Hi, just got my Beta copy of the game, and spending time building characters with/for our group. Wanted to make sure we did this right.

Our idea was to create a group of force-sensitive characters who are being hunted (all start with a Bounty Obligation). Since we have 6 players, they all start with a base Obligation of 5 according to what I read. One player suggests that he be allowed to start with 10 (allowing him to buy 10 more for Resources, since he wants maximum resources… this seems fair to me, but I don't know the game yet. I've said "Yes", since this is the only way he can start with maximum resources.

I've obligated no character to take Exile Force User, but am allowing them to do so. Here are the character concepts so far.

The Obligation 10/20 character is playing a Mercenary Soldier who killed an Emperor's Hand 2 months ago. On the Emperor's corpse was a list of "targets" who were to be terminated for being Force Sensitive. None of the targets are even aware that they are Force Sensitive at the time (well… one was, but the rest aren't). The Soldier decided to find these targets and try to figure out what they have in common that the Emperor wants them dead for, that, and hopefully together, they can increase their chances of survival. He's gotten a ship (10 of his 20 Obligation are Debt), and together, they're trying to avoid the law while surviving.

The second character is an Assassin who enjoys pitting his skill against others in one-on-one combat. When he discovered that there was a bounty on his head, it was his contacts that helped get the ship for the Soldier.

Next up is a teenager who is also the most Force Sensitive of the bunch. He's the only one aware of the fact that there even is a "Force", and he does his best to hide the fact that he can do things people aren't suppose to be able to do. He works as the Mechanic on the ship and tries to stay out of the path of anyone else on the ship.

Next up is a Droid (not Force-Sensitive of course, and the only non-human), who acts as the Slicer of the group. It came with the ship, and seems to have an emotional attachment to the ship not unlike that of a boyfriend/girlfriend…

After that is a Force Sensitive Pilot who is unaware that he has Sense Powers. He has an uncanny sensitivity to Astrogation, and is happy to be doing something other than hunting down womp rats…

Lastly there is a very Charismatic Politico who acts as the "Face" of the crew. Worked as a mediator on the Outer Rim in a desolate corner of the galaxy, and now puts his skills to use aquiring things the crew needs.

Human Mercenary Soldier : Obligation 20 (10 Bounty, 10 Debt for Resources)
All Stats are 2.
Skills: Athletics 2, Discipline 1, Brawl 2, Ranged (Light) 2, Leadership 1, Gunnery 2, Pilot (Space) 2, Knowledge (Outer Rim) 2.
Talents: Command, Confident, Second Wind x2, Point Blank x2, Toughened.
Gear: Armoured Clothing, Heavy Blaster Pistol with Filed Front Sight and 2 Spare Energy Packs, General Purpose Scanner, ElectroBinoculars, CommLink, DataPad, Glow Rod, Thermal Cloak, 3x Stim Patch

Human Assassin: Obligation 10 (10 Bounty) +5 for Resources)
All Stats are 2.
Skills: Athletics 2, Coordination 2, Stealth 2, Brawl 2, Ranged (Light) 2, Pilot (Space) 1, Perception 1, Survellance 1.
Talents: Stalker, Dodge, Grit, Lethal Blows, Precise Aim, Jump Up, Quick Strike, Quick Draw.
Gear: CommLink, DataPad, Padded Armour, Heavy Blaster Pistol with Filed Front Sight, Brass Knuckles, 2x Stun Grenades, Bola.

Human Mechanic (Force Exile): Obligation 10 (+5 XP)
All Stats are 2.
Skills: Computers, Coordination, Mechanics, Perception, Pilot, Ranged (Light), Skullduggery, Stealth. (All 1)
Talents: Uncanny Senses x2, Convincing Demeanor, Sense Danger, Street Smarts, Force Rating, Move Basic Power.
Gear: Toolkit, Utility Belt, Emergency Repair Kit, Data Pad, CommLink.

Android Slicer: Obligation 5
Brawn 1, Agility 2, Intellect 3, Cunning 2, Willpower 1, Presence 1.
Skills: Astrogation, Computers, Mechanics, Perception, Pilot (Planet), Coordination, Surveillance, Knowledge (Education), Knowledge (Underworld): at rating 2.
Talents: Enduring, Technical Aptitude, Bypass Security, Codebreaker, Defense Slicing.
Gear: Slicer Gear

Human Politico: Obligation 5
All Stats 2 except Presence of 3.
Skills: Charm 2, Deceit 2, Leadership 2, Negotiations 2, Vigilance 2, Ranged (Light) 2, Knowledge (Education) 1, Coerce 1.
Talents: Kill with Kindness 2, Plausable Deniability 2, Grit.
Gear: Light Blaster Pistol, Commlink, DataPad.

Human Pilot: Obligation 10 (+5 Resources)
All Stats 2.
Skills: Perception 2, Coordination 1, Pilot (Space) 2, Vigilance 2, Astrogation 2, Pilot (Planet) 2, Stealth 2, Ranged (Light) 2.
Talents: Galaxy Mapper x2, Uncanny Senses, Sense Force Power.
Gear: Padded Armour, Heavy Blaster Pistol with 2 Batteries, Commlink, Datapad, Scanner Goggles.

Hope that's readable… I've gone over the numbers, it all "looks" right to me, hopefully didn't miss anything from the Errata/Changes. Anyone see any glaring mistakes? (Would have been nice to have had an example of character creation to check against…)

BTW, is it just me, or is the seemingly "smart" (minmaxxed) way to make a character in this game, to put ALL your initial XP into your Attributes? We went through trying to figure out just how to raise Characteristics, and noticed that the only way is to take multiple specializations and keep buying towards the +1 Dedicated in all of them… seems an awful expensive and non-thematic way for someone to improve them…

Gryphynx said:

No, it isn't smart to do that as Characteristics don't play as big of a role in this game as they do in certain others (D&D, Pathfinder, etc…). Having a skill of 1 and a Characteristic of 4 gets you the exact same dice pool as having a skill of 4 and a Characteristic of 1 and it costs less to get skills up. You're better off broadening a characters skillset and getting Talents instead of using all that XP to raise Characteristics.

Kallabecca said:

To me, it's kinda 6 of 1, half a dozen of the other. A character who has all their starting XP put into characteristics is like someone who has a lot of natural talent, but not a lot of specialized knowledge. On the other hand, a character who has some talents or what-have-you is going to be a little wiser, maybe more "experienced."

Sometimes, it's nice to have that fistfull of dice, and having a high characteristic (5) is the only way to do that with a starting character. Plus, the game designers seem to have gone out of their way to encourage players to dump all their starting XP into characteristics. You can't improve them after character creation except for the Dedication talents, your Wound and Strain thresholds don't improve with your characteristics after character creation, and then there's the fact that their pregenrated characters for the Beginner Game seem to have a lot of XP devoted to characteristics!

All that to say, there's nothing wrong with that approach. I don't think there's anything wrong with a more "balanced" approach either, if you want to call it that; I've created and played both types of characters and had just as much fun wtih both. This game is seriously a fantastic roleplaying game, and so as long as you roleplay your character, you can let the dice fall where they may and just bask in the cinematic glory of it all.

Kallabecca said:

But… isn't 4/4 (the end result of Ability/Characteristic) or 5/5 (also a potential end result) much better than 4/2 or 5/2? On round one of char-gen, you saw the results (though there were a lot of mistakes which I'm just now noticing, like paying 10XP to be an Exile Force User instead of 20). On round 2, characters turned in spent almost all their points on Characteristics this time around, now that they have a feel for the system. Admittedly, not all characters turned in yet, but those that are seem to have noticed that it's much better to spend initial XP on Characteristics (my group is keen on character optimization).

After all, with 15XP being the average per game, it's not going to take long at all to spend those same number of points on other things, and as you said, in the beginning, one is as powerful as the other, but later on, one seems much more powerful than the other. As a matter of fact, the "super brawler" type starting with a 4 or 5 Brawn, can have 4/4 in just 3 sessions, or 5/5 in just 4.

Not that I'm suggesting everyone minmax/optimize their characters as such, just commenting that allowing XP to be spend on Characteristics only at Char Gen, might be a flaw in the system if the developers are looking to build a system that is efficient and balanced. Not sure the best solution…

Gryphynx said:

Small problem. Getting to 5 is expensive -

• for a human or non-droid in : 30+40+50 = 120 points
• for a non-human in weak attribute, or a droid in any: 20+30+40+50 = 140 points
• for a non-human in strong attribute: 40+50 = 90 points

A pair of 4's is much better than a single 5. For a human, that's 140 points, and not doable. for a non human, as long as one is the favored, it's 110 points (40+30+40), 120 if the second 4 is in their low stat, doable for many but not all. (90 point races can't get two 4's, as they can only get to 115 points from extra ob.)

aramis said:

Yeah, but what's that got to do with how optimized it is to spend all your points in getting those 2 4's (since people going for optimization are quite unlikely to be picking a race that has an optimized stat at a 1…)?

And while a human may not get to 4/4, getting a single 4, for that Politico with his Presence, that Assassin Martial Artist with his Brawn, or that gun slinging/pilot with his Agility, is still awesome, and fueled by a 3 in a secondary stat, or alternately… a 5 in that primary (120 points) is just as awesome, not only because you start with 5 dice in skills you want to be good at, but because 60 or 70 xp later, you're using all 5 Proficiency dice.

It's easy to build a solid character on a single attribute. Especially since everyone else is apparently tapping on just 2's in Characteristics anyways, and that's still your lowest stat (as a Human).

Gryphynx said:

Yes, the min-maxer method is buy up all the attributes you can afford. Since there's no in-play distinction between Skill 2 stat 5, and skill 5 stat 2 except which can be raised in play, min-max is to buy up ow what you can't buy later - the attribute.

Further, since the best you can get at start in skills is 2 ranks each, if you want more than two yellow ever, you need the increased attribute. Also note that dedication is really expensive - campaign level expensive.