So I'm going to play a chadra-fan and I find the brawn 1 very fitting with its posture. Now I know any possible damage will really hurt with brawn 1, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced with playing as a brawn 1 character and would like to share them or warn me or convince me, etc...

I've seen it once. The guy planned to play a slicer that stayed in the ship. It didn't work out. He was actually one of only two PC deaths I've seen in this system.

I mean 3PO survived a couple battles. It definitely fits the universe.

Rules-wise it works fine as long as you play carefully. Don't try to stay behind. That gets annoying. But do stay in cover a lot, invest in med packs and cool armor, and always try to bend situations towards the party's favor as much as possible via Advantages and Destiny Points.

1 hour ago, Stan Fresh said:

I mean 3PO survived a couple battles. It definitely fits the universe.

Rules-wise it works fine as long as you play carefully. Don't try to stay behind. That gets annoying. But do stay in cover a lot, invest in med packs and cool armor, and always try to bend situations towards the party's favor as much as possible via Advantages and Destiny Points.

The idea in combat is to play a droid tech technician who supports his team from cover and behind the front line. Using droids (eventually), explosives (homemade quality) and slicing (disturb enemy comm signals or targetting systems etc..) to get the upperhand. I plan to make creative use of this character.

I'm just a bit scared because I don't know how prevalent combat is in EotE. Used to play their warhammer roleplay and often combat would be forced down your throat.

1 hour ago, yindaka said:

So I'm going to play a chadra-fan and I find the brawn 1 very fitting with its posture. Now I know any possible damage will really hurt with brawn 1, but I was wondering if anyone had experienced with playing as a brawn 1 character and would like to share them or warn me or convince me, etc...

Seen a few of them, and as you can surmise the character is very squishy as species that start with Brawn 1 tend to have a lower-then-normal base Wound Threshold.

It also means that you're going to inherently such at physical activities (Athletics and Brawl) and are going to be more vulnerable to poisons/diseases/toxic atmospheres (Resilience) as anything with even an Easy difficulty to resist is going to be problematic for you with your 1 green die.

In terms of combat, your best move would be to find the nearest cover and make yourself the least-tempting target possible, and likely not make too many direct attacks, instead using your actions to find novel ways to support the party's objectives and/or use the Aid maneuver (converting your action if need be) to give your allies a boost die on their combat checks.

Beyond those points listed above, there's not really any other downsides to having a Brawn of 1. Of course, if the GM is running a campaign that's going to focus heavily on combat, then I'd advise reconsidering going with Brawn 1 given the above. But if it's a more balanced campaign or one where personal-scale combat is going to be an infrequent occurrence, then you should be just fine.

2 minutes ago, yindaka said:

I'm just a bit scared because I don't know how prevalent combat is in EotE. Used to play their warhammer roleplay and often combat would be forced down your throat.

Honestly, the frequency of combat is up to the GM and to the actions of the other players.

I've been in multi-hour sessions where only a single combat occurred, and even that only due to one player getting bored and deciding he'd rather blast his way out of the current dilemma than let the rest of the party talk our way out (which in that instance we had almost successfully done).

As I noted in my earlier post, check with the GM as to just how much combat he's expecting/planning to occur. Also, bear in mind what sort of builds the other players are bringing to the table. It certainly helps you if there's one or more PCs that's likely to draw enemy fire, such as the guy with massive blaster rifle (especially if it has autofire), the high Brawn rampaging melee fighter, or the Jedi wannabe that's openly wielding a lightsaber; those types are great for drawing the enemies' attention away from squishy little guys like you.

At one point, three out of the four characters in my group had Brawn 1 ( I thus christened them as "Puny Squad). It worked out OK for them, except for the Gunslinger, who became the glassiest of glass cannons and a priority target after downing their first couple of minions. As long as you're not a main combatant, you should be fine if you don't go full-on kamikaze.

A Chandra-fan with 3 Agi it's tempting for range combat, but as Donovan mentioned, I would avoid that ( not make too many direct attacks). One PC in my last EotE game went full Int and Droid tech. Was a great support character, creating all kind of gadgets, droids and slicing every door in his way.

If you want to take an active role in combat with lower Brawn, try long range weapons (like sniper rifles). It's a great choice when you have time to prepare. When you don't have time, it makes you a tempting target.

1 hour ago, Rithuan said:

A Chandra-fan with 3 Agi it's tempting for range combat, but as Donovan mentioned, I would avoid that ( not make too many direct attacks). One PC in my last EotE game went full Int and Droid tech. Was a great support character, creating all kind of gadgets, droids and slicing every door in his way.

If you want to take an active role in combat with lower Brawn, try long range weapons (like sniper rifles). It's a great choice when you have time to prepare. When you don't have time, it makes you a tempting target.

Speaking of droid tech. Talents that talk about rank can be taken multiple times if I'm not mistaken. Deft maker is in there twice, does that mean credit cost is only 25% when I have it twice?

My Astromech character has Brawn 1, but Soak 6. I actually have the most Soak of the whole party, though 4 of that soak is because of Armor(Reflect Body Glove 3 soak + Armor Master giving +1 soak while wearing armor).

Droids can definitely get away with Brawn 1 thanks to Enduring.

The killer for low brawn characters is Encumbrance. Easy to get overloaded.

23 minutes ago, yindaka said:

Speaking of droid tech. Talents that talk about rank can be taken multiple times if I'm not mistaken. Deft maker is in there twice, does that mean credit cost is only 25% when I have it twice?

Generally no, as any talents that offer a credit or time reduction don't stack that part of the benefit unless it specifically says it does.

Example is Gearhead reducing the cost of modifications by 50% total, which doesn't combine with additional ranks of Gearhead for further cost reductions.

Technical Aptitude however does stack the time reduction per rank, since pretty much all it does is reduce the time on Computers related checks.

26 minutes ago, yindaka said:

Speaking of droid tech. Talents that talk about rank can be taken multiple times if I'm not mistaken. Deft maker is in there twice, does that mean credit cost is only 25% when I have it twice?

Rank talents per default stack (for example, Eye for detail in the same book). However, Deft Maker is one of the few who does not fully stack. As Donovan explained, the cost reduction does not stack, but the removal of set back dice does stack.

7 minutes ago, Ghostofman said:

The killer for low brawn characters is Encumbrance. Easy to get overloaded.

Yes, that's a problem. Although I hate that my PC carries backpacks and load bearing gear, a good alternative for a Droid tech is to have your personal Hierling to carry gear for you.

In my experience, the essentials are tools kit (4) and Slice gear (2). You can carry that (and just that) without any penalties. I do recommend restraining bolts (enc 0) and Data spike (enc 1).

4 hours ago, yindaka said:

The idea in combat is to play a droid tech technician who supports his team from cover and behind the front line. Using droids (eventually), explosives (homemade quality) and slicing (disturb enemy comm signals or targetting systems etc..) to get the upperhand. I plan to make creative use of this character.

I'm just a bit scared because I don't know how prevalent combat is in EotE. Used to play their warhammer roleplay and often combat would be forced down your throat.

Just out of curiosity, what do the other characteristics look like, in this build?

14 minutes ago, Edgehawk said:

Just out of curiosity, what do the other characteristics look like, in this build?

Brawn 1 agility 3 intel 4 wp 1 cunning 2 presence 2. I'm on the fence for which one to upgrade to 2, either brawn 1 or wp 1. Hence the topic mechanics and computers are both rank 2.

I'd be left with 30 xp after upgrading another stat to 2. A bit of which I'm thinking to save for later xp expenditure to get that rank 3 skill faste. But I'm open for any suggestions. I know i could just up both stat to 2. But might as well play a human then. For talents I have no idea what to take yet and I'm not sure how useful they'll be in the first session.

With Strain Threshold base 11, you can probably afford to keep a 1 in Willpower. I assume you selected Computers and Mechanics as both Career and Spec, for the 2 ranks in each? You could always go wild, take the +10 Obligation, and up your Agility to 4 as well.

Edit to add: Starting characters tend to be light on Talents, due to the long-term importance of raising Characteristics at chargen. Rolling YYGG for your 2 key Skills is a pretty good beginning, without any further investment.

16 minutes ago, yindaka said:

Brawn 1 agility 3 intel 4 wp 1 cunning 2 presence 2. I'm on the fence for which one to upgrade to 2, either brawn 1 or wp 1. Hence the topic mechanics and computers are both rank 2.

I'd be left with 30 xp after upgrading another stat to 2. A bit of which I'm thinking to save for later xp expenditure to get that rank 3 skill faste. But I'm open for any suggestions. I know i could just up both stat to 2. But might as well play a human then. For talents I have no idea what to take yet and I'm not sure how useful they'll be in the first session.

Go all in on the stats. Agi 4, Int 4, crap all in everything else. Lean into the low-Will roleplay as an easily-distracted, obsessive savant. ?

Yes mechanic 1 from being chadra-fan, once from technician. Computers from technician and droid tech spec. I could, but my gm is quite new and I'll ask him first if he has a good idea about obligation. It'd feel cheaty doing it without it ever having consequences because my gm is not aware enough of obligation.

I think you'll be ok with a tech character. You'll be able to craft, jury rig,and tinker your way into a good set of armor.

The Medical/Mechanic droid in our party is Brawn 1. He's been shot up a few times, but nothing really debilitating, and after the second time he made himself a pretty decent set of armor. He mostly follows the other advice in this thread: stay low, try not to be a bigger threat than the "tanks," and assist the party in other ways rather than direct attacks (in his case, he gives medical assistance, though that's "drawn aggro" a few times).

Bear in mind that character death is REALLY difficult to achieve in this system. You need a critical injury with result of 140+ (you're dying, need immediate medical attention to stay alive) or 150+ (you're dead) to actually be killed in combat. So unless going up against an enemy armed with a few ranks of Vicious, you'd need to have at least 4 untreated critical injuries before you're in danger of dying. So a low-Brawn character might get taken out of combat pretty easily, but they aren't going to be at substantially more risk of death.

1 hour ago, ErikModi said:

The Medical/Mechanic droid in our party is Brawn 1. He's been shot up a few times, but nothing really debilitating, and after the second time he made himself a pretty decent set of armor. He mostly follows the other advice in this thread: stay low, try not to be a bigger threat than the "tanks," and assist the party in other ways rather than direct attacks (in his case, he gives medical assistance, though that's "drawn aggro" a few times).

Bear in mind that character death is REALLY difficult to achieve in this system. You need a critical injury with result of 140+ (you're dying, need immediate medical attention to stay alive) or 150+ (you're dead) to actually be killed in combat. So unless going up against an enemy armed with a few ranks of Vicious, you'd need to have at least 4 untreated critical injuries before you're in danger of dying. So a low-Brawn character might get taken out of combat pretty easily, but they aren't going to be at substantially more risk of death.

Most Brawn 1 characters tend to focus away from Resilience, so unless the group has a dedicated healer of some sort, they tend to get crits that stick around for some time and accumulate. That's how the one in my campaign finally died (six accumulated crits over a four-day (in-game) fast-paced adventure; the seventh one killed him off).

When I created my Chadra-fan cybertech, I was a little nervous about leaving her Brawn at 1, but to be honest, I don't think the 2 soak / 2 threshold difference between Brawn 1 and Brawn 3 will help you a lot: One or two solid hits will take you down regardless (you might get lucky enough that you end up just short of unconscious because of the extra brawn, but I wouldn't bet on it).

That being said, if I rebuilt the character, I might drop Int down to 4 and boost Brawn up to 3 to help with the encumbrance issues:

• Medpack is Encumbrance 2 (also, it is described as a backpack, so it's effectively Encumbrance 8 if you figure you can't wear two backpacks)
• Slicing tools are another 2 Encumbrance.
  • yes, Integrated Slicer Gear is available as an armor attachement, but 3 HPs is an awful lot...
• Either
  • Toolkit for another 4 encumbrance, or
  • Mechanic's Utility Suit for (effective) 2 encumbrance (this is really useful armor, but I'll probably want to upgrade to something with more Hard Points eventually).

That's a lot of encumbrance for just your basic skills before you even start looking at a weapon, breath mask, binocs, Jetpack/boots, etc...

3 hours ago, Ominovin said:

That's a lot of encumbrance for just your basic skills before you even start looking at a weapon, breath mask, binocs, Jetpack/boots, etc...

But for all that, you have a highly mobile Cyber Tech. The alternative would be to have a kitted out med bay on a ship. That might mean on foot your character takes a few stimpacks, maybe the Slicer Gear and Toolkit, while the more involved checks involve getting the patient back to your 'lab'. The mobile option is pretty extreme, it makes sense that you can do it, but also makes sense that it involves a lot of commitment.

First of, thanks everyone for the replies. Maybe a final question (maybe not), what would offer the most for a good part of the gameplay. YYGGG as a pool or YYYY ? I feel that the higher chances on Y outweigh extra G. Or is it just to easy to get skill ranks up that I shouldn't bother to much with it?