Hello,

This is going to be the first time there will be a PC droid on my group (I mean in EotE).

The player wants to create a Hired Gun - Bodyguard Droid with the following stats.

Brawn 3 Agility 3 Cunning 2 Intelligence 2 Presence 2 Willpower 2

Which costs 180 xp

Well, I am the game master, and it is not that I want to encourage my players to min max their characters, but some how this distribution of stats seems a waste from my point of view. A human will only pay 60xp to have this set of stats. Seems that the Droids have been designed in EotE to be min maxed. Am I wrong?

I would like to hear the experience from both players and GM who have played with a Droid in EotE; which builds did you, which builds would you recomend for a Bodyguard?

Thanks in advance,

Yepes

Yea, I completely agree. They get overall less XP but they can redistribute it in min/maxy ways. I'd maybe try to lower down the attributes that would be less important (like Cunning, Intelligence, maybe Willpower) and throw another point into something else, especially if he takes some bonus obligation. He could easily get to 4 in brawn or agility. Plus, he could really play up that his droid's function is not subtlety/thinking or whatever. I think min/maxing can lend to some really hilarious flaw/strength situations, especially with droids.

While it is ultimately his character, I think you should kindly suggest to him to maybe rethink that, and possibly min/max a little harder just to try it out.

The main problem that folks encounter with building droid PCs is that they're trying to make said PCs "generalists" when it comes to starting Characteristics.

However, if you look at droids in the Star Wars universe, they're all specialists. C-3PO is a protocol droid, and thus is going to have lousy ratings in combat-related Characteristics such as Brawn or Agility. R2-D2 is a tad better, but he's still a little guy and isn't really designed for social interaction (Presence 1, Brawn of 2 at most).

Over at the GSA, I did a Heroes on Demand featuring a PC-playable astormech (3rd degree droid) using the Beta + Update rules on building a 4th degree droid. The little guy is actually pretty impressive, within his realm of expertise . Namely, being an astromech.

For the Characteristics given, the sample droid listed should probably drop Presence to 1 (that right there frees up 20 XP for talents), maybe even Intelligence as well (freeing more XP).

Also remember that as the character advances, Characteristics come to mean less and less as it's cheaper to raise Skills using XP earned via play, as it's easier (and perhaps in the long run, cheaper) to raise a skill to 5 ranks.

To back up Dono's point, if you look at how 41-VEX is built in the Beginner Game, he's definitely spec'd out to be good at what he's meant to be an expert in (and he's quite good at it!), but he definitely lags behind in other areas. And I think it makes sense--a medical droid shouldn't necessarily make a good backup brawler or stealth expert, certainly not right out of the box.

*fingers crossed that as FFG made each of the species a specific build design they actually explain some of it in the core book*

Has anyone actually done a breakdown of each of the species in the beta book and called out the mechanical game design behind each one? If not probably a little late to do it now but could be helpful resource for new players post core book.

Honestly you can do whatever you want, though. I see nothing wrong with making a Wookie Doctor that has 5 intelligence, and that uses Brawl and pressure points to take people out quickly and quietly.

Endrik Tenebris said:

One of the bonus "Shadow of a Black Sun" pre-gens actually is a Wookiee doctor. I don't remember what his Intelligence is, but I do remember he's a pretty good medic while also not being a total slouch in a fist-fight (the guy playing him in the session I played just couldn't roll well enough to connect). And one of his talents was Pressure Points, so he'd certainly be able to do just as you described.

The Droid in my game started with two 4s and four 1s. I explained to him what that meant and he good with being so hyper- specialized. He is really good at the thing he wants to be good at, but his weak spots are are where it gets to be great for the narrative. I would say encourage your player to specialize more.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the input.

Today we start rolling with the droid, I will try to explain the points brought here to the player. I will let you know which is the final form of his Assassin Droid.

Cheers

Yepes

renegadethumper said:

Especially if you have a larger group. The more each player is allowed to shine in particular areas the better. It promotes teamwork and creates drama when any of the PCs have to function out of their comfort zone.