What are people's thoughts about the universal specs like force emergent to get their force sensitivity or if you plan on playing a force user to just start I'm a force based career?

What do you think the strengths and weaknesses are of either option?

It's the only way for a non-FaD career PC can get into FaD specs. FaD careers grant the Force Rating, not the Specs. So you need the universal specs to get into them. FS Emergent and FS Exile both offer really nice talents that will go along with Talents found in FaD specs. You should really consider the narrative of the character's development, not just try to figure the most optimal way to create a build. The Spirit of the Rules would shed tears..

The universal Force options were mostly to give the opportunity to people prior to F&D coming out for use of the Force. Functionally they're the only way to add Force sensitivity after a PC is made RAW. Beyond that, obviously the F&D career/specs are superior for someone wanting to pursue a Force focused character.

1 hour ago, Oden Gebhac said:

It's the only way for a non-FaD career PC can get into FaD specs. FaD careers grant the Force Rating, not the Specs. So you need the universal specs to get into them. FS Emergent and FS Exile both offer really nice talents that will go along with Talents found in FaD specs. You should really consider the narrative of the character's development, not just try to figure the most optimal way to create a build. The Spirit of the Rules would shed tears..

Not actually true. You just wont have the force so the force talents wont work. Otherwise it is fine.

Force sensitive emergent is my most frequent third spec for a FaD career build. There is useful stuff to grab from it

Before Navigator came around, the Emergent was one of the cheapest ways to increase your Force rating. And it has talents that feel very Jedi-like. Still a solid spec, same as Exile.

Exile and Emergent both have very neat talents that are useful to a lot of builds.

Uncanny Reactions and Senses, which both trees have, are both decent talents. Exile is a decent social spec - Overwhelm Emotions is a mini version of upgraded Influence, Convincing Demeanor/Street Smarts/Sense Emotion are good social skill talents. Sixth Sense and Superior Reflexes (which give +1 Ranged and Melee defense, respectively) are useful for any build, as are Sense Danger and Touch of Fate, which let you influence important rolls. Balance is incredibly helpful to any Spec that's strain heavy; I know I have an Infiltrator in a PbP I GM that would love it. And Intense Focus is stupidly helpful to any build; I'm not near an actual book, so I don't know the limits, but it gives you the Upgrade effect of flipping a DP for just 1 strain.

Emergent makes a better stealth/combat character. Sleight of Mind and Indistinguishable help you blend in, there're two ranks each of Toughened and Grit there, apparently Sense Danger and Touch of Fate are both near the bottom, as is balance, Force of Will is helpful for a character that plans to be heavy in Force Powers (as they probably have high Will), and Invigorate is a decent, if not risky, buff.

In the end, though, Oden is right - it's best to consider the narrative needs of your character. In a FaD game, picking a career and moving into Exile/Emergent if you like the talents is probably best. However, for my AoR game, I haven't allowed any Force Rating builds at start; potential FS characters will get to buy into Exile/Emergent as their story progresses; in that regard, I think the specs do a great job of simulating someone "discovering" their abilities. Most of the Force talents are easy to explain away as someone who doesn't know what they are, unlike some of the talents from FaD trees. So, do what makes sense! But they are good trees.

I guess it ultimately boils down to "how important is being a Force user to your character concept?"

If it's a minor aspect of the PC, then you're probably better off starting out in an EotE/AoR career and picking up Exile or Emergent, either at character creation or shortly after. For instance, a Leia-type PC is probably a Commander/Figurehead with Emergent picked up to be Force-sensitive and have access to powers like Influence and Sense. A cocky bush pilot that's barely aware of the Force and writes their abilities off as simply being that good would likely be an Ace/Pilot (or Hotshot) that picked up Emergent and the Enhance power. Or a street rat type like Ezra Bridger that never met a Jedi would probably begin as a Smuggler/Thief and taking Exile and Enhance. Or a bounty hunter that has an uncanny knack for tracking down their targets, probably taking Emergent and the Seek power. Of course, starting out with Emergent/Exile means that you're probably not going to have enough XP to buy any additional skill ranks or talents, or have to settle for having only a couple of your starting characteristics be above a 2.

If it's going to be a major aspect of the PC, then you're better off going with a FaD spec; you won't have as many starting skill ranks, but you'll have access to a greater variety of Force talents right off the bat. A Luke-type PC could start out as either a Sentinel/Racer or Warrior/Starfighter Ace, and then pick up the in-career LS Form spec for when they want to start getting really good at using a lightsaber, while having access to Enhance and Sense. An urban shaman would probably be a Mystic (either Advisor or Seer), while a wilderness expert that's good with animals works as a Seeker/Pathfinder. A classically-trained Jedi survivor of Order 66 would most likely be a Consular/Niman Disciple with Move and Sense, though any of the LS Form specs work for that character type.

The force aspect is less important then what talents and/or force powers in combination with skills allows the character to do.

The thing is narratively ordinarily I want considering a force based character, but the talents that best fit the general rp goal are two force careers. So I'm rethinking it.

The idea is you can refluff many things for rp, but mechanically you can get sick depending on certain starting choices...

This may seem weird, but I don't like any of the F&D specs for chargen, even if you're playing a Jedi. Eg: I think you'd end up with a more effective diplomat by taking Politico or Ambassador with FSEx or FSEm added to it. Later on picking a Consular spec adds a level of specialization suitable for an actual "Knight".

18 hours ago, Daeglan said:

Not actually true. You just wont have the force so the force talents wont work. Otherwise it is fine.

In the context of the OP's question, it is. If you want Force Sensitivity, you have two choices: FaD Career or FS Emergent/FS Exile.