Character Creation Advice II: droid fighter

By RLogue177, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

I have this vague idea of a character in my head and I'd sure like some input and ideas.

The guy is a droid fighter. He specializes in taking down droids. Like a pest control guy - an exterminator. Maybe he's a bounty hunter known for taking contracts on droids.

Beyond that I'm not entirely sure.

Is he a ranged guy, or a melee guy? Lots of different weapons have the Ion quality or do extra damage against droids.

Obviously, he'd want several ranks of Clanker Killer.

What sort of career or specialization choices would be good? Maybe this depends a lot on the first question - ranged or melee.

What does this guy look like to you?

If you really feel that Clanker Killer is important to your character, you've already narrowed down you choices somewhat.

I wouldn't necessarily bother with Clanker Killer. There are plenty of other talents that increase damage (usually not restricted to droid targets) if that's what you're going for. Even the old standby of Gadgeteer has Point Blank and Deadly Accuracy. Combine that with your favorite version of "Spend DP to Add <<<Characteristic>>> to Damage" and you can do pretty awesome damage pretty early on.

Droid Specialist is the first thing that comes to mind. It has 2 ranks of Design Flaw, allowing you to add 2 Advantage to combat checks against droids and will lead you down to the ...The Harder They Fall signature ability, which grants automatic crits against droids and allows you to ignore up to 2 points of Defense when targeting them.

Then maybe pick up the Ion Pike, which does 10 damage with Pierce 4 (though it has the Inaccurate quality).

If you want lethal, there's the Droid Disruptor from Strongholds of Resistance that has stats like a blaster pistol, but only deals damage to droids and has the Vicious 3 quality.

There's a Secondary Ion Blaster attachment you can slap on a good rifle which gives you a nice non-lethal option.

Then there's the Ionizing Focusing Coils, which increase damage/lower crit against droids. (To get both attachments, you'll need 4 HP)

As always, the Heavy Blaster Rifle is a good anti-anything option. Crafting a ranged weapon would be another option, but it's expensive.

If you want Clanker Killer, ARC Trooper and Clone Trooper each have 2. If you go for the tricked out HRB, your best bet would be Clone Trooper. I'd suggest going for Droid Specialist first, then cross-speccing into Clone Trooper. Clanker Killer is nice and useful, but I'm not sure I'd suggest going out of your way to get it.

Based on the story you laid out, I'd probably take Droid Specialist, then go into Bounty Hunter or Hired Gun. Likely Bounty Hunter.

However, one story option is for this to be a retired clone trooper, doing the job he knows best and taking down droids for a living. That would give nice narrative justification to the Clone Trooper tree.

Depending on how much XP you'd be starting with (let's say Heroic-level), I'd suggest going for Droid Specialist, then cross-speccing into Clone Trooper and putting much of your XP into that, justifying his history. Then go back and fill in Droid Specialist. Alternatively, you could treat the Clone Trooper spec as recovering his training, lost after years of inactivity.

This makes me want to play a Droid Repo man.

He's a droid BH. I'd just make a Gadgeteer. I'd probably just make a Gadgeteer for everything, it's about the best spec there is the game.

Thank you all for the input and ideas. Definitely a better idea is forming here.

In the days of the Clone Wars, a few bounty hunters were commissioned to help train the clone trooper cadets. Notably, there were the Siniteen Bric and the Arconan El-Les, but they weren't the only ones. Dav Wefi, a Mirialan bounty hunter, was brought in to teach the clone troopers how to quickly take down droids.

After the Wars were over and the Republic became the Empire, Dav continued to find work as a "droid specialist." Assassin droids, security droids gone haywire, the occasional left over magnaguard or BX-series, the rare droid uprising...

I'm not making this character for any game in particular. It's more of an exercise in concept and creation. I'll probably make NPC stats for at some point for my own game.

If I were rolling him up as a PC, I think Clone Soldier career (even though he's not a clone at all, he trained them) and ARC Trooper spec. Looks like a good foundation for a bounty hunter type character with nods toward blaster pistol use, the two Clanker Killers, a couple Quick Strikes, a few stealth and movement talents, Tougheneds and Grits.

I'd grab the Droid Specialist spec for the two Design Flaws, Toughened, Grit, Gearhead, and Hidden Storage. The rest of the tree doesn't fit the concept a lot.

The Harder They Fall is a great signature ability. Fits the concept really well, but the GM would have to allow it. (I allow it in my games. Pick the signature ability that fits your concept. It's cool!)

Weapons-wise... blaster pistols, heavy blaster pistols. I only saw three that have the Ion quality: the droid disruptor P-47 pointed out, the IDX-9 Ion Stunner, and the Droid Disabler. None of them are really exciting, but would get the job done for non-lethal work. I suppose a crafted blaster might be fun. For most applications, a basic heavy blaster pistol would be the way to go. For 3 HP, I could put a Droid Targeting System in it. (Would that be mean?) The Ionizing Focusing Crystals attachment would be cool as well.

And droid poppers, of course. I suppose those are the ion grenades detailed in Rise of the Seppies.

Thanks!

Edited by RLogue177