Hi all!

I'm going to be starting a new campaign with some friends next week, and I'm stuck trying to figure out which specialization best fits my character. My character is a former ISB agent named Drexl Janus (sort of like James Bond), who was fired due to being incriminated with false evidence by a (thought to be) close friend. Janus then acquired a ship and did many jobs for the criminal underworld. I'm thinking of making Janus either a fringer, or a scoundrel. What specialization do you guys think that Janus should have? Also, please give explanations for why you chose a specific specialization.

Thanks!

Well... Age of Rebellion actually has the Spy career , which has Infiltrator, Scout, and Slicer.

If using EotE careers to show an ex-operative, maybe a Bounty Hunter/Assassin, Hired Gun/Mercenary Soldier, or even a Colonist/Marshal.

Unfortunately, I don't have the Age of Rebellion core rule book. I don't think that this character is very focused towards being a leader. I think that the assassin does fit, but I'd rather not be an assassin because I played one in my last campaign, and I want to try something different. The assassin might be a specialization I go into later though.

Spy is a noun and being like James Bond means being great at everything. Perhaps a bit more focus describing what you'd like to be able to do starting out followed by a path you'd like to follow in advancement.

Gadgeteer might fit, as it's a pretty well rounded combat spec that might reflect an ex-military type working in the private sector. Bodyguard works in this vein as well.

Scoundrel is kind of meh, as it's sort of a combat/streetwise mix. Gunslinger's not bad, though. Thief could work as an alternative to Assassin for a military operative who focused on stealth.

My suggestion would be Gambler. Between 2nd Chances and Double or Nothing, you have a chance to fix one bad roll every encounter and for more risk/higher Difficulty, score in fabulous ways at everything you try. If that isn't Casino Royale James Bond then I don't know what is.

This illustrates my issue with there being 3 "different" games. Everything you're looking for is laid out perfectly... in AoR. But you'd have to drop an extra $60 to get it.

Outlaw tech could work if you were more like 'Q'.

I think you could go with an Assassin/Thief mix or a Scoundrel/Thief mix. The Assassin tree has some good talents for adding oomph to your character's fighting ability as well as talents that aid in stealth. The Thief has a good mix of talents that aid in stealth. The Scoundrel tree has good talents that aid with social checks. I can understand not wanting to be Assassin but a good thing to remember is that these are just sets of skills and talents. You can't tell me that James Bond probably wouldn't have a few ranks in Lethal Blows as well as a few ranks in Convincing Demeanor. Spies come in all shapes and forms. Some are plain assassins, some are intel gathering spooks. The choice of spy you want to be is yours. Yes, it would be better to have Age of Rebellion as it does have the Spy career, but Edge of the Empire can be worked with.

I'm thinking of having my character being a manipulator and very clever socially, but also being somewhat skilled as a pilot and decent with a pistol.

In that case, Charmer or Politico would do well. If you go Human or Corrilian Human you can start with a free rank in Piolting.

I'm thinking of having my character being a manipulator and very clever socially, but also being somewhat skilled as a pilot and decent with a pistol.

Gambler, you're great at everything........maybe..........usually.........sometimes...........

EotE: For me a Smuggler Charmer/Gunslinger is the way to go, although this is a "talk your way into places" kind of character not "sneak your way in" but when the chips are down your definitely awesome. High Agility, Presence and Willpower for this character.

Alternately a Smuggler Thief/Scoundrel works well, less heavy hitting but can fly, shoot, talk and sneak. I would forgo the Willpower of this character to ensure high Agility, Presence and Cunning.

Colonist Marshal gets you everything but the sneaking stuff. Colonist Performer makes for a great Melee/Social spy.

Politico is another good one, it has the Well Rounded talent which would let you get a combat and piloting skill as a career skill.

As our Pirate friend likes to remind us Gambler is absolutely the pinnacle of being Jack of all Trades

AoR: Spy Infiltrator covers most of what you want, short a bit on social and ranged combat but a decent Presence can fix that and the Recruit Specialisation. But watch this space, when the Spy source book comes out it will probably have ways to fill the Ranged and Social gaps currently in that tree. Spy Scout is great too, although lacks social.

FaD: The Shadow is AWESOME, with the Well Rounded talent, Influence and Misdirect Force Powers its great.

to tide you over until you do get the AoR core book, you could just get the AoR specs from begging for xp

http://beggingforxp.com/2014/star-wars-talent-sheets/

since the spy splat book isn't out yet, the signature ability page with the spy's career skill isn't there (and I doubt they ever will be because Doc the Weasel isn't maintaining it at this point in time, can't justify buying the books when he currently isn't playing the game)

but the spy career skills are

Computers, Cool, Coordination, Deception, Knowledge(Warfare), Perception, Skulduggery, Stealth

If you do go spy career, then the infiltrator is probably the one that you want (if you restrict yourself to the spy career and official specs)

but I have 3 other suggestions for you

1) a custom "early career james bond" spec that I made http://www.mediafire.com/download/52t39eitgj44g31/SpyAgent13.pdf

2) see if your GM will let you play a spy with the universal spec recruit (also in the AoR talent tree pdf)

3) the hired gun:demolitionist it's got a pretty awesome list of skills (in the EotE talent tree pdf at the begging for xp page), I'd prefer to swap out melee and swap in stealth but eh, nothing's perfect. Note that it does have cool and skulduggery as specialization career skills and skulduggery is the skill used for disguises/blending into a crowd. If you ignore the big boom talents it's still got a toughened, an enduring, 3 grit, time to go, improved time to go, 2 steady nerves, And really setting a bomb is something a spy is likely to do eventually. Also, demolitionist is a hired gun so it qualifies you for the last one standing signature ability (also in the EotE talent tree pdf) so it's perfect for emulating those scenes where Bond takes down a bunch of mooks.

demolitionist also pairs well with hired gun:mercenary soldier (for extra shooty talents and strong arm, which goes great with the demolitionist's grenade talents, and if you have 2 hired gun spec's then you can get both hired gun signature abilities) and bounty hunter:gadgeteer a lot more melee talents, another deadly accuracy (so you can have it for brawl and ranged light), and the gadgety talents

note desperate allies AoR has some cool easy to hide armor in it, but you're probably better off getting FaD Keeping the peace for the armor crafting rules to make your own reinforced clothing if you want "armor" that blends in (and you'd want to put at least 3 ranks in survival or mechanics to make the reinforced clothing, demolitionist gets mechanics as a career skill but it's keyed of intellect whereas survival is keyed off cunning, and personally as a human I'd go 3Brawn, 3Dex, 2Int, 3Will, 3Cun, 2Pres

I'm thinking of having my character being a manipulator and very clever socially, but also being somewhat skilled as a pilot and decent with a pistol.

Ah, so less James Bond and more Michael Westen. One of my players has a similar character, although with AoR at our disposal, he went Infiltrator/Charmer..

Thanks for all of the comments, I think I'm going to go with a gambler, albeit one that doesn't gamble too much. I think that the gambler really fits what I imagine the character to be.

Thanks for all of the comments, I think I'm going to go with a gambler, albeit one that doesn't gamble too much. I think that the gambler really fits what I imagine the character to be.

I 'bet' you'll like it.....

Thanks for all of the comments, I think I'm going to go with a gambler, albeit one that doesn't gamble too much. I think that the gambler really fits what I imagine the character to be.

I 'bet' you'll like it.....

to tide you over until you do get the AoR core book, you could just get the AoR specs from begging for xp

http://beggingforxp.com/2014/star-wars-talent-sheets/

since the spy splat book isn't out yet, the signature ability page with the spy's career skill isn't there (and I doubt they ever will be because Doc the Weasel isn't maintaining it at this point in time, can't justify buying the books when he currently isn't playing the game)

but the spy career skills are

Computers, Cool, Coordination, Deception, Knowledge(Warfare), Perception, Skulduggery, Stealth

If you do go spy career, then the infiltrator is probably the one that you want (if you restrict yourself to the spy career and official specs)

but I have 3 other suggestions for you

1) a custom "early career james bond" spec that I made http://www.mediafire.com/download/52t39eitgj44g31/SpyAgent13.pdf

2) see if your GM will let you play a spy with the universal spec recruit (also in the AoR talent tree pdf)

3) the hired gun:demolitionist it's got a pretty awesome list of skills (in the EotE talent tree pdf at the begging for xp page), I'd prefer to swap out melee and swap in stealth but eh, nothing's perfect. Note that it does have cool and skulduggery as specialization career skills and skulduggery is the skill used for disguises/blending into a crowd. If you ignore the big boom talents it's still got a toughened, an enduring, 3 grit, time to go, improved time to go, 2 steady nerves, And really setting a bomb is something a spy is likely to do eventually. Also, demolitionist is a hired gun so it qualifies you for the last one standing signature ability (also in the EotE talent tree pdf) so it's perfect for emulating those scenes where Bond takes down a bunch of mooks.

demolitionist also pairs well with hired gun:mercenary soldier (for extra shooty talents and strong arm, which goes great with the demolitionist's grenade talents, and if you have 2 hired gun spec's then you can get both hired gun signature abilities) and bounty hunter:gadgeteer a lot more melee talents, another deadly accuracy (so you can have it for brawl and ranged light), and the gadgety talents

note desperate allies AoR has some cool easy to hide armor in it, but you're probably better off getting FaD Keeping the peace for the armor crafting rules to make your own reinforced clothing if you want "armor" that blends in (and you'd want to put at least 3 ranks in survival or mechanics to make the reinforced clothing, demolitionist gets mechanics as a career skill but it's keyed of intellect whereas survival is keyed off cunning, and personally as a human I'd go 3Brawn, 3Dex, 2Int, 3Will, 3Cun, 2Pres

Not to rain on anybody's parade but beggingforxp.com also call this out, that you cannot use their sheets unless you own the original, so technically if you dont have the age of rebellion books you sbouldnt be using the talent sheets (I believe this is the reason Oggdude's character creator has you typing in the info yourself, just in case they gets a cease and desist order for breach of copyright by copying the info).

to tide you over until you do get the AoR core book, you could just get the AoR specs from begging for xp http://beggingforxp.com/2014/star-wars-talent-sheets/

since the spy splat book isn't out yet, the signature ability page with the spy's career skill isn't there (and I doubt they ever will be because Doc the Weasel isn't maintaining it at this point in time, can't justify buying the books when he currently isn't playing the game)

but the spy career skills are

Computers, Cool, Coordination, Deception, Knowledge(Warfare), Perception, Skulduggery, Stealth

If you do go spy career, then the infiltrator is probably the one that you want (if you restrict yourself to the spy career and official specs)

but I have 3 other suggestions for you

1) a custom "early career james bond" spec that I made http://www.mediafire.com/download/52t39eitgj44g31/SpyAgent13.pdf

2) see if your GM will let you play a spy with the universal spec recruit (also in the AoR talent tree pdf)

3) the hired gun:demolitionist it's got a pretty awesome list of skills (in the EotE talent tree pdf at the begging for xp page), I'd prefer to swap out melee and swap in stealth but eh, nothing's perfect. Note that it does have cool and skulduggery as specialization career skills and skulduggery is the skill used for disguises/blending into a crowd. If you ignore the big boom talents it's still got a toughened, an enduring, 3 grit, time to go, improved time to go, 2 steady nerves, And really setting a bomb is something a spy is likely to do eventually. Also, demolitionist is a hired gun so it qualifies you for the last one standing signature ability (also in the EotE talent tree pdf) so it's perfect for emulating those scenes where Bond takes down a bunch of mooks.

demolitionist also pairs well with hired gun:mercenary soldier (for extra shooty talents and strong arm, which goes great with the demolitionist's grenade talents, and if you have 2 hired gun spec's then you can get both hired gun signature abilities) and bounty hunter:gadgeteer a lot more melee talents, another deadly accuracy (so you can have it for brawl and ranged light), and the gadgety talents

note desperate allies AoR has some cool easy to hide armor in it, but you're probably better off getting FaD Keeping the peace for the armor crafting rules to make your own reinforced clothing if you want "armor" that blends in (and you'd want to put at least 3 ranks in survival or mechanics to make the reinforced clothing, demolitionist gets mechanics as a career skill but it's keyed of intellect whereas survival is keyed off cunning, and personally as a human I'd go 3Brawn, 3Dex, 2Int, 3Will, 3Cun, 2Pres

Not to rain on anybody's parade but beggingforxp.com also call this out, that you cannot use their sheets unless you own the original, so technically if you dont have the age of rebellion books you sbouldnt be using the talent sheets (I believe this is the reason Oggdude's character creator has you typing in the info yourself, just in case they gets a cease and desist order for breach of copyright by copying the info).

Im sure that is the same as most people but the OP had said that they didnt own AoR. In fact I feel it speaks volumes about FFG that they have not done anything about the talent sheets being almost in public domain, but also shows the foresight that any webpage like this is essentially advertising for them.

In response to the OP's original question, spies come in many flavors and usually come from all walks of life so pretty much any career could be a spy. Some will need specific training such as slicing or Disguise but you don't need a particular Career for that. If you are looking to play a Jason Bourne or 007 then think about throwing in a good amount of Athletic and combat skills, more for Bourne though. For 007 throw in some Charm etc.
Basically choose your base Career and a few Specializations that fit what you want rather than look to one to fill all you spy needs.

James Bond would also need a massive resilience to resist liver failure due to all that vodka he slams down on the regular.

This forum actually pushed me to get many of the splatbooks. Looking at beggingforxp and all of the other specializations I had no idea existed inspired me to purchase the career splatbooks. After living quite frugally for two months I was able to set aside enough cash to purchase a majority of them. I guess that this is partially because I find FFG really puts effort into their books. The fact that they also are not especially strict (they don't constantly send cease and desist letters to everyone) makes me want to support them as a company. In fact, I openly advertise the many qualities the splatbooks have. The main point is, when I buy FFG books, I don't feel swindled.

This illustrates my issue with there being 3 "different" games. Everything you're looking for is laid out perfectly... in AoR. But you'd have to drop an extra $60 to get it.

The structure of the game(s) isn't the problem.

A "James Bond" character (a spy for military intelligence ) is just a poor fit for an EotE campaign, therefore there's no reason to expect there to be a good class in EotE to represent the archetype.

Gripe all you want about having to drop extra money, but this complaint is as valid as being upset because you're not able to play a space marine in a D&D campaign.