Reasoning on gadgeteer medic and diplomat is because you cover all the roles. All 3 likely have agi 3 int 3 (as those are incredibly important) medic and gadgeteer probably will go brawn 3 for soak/more implants and diplomat will grab 3 cunning and 3 presence

You end up with 2 heavy hitters in combat in the medic and gadgeteer.

The gadgeteer will have a high defnse/soak

the medic will be able to fight heal

the diplomat/quartermaster will act as the face

All of them can be reasonbly stealthy with 3 agi's a piece, and 3 people covering the massive amount of int skills will be really effective and the quartermaster will have decent cunning 3 for perception and human for 1 rank in the skill, the rest will have to supplement this with gear, all three can make good money during downtime.

These are also some of the most potent specs quick access to dedication and the medic getting one of the best abilities in It's not that bad before dedication.

All three have powerful second specs in their careers

assassin (with 2 ranks in dodge), sharpshooter (single best ranged combat tree) and ambasador (with 2 ranks in dodge)

sharp shooter is also a decent outdoorsy type and can be a brawling badass (hey he gets two ranks of deadly accuracy... one of them can be applied to brawling)

OP, you note that the GM will try to tailor adventures to character choices. Depending on how high that expectation is at the table, Bounty Hunter may be tricky.

While some specializations have very narrow focuses ("I need to gamble!", "I need to hunt game!"), most careers are plausibly comfortable with general, fun-lovin' criminal activity that occasionally features highlights for their talent.

Unless the other two players are support for this third, or the player can't find bounties or wants to take a break and don't mind the hit to reputation, it's worth asking if they're actually a Hired Gun.

A party picking tank-heals-DPS careers for a light game won't have an issue. But a party looking for immersion might be confused or frustrated over career fulfillment.

While some specializations have very narrow focuses ("I need to gamble!", "I need to hunt game!"), most careers are plausibly comfortable with general, fun-lovin' criminal activity that occasionally features highlights for their talent.

Eh, don't get too hung up on the name of a specialization when determining the breadth of it's 'focus'. For example, from what I can tell only 3 of the gambler's talents (the 3 instances of 'Up the Ante') out of the 20 in that talent tree are restricted to games of chance. The tree in general

The names of the specs and careers are just convenient labels for the archetypes in Star Wars they're intended to represent, but can be easily applied to other roles. The bounty hunter career could have just as easily been labeled different as long as it still meant 'shooty-dude' and specs called "sneaky-stabby", "Armor guy [or girl] " and "Outdoorsy-tracking role".

My bounty hunter has never completed a bounty, and due to his background he couldn't legally take on bounties anyway. He's a trained ex-assassin turned mercenary and the BH career with its skills and talents seemed the best fit. Honestly, he's had nothing but bad experiences with actual bounty hunters and can't stand them, he'd probably punch you in the face if you insisted on calling him one.

The writers couldn't possibly anticipate every potential character type or personal story that might take place in Star Wars so don't feel like the character you create has to fit in a cookie cutter mold based on the description of his career. Pick the career that fits best what you want to do and then define what your character is yourself, don't let career and specialization titles do that for you.

The bounty hunter career could have just as easily been labeled different as long as it still meant 'shooty-dude' and specs called "sneaky-stabby", "Armor guy [or girl] " and "Outdoorsy-tracking role".

From the perspective of players new to SWRPG or RPGs in general, though, FFG has invested enough in identities for there to be some expectations, depending on the table.

For example, I've lost count of the discussions since 2013 on players going Smuggler-Pilot only to be jarred by limited RAW opportunities.

Not a major issue. Just a quirk of the Bounty Hunter I noticed when I went over careers for my group.

My bounty hunter has never completed a bounty, and due to his background he couldn't legally take on bounties anyway. He's a trained ex-assassin turned mercenary and the BH career with its skills and talents seemed the best fit. Honestly, he's had nothing but bad experiences with actual bounty hunters and can't stand them, he'd probably punch you in the face if you insisted on calling him one.

The writers couldn't possibly anticipate every potential character type or personal story that might take place in Star Wars so don't feel like the character you create has to fit in a cookie cutter mold based on the description of his career. Pick the career that fits best what you want to do and then define what your character is yourself, don't let career and specialization titles do that for you.

My Smuggler/Pilot was a legitimate businessman/company pilot... the skill range near enough fitted the character I wanted to play. I think I left may have left Deception, Skulduggery and Streetwise as unskilled at character generation, to represent a complete lack of knowledge, naivety and to represent his company pilot skills prior to the game starting.. dunno... maybe i did put 5 points in Deception because the XP had to go somewhere???? *shrugs shoulders* or I added a setback dice on early rolls as a storytelling device... It's been a while.

My bounty hunter has never completed a bounty

The 'Bounty Hunter' in my group has never pursued a bounty either.

Another PC's in the same group who has actually worked as a bounty hunter is in fact a Colonist (Marshal).

The 'Explorer' used to be a news correspondent, the 'Warrior' has never fought in a war, and the 'Ace' has never shot down a single starfighter; much less five of them.

The only one whose 'Career' matches his past career is the Soldier.

Really, almost anything is just fine. You just have to have a GM who is able to tailor the game to the players. If you end up with a Diplomat, a Doctor, and a Gambler, you have easier combats but emphasis social encounters. One squad of Stormtroopers will be more then enough of a threat. If you end up with Super Death Squad X, the Enforcer, Heavy, and Marauder, you put in more combat and keep the social encounters a little easier. At least until you have some experience and can diversify a bit.

There is no reason that practically any group match up can't work.

I of the opinion that the Players should make whatever PCs they want to play, they will happier. Sure some things may be more of a challenge but challenge is good. If your PCs end up being deficient in a skill set you can always add in an Astromech Droid or something to fill the gap.