Ok so here's my predicament... I want all the tech trees but alas

I wanna slicer, crafter, ship modder with cybernetics that he plugs into droids which help him sneak into places hr has to hack.

How best to accomplish this?

Stats are 134322 (with max obligation)

Does Star Wars even have the "tech" for cyber punk? First of all, I was under the impression that Star Wars was not a cyberpunk setting.

<Sigh> <Heavy Sigh>

OKay. If it were me (and I've done something like this with my current character), start your character with one career and specialization. Choose the one you want most first.

Next, save up your Exp after the game starts and buy the Next Career Specialization.

After that Save up for the Next Career Specialization.

Then go to town with the tech trees and skill expenditures.

Not to cause too much frustration from obfuscation, but the talent trees (Careers & Specializations) that you want your character to develop are going to depend on your character. Between EotE, AoR, & FnD there are approximately three specializations that do pretty much similar things, but are subtly different based on the background of the character, and how they specialize their training.

Case in point, I have two characters, brother & sister, both raised pretty much the same and both turned out to be mechanics with piloting abilities. At the end of character creation, I wanted both to be able to pilot spaceships well, perform Astrogation checks well, and fix broken things really well.

The Brother is a pretty standard Engineer Mechanic and bought up the Ace Pilot talent tree (recently). His starting stats are 243222, He's book smart and handy with the spanner. His high agility allows him to default well with all weapon systems (except Brawn & Melee), and he current is a very well skilled Pilot & Gunner.

The Sister is a Smuggler Thief, is using default for Astrogation (but we have an astrogator, so not that much of a loss) Is a good pilot, and skilled mechanic (but mechanics isn't a career skill yet). She'd been optimized to leverage her high cunning. Her characteristics are 223422. Just as smart and the Brother. She's also an FSX. Her next talent tree will be Shien Expert followed shortly by Starfighter Ace and that will put her pretty much on par with big brother. (No, not that "Big Brother").

There are subtle differences, but in the end that's two similar paths to the same destination.

I'm afraid that there's no shortcuts here. I'd recommend that you start character creation "normally" by fleshing out the history and background of the character.

Once you get to the "select career" I'd recommend that you sit down and study all three core books. Carefully.

Figure out what direction your character wants to take. The other thing that I did, was that once I understood the direction of "training" I printed out the Specialization trees that my character currently would have and would eventually pick up over time.

Another thing to consider, you may be able to pick up two career specializations during character creation, but three may be too much of a squeeze. (I haven't tried it yet, but I'm also a HUGE advocate of sinking most of your character points into Characteristics.

Artisan sounds like a good start. The sentinels signature abilities deal with the sneaking in part rather well, hacking and crafting is already covered by the main spec …

But from the character concept the modder, droid and cybertech would achieve that build best, which is a shame as you don't get any inventor ranks and outlaw tech would have been a good third spec instead of droid tech. Improved overcharge should be enough to become super sneaky and stealth, given the right cyberware.

For the ship moder you either want rigger from stay on target or moder from special modifications, personally I would choose rigger.

Cyber tech for a second, not sure about the third

46 minutes ago, TheShard said:

I wanna slicer, crafter, ship modder with cybernetics that he plugs into droids which help him sneak into places hr has to hack.

Slicer: Computers, Stealth Skullduggery

Crafter: Mechanics, Computers

Ship Modder: Mechanics

Cybernetics: Mechanics and Computers

Droids: Mechanics and computers

Sneaking into places: Stealth, Skullduggery, Streetwise

Spy: Slicer to start, then Cyberneticist and Modder to round out your needs.

3 hours ago, Richardbuxton said:

Slicer: Computers, Stealth Skullduggery

Crafter: Mechanics, Computers

Ship Modder: Mechanics

Cybernetics: Mechanics and Computers

Droids: Mechanics and computers

Sneaking into places: Stealth, Skullduggery, Streetwise

Spy: Slicer to start, then Cyberneticist and Modder to round out your needs.

Good plan but engineer: saboteur provides most of the career skills you want all on it's own, everything except streetwiee, it is the best spec in the game when it comes to strain management, moder and cyber tech covers the rest of what you want to do in term of talents

12 minutes ago, EliasWindrider said:

Good plan but engineer: saboteur provides most of the career skills you want all on it's own, everything except streetwiee, it is the best spec in the game when it comes to strain management, moder and cyber tech covers the rest of what you want to do in term of talents

very true, i was just trying to find a balance between skills needed and talents fitting the theme

Saboteur I'll have to look at!

As for droids, is their a huge difference between controlling/crafting between doing as a droid tech vs doing it without that spec?

Droid Tech can halve the cost of materials for Droids, and has a couple of cool talents for interaction with Droids. But that's about it. If it's not the core focus of the character then you probably don't need to get it.

So saboteur cybertech modder/rigger?

But saboteur is more about explosions then slicing

First of all; identify what is really core to your concept. Is your character a slicer, a doctor, or a mechanic? Who is your character actually and what is their specialisation? Each of those things are very different in skillset and mind set, otherwise going out of the gates your just "the answer" guy, the boring genetic super int guy who can just as easily cure cancer as he can crack Lobot's mind. It's key that the character has a fundamental identity or a trade mark that helps identify him to the players and to keep him interesting. That and you run the risk of spreading your character too thin that he isn't good at any of his roles; it's fine to be exceptional at one thing and require someone else to do another, or just use int to botch together a solution.

Slicer? The slicer tree is good, Shadow is really good and paired with an investigative tree allows you to dig up a lot of dirt. Shadow also contains well rounded, which allows you to snag a combat skill and machanics for rudimentary maintained and savatage.

With mechanic, you really want machanic or Artisan to make fixing ships more reliable. Modder is a good second tree for adding hardpoints. I give the slight edge to machanic as he can easily differeniate into any of the cybertech/droid specs.

Cybertech is a doctor first and formost before anything else. Going into actual doctor or medic is really good for being better at healing. I am a fan of doctor because I love mad science in that he would just as likely jab his latest concoction into a friend as giving someone a impromptu lobotomy.

You are asking an awful lot for one character, so I suggest you identify what is really important and go with that. It's always possible to branch out later.

Slicer/mad dog Murdock from a team with cybernetics...

He is not combat oriented, but he should have a few tricks up his sleeve just in case

I'm not trying to get all of this at character creation.

That's why I said "plan"

I'm trying to make the mechanics fit the narrative.

He's a generalist and that's actually hard to do.

He also has only 1 brawn so that forces me it seems to take cybertech... However that's the least of his concerns, other than maybe tinkering with himself.

It's mainly slicing and modding/crafting

I'd go with outlaw tech slicer modder if it wasn't for the brawn issue... But the lack of strength and being frail is part of the narrative... So I'm trying not to to rob Peter to pay Paul mechanics wise in order to fit the character.

If your main focus is slicing and modding/crafting, then I'd go with a Technician starting either Slicer or Droid Tech and picking up the other when you're ready. Slicer not only makes you super good at getting into computer systems, it also makes you faster at programming droids through Technical Aptitude. And I consider Droid Tech to be one of the best crafting specs; mostly because Eye for Detail is virtually an automatic advantage (for crafting and slicing checks), and I like that better than a boost die (which gives you nothing half the time and is only better 1/6th of the time). It also helps that Improved Speak Binary turns your droid assistant into your own personal Togruta/Drall.

How heavy into cybernetics are you planning to go? One Brawn and a Biofeedback Regulator gets you three cybernetics, which is enough for a Brain Implant, an Implanted Cyberjack, and a Cyborg/Droid interface. If you really want lots and lots of cybernetics, substituting Cyber Tech for Droid Tech isn't bad, especially if you supplement with skill implants.

Maybe the better question is: What aspects of your character do you want mechanically supported by talents? You can be a pretty dang good Slicer with just high Intellect and Computer skills. High Mechanics will let you do a lot of vehicle modding through the attachment system. Do you need a talent that says "This character is awesome at this" for every aspect of the character? Answering that question will help you focus in on the essentials. Don't underestimate what you can do with a good dice pool from characteristics/skills alone.

No I get you, but I'm new.

I've jumped in to the pool head first, drank the coolaid... But I'm still learning how things play out in game.

And how good is good etc.

Maybe think of it this way: There are very few "generalist" specs in the game, because generalist-level capability is handled by skill ranks and characteristics. You can get good enough to succeed at Daunting or Formidable tasks just with skill ranks and characteristics. Talents are how you get to be better than than the generalists. My advice would be to figure out where you want your character to be better than everyone else, pick the most important thing, and get a spec that focuses on that. Then, start playing and see where things go before worrying about your next spec. The only way you're going to figure out "how things play out in game" is by playing the game and seeing how your GM runs things. That will give you a better picture of "how good is good" than any armchair optimizer such as myself.

Agreed but I'm at work killing time so why not use that time to think about it

I wouldn't rule out saboteur because of the talents in the tree. You'd be taking it as your first spec for the skill selection and the top 2 rows (the cheap ones) of talents which focus on strain management. There's nothing that says you have to purchase any talents in a tree that you have. Normally you would want to from an xp point of view but having the perfect set of skills from character creation is huge in terms of xp savings, it means you're NOT paying the out of career cost for any of your skills, and the early game performance is dominated by how many ranks you have in the appropriate skills.

The maximum cost in terms of xp for a 3 spec build is (70-50=) 20xp (relative to buying 3 specs in the same career) which is equivalent to buying only 4 out of career skill ranks instead in career ranks. Also you get the savingsame early in the game and pay the price when you purchase your 2nd and third spec.

Also engineer has ranged light as a career skill which means you can be OK with a blaster from day 1, so you'll always be able to contribute in combat if you need to.

Also you should take a look at engineer:scientist it can get you some Droid (speaks binary) and crafting stuff in the right half the tree, has some pretty awesome talents in the lower left corner of the tree. What it doesn't have in terms of skills is stealth and skulldugery, but it does have an acceptable set of starting skills for your build.

In real life I would probably be statted as an engineer: mechanic/scientist (it gets me the right mix of skills and talents)

Edit: my primary criteria for picking my first spec (which determines career) are the skill list and choice of signature abilities, talents are generally a nice extra.

And there you go messing with my head again!

Pro and con list...

Scientist/saboteur

Vs

Modder/cybertech

Vs

slicer/cybertech

Vs

Outlaw tech/Modder

That's been the suggestions right?

Modder

Pros: Gives you a few talents to enhance a specific vehicle. Resourceful Refit lets you upcycle cheap attachments when you have the credits to put your hard points to better use, or recoup losses when you fail a modding check and want to start over fresh. You get Gunnery as a career skill and Tinker/Jury-Rigged to enhance your personal equipment. Also provides Streetwise for tracking down illegal goods and Piloting - Space.

Cons: Signature Vehicle talents aren't very useful unless you spend a lot of time in or around your vehicle. Doesn't get anything to help you with crafting. With the right mods you can use big gunnery weapons even with Brawn 1, but it might not fit with the "frail" narrative. Arguably redundant with Outlaw Tech (how many ranks of Tinkerer/Jury-Rigged do you actually need?).

Outlaw Tech

Pros: Tinkerer/Jury-Rigged combo. Streetwise career skill. Inventor to boost crafting and modding. Utility Belt is a fun talent.

Cons: No combat career skills. The good stuff (Jury-Rigged, Inventor) is concentrated at the bottom of the tree, delaying your access and ability to jump to a new tree.

Cyber Tech

Pros: Extra cybernetic capacity. Half price cybernetics can save you a lot of credits. Eye for Detail is a great crafting/slicing talent. Allows you to double as the party's medic. Utility Belt. Overcharge can provide a powerful boost with the right cybernetics equipped.

Cons: Aside from one rank of Eye for Detail, nothing that directly boosts your mechanical skills. Equipment dependent tree; without sufficient credits to get good cybernetics, it loses a lot of punch. No combat career skills.

Slicer

Pros: Skilled Slicer is a huge advantage with Special Modification's slicing rules. Likewise, Master Slicer helps a lot when breaking into highly secure systems. Codebreaker helps a lot with eavesdropping on enemy comms, and Bypass Security makes it easier to gain access to secure facilities. Stealth as a career skill.

Cons: Really really focused on Slicing, to the point where it doesn't help you with much else. Nothing to help you with the Mechanical aspects of your character, for instance. Several talents only apply when you are defending a system, which may not be a common occurrence in most campaigns. As with most technician specializations, no combat career skill.

I'll let someone else handle the Engineer specs, as I don't have any experience with those.

Scientist:

Pros: Good for a character centered around intellect, has some good talents that work with droids. Has talents like Stroke of Genius and Utility Belt, both of which can be very useful. Has some okay talents for a character that wants to modify ships and droids. If you take it from the Engineer career (I don't know if it is somewhere else...) you get Ranged (light), Medicine and Computers as career skills.

Cons: Doesn't have any talents related to hacking and stealth, also lacks stealth as a career skill. Not sure how the numerous career knowledge skills would fit with your idea for the characters background. Some of the better talents take a fair amount of xp to get.

Saboteur:

Pros: Has stealth and skullduggery as career skills, plus computers again. It has some talents that increase survivability, not sure how well that fits with your idea. Since it's from the engineer career skill, like scientist it has Ranged (light) and Piloting (space) as career skills.

Cons: More centered around explosions than hacking and modding, also as I said above the survivability talents might not fit with you character idea. Doesn't have any talents for modding, hacking or crafting.

Generally speaking, I wouldn't worry too much about combat skills, so don't let that be a factor in what you choose.

I've seen Outlaw techs pulls some amazing things out of their a-I mean, utility belts

Slicing is very very useful, but as pointed out it will bite into your crafting and mechanics side.

Overall, I'd say start with either slicer or Outlaw tech, depending on which aspect of your character you think would be the 'dominant' side. From there, you can branch into the other spec pretty naturally over the course of the game.

Scientist has 2 ranks of tinkerer (can add 1 hard point to 2 items), 2 ranks of inventor (good for crafting), 2 ranks of speaks binary (makes your helper Droid much more helpful), utility belt, careful planning (awesome), intense focus, spend a maneuver and 1 strain and upgrade ANY check you want to make, stroke of genius (use int instead of another attribute once per session), mental fortress (protects your int and cunning against critical injuries, clarified by the devs to work existing critical injuries), and a single rank of hidden storage (1 rank isn't all that helpful but this pairs pretty well with the 1 rank from modder)

Edit if you start as engineer scientist you can get 2 free ranks in computers, you will have computers, knowledge education (the catchall knowledge skill), mechanics, medicine, perception, pilot space, ranged light, vigilance as career skills which are all very useful, (also get athletics and knowledge lore which are less useful)