I was guessing Soldier's Sharpshooter might be in No Distintegrations. But I was also thinking that if there were to be a martial arts type spec, it would be in the Spy book for AoR. (I suppose it still could be, but I highly doubt it since Spy already has two repeats with Scout and Slicer . A third might cause a riot.)

Maybe we'll see something akin to the Soldier's Trailblazer? It's a very flavorful spec for Bounty Hunters, what with Cunning Snare and such. I'm currently using it on my Bounty Hunter PC.

I was hoping for Barabel and Defels. The latter are hopefully going to be in the AoR Spy book. The former...maybe the FaD Warrior book?

Well, if Maelora's theory about FFG only sticking with canon species and not using EU-only species is on the mark, then we probably won't be seeing Barabels any time soon.

Defel sounds like it'd be a good fit for the Spy career book, but with some of the choices that the designers have made in past books as for what species to include where, no telling if they'll show up there. Heck, maybe they'll show up in the Warrior sourcebook to match up with some kind of Force-wielding assassin spec.

There is a Barabel Enforcer and a Defel Assassin in the Adversary section of the Edge Core book on page 392.

The just need to give us the base line stats for them.

Those were also written long before the canon reboot, back when the EU was still fair game in terms of what was and wasn't part of the overall canon.

Since then, FFG has generally been sticking to species that showed in 1) the movies, 2) the Clone Wars tv series, or 3) material that was released after the canon reset.

To be fair, a Barabel is mentioned as one of the adversaries taken down in the opening "story" at the beginning of Keeping the Peace ; the Guardian Source book, and that book came out only last winter.

So I've been GMing a group with a Clawdite, the stats of which were from OggDude's CharGen. Now that there's an official stat for them, I highly doubt my player will want to switch to that, considering it's much more limiting than the one in OggDude's.

Fun stuff

So far we know there's an "Operator" and a "Martial Artist" I believe, but can't recall the third one being mentioned, but I may have overlooked it.

Are there Martial Artists in rebel era Star Wars? I mean, do they fit the frame and atmosphere of the fiction?

Depends on how closely you (and FFG for that matter) associate "Martial Artist" with East Asian inflected aesthetics and trappings. I seem to remember a lot of fisticuffs happening in Clone Wars, and not all of it on the part of Jedi characters. If "Martial Artist" is the "punch things real good" spec (as opposed to the "harness your mystical energy to punch things real good" spec) that could easily fit within the atmosphere of what we see in canon fiction.

So far we know there's an "Operator" and a "Martial Artist" I believe, but can't recall the third one being mentioned, but I may have overlooked it.

Are there Martial Artists in rebel era Star Wars? I mean, do they fit the frame and atmosphere of the fiction?

Considering that the Jedi are space samurai, it doesn't take a logic leap to add mastery of wushu as a career path. Keep in mind that a career specialization in the martial arts doesn't necessitate your player character being a threadbare monk who channels stereotypical chi punches. Krav maga and mixed martial arts are on the rise here in the United States but I don't see any more bare feet and robes on the streets so it's entirely feasible that a martial arts practitioner in the Star Wars universe is just really, really good at hitting and kicking opponents.

A PC martial artist could be a former military instructor, a former criminal gladiator, or a former professional sport fighter, not just a H'kig monk who came to Coruscant from backwater Planet Not-Wudang Mountain.

I don't recall Caine being a bounty hunter. He was just some guy wandering the Old West looking for his brother.

I'm having a hard time thinking of a Western movie bounty hunter who was also good with gadgets but it's a typical trope for other types of Western movie characters. The Bounty Hunter is a catch-all career for Wild West-themed independent operators that don't fit other career tracks, not just Boba Fetts. A Beast Rider would make sense for a Bounty Hunter specialization, as a trick horse rider fits the theme. FFG repeated the Heavy specialization in the recent Soldier book for AoR so it's not like repeating a specialization would be out of left field. I would prefer a more intellect-driven specialization, like a Private Eye/Investigator, but my wishes have little bearing on anything.

Donnie Yen looks the part in Rogue 1 so I'd say ....'incoming'!

I think of bounty hunters in the spaghetti western sense: loners and drifters looking for that next score, or bounty, that keeps them moving along. That score can certainly come from chasing wanted people and turning them in. It can also come from playing one faction against another and raking up whatever can be gained from it (Fistful of Dollars). Or it can be from taking a job no one else wants to do (The Magnificent Seven).

This is different from what I feel a hired gun is. Bounty hunters have no sense of permanency. They do a job and they move on. A hired gun is more of a mercenary or a retainer. They "make a living" and have a sense of loyalty to an employer.

In Kung Fu, Kwai Chang could certainly fit my description of a bounty hunter. He has a personal quest that keeps him on the move. But he has to eat. I'm sure he wants an occasional bath. It has been many many years since I've seen the episodes, but he probably makes a bit of money doing the odd job here and there. And if not money, he gets fed. So he's like a bounty hunter with a Shaolin-like vow of poverty. His motivation isn't for a few dollars more, but he's a bounty hunter just the same. (Again, in my estimation of bounty hunter.)

I think people need to broaden their view of bounty hunters. Trappers and hunters taking out predator populations are collecting bounties, through weapons and gadgets. They also got payment for fur collected, an indirect bounty. A prize fighter on a fight circuit is collecting their take of the pot, a bounty. Privateers were given payments for ships captured. Skip Tracers for recovering items. Some of the rest are more obvious, but the point is there are multiple forms a bounty might take, what needs to be collected, and how. Pretty broad skill set required for all instances.

I think people need to broaden their view of bounty hunters. Trappers and hunters taking out predator populations are collecting bounties, through weapons and gadgets. They also got payment for fur collected, an indirect bounty. A prize fighter on a fight circuit is collecting their take of the pot, a bounty. Privateers were given payments for ships captured. Skip Tracers for recovering items. Some of the rest are more obvious, but the point is there are multiple forms a bounty might take, what needs to be collected, and how. Pretty broad skill set required for all instances.

If we get a "Talent Scout" or a "Force Ghostbuster" spec in this book I will very disappointed that your view of bounty hunters is being followed.

I think people need to broaden their view of bounty hunters. Trappers and hunters taking out predator populations are collecting bounties, through weapons and gadgets. They also got payment for fur collected, an indirect bounty. A prize fighter on a fight circuit is collecting their take of the pot, a bounty. Privateers were given payments for ships captured. Skip Tracers for recovering items. Some of the rest are more obvious, but the point is there are multiple forms a bounty might take, what needs to be collected, and how. Pretty broad skill set required for all instances.

If we get a "Talent Scout" or a "Force Ghostbuster" spec in this book I will very disappointed that your view of bounty hunters is being followed.

I can neither confirm nor deny those specs....

While I might agree with *some* of your definitions of a bounty hunter? A prize fighter is too much of a stretch. I mean, c'mon now.

Also, the "Seven Samurai" and "Magnificent Seven" were most definitely hired guns. Not bounty hunters.

Bounty hunters are those who trace/track and capture/kill.

PS - How come Concise Locket gets a bunch of "likes" for suggesting the logical beast rider spec? And I got a ton of flak? Haha.

Assasin relies on their guns, Gadgeteer relies on their tech, Opperator sounds like they will rely on thir ship, so martial artist is the bounty hunter who doesn't need anything.

But should they call it martial artist? Does it fit the feel of the fiction that EotE tries to emulate? It does not feel very Star Wars at all if you ask me,.

There's no Kung Fu in a Wild West-ish setting? Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune disagree

Oh, Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh disagree too

See also The Five Man Army , The Fighting Fists of Shanghai Joe , Sukiyaki Western Django and The Tiger from the River Kwai .

PS - How come Concise Locket gets a bunch of "likes" for suggesting the logical beast rider spec? And I got a ton of flak? Haha.

It's my pheromones.

I think people need to broaden their view of bounty hunters.

I agree but if we get too loose with the definition, all EotE careers are bounty hunters since Edge characters live and work on the fringe of society and are (usually) motivated to pay their debts:

• Hired guns are paid mercenaries
• Colonists are paid civilian specialists
• Explorers are paid frontiersmen
• Smugglers are paid drivers
• Technicians are paid tinkerers

There are some specializations, like the Marshal, that take one step away from the core concepts but the gist of the career is still there.

The classic Western bounty hunter is portrayed as a jack-of-all-trades troubleshooter who either works alone or with a trusted partner. If the specialization deviates too far from that core idea it ceases to be a bounty hunter.

Assasin relies on their guns, Gadgeteer relies on their tech, Opperator sounds like they will rely on thir ship, so martial artist is the bounty hunter who doesn't need anything.

But should they call it martial artist? Does it fit the feel of the fiction that EotE tries to emulate? It does not feel very Star Wars at all if you ask me,.

Chirrut Îmwe in Rouge One - Donnie Yen's character - is very clearly a martial artist, and Maul used wushu in his fighting, so I think it fits Star Wars.

Assasin relies on their guns, Gadgeteer relies on their tech, Opperator sounds like they will rely on thir ship, so martial artist is the bounty hunter who doesn't need anything.

But should they call it martial artist? Does it fit the feel of the fiction that EotE tries to emulate? It does not feel very Star Wars at all if you ask me,.

Chirrut Îmwe in Rouge One - Donnie Yen's character - is very clearly a martial artist, and Maul used wushu in his fighting, so I think it fits Star Wars.

Sure, I could see that. But as Jedi are space samurai and intergalactic shaolin monks, I hope they won`t water down that concept with all new non-force "martial artists".

Sure, it would make realistic sense, but not much fictional sense I think.

I also suspect that Donnie Yen`s character might have ties to the jedi(or even better, another force-tradition).

Here's my issue:

I don't mind the idea of a martial artist in Star Wars. However, the idea of a martial artist in Star Wars - IN NO WAY - has anything to do with hunting bounties.

Sheesh, the Gunslinger spec from the Smuggler book would fit better here.

(And not sure why Gunslinger is even in a book about smuggling, but that's FFG for you... "Logic? Bah, wouldn't it be cool for my Han Solo character to be a crack shot? Oooh, oooh, and what about making my bad@$$ bounty hunter - whatever that is - into a crazy-good ninja? Yeah!")

Assasin relies on their guns, Gadgeteer relies on their tech, Opperator sounds like they will rely on thir ship, so martial artist is the bounty hunter who doesn't need anything.

But should they call it martial artist? Does it fit the feel of the fiction that EotE tries to emulate? It does not feel very Star Wars at all if you ask me,.

Chirrut Îmwe in Rouge One - Donnie Yen's character - is very clearly a martial artist, and Maul used wushu in his fighting, so I think it fits Star Wars.

Sure, I could see that. But as Jedi are space samurai, I hope they won`t water down that concept with all new non-force "martial artists".

Sure, it would make realistic sense, but not much fictional sense I think.

I also suspect that Donnie Yen`s character might have ties to the jedi(or even better, another force-tradition).

And, look, I'm not pointing fingers at those of you who seem to be misinterpreting what a bounty hunter's occupation actually entails...

Dave Filoni didn't seem to understand the concept either, as every appearance of bounty hunters in The Clone Wars had them taking jobs that should have been filled by mercs (e.g., the "Seven Samurai" homage, the one with the underground train, the one with the "box" and the assassination plan).

Anyway, logical specs would have been:

- Tracker

- Beast rider

- Driver

- Surveillance / Information gathering

- Gunslinger

A martial artist spec would have worked best with soldiers or mercs. Or even colonists.

I can see where you're coming from. And while it may be unfortunate that they "got it wrong," luckily, you're free to mix up the different specs however you choose!

But as Jedi are space samurai, I hope they won`t water down that concept with all new non-force "martial artists".

And just the other day I was thinking " Man, we need some Kung Fu Dudes that aren't Jedi "

I'm sure it'll be a good spec....in fact I'm positive.....

Star Wars has never 100% aligned with how we view things in our world - so I think it's unfair to say that they somehow don't get how things work. The Jedi are a mishmash of a lot of different concepts, and our two biggest examples of iconic bounty hunters in the films are Jango and Boba. Jango has basically a brief hand-to-hand brawl with Obi-Wan in Attack of the Clones, and RPGs have always taken a small concept and expanded it to make it fit the game.

A lot of bounty hunters in Star Wars are former military, and it would make sense for them to have martial arts training. I don't really see the issue. And FFG is always pretty good about flavoring it to fit the spec.