often favouring their core competencies, but also including non-core challenges to shake things up. They don't have to be capable at everything you want to throw at them so long as they have a reasonable chance of going around it another way or retreating with some dignity. Honestly I think it's more fun if they aren't a "balanced party", which is a trope as old as the original D&D and deserves to die 
I play with my son as a solo PC and there are lots of things he can't do well. It's just a matter of scaling.
That said, granting a free spec is definitely a way to go. I find a lot of the specs have some sort of duality about them, but players are often after a trinity in order to feel complete. So the players might want a character who, in order of priority, kicks butt, is intimidating, and can build explosives. An Enforcer handles the first two, but the Demolitionist completes the picture.
SolkaTruesilver, on 26 Nov 2015 - 11:01 AM, said:SolkaTruesilver, on 26 Nov 2015 - 11:01 AM, said:SolkaTruesilver, on 26 Nov 2015 - 11:01 AM, said:Its just that i dont want my players to be deprived of a gameplay experience. Supprot/active is fine, but Star Wars is in part about Speshships, and if both players are interested in more charismatic or combat-heavy, they might miss some piloting or mechanics skills that would also make Space Combat an interesting part of the game.
Just trying to open some venues for them so they dont feel restricted at the beginning od the game. They would be able to enjoy the game's full spectrum and potential without being forced into a career they "have" to take to just be functionable.
I mean, juet gaining the Pilot specialization doesnt make you a super pilot right off the bat. But it does allow you to more easily spend XP to at least have fun during the Space Sequence despite it not being your core character's design.
Or, vice versa. You wanted to be a star pilot at first, but now can be an efficient gunner.
Thr above point about trying to make do with a missing party member is great, and would be my approach in a normal party just missing someone. But the formula eventually would get tired, in my opinion.
All in all, this is just a free 30 xp aimes at making the overall game more agreeable to a smaller party.
I run a game of FaD with 6 players and no one is a pilot. They are still alive. Not having the pilot specialization dont mean a PC cant gain some rank in piloting and mechanic skills. Also, If your players dont want to do space combats, dont force things or scale the encounter properly.
In conclusion, you dont need to have all role covered in a group to have an enjoyable game. Giving them 150XP if you still feel uncomfortable.
Edited by vilainn6You shouldn't worry about them missing core experiences because of their build.
The characters that your players build normally tells you what experiences they would like to see. Yes, you can have groups in which players ask the dreaded, "Well, what kind of skills will come up?" sort of questions, but, for the most part, the party in which no one makes a dedicated pilot probably doesn't want to see much space combat. Guest NPCs, especially the reoccuring ones, can come in and fill in the spaces the party lacks when plot calls for it. As Whafrog said, sometimes the best times are when the group completely lakcs the skills and must think outside the box to overcome challenges!
Edited by OfficerZanI think a good idea might be to give them a few credits to spend on a droid companion that you can run as a GM PC, if you'd like, or as a regular NPC. If they can't do much in the way of piloting or mechanics, pick up an Astromech droid! Do they need a medic? A 2-1B model should do the trick. :-)
Another point to bring up is the fact that, to my knowledge, there are no skills that are 'trained only' so even if no one has the pilot skill they can certainly make attempts to pilot a ship. Or other similar tasks. They wont have upgraded dice but they will have a base dice pool based off the related stat. So they can still have space adventures, etc.. They wont be ace pilots but they can still do some things. Just plan their opponents accordingly.
Like BrickSteelHead wrote above, an astromech droid sidekick would go a long way to fill the piloting/co-piloting/astrogation/sentry role. Since they were made as pilot aides, I find they are the perfect NPC that a GM can have to expand the player characters' resources.
As a GM, you don't have to care about them so much, you don't have to make them talk so much, you don't even need to make them fight. Still, they can provide the occasional opening of the door or smoke screen between you and the stormtroopers to save the encounter when things go south for the players.
Its the perfect swiss-army knife NPC!
One, I'll echo ShiKage and note that this system is very forgiving for characters trying actions outside their normal skill set. Two, if they're missing a pilot, that's a great place for an NPC hire, as it often makes sense for the party to want to leave someone with the ship to keep it from being stolen and in case an emergency extraction is needed later, but of course no one wants to make one of the players sit around waiting for someone to need the ship. It can be handy having someone like Jan Ors on your side.