I know you get a ton of these but I really need some advice this time.

So I was going to play a Bounty hunter/Gadgetter in an upcoming campaign. Our GM is really quite aggressive in game style and I am expecting combat heavy with stormtroopers in full squad sizes right off the bat.

Now the character I had in mind was a Bessalisk bounty hunter with obligation to IG88 for training her and setting her up. She would very much be about molding her gear for the best results and most efficient capture. However I have now seen the Bessalisk stats! If I put AGI up to 3 and one other stat that leaves me only 5 points b4 obligation gains (only gonna be an extra 5 in this game due to 6 players).

How would you handle it? Would you stuck with Bessalisk or switch race? How would you spend starting XP on this character Bessalisk or no? Would you start Bounty hunter or some sort of Tech and add weapon skills?

If the end result doesn't meet your preferences, then I would recommend switching species. I suppose it also depends on why you chose that species in the first place?

I'd stick with Besalisk. Never having to spend Strain for your second maneuver is probably about the best racial in the game imo. It is awesome. You can make up combat capability quickly by simply picking a skill type and pouring xp into that. For example you run Range Light up to rank 4 right away the first couple three sessions and you'll be fine.

Agilty 3 is fine, although in a group that size i'd be more tempted to specialise.

I wasn't impressed with besalisk, if your looking for starting power you might be better looking else where.

I'm a big fan of the Klatooinian. 3 Brawn, 4 Agi, 3 Int with starting XP. If you can convince your GM to allow you the +10 XP obligation (despite the party size), then you can drop Brawn or Int down to 2 and go up to 4 in the other.

If you ensure that you don't have Ranged Light or Heavy (either one) as a class skill to start with, you can also get 2 ranks in it from the racial ability.

As awesome as not paying strain for extra maneuvers, I think the stat array and 2 free ranks in Ranged - Something is better.

So I had a look at Klatoonian and while nice mechanically I did not like the feel of them story wise.

I also looked at a few other races but kept coming back to Besalisk. I feel it is not gonna be a fantastic character @ start mechanically but a Besalisk bounty hunter: gadgetter moving to techy stuff. Shooting with her multi goo gun (could not resist) had a real fun feel.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Go with story. The racial mechanical bennies at CHARGEN typically dim as PCs advance anyway, so always go with what you want to play.

I’m playing a Besalisk in a Roll20 online campaign, and I am going very much against type. The GM and I found a way to get his Agility to 4, so he is the Ships Gunner as well as their Heavy ranged combat type. And I’m having a blast playing him more because of the little role-playing quirks I can throw in, relative to the fact that he has four arms.

Like talking about “On the first hands” followed by “On the other hands”, and writing up the RP responses which include what he’s doing with the various hands and arms, as well as the dialog.

The GM and I have talked about what it would take for him to be able to do Four Weapon Combat with his extra arms, and I’m fine with the path we’ve discussed. And I’d be much happier using four HH-50s with eight barrels pointed down range, than hauling around a single Light Repeating Blaster and doing more damage but in a much more boring way.

So, yeah — I like to go with story and plot over game mechanics.

Most starting PC's feel underpowered, being good at a single thing and bad at quite a few is often all one can hope for. tBut thats a plus since this system definitely allows for very high levels of XP without breaking the game. Just go with a cool concept and have a little road map of where you want the next 100 xp to go, Intellect and Agility a rank in Ranged and Mechanics is a great foundation. pick up talents post starting xp.

Most starting PC's feel underpowered, being good at a single thing and bad at quite a few is often all one can hope for. tBut thats a plus since this system definitely allows for very high levels of XP without breaking the game. Just go with a cool concept and have a little road map of where you want the next 100 xp to go, Intellect and Agility a rank in Ranged and Mechanics is a great foundation. pick up talents post starting xp.

When I run my games, I give my PCs more XP and cash starting out so they don't feel like a bunch of schmos, and I have to be very generous with both Setback and Bonus dice. The game, at least in Age of Rebellion Beta, is particularly interesting with what they regard as "average" difficulty, which I tend to ignore because I don't want my players to feel like they're playing kids just out of diapers and suddenly they have to go into combat.

My current game gave everyone starting out an extra 100 XP and another 500 credits. Also, I gave them a little and lightly armed ship.