Hutt Crime Lord as a PC - what spec?

By Andreievitch, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

The campaign I am running took an interesting turn last game.

I ran the "Rubbing Slimy Elbows" modular adventure from Lords of Nal Hutta. The PCs went up against the Rodian group in the adventure and also a Hutt Crime Lord and his entourage, which I created. The Hutt was actually a crime lord that was friendly to the PCs, and was thrown into the challenge as a result of yet to be discovered reasons. The PCs won, and as part of their reward, they asked that the Hutt be released to them, rather than be taken away.

This left an interesting opportunity for me as the GM, and to the party too. I have another player wanting to join, and the PCs are desperate for a face man to join them. I have suggested the new player play the Hutt!

The players are just over Knight level, so we should be able to come up with a pretty good (exiled) Hutt Crime Lord PC. But what specialisation should I use???

I was thinking Smuggler - Scoundrel or Colonist - Politico. Or a mixture of the 2. Any other suggestions?

If only Dawn of Rebellion has been released so I can see all the universal specs they have promised...

Colonist-Entrepreneur, Explorer-Trader

Trader

Politico

Entrepreneur

There's not going to be one "do it all" spec for a crime lord, as what sort of "crime lord" the character is can vary.

That said, for a "man behind the man" power and deal broker, Trader and Entrepreneur are both excellent starting points, and can complement each other well, though I'd favor Entrepreneur simply because it's tied to the Colonist career which offers a better array of skills for a crime lord type. Scoundrel is an unusual choice, but it is a choice as it offers a number of skills and talents that are useful to an up-and-coming crime boss, especially one that's worked his way up from the streets. Politico offers Scathing Tirade, which can be great for breaking the wills of your enemies, but it's probably not a great starting point for a crime boss that's already got established street cred.

If the PC wants to start getting his hands dirty, you could go into Enforcer which can not only make the Hutt PC more intimidating but also make him better at delivering beat downs to uppity twerps that mistake him for a bloated mass of blubber that's unwilling to get his slimy hands into the mix. But that's probably not a good starting point for your more typical breed of Hutt crime lord.

There might be some stuff worthwhile in the Advocate or propagandist tree as well, but I think the best suggestions were already hit upon.

11 hours ago, Andreievitch said:

and the PCs are desperate for a face man to join them

If you go with Scoundrel, be sure to consider Charmer as a second in-career Spec.

13 hours ago, Andreievitch said:

I have another player wanting to join, and the PCs are desperate for a face man to join them. I have suggested the new player play the Hutt!

Well, it's not like hutts are lacking in face...

I'd suggest Enforcer/Charmer... although if you're starting at Knight Level, and the character is supposed to be an established up and coming crime lord to be, you might want to just stick with Enforcer, and let them develop their 'softer' side with party play.

6 hours ago, Bishop69 said:

I'd suggest Enforcer/Charmer... although if you're starting at Knight Level, and the character is supposed to be an established up and coming crime lord to be, you might want to just stick with Enforcer, and let them develop their 'softer' side with party play.

I do like that Enforcer idea...

I will let the player decide but I will suggest he ends on Entrepreneur. I like the idea of him starting as a Smuggler or Enforcer. That will at least open up some Ranged or Melee combat options for him.

Yeah... don't get too hung up on the names of the Specs. Just look at the Skills provided and the Talents. Enforcer is awesome...

Enforcer feels a lot more like a lowlevel wiseguy than a crimelord to me...

You gotta start somewhere... and for a starting to mid-level PC who needs a good balance of physical and social talents to use, I think it's awesome.

Add in a more socially focused spec later on, and you've got one tough cookie.

I never said I didn’t like the spec. I do.

It just, to me, seems like a weird fit for a crime lord.

No argument there... but a starting character, even one at Knight Level, isn't a Crime Lord. He/She/It is a Crime-Lord-to-be.

And like I said... you gotta start somewhere. I see no reason not to have a Hutt (particularly one with some interest in the Hutt history as warriors) leaning on the more... physical aspects of crime, especially early in their career.

If I were playing a Hutt criminal on the path to Crime Lordiness, I'd go:

1. Enforcer

2. Charmer

3. Entrepreneur

or something along those lines...