My wife would like to play as someone who can craft various of gear, armors, weapons + modding them for team + being our "mechanic".

What build/specialization combo would you recommend for her?

Technician for Career. Outlaw Tech and Modder are probably the two Specs to look at.

Outlaw tech is a kinda diverse Spec, but it has the Mechanics skills and talents to scavenge for parts, modify equipment with more add ons, and get some boosts on crafting new gear.

Modder is more about tricking out gear and vehicles with more add-ons than they can normally support.

Crafting is outlined in Special Modifications. Be advised, crafting allows you to cobble together new things within a set range of templates and possible results. It doesn't allow you to build named items at a reduced cost and rarity.

So like you can make an energy rifle that has stats and qualities appropriate to a sniper's blaster. But you can't specifically make an E-11s Sniper Rifle. Though with a good roll you can probably make something just as good or better than an E-11s... or with a bad roll noticeably worse...

Or, if she wants to go the Force user route, there's the Guardian/Armorer ( Keeping the Peace ) and the Sentinel/Artisan (F&D Crb ) specs.

I like the armorer so you get some combat abilities and your lightsaber technique will use intellect, which should be your key stat.

4 minutes ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Or, if she wants to go the Force user route, there's the Guardian/Armorer ( Keeping the Peace ) and the Sentinel/Artisan (F&D Crb ) specs.

No Force users in our story, that is GM decision.

Just now, Benny89 said:

No Force users in our story, that is GM decision.

Fair enough. There's also the Engineer career from AoR.

21 minutes ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Fair enough. There's also the Engineer career from AoR.

In that case Engineer: Scientist is the way.

Scientist is actually kinda similar to Outlaw Tech, though instead of inventing things and modding things, it's more an inventing things and knowing things kinda role.

Engineer: Shipwright is also an option, though it's more about crafting and modding vehicles specifically... and considering the vehicle crafting rules are bananas... yeah do yourself a favor and don't go there.

Ace: Rigger is also a vehicle modding option with piloting ability. Though I suspect this isn't really what you're looking for.

Also as a side note, the Armor crafting rules are in Keeping the Peace, which though a supp for force users, the crating is open to everyone. Fully Operational have vehicle crafting rules, but they are.... odd... FFG's intent is pretty clear, but the execution seems rushed and not well tested.

Endless Vigil has lightsaber crafting, no that it sounds like it matters, and all other crafting (droids, gear, cybernetics) is in Special modifications.

Btw. is crafting armor even worth in this system? I just read armor crafting rules in Keeping The Peace I think it was called and what strikes me is:

1. How long it takes to craft for example battle armor.

2. How much does it cost in materials BEFORE even buying attachements/mods to it.

3. How long it takes to make it Simple test even when you cant stack advantages and taking schematic multiple times.

4. Even with Outlaw Tech/Modder Torguta with starting 4 INT with assistance bonus you look at at least 100 xp spent DEDICATED only towards crafting (so boosting INT, mechanics + taking talents that boost that) to craft good battle armor.

It seems that during that hundreds of hours time for it - PC/PCs could easy take " couple" of jobs and simply buy that battle armor or take it off some enemy, buy attachements, mods, tinker it, jurry rigg it and make better armor 10 times faster than it would take to craft one...

Why every RPG makes crafting so... time and resource consuming. It's almost never worth it over buying items.

I am little dissapointed in crafting system here unless I misunderstood something but it doesn't seem like crafting is worth it...

4 minutes ago, Benny89 said:

Btw. is crafting armor even worth in this system. I just read armor crafting rules in Keeping The Peace I think it was called and what strikes me is:

1. How long it takes to craft for example battle armor.

2. How much does it cost in materials BEFORE even buying attachements/mods to it.

3. How long it takes to make it Simple test

4. Even with Outlaw Tech/Modder Torguta with assistance you look at at least 100 xp spent DEDICATED only towards crafting (so boosting INT, mechanics + taking talents that boost that) to craft good battle armor.

It seems that during that hundreds of hours time for it - PC/PCs could easy take couple of jobs and simply buy that battle armor, buy attachements, tinker it, jurry rigg it and make better armor 10 times faster than it would take to craft one...

Why every RPG makes crafting so... time and resource consuming. It's almost never worth it over buying items.

I am little dissapointed in crafting system here.

There is more to RPGs than optimised combat builds and maximum effectiveness...

You craft a less expensive armor first to spend a ton of Advantage on "Lessons Learned" and then you use those Boost when you craft your set of armor.

The benefit of crafting is the ability to make it to your liking and, with good enough rolls, better than the equivalent generic armor, aside from the narrative benefits.

I second what @micheldebruyn said, but if you really are only interested in optimized combat builds and maximum effectiveness, then this particular mechanic isn't really for you until you've got at least 4 Proficiency.

1 hour ago, Benny89 said:

Btw. is crafting armor even worth in this system?

It can be. But it depends on what you want and how you look at it and how important it is to you.

It's a fair method to get decent armor on the cheap, and possibly a nice suit here and there. But if you want the absolute perfect set of armor, or weapon, or whatever, then buying it is usually the easier solution.

As I mentioned before, the crafting system here is an option for making stuff, not a fast track to top tier gear.

1 hour ago, Benny89 said:

1. How long it takes to craft for example battle armor

Depends on which you're talking about. If you're deep diving to augment armor you're talking about something probably for end game you make during long duration downtimes. Tricked out light armor on the other hand is quite doable early game and a fair deal In early game too, and can be knocked out in 12 hours or less. A single long hyperjump might give you the time to hammer out that.

2 hours ago, Benny89 said:

How much does it cost in materials BEFORE even buying attachements/mods to it.

It's cheaper than off the shelf in most cases. So like padded armor starts at 500 credits, but you can craft light armor (essentially the same thing) for 250 credits, and that's assuming you don't get any cost reduction or other bonuses from the negotiate check to buy those mats. And unlike the padded armor you will probably generate a few Advantage and/or triumph to give the armor a free special feature.

2 hours ago, Benny89 said:

How long it takes to make it Simple test even when you cant stack advantages and taking schematic multiple times.

Remember, every success after the first reduces the build time by 2 hours, so by mid game you should be able to crank out low to mid level armors in pretty reasonable amounts of time.

But it's also a matter of how you run games. If you run them like people tend to run d&d, and count every hour day to day... You're going to have problems.

If you run it more like a film or TV series, with days, weeks, months, or years between adventures, you'll have plenty of time to hammer out some new armor here and there.

2 hours ago, Benny89 said:

Even with Outlaw Tech/Modder Torguta with starting 4 INT with assistance bonus you look at at least 100 xp spent DEDICATED only towards crafting (so boosting INT, mechanics + taking talents that boost that) to craft good battle

I really think you need to crunch numbers and pace yourself. Crafted suits can be good, but if you are expecting to assemble an Ironman suit on your first day, this isn't that game (Mutants and Masterminds is that game).

So let me just do a quick example....

I am a starter character, and go buy mats for light armor. Rarity 0, so so simple difficulty. Let's say 2g... 1 success (I finds it for 250) and 1 advantage (boost on my crafting)

Now I build. We're going from tatooine to ord mantell, so I got the time. 2y, 1g. I add a boost from the advantage to buy, a boost from my tool kit and a good place to work, and I get an unskilled assist from another player character.

2 success and 2 advantage.

So I build it in 10 hours, and I decided to have it enhance my stealth.

So literally first adventure I have a Soak 2, Enc 2, +1Adv to stealth armor suit for only 250 credits and some time that was just going to be wiped over anyway.

Yeah it ain't a suit of fully modded mando armor, but it's better than what is on the rack, and the price is right.

Also, if you're spending XP on INT and Mechanics and talents and they're only being used for crafting, there's something wrong. Intellect powers a lot of useful skills in this system. Mechanics is a skill that can be used for resolving a lot of problems in a technological setting. Even the Inventor talent helps you with modding attachments, which is a much lower investment in terms of time and cost, while also making you better at crafting. The only example of a talent that is dedicated solely to crafting is Creative Design

Crafting might be your character's reason for existing, but the points they invest in it pay dividends in other parts of the game (and if they aren't, then you're not looking hard enough for opportunities to use them or your GM isn't providing them or both).

17 hours ago, Ghostofman said:

In that case Engineer: Scientist is the way.

Scientist is actually kinda similar to Outlaw Tech, though instead of inventing things and modding things, it's more an inventing things and knowing things kinda role.

Engineer: Shipwright is also an option, though it's more about crafting and modding vehicles specifically... and considering the vehicle crafting rules are bananas... yeah do yourself a favor and don't go there.

Ace: Rigger is also a vehicle modding option with piloting ability. Though I suspect this isn't really what you're looking for.

Also as a side note, the Armor crafting rules are in Keeping the Peace, which though a supp for force users, the crating is open to everyone. Fully Operational have vehicle crafting rules, but they are.... odd... FFG's intent is pretty clear, but the execution seems rushed and not well tested .

Endless Vigil has lightsaber crafting, no that it sounds like it matters, and all other crafting (droids, gear, cybernetics) is in Special modifications.

At the OP. If you want vehicle crafting... try "the nubian design collective"s whole vehicle crafting handbook" houserules (the thread is in the AoR forum) which are intended to be the minimum neccessary departure from official vehicle crafting rules to be able to reproduce 95% of official vehicles with a 95% quality match. Starship crafting rules seem to be about there (excepting pricing rules) the walkers and speeders need a bit more work. Feedback is welcome and appreciated (can't fix a problem that I'm not aware of)

18 hours ago, Benny89 said:

Btw. is crafting armor even worth in this system? I just read armor crafting rules in Keeping The Peace I think it was called and what strikes me is:

1. How long it takes to craft for example battle armor.

2. How much does it cost in materials BEFORE even buying attachements/mods to it.

3. How long it takes to make it Simple test even when you cant stack advantages and taking schematic multiple times.

4. Even with Outlaw Tech/Modder Torguta with starting 4 INT with assistance bonus you look at at least 100 xp spent DEDICATED only towards crafting (so boosting INT, mechanics + taking talents that boost that) to craft good battle armor.

It seems that during that hundreds of hours time for it - PC/PCs could easy take " couple" of jobs and simply buy that battle armor or take it off some enemy, buy attachements, mods, tinker it, jurry rigg it and make better armor 10 times faster than it would take to craft one...

Why every RPG makes crafting so... time and resource consuming. It's almost never worth it over buying items.

I am little dissapointed in crafting system here unless I misunderstood something but it doesn't seem like crafting is worth it...

18 hours ago, micheldebruyn said:

There is more to RPGs than optimised combat builds and maximum effectiveness...

18 hours ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

You craft a less expensive armor first to spend a ton of Advantage on "Lessons Learned" and then you use those Boost when you craft your set of armor.

The benefit of crafting is the ability to make it to your liking and, with good enough rolls, better than the equivalent generic armor, aside from the narrative benefits.

I second what @micheldebruyn said, but if you really are only interested in optimized combat builds and maximum effectiveness, then this particular mechanic isn't really for you until you've got at least 4 Proficiency.

4 hours ago, Kaigen said:

Also, if you're spending XP on INT and Mechanics and talents and they're only being used for crafting, there's something wrong. Intellect powers a lot of useful skills in this system. Mechanics is a skill that can be used for resolving a lot of problems in a technological setting. Even the Inventor talent helps you with modding attachments, which is a much lower investment in terms of time and cost, while also making you better at crafting. The only example of a talent that is dedicated solely to crafting is Creative Design

Crafting might be your character's reason for existing, but the points they invest in it pay dividends in other parts of the game (and if they aren't, then you're not looking hard enough for opportunities to use them or your GM isn't providing them or both).

As the others have said, there is definitely a place for crafting. As @Kaigen pointed out, some characters are specifically built around that concept. Armorers, Artisans, Shiprights, Modders, etc are crafting specialists . while these characters are certainly great as all around mechanics and technicians, it is in crafting where they shine, and the various crafting rules give them the opportunity to do so.