I do wish they would do 1 more article on each book, making it 3 in total, an announcement, a pre-release and a release article. just to give us more to talk about

Is that a clone wars era starfighter I see in one of those pictures advertising this book?

So is it hinting at Separatist or Clone Wars vehicles?

Probably not but, since the ARC-170 is coming to X-Wing Miniatures in Wave 9, you never know.

Oooo that got on the boat quick! Super excited to see what you guys make of my contributions to this one!

Bith would make good soldiers...

..not particularly.. I just want Official Bith stats.

Bith would make good soldiers...

..not particularly.. I just want Official Bith stats.

Well, having Bith in the Soldier book makes about as much sense as some of the other species choices in recent books.

Bith would make good soldiers...

..not particularly.. I just want Official Bith stats.

Well, having Bith in the Soldier book makes about as much sense as some of the other species choices in recent books.

Aside from the Dressellians in Stay on Target, I feel like the species selection for the Age of Rebellion books has been pretty reasonable (and even the Dressellians sort of made sense for the Beast Rider spec). The other two lines have been a little chaotic though.

In any event, I doubt we'll get Bith in Forged in Battle, but hopefully in the Engineer book.

Could they be leaving the Lasat for a Star Wars Rebels Beginner box set?

No... they wouldn't do that would they?

Could they be leaving the Lasat for a Star Wars Rebels Beginner box set?

No... they wouldn't do that would they?

The Beginner Box sets haven't generally haven't had species stats for character creation in them.

With the amount of Rebels stuff FFG has been releasing in the various Star Wars lines lately, I think we will absolutely get Lasat as a player species. This also feels like a likely place for Snivvians, given FFG's habit of including background species from the Cantina and Jabba's Palace scenes, plus they showed up a few times in the Clone Wars. Hopefully the third one is something classic from the EU - I would love to see Herglic but Barabel or Houk might fit for the Soldier book. It's also possible this would be a good place for them to reprint Wookiees if they want to pull them into AoR.

It's AoR.

We'll get three ugly, near-identical skiff-guard/cantina species.

And we'll like it.

My playgroup is considering a party partially composed of a Doctor, a Medic, and a Healer. Does this supplement offer anything exceptional for Medics ?

On a related note off topic, would a Medic offer any unique compliment to a party who also includes a Doctor and Healer? I realize three other specialization get the spotlight in this book, but I'm looking for a reason to justify including another book series in addition to what I have. Is there anything noteworthy that may be more difficult if left to just the other two 'clerics?' Thanks in advance!

Protector from FaD core is a good healer/not healer. Soldier book on the other hand will most likely be all about hitting hard and living long while under fire.

My playgroup is considering a party partially composed of a Doctor, a Medic, and a Healer. Does this supplement offer anything exceptional for Medics ?

On a related note off topic, would a Medic offer any unique compliment to a party who also includes a Doctor and Healer? I realize three other specialization get the spotlight in this book, but I'm looking for a reason to justify including another book series in addition to what I have. Is there anything noteworthy that may be more difficult if left to just the other two 'clerics?' Thanks in advance!

The book isn't out yet. Who can say what will be in it for Medics*? Probably have some specialty medical equipment. Far Horizons has some advice for medical encounters, so it might get a reprint.

Medic has It's Not That Bad, which neither Doctor or Healer has access to. If one character takes all three, you have one competent medical type. I don't know that a group will do with three separate medic characters, although that might make for an interesting campaign...

*Except for the developers and beta testers. But they can't say anything.

I don't know that a group will do with three separate medic characters, although that might make for an interesting campaign...

So M*A*S*H?

I don't know that a group will do with three separate medic characters, although that might make for an interesting campaign...

So M*A*S*H?

Actually, this is the exactly-named inspiration by some players. I look to my notebook from our playgroup planning session.

Why M*A*S*H-

-- 'Healing' can be more than flesh and blood, especially for Force-users

-- High-level drama with an on-going war in the background escalates futility and fertilizes seeds of Rebellion

-- Needs for doctors/medic/healers obvious during Galactic War, but also need communications, counter-intelligence, mapping/navigation, piloting, etc.

-- Demanding social skills between 2+ different species with their own cultural and political agendas punctuates a war story, not dungeon crawl

-- Needs for defensive-minded martial characters, as well as high probability of some vehicular expertise (at least to go from job-to-job or resupplies)

-- Reminds players that the world will go on without them, but they have a chance to make ripples in the Galactic Pool where 'morality matters'

-- Characters heavily invested in protecting the most valuable resource: (their own and others') health

-- NPCs can likely include spies, bounty hunters, Rebel pilot(s), and the morally-damning Moff who arrives with Stormtroopers in need of healing

-- A central, realistic way for characters to begin play without having to 'meet in a bar' and war surgeries begin in medias res at Scene I

-- Reason #36 to use Far Horizons : build a medical clinic for fun and profit as a non-wartime option, or redirection of characters' goals.

-- Negates need for every Force-user to whip out lightsabers, while instead encourages using the Force in more dynamic ways.

Obviously, this feedback from players models the Force and Destiny rules, but can include Doctors and Medics . To date, only three FaD careers offer Medicine as a career skill: Healer , Protector and Pathfinder . A Hermit or Seer can raise their Force Rating to 3 via their Career Trees, which helps the Heal Force Power. Rules on death, dying, and 'Force Ghosts' in Keeping the Peace opens some literally haunting ideas.

Some questions:

1: Are there any species who gain skill ranks in Medicine? If so, whom, aside from Humans?

2: What other species lend themselves well to a medicine-based M*A*S*H campaign? I.E.: Togruta can 'assist' well, Lanniks are indomitable, etc.

Are these ideas enough to spark a player cohesion? How many players might we need to have more than just scalpel-wielding options?

Thanks in advance!!

A good talent to look out for is Well Rounded. It lets you add 2 more skills to your list of career skills.

Shadow has it in FaD, allowing you to make a doctor who sneaks into dangerous positions and hides his use of the force from those around him, letting you heal wounds on the down low. In fact the entire Sentinel career have uses in this style of campaign.

Politico and Scholar from EotE have Well Rounded too, allowing you to make either a Manager type doctor - someone has to be in charge - or a researcher

Instructor would be an interesting character to have in a MASH. its part leader, part medic, part soldier.

I could see a need for something like a Quartermaster type character too.

Protector is another interesting one for this campaign idea. Its almost the Paramedic of the FaD game, protecting the injured and healing them at the same time. Bodyguard is a maneuver, center of being lets you parry/reflect hits on an ally, and improved bodyguard lets you take the hit yourself. all that can be going on while your using actions to heal with stimpack specialisation or Heal/Harm (in ch the control upgrade to heal criticals pairs well with the Physician talent). Paired with Soresu and the Supreme Parry talent and you can keep on healing with minimal effort. Its a long Xp road but very cool for a Paramedic. Protector is also a half decent combatant.

I could see in this campaign a:

1 PC who is entirely focused on healing, Healer or Doctor for this one

1 PC using the Protector idea above, or a Medic from AoR

1 PC focused on Leadership, possibly with combat as a second, Warleader would be great here, or Instructor.

1 PC a Pilot/Driver (could be any of the pilot careers Force Sensitive or no, Navigator or Starfighter Ace would both be good choices), he gets the ambulance too and from MASH.

if there are more pc's then a Tech guy, possibly artisan, to keep the medical equipment and "Ambulance" in good shape. Also a wheeler and dealer, Advisor or Sage, otherwise Propagandist, Quartermaster, Charmer or Entrepreneur all make great characters for this roll.

Species is less about how the fit and more about the way the Players want to play, basically anything can be anything without too much compromise so i would be more of the opinion to ask the group.

Polis Massans have +1 Medicine, but a -10XP cost to have soft vocal chords...

Wow, though- they would make astounding Doctors/Healers. Forego any improvements in characteristics or skills makes its dump stats painful, but prompts the need for a Bodyguard! Even as an NPC, Polis Massan Doctor/Healer looks ironically sick !

well Drall from Sons of Fortune with 4 intellect are truely the masters of anything Intellect based. they are one of the few species who can start with a 4 in 2 stats.

1, 1, 4, 2, 2, 2, with 90xp and a rank in Education. also provide an additional boost when helping with skilled assistance.

If we're discussing Drall and Polis Massans in a thread about the Soldier book, I guess Bith are an option for that book

If we're discussing Drall and Polis Massans in a thread about the Soldier book, I guess Bith are an option for that book

Our this talk of seemingly-odd species applies to the options possible for Medics, who would be under the Soldier career. Like Far Horizons, the Medic may be skipped over just like the Doctor was in their respective sourcebook. Sure- a Bith Medic is someone I think our characters may want to see after a firefight!

If we're discussing Drall and Polis Massans in a thread about the Soldier book, I guess Bith are an option for that book

Our this talk of seemingly-odd species applies to the options possible for Medics, who would be under the Soldier career. Like Far Horizons, the Medic may be skipped over just like the Doctor was in their respective sourcebook. Sure- a Bith Medic is someone I think our characters may want to see after a firefight!

I wouldn't say that the Doctor was completely skipped over in Far Horizons - the advice on creating cool medical encounters on pages 66-67 is really solid.

So, any predictions or guesses for what Signature Abilities we'll see? I'm thinking one of them will do with courage, so i'm calling it Unmatched Valor.

Thoughts?

I'm guessing one of them might have something to do with being able to absorb a lot of damage or shrugging off wounds and criticals. Hired Gun gave us one that increases soak a lot, so I don't think they'll go that direction precisely. The narrative one might be something that strikes fear into the hearts of opponents and forces them to flee or surrender or something like that.

I keep returning in my mind to one called Final Stand, but that seems like it would be hard to get better at. Like the 2nd-Level Kamikaze, it just doesn't makes much sense ~

Maybe Unmatched Fortitude, where you can ignore the effects of all Critical Injuries while it's active? I think a fear-based Signature Ability makes more sense for the Warrior, or maybe the Bounty Hunter.

Im hoping for a Bunker Buster signature ability, Because Breach 1 from Heavy is just not enough!

Honestly i would love to see Last One Standing again, i think its my favourite Sig Ability so far.

Im hoping for a Bunker Buster signature ability, Because Breach 1 from Heavy is just not enough!

Honestly i would love to see Last One Standing again, i think its my favourite Sig Ability so far.

I don't think we're going to see a complete recycling of signature abilities, but we might instead see revised versions. I agree, something like Last Man Standing would work very good for the Soldier, enabling them to "clear the field" not unlike the protagonist of an 80's action hero movie.