Beginning characters can have a training lightsaber to start. Do your GMs ever make you pay for it (400 credits)?

Without going up in XP to Knight Level of play, players can't get a real lightsaber yet. However, what (if any?) lightsaber-focused modifications could a goal-minded party accomplish to begin their adventurers together?

In other words, how powerful could a newly-formed starting party make a training lightsaber?

They cannot start with a lightsaber crystal. They can start with a training emitter.

Hilt mods are fine, so there are those options, plus you could make your own hilts possibly improving them. The Training emitter can fit into any hilt design so using the non basic hilt is a good way to get more flavour, for example a Double Bladed Training Saber would require your PC to take extra credits as an option, but increases the amount of strain damage you can do significantly with the Linked 1 Quality.

Beginning characters can have a training lightsaber to start. Do your GMs ever make you pay for it (400 credits)?

Without going up in XP to Knight Level of play, players can't get a real lightsaber yet. However, what (if any?) lightsaber-focused modifications could a goal-minded party accomplish to begin their adventurers together?

In other words, how powerful could a newly-formed starting party make a training lightsaber?

On the first one, yes. Just the same as making a character pay for a blaster pistol or set of heavy clothing. The d20 versions provided a free lightsaber for a 1st level Jedi PC but at the cost of severely curtailing their starting credits; in Saga Edition it was common for a Jedi PC to start out with a lightsaber, a utility belt (which was more like the Jedi utility belt found in KtP), and not much else given how few credits they began play with.

As others have noted, the non-crystal hilt mods are still viable for a training lightsaber. A curved hilt still provides the extra advantage in one-on-one fights, as well as that rank in Defensive (handy if you've chosen a LS Form spec that doesn't offer Defensive), and the Superior Hilt Customization still provides the damage boost and free Advantage. Of course, the big problem is cost, and most of those attachments are not cheap.

Like Richardbuxton said, you can put a training emitter in other hilt types, such as the shoto hilt (Accurate 1 is pretty handy for a starting PC) and the double-bladed hilt (two hits of 7+ strain can still do a number on bad guys, even if you still have to deal with soak).

Plus, it bears keeping in mind that some GMs may very well provide true 'saber crystals at the conclusion of the first or second adventure; the very first published adventure for FaD concluded with the PCs getting access to some pretty decent crystals, and the GM Kit adventure (which can also be the initial adventure for a group) provides Ilum crystals. So your PC may not be stuck with a training emitter for very long at all.

Beginning characters can have a training lightsaber to start. Do your GMs ever make you pay for it (400 credits)?

Without going up in XP to Knight Level of play, players can't get a real lightsaber yet. However, what (if any?) lightsaber-focused modifications could a goal-minded party accomplish to begin their adventurers together?

In other words, how powerful could a newly-formed starting party make a training lightsaber?

On the first one, yes. Just the same as making a character pay for a blaster pistol or set of heavy clothing. The d20 versions provided a free lightsaber for a 1st level Jedi PC but at the cost of severely curtailing their starting credits; in Saga Edition it was common for a Jedi PC to start out with a lightsaber, a utility belt (which was more like the Jedi utility belt found in KtP), and not much else given how few credits they began play with.

As others have noted, the non-crystal hilt mods are still viable for a training lightsaber. A curved hilt still provides the extra advantage in one-on-one fights, as well as that rank in Defensive (handy if you've chosen a LS Form spec that doesn't offer Defensive), and the Superior Hilt Customization still provides the damage boost and free Advantage. Of course, the big problem is cost, and most of those attachments are not cheap.

Like Richardbuxton said, you can put a training emitter in other hilt types, such as the shoto hilt (Accurate 1 is pretty handy for a starting PC) and the double-bladed hilt (two hits of 7+ strain can still do a number on bad guys, even if you still have to deal with soak).

Plus, it bears keeping in mind that some GMs may very well provide true 'saber crystals at the conclusion of the first or second adventure; the very first published adventure for FaD concluded with the PCs getting access to some pretty decent crystals, and the GM Kit adventure (which can also be the initial adventure for a group) provides Ilum crystals. So your PC may not be stuck with a training emitter for very long at all.

Yeah my character got his Lightsaber "back" at the conclusion of the first adventure. Actually it was used more as a plot device. He was stranded on this moon of one of the planets and he used to have his father's lightsaber as a weapon. But he got attacked earlier in the cave where they used to live by the pack of wild animals. He dropped his lightsaber there and fled. So when the rest of the part arrived and found him, he wanted to go back and get his father's belongings and the lightsaber from that cave.

Long story short, my character's blaster pistol died when he was fighting the alpha of the pack. He ended up trying to beat it up with his fists, but then GM said that "your character instinctively reaches his hand towards the cave and you notice that you are holding a lightsaber in your hands", or something along those lines. And then the fight where my character was about to die, turned around and he was able to turn that alpha into smoking pile of dead meat. He had a high soak, so the fist attacks, even with his high brawn weren't doing much vs the thick skin, nor my allies were able to really help as they were fighting other creatures in the pack.

It was a nice way to get the saber. I've used it very sparingly in the adventures, resorting to hand to hand combat more (using those shock gloves actually, they are really nice!) and pulling the saber out only when it's safe to use it.