P4-D1 “Padawan” began life as a standard P-series Class 2 mechanical assistant droid. His nickname was very much a joke, though it did fit his designated series number; as everyone KNOWS that a droid could never become a force user. Of course, Padawan himself never knew where his name came from, or that it WAS a joke.

He spent decades working on swoop bikes, speeders, and other mundane machines in the service of a Dug named Kairoh Sylvross. In his latter years, Kairoh was injured grievously and lost the use of both arms on his left side (one upper, one lower). With Padawan’s assistance, he managed to rig up and maintain serviceable mechanical replacements.

Padawan displayed great loyalty to and love for his master, and continued to refine his approach to ‘maintaining’ the cybernetic limbs, and implemented many upgrades for his master. Likewise, when Kairoh’s hearing went, he then trusted Padawan enough to allow the droid to craft and install cybernetic enhancements to allow him to continue to hear.

This continued on, with Padawan learning as much as he could about the Dug (and as an ancillary, several other species) anatomy and physiology, along with cybernetics, in addition to his basic knowledge of mechanics.

In the end, Kairoh had a massive organ failure not unlike a human’s heart attack; Padawan attempted to save his life and replace the various failed or failing organs with cybernetics – but he was unable to stop the inevitable death of his master. Padawan saw this as a failure on his part, and simply shut himself down, never intending to function again.

…

Some time later, he knows not how long, Padawan is reactivated.

He had been shut down so completely his chronometer circuits had been offline.

He was in a different location. This was not Kairoh’s shop. There were people nearby. Only three of them in his immediate vicinity. Others outside the small building.

There was combat of some kind in the near distance – though not distant enough. The people near him were talking in hushed tones.

“Can you get it online, padawan?”
“I think I just did, again… it’s like this droid doesn’t *want* to be activated.”
A third voice interjected, “You’re sure it can help, padawan?”
“Well, no – but it certainly has the right appendages. If there is hope, it lies with this droid.”

The use of his name sparked something. Though it sounded more like the others were talking to the one activating him, not to him directly. He decided to speak to them.

“I am online. Who are you? What do you want from me? Why do you call *her* by *my* name?”

This obviously startled the trio beyond anything they were prepared for. After a brief moment, the female next to him spoke up.

“Your name, it is Padawan?”
“Yes. I am P4-D1, mechanical assistant droid. My master calls me Padawan. Called. He died.”

The two men laughed, heartily, at this. The female seemed chagrined rather than amused.

“So you’re Padawan, huh? A padawan is someone who is training to be a Jedi. I am a padawan. We need your help. Our speeder has been destroyed. We have found another, but it is not operable. Can you make the repairs?”

Padawan quickly processed this, then for the first time surveyed his location. He was in a darkened building. It seemed long abandoned. Sitting not 3 meters from him was a speeder that was once a luxury unit. It would go very fast. It seemed to even be armored. But it was in obvious disrepair. It would require a lot of work to get it running, if he could. No other vehicles were in evidence.

“I can potentially repair this speeder. But it will take days, and parts. I have the impression you are lacking both.”

Both of the Jedi sighed heavily. One turned and silently stalked away. The other nodded to the girl, handed her something, and followed the first out of the darkened building. As he walked, he pulled out a lightsaber and activated it.

“Okay, Padawan. My name is Demde. You may actually live up to your name yet. I need to install something in you. Do you mind? While I hope it isn’t, this may well be the last chance to save the Jedi.”

“What do you wish to install? Who are the Jedi? Is that your species? You look like a Bith. I studied the anatomy of Bith. You look like a Bith. I’ve never heard of the Jedi. Why do they need to be saved?”

Padawan had never rambled before. But he sensed he was doing so now, and cut himself off. He was… nervous. He shouldn’t feel such a thing. But he did. Demde seemed to be projecting emotions into him. He didn’t think it was on purpose. Besides, who would think a droid could have emotions?

“These are holocron cubes. One contains the history of the Jedi order. The other contains much of our teachings, though of course not everything. Once I install these, you will know all about the Jedi. As much as anyone could possibly. As to why they need to be saved…” Here, Demde heaved a heavy sigh herself. “The emperor is to thank for that. He’s Sith. And he issued ‘Order 66’. They’re trying to wipe us all out. Every one of us. If they succeed, we need to know that this information is preserved. That some day, some one might start the Order anew.”

Padawan processed this. He opened the maintenance port on his torso, turned so Demde had better access to it, and in silence shut himself down once more.

…

Again, time had passed. This time, he knew how long. It had been just over twenty years since his encounter with the Jedi. Thinking the word brought an immeasurably vast amount of knowledge forth. She hadn’t just put the holocron cubes inside of him. She had somehow incorporated them into his heuristic processor. While he was sure they could be removed, for the moment Padawan was essentially a walking holocron cube. Two of them, in fact.

He took a moment to analyze his environment. He was in the same location. This was not Kairoh’s shop, though it bore some resemblance to it. Some other mechanic’s shop then. Someone had hoped to reactivate him and make use of his abilities.

It was then that he was flooded with grief. And self-recrimination. He was a droid. He wasn’t supposed to feel these things. Perhaps Demde had done more to alter him than simply installing the cubes. Or perhaps he had always had emotions, but been unable to recognize them for what they were. He had killed Kairoh. Not intentionally. But through failure.

After some time - seven minutes, forty two seconds, and 17 milliseconds, to be precise; though he wished he hadn’t been so perfectly accurate in knowing that, Padawan lumbered up and moved outside. The city was an abandoned husk. It was a dead city. At least, his immediate environment was. He had no idea where he was. But he could detect signs of movement, distant sounds of the everyday life of organics.

Too far to walk.

The speeder remained where it had been twenty years ago. It showed more signs of decay. To be expected. He moved around the shop. Looking at the available tools and parts. There was no way he could repair the speeder. But perhaps he could modify it. Or make something new from it. Or… modify himself…

It was then that it hit him.

Modify.

Himself.

If a Dug or a Bith or a Human could incorporate robotics, cybernetics into their body… why not a droid with organic parts incorporated? Maybe he could resurrect the Jedi order. Not simply by sharing information. But by doing. By being.

Why couldn’t droids tap into the Force? He knew so much about it now. It seemed that droids would be far more capable of handling it than others had been. Droids, who lacked the emotions which led to the dark side.

…or, did they? Had he not been overcome with grief just moments ago?

NO. That was illogical. Droids would be the most capable of using the force and resisting the dark side. Everything can be modified. Machines. Droids. Organics. He would find a way.

With this new inspiration, Padawan set forth with a renewed sense of purpose. He still felt guilt over the death of his master. And he felt remorse that the two Jedi, and their padawan Demde, were most certainly dead.

But he would do this. He would found a new Jedi Order. And it would include droids. Droids who can use the Force!

Padawan cannot use the Force. It is extremely likely he will never accomplish his goal. That remains to be seen, and will be determined by the GM and the luck of the dice, I suppose. But he doesn't know that. To him, it is his passion. His devotion. His obsession.

He will be a custom model Droid, Technician / Cyber Tech. He will serve as the party's medic, and spend all of his effort in trying to come up with a way to give a droid access to the force. Whether it is a reverse cybernetic approach (incorporating organic material into droids), or a purely technological approach (the Jedi did have certain technologies that could detect and interact with the Force, after all).

I am working on his character sheet. I'm actually mostly done, but I am indecisive and continually tweaking a few things.

I doubt I can find any existing artwork for him, as I am envisioning a droid with a Dug based body. And I cannot afford to pay someone to create something. But, I'll come up with *something* to use.

More to come as I continue to develop him and flesh him out.

I enjoy it! If other threads are any indication, you might get some flak for the concept. In fact, I didn't pay too much attention to those threads... they may well have been yours. But, from a storytelling aspect, it's a very interesting concept. I have to say, I like most of the writing, as well. The way his dialogue, both verbal and internal, play out make me feel like he'd be an awesome character to have around, regardless of the reasonableness of his goal.

One point of contention: if he has holocrons integrated into him, then he has more than knowledge of the Jedi Order. He has the very real personalities of two different Jedi in him, as the holocrons' gatekeepers are/were very integral to their functioning. This could either be a hiccup in your plan or a very interesting development... or both, I suppose.

One point of contention: if he has holocrons integrated into him, then he has more than knowledge of the Jedi Order. He has the very real personalities of two different Jedi in him, as the holocrons' gatekeepers are/were very integral to their functioning. This could either be a hiccup in your plan or a very interesting development... or both, I suppose.

Another thing to note is that emotions are nothing unusually for droids. It is not like there are not some droids without emotions, but it certainly looks like emotions are the norm for droids, while the ones not having them are the special ones.

Another thing to note is that emotions are nothing unusually for droids. It is not like there are not some droids without emotions, but it certainly looks like emotions are the norm for droids, while the ones not having them are the special ones.

See, maybe it is my lack of knowledge of the EU, but in my experience... outside of roleplaying characters (which are ALWAYS making the abnormal into the common), it was the opposite. Rare for a droid to develop quirks and simulated emotions. Much less actually having real emotions.

I'm not saying you're wrong. I have read a handful of books and watched all of the movies. So I am far from an expert. But it seems to me that it was at least meant to be that way, from what I do know.

Okay, thanks to another post on these forums, just found an online sheet. Which I like a lot. Here's the link.

http://swsheets.com/c/kpsv9qtxm-p4-d1--padawan-

One question - I assume that as I get it both as a Career and a Specialization skill, I can take Mechanics both times, once as a career and once as a specialization, without spending additional XP to bring it to 2, right?

Also - I am very open to suggestions. This is my first EotE (or, any FFG's SWRPG) character. I think I did an okay job on developing him. And I don't need him to be the absolutely most optimized character ever. But I would hate to have fallen prey to some newb mistake that leaves me with a less than desirable character. So if you have any suggestions - I'm all ears!

Thanks!

THIS IS AWESOME!

I love the back story and the motivations for "Padawan".

My only point is that droids do have emotion. C3-P0 is the most obvious for this. But watch and listen to R2-D2, Choppa and BB-8 and their personalities and "feelings" are clear. Of course, I take your point this might be programming more than emotion, but even without words they are clear individuals.

Even the lowly droids of the Trade Federation/Separatists demonstrated personality. They weren't just mindless drones like the Borg.

But I really dig your character. His quest to become Jedi reminded me Star Trek's Data's quest to become more human. Interestingly, Data had no emotion (until the movies) but still had a personality. Huh

Rare droids in the Star Wars EU have displayed emotions. Many have displayed at least some sort of personality.

Of course, it is precisely those rare droids that are much more likely to be written about or seen in the movies, which would explain the perception that most droids had emotions, when in fact the reverse is much more likely to be true.

I had some pretty deep misgivings about this character concept from the beginning, but having read the description above, especially considering that holocrons have now been integrated into the droid, I think I have come around to fully support it.

If possible, I would recommend that the OP reads all the Force and Destiny modules and adventures, and reads up on holocrons in the F&D CRB. There’s a lot to be learned about how holocrons operate, how they can actually connect to and through the Force, but how the holocron gatekeepers can remain safe from Dark Side influences due to the fact that they might possess the complete personality of the person who programmed them, but they don’t possess emotions.

I’d also suggest watching the appropriate episodes of The Clone Wars, where the young Padawans are taken to Illum to find their crystal, turn it into a lightsaber, etc…. Pay special attention to the ancient Jedi droid teacher named Huyang [1].

Of course, your GM might not want you to read or watch all these things, because that might destroy his/her ability to create a good storyline for you. In that case, the GM needs to read/watch all these things, and work with you on how your character fits into the grand scheme of things.

[1] http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Huyang

Even the as cheap and dumb as possible build battle droids show emotions once updated to droid brains and kept running for a while. And yeah Professor Huyang is awesome. He is almost like a doctor. ;-)

Rare droids in the Star Wars EU have displayed emotions. Many have displayed at least some sort of personality.

I think that most people confuse personality with emotions. As far as I have read/discerned (and again, I am far from an expert, just giving my thoughts and opinions), droids having emotions are almost nonexistent. But droids with personalities are a dime a dozen. Personalities can be emulated. Emotions must be felt. By a being with some level of actual sentience. (And no, AI is not sentience...)

...and thank you for the other suggestions. I have read some of the F&D stuff, will read up more on it. As to the Clone Wars stuff; I have an OCD thing - I simply cannot watch or read parts of a show/storyline/series. I have to start from the very beginning and go through everything, in order. And I simply don't have the time to watch all of the Clone Wars, as cool as it looks.

As to the Clone Wars stuff; I have an OCD thing - I simply cannot watch or read parts of a show/storyline/series. I have to start from the very beginning and go through everything, in order. And I simply don't have the time to watch all of the Clone Wars, as cool as it looks.

Whoo boy. You’re going to have fun when you hear about this whole “Extended Universe” thing and discover that your OCD requires that you read each and every book that has ever been published in the EU.

Seriously, speaking as another person also somewhat affected by OCD, I understand where you’re coming from. If you don’t have time to watch the episodes, then I would at least encourage you to read as much as you can about the characters and settings in question on Wookieepedia.

There’s a lot of flavor and nuance that you’re going to miss by not seeing the episodes in question, but maybe that could be made play to your advantage by giving you fewer pre-conceived notions of how things should be, and so give you more freedom to explore what you want to do.

Good luck!

Whoo boy. You’re going to have fun when you hear about this whole “Extended Universe” thing and discover that your OCD requires that you read each and every book that has ever been published in the EU.

Seriously, speaking as another person also somewhat affected by OCD, I understand where you’re coming from. If you don’t have time to watch the episodes, then I would at least encourage you to read as much as you can about the characters and settings in question on Wookieepedia.

There’s a lot of flavor and nuance that you’re going to miss by not seeing the episodes in question, but maybe that could be made play to your advantage by giving you fewer pre-conceived notions of how things should be, and so give you more freedom to explore what you want to do.

Good luck!

I can get away with that, because the EU contains within it so many varied series and standalone stories; so as long as I approach each series from the start to the finish, I can get in a lot of EU stuff. Thus far, outside of the movies, and a decent amount of ancillary knowledge from Wookiepedia, I know most of what I know from having played previous editions of SWRPG, and from a couple of those aforementioned standalone books. I haven't ever had the time, the desire, and the funds, to jump into a Star Wars series of books, all at the same time, so it hasn't yet happened.

Liked the concept, would make a dark twin.

Also- http://bfy.tw/5zOy

How dark?

Whoo boy. You’re going to have fun when you hear about this whole “Extended Universe” thing and discover that your OCD requires that you read each and every book that has ever been published in the EU.

Seriously, speaking as another person also somewhat affected by OCD, I understand where you’re coming from. If you don’t have time to watch the episodes, then I would at least encourage you to read as much as you can about the characters and settings in question on Wookieepedia.

There’s a lot of flavor and nuance that you’re going to miss by not seeing the episodes in question, but maybe that could be made play to your advantage by giving you fewer pre-conceived notions of how things should be, and so give you more freedom to explore what you want to do.

Good luck!

I can get away with that, because the EU contains within it so many varied series and standalone stories; so as long as I approach each series from the start to the finish, I can get in a lot of EU stuff. Thus far, outside of the movies, and a decent amount of ancillary knowledge from Wookiepedia, I know most of what I know from having played previous editions of SWRPG, and from a couple of those aforementioned standalone books. I haven't ever had the time, the desire, and the funds, to jump into a Star Wars series of books, all at the same time, so it hasn't yet happened.

Hey, you can approach the clone wars story ark by story ark as well.

Most arks are just an between one to three hours each.

Though I totally admit, that the missus and me had this ritual going on with watching simply one or two clone wars episode each evening, took us awhile, but we are done now, was a nice fade away of the day before going to bed. Looking now for a new series to replace clone wars.