My group is having trouble during character creation, none of us can find where it says how many credits we start with! I've found on the forums that people have said it's 500cr, but I would like to know where people are finding this information at in the book.

The starting credits is given in Table 2-3: Additional Obligation Bonus on page 31, the row for Gear Bonus gives the Default credits as 500.

Mark

The credits are low, because they want a player to increase obligations to get more. Obligations play a significant role in character motivation, as once they reach a point, you can't spend xp to level. The xp is there, it just accumulates, you don't have the time to learn any new skills/talents/etc… (D20 radio, ep 163 around the hour mark), that and fringe characters are not exactly coming from well to do families.

Hope it helps,

$hamrock

Kagesh said:

Thanks! FFG doesn't exactly make it overly obvious do they?

Hopefully it will be more clear in the final cut.

Speaking of starting credits, a few of us over on the D20 Radio Network forum were having a discussion about starting credits.

To be frank, I think 500 is a bit miserly for starting funds, and as written you're pretty much forcing the PCs to take added Obligation just to start out with something more than decent pistol.

I'm thinking the credit values on Table 2-3 should be increased by 500 credits across the board, giving you 1000 credits to start, an added 1000 at the cost of +5 to your Obligation, or an extra 3000 for a +10 to your Obligation. This way, you can get a decent weapon or two, maybe some (very light) armor, and a couple odds and ends.

I think there's plenty of opportunity for the players in increase their Obligations during gameplay without all but forcing them to do so at character creation.

cetiken said:

Hopefully they add another step into the character creation process. They should put Buy Weapons and Gear in there right before choosing a starship.

Actually, maybe the problem is more easily solved not by giving more money, but by redoing the costs? Just saying that might be another solution, admittedly possibly one that takes more work! But agreed that the costs are a bit much even with being an incentive to take more obligation.

Dulahan said:

Oddly enough, the costs of weapons and most armors matches up with the costs from most of the prior editions of SW RPGs, from d6 all the way up to Saga Edition. I agree with the sentiment that maybe the prices on most weapons and armor could be chopped in half; just because they've always been priced that way doesn't mean FFG has to keep up with the trend.

My gut tells me that each career is supposed to have a starting kit, and the 500 credits was pocket money on top of that. I am guessing someone messed up somewhere and that didn't make it into the published book.

Venthrac said:

I'd wondered that myself, but without seeing some official character builds from FFG or getting an update, there's really no way to tell.

Having Starter Kits for each Career would be good as even the 2500 Credits from taking extra Obligation doesn't get you a whole lot. I think this is something that the design team is looking for as feedback.

Mark

Kagesh said:

I dunno. I did a sample character build for the Gaming Security Alliance website, and 3000 credits was plenty to buy a nice set of gear for my Twi'lek Bounty Hunter. Heavy blaster pistol, armor, some grenades, and other bits of gear with some credits left over to boot.

Article can be found here:

gsa.thegamernation.org/2012/08/31/heroes-on-demand-jer-reeta/

Starting kit might be even better put to Starting Specialization. Though again, that might be a lot more work. But it might make more sense, as there can be a big difference between the approach of different groups within a career. Colonist for instance, a Doctor probably would have an entirely different kit than a Politico, or either from a Scholar.