I need some help choosing the best kind of blaster for my character. I play a Human Niman Disciple. I plan to use one of my Human Non--Career skill ranks for Piloting (Space) and the other for either Ranged (Light) or Ranged (Heavy). My available sources Are the three core rule books and Fly Casual.

He was trained in the force by his former Jedi father before he was killed during the great Jedi Purge. After that he joined the Sector Rangers as a cadet. His commanding officer, having fought in the clone wars with the Jedi, realized he was force sensitive, and had him discharged from the Sector Rangers to protect him from the Empire.

It seems like the major choice for me is between taking Ranged (Light) and using a C-10 "Dragoneye Reaper" and Grenades or taking Ranged (Heavy) and a Heavy Blaster Rifle. There are lots of advantages to both of these options and I could use some advice on which one to go with.

I'd go with the C-10. Hits almost as hard as the rifle but easier to carry and hide.

A weapon is a tool, get the one for the job you want to do. It might make more sense to look at getting a pile of common weapons with different stats and take what you need when you need it rather then trying to pick one expensive hard to get weapon that does it all.

If I'm expecting heavy fighting in variable terrain, I'd take the heavy rifle and grenades.

If I'm going into some dense bush a carbine is probably a better choice.

If I'm expecting moderate fighting up close, I'll take the pistol.

If I'm going in on the down low a tricked out light pistol will fit under a jacket better then the monster dragoneye.

If I'm going up against squads I'll want anything with autofire to rack up hits instead of damage.

If I'm going to be in the bush for a while I want something with a low enc since I'll also be carrying clothing, a tent, food, water, survival tools, climbing gear...

If I'm focusing on one target, give me a disruptor rifle.

So.... What's the mission? What does your character do? Where is he going? What weapons can he take there? Who's the opposition?

After all it would stink to sit around wringing your hands over the decision of a huge pistol or a huge rifle, and then pull up to the next encounter and say "man... we should have pulse rifles for this!"

I'd go with the DR-45 Dragoon. A light heavy Blaster pistol, that can be converted into a carbine. Has accurate 1 and does 8 damage.

My corellian Marshal/Hotshot/Gunslinger has two of them... Killed a Sith-Inquisitor with 'em. Gotta love the Dragoon.

They are in the Stay on Target sb.

Another nice blaster pitol, but one unreachable at the start is the Nova Viper from the Fly Casual sb.

7 damage, accurate 2, pierce 2.

Problems are it's heaping expensive and hard to modify.

First of all; what is your characters occupation now? Is he a scout? A body guard? A smuggler? Or is he unemployed? That will make a lot of difference as to what you seek.

That being said, Jedi didn't really have children during the war. So just to satisfy curiosity, was this an illegitimate child? What sacrifices did his personal family make? Though nice idea, the fact that the kid was trained a little while being completely off the radar would make sense as to why he could survive order 66. Plus why would the sector rangers not report him? Did someone tip him off? Does the character have an obligation that ensures he has a sector ranger rival chasing him to bring the witch to justice, His own partner perhaps to escalate the emotional stake? Could give a whole new feel to the noir setting of good cop vs ex-cop.

The Dragoon is the finest portable weapon any lawbringer could hope to have. Partly because I suspect that being on the run would make anything larger highly suspicious. It also kind of depends what power rating your ending up on there. An equaliser pistol might also be a good bet, assuming your using Knight level budget.

I don't have the books to hand at the moment, so can't comment directly on the individual options. But an important consideration might be where you intend to be travelling and where your character has travelled. Out on the rim the rifle might draw you a few suspicious looks and some extra attention from security personnel, but in the Core that same rifle might raise flags you don't want raised where the pistol is concealable.

The H-7 Equalizer. Someone's gotta have it on a gear spreadsheet somewhere.

H-7 Equalizer : Dam 7, Crit 2, Medium, Enc 2, HP 3, Price 1200$, Rarity 8, Stun Setting, Superior

(superior already counted in damage total, so it gives 1 free advantage)

Other good pistols are :

X-30 Lancer : Dam 5, Crit 4, Long, Enc 1, HP 3, Price 1000$, Rarity 5, Accurate 1, Pierce 2.

HH-50 Heavy Blaster Pistol : Dam 7, Crit 3, Short, Enc 3, HP 2, Price 1300$, Rarity 7, Linked 1, Stun setting, Vicious 1.

But the 3 best were already mentioned : Dragoon, Dragoneye Reaper, Nova Viper.

Lot of different stuff to respond to.

The Dragoon would be my weapon of choice if we had that book. Since we don't I'm at a loss.

Now, to elaborate on my character's background. His father was kind of a grey Jedi,in the vein of Qui Gon Jinn. He didn't always follow the code and frequently didn't see eye to eye with the council. Particularly when it came to attachments. He fell in love with an officer from the Sector Rangers. Eventually she gave birth to an illegitimate child and he left the order to be with his family.

With his father as his teacher my character learned the ways of the Force. His father didn't adhere to the strict Jedi code. He thought his son the value of love and family.

His commanding officer is a former clone who fought closely with the Jedi and deeply regrets his actions during Order 66. After seeing my character's performance during training he was able to recognize his abilities and identify him a Force Sensitive. Rather than report him to the Empire he kept the information to himself. However, with the Sector Ranger's impending absorption into the Imperial Military, he was forced to discharge my character in order to protect him.

My character then hooked up with a couple dishonorably discharged recruits from the Sector Rangers turned bounty hunters on Nar Shaddaa. During his first mission he received a distress call from his partner and on again off again lover. They were being arrested by the Imperials.

I feel like the Heavy Blaster Rifle is the more powerful option but one of the Blaster Pistols would be more versatile because of its concealability.

Dragoon : Dam 8, Crit 3, Medium, Enc 1, HP 3, Price 1900$, Rarity 6, Accurate 1, Stun Setting.

With your background, I'd probably go with the Equilizer pistol and say it's an heirloom from your mother, her service pistol from her years has a Sector Ranger officer.

As Ghostofman said you can't take a Rifle everywhere you want to go, but a pistol isn't always going to cut it for a big take down. Unless this is a Knight Level starting character then a standard Blaster Rifle (or even a Carbine) and a Light Blaster Pistol would be most useful and fit a beginner budget. You have a problem there though that I'll get back to.

When your walking around town and in the local Cantina the rifle is at home or on the ship. But got some pirates to deal with? Or a rampaging beast? Out comes the big gun.

But your a NIMAN DISCIPLE. 12 of your 20 Talents require you to be using some form of melee weapon, and a Lightsaber is where you really want to be. You also don't have quick draw, so to use all those ranks in parry or reflect you really want to have that sabre out as much as possible. This is in 1 hand, so you only have 1 other hand free. Therefore a Blaster Pistol is what you should actually get.

Then you just need to decide:

Want an easy to conceal weapon that won't draw attention when your sabre would? Light or Holdout for you.

Want a heavy hitter with a bit more range? But much more obvious (possibly drawing attention away from that other small lump in the other coat pocket...) Heavy Pistol it is.

Want something in between, hits well but more common and concealable? Go your standard Blaster Pistol.

Want to fork out some extra cash for another book? Get Stay on target and the Dragoon.

This all comes from the fact that Two Weaon Combat rules only apply when you actually intend to use both weapons at the same time, simply holding both had no RAW effect on you dice pools.

I really like the idea of using my mother's service pistol.

As others have been quick to point out, the situation should determine what you are using. While everyone loves the pistols in Fly Casual, especially the Reaper, carrying around such a well-known pistol can be an issue.

In my games, players often preferred pistols more often than note, solely due to ease of use and the ability to hide them (and more bang for your buck with getting thrown weapons into the same category for free). In fact, the pilot of the group (who eventually went Gunslinger) was building up an armory of pistols based on the situation.

He'd always have a mainstay pistol (a heavy blaster pistol that he had since day one with some mods), but he had a number of Liquidsilver L7s scattered throughout the ship as a "just in case." He picked up some of the pistols from the Correllian Sector as "disposable" weapons and/or to make it look like a Correllian made the mess (he was a Twi'lek). He'd collect a few different slugthrowers for the days that he needed a weapon that made a ton of noise. At one point, he even took a blaster rifle and added a pistol grip just to use it as a Ranged (Light) weapon.

So really, don't think that you just have ONE weapon, and seek out the "best." You should really look at it as "What weapon is fitting for the character?" and play from there.

With your backstory, it would make sense to have a weapon that is used in a service that is known to be reliable. Due to your training, working with a pistol would make more sense. Note that Niman, as a fighting style, usually utilizes a lightsaber and Force abilities (or a second saber). It would make prefect sense to wade into the thick of a battle with a sword (or a lightsaber) in one hand and a pistol in the other, using them in tandem instead of relying on Force techniques such as pushes or even a second lightsaber (another element popular in Niman).

The original plan was to buy dangerous covenants and wrist mount my pistols, allowing me to dual wield lightsabers and pistols at the same time.

I'm hoping to mostly use my lightsabers but I'd like to have a good all around ranged weapon for those times I can't close ranks.

The original plan was to buy dangerous covenants and wrist mount my pistols, allowing me to dual wield lightsabers and pistols at the same time.

I'm hoping to mostly use my lightsabers but I'd like to have a good all around ranged weapon for those times I can't close ranks.

I know exactly what you need.

A lightsaber that is also a gun. Unfortunately, we don't have rules for that yet.

The original plan was to buy dangerous covenants and wrist mount my pistols, allowing me to dual wield lightsabers and pistols at the same time.

I'm hoping to mostly use my lightsabers but I'd like to have a good all around ranged weapon for those times I can't close ranks.

I know exactly what you need.

A lightsaber that is also a gun. Unfortunately, we don't have rules for that yet.

I think someone was talking about this topic in the F&D forums. I'm really hoping we see that weapon come about in the near future, as I think my new group would love to see that in action.

The original plan was to buy dangerous covenants and wrist mount my pistols, allowing me to dual wield lightsabers and pistols at the same time.

.... Do you mean you can alternate between two blasters, or two sabers, or a blaster and a saber... or are you under the impression you can use two sabers and two blasters in one super attack?

Just Alternating between them.

Ok so my suggestion is to start with a Pistol(whichever meets your personal taste) and Training Sabre. That gives you something to start with thats in line with your eventual goals as well as well as aspirations for your GM to work into the story. you want your character to develop during play, not start out doing all the things.

I should probably mention that this isn't a new character. A friend of mine who isn't actually playing has most of the books. I made my character using his library of books. My ST had no problem with this initially but changed his mind a few sessions in.

We started in Saga at level 5. Then after two sessions converted over to FFG and have never looked back. We started with 80 experience and 5000 credits. We've played five sessions since. I haven't had a chance to make/spend any money yet so it was easy enough to repurchase my starting gear.