For my first real character, I was thinking of this: a coreworld princess/noble/offspring of a important family is about to get married off to Boring Count Smedley and realizes that she's is about to be trapped in a loveless, joyless existence. So she steals a starship, heads for the outer rim and is going to take up an exciting and daring life of a tramp freighter captain.

The problem is, of course, that she knows nothing about actually BEING a freighter captain beyond what she's seen on the Holos. Her life has been all dinner parties and fancy balls and high society. So we're talking barely knows what end of a blaster points at the enemy real fish-out-of water - or at least until she gets her Smugglers Legs under her and she becomes an awesome pilot.

So, I can make her a Colonist -> Politico and buy the specialization Pilot (and emphasize the Politico skills) or I can start as a Smuggler -> Pilot and buy the Politico specialization (again favoring the Politico skills over the pilot ones). Basically I want a strong start in High Society Skills before moving into the shadier side of the galaxy. What's the most efficient way of getting there?

Definitely start with Colonist. Your career is supposed to represent the core of your character, where they've come from and all that. Based on background, I'd say Colonist fits the bill.

I wouldn't necessarily even buy the Pilot specialization right away. I'd just throw on a rank or two of the Piloting (Space) skill to represent that, okay, she can maybe fly a ship, but certainly isn't going to picking up things like Skilled Jockey or Full Throttle anytime soon.

I completely agree. She is a princess at heart, and even if she eventually picks up some ace piloting skills and such, she'll still have those roots of nobility which will, most likely, prove to make her very effective at traversing certain echelons of the underworld. It is good to be able to talk to people!

I can see you picking Smuggler/Scoundrel first, perhaps dip into Politico also, Pilot later (if at all). Scoundrel and Politico should provide you with the social skills you need, plus something extra.

While it might be considered power focused, and colonist might seem like the best fit, I'm not sure Politico is a good fit for a "princess" whose most traumatic experience is running out of bubbly water or whatever at some dinner party (up until recently that is, with the doom of a boring and joyless marriage looming over her; a life of wealth and excess, how horrible ). As long as you focus skill choices on charm, education (perhaps), deception, perception, discipline and cool ... negotiation perhaps, then you're off to a good start. You'll probably have left overs for other skills, but trying to keep it social and dinner party-esque should be enough.

It depends on what sort of abilities (i.e. talents) you want and think your character is the most likely to start out with, and how long ago this escape happened. Perhaps buying both specialisation at character generation can help you spread out and show this duality between her past, and her present (and most likely future).

I don't think she should start with scoundrel, though. She's not a rogue, when push comes to shove. She's a noble. She might become something of a scoundrel later on, but I don't think it should be her baseline.

Hell, one of the starting story ideas for the Colonist is a noble who either ran away from fortune or was cast down away from it with nothing but his or her expensive clothes on his or her back. Sounds pretty much like a match to me!

True, but that doesn't necessarily make her a politico. I don't know, different philosophies I guess. My players come up with a concept and then find the career that fits the most based on what it offers of skills and talents, my own player whose background is a semi-rich citizen of Coruscant chose Scoundrel, as it fit with his skill set, his demeanour and life. He's not so much of a social or face type, but still his background is from wealth and stuff like that.

I guess it also depends on time frame, how long ago did she escape, how much has happened since then, how old was she when she escaped. These things matter too.

Desslok, I LOVE this character concept. Very inventive.

I agree with the idea of starting her out as a Colonist (Politico), and giving her some ranks in Piloting, but I don't think it's unreasonable to also buy the Pilot Specialization, and prepare to invest in that down the road.

I have to ask though ... is she a DRUISH princess?

I guess it also depends on time frame, how long ago did she escape, how much has happened since then, how old was she when she escaped. These things matter too.

Mind you, I havent thought out the character much beyond the concept up above, but I was thinking she had JUST gotten away from her old life at the start of the game. The first episode is pretty much her touching down in the outer rim (or not much past that). Just long enough for her to get her blaster from the neighborhood gun shop.

I have to ask though ... is she a DRUISH princess?

Perhaps, but she wont look Druish. . . (:

The best thing to do is determine what makes the character what she is at the start of play. Then take the career and specs that best exemplify that. Many fish out of water stories show the character taking things from their past, that you would think were not applicable, and turn them around and apply them in their new ventures. This could mean that you you start the character in colonist/politico taking talents that allow her to talk to people and deal with them, because she is used to winding her way through the intricacies of noble life. Then dip into pilot because while all that was going on, she was learning to fly from the old family pilot (who may have a bit of a smuggler past before he settled into his cuurent job). Or you could start in smuggler/scoundrel with a dip into politico, focusing on face talents, because she was always on the outskirts of nobility, familiar but not always included,but still having to deal with said nobles. Finally deciding to find her fortune in the Rim because of one too many deals gone bad.

There are many paths to reach your destination, just need to determine which best suits you.

Well, even if her experience with the underworld is negligible, would you see Politico or Scoundrel talents as more likely for her to have? What sort of experience does she have? What did she do? Study? Partake in charity events and dinner parties only? Was she a rebel or daddy's/mommy's proper girl learning the tricks of being a politician/noble? Or did she party with friends, and stuff like that? Looking at the talent trees (as afb earlier) perhaps politico is a better fit to start with, then pilot or scoundrel or whatever else after.

I love the idea also, I wish I had players with similar creativity (not that I'm complaining they're bloody amazing sometimes, yet less adventurous it seems, playing it safe ).

I'll throw in more support for scoundrel, with an "It depends" qualification.

Politico can certainly work, and is the obvious go-to choice.

However, depending on the princess's personality, she might have just always been a scoundrel at heart, trapped with the boring and stuffy duties of a noble, where she never really felt at home. Think Arya from A Game of Thrones. She's no politico, she's a rogue from the start and throughout.

One could even make a case for Fringer, if you wanted and she happened to have a natural gift for Astrogation.

The point is, princess is a title, nobility is an accident of parentage. Neither necessarily locks you into a Politico career.

I'll go further out on a limb and suggest that even if you consider her to be more respectable and less rebellious, she may have been bookish and fall more comfortably into the Scholar specialization instead of the Politico.

In any event, I will commend the original poster on recognizing that there's more to a character than their designated party role.

...In any event, I will commend the original poster on recognizing that there's more to a character than their designated party role.

As will I. As a newbie GM, that's high up on my goals to tackle with my newbie players (we're all newbs, and we know it). This isn't simply a tactics game, it's role-playing. I'm slowing building a list of situations that I hope will help impress the roleplaying and immersion aspects of the game on our group of players.

I think starting as Politico makes sense if you really want to represent her history as a member of court, as they get nice skills such as charm, deception, leadership, and some appropriate knowledge skills. You could even go the track for Improved Inspiring Rhetoric to turn her social skills into a useful combat ability (though is is expensive), which certainly seems like it could be thematic. The big question is, how much are you going to take advantage of the specialization? If you plan on raising the key social skills a lot during the game and taking advantage of the talent tree, then being a Politico is great. If not, then don't weigh yourself down with a list of career skills and talents you won't actually advance just for the sake of a nod to your backstory.

In terms of pilot, the big question is: do you want to unlock all those delicious talents on the pilot tree to ultra specialize or just have a really good pilot skill? Picking up a new specialization is expensive, so if a high pilot skill is what you are looking for, you may consider just picking up the Well Rounded talent on the politico tree, which allows you select two new skills as career skills.

Are you a human? That gives you some flexibility, since you can select two non-career skills to start with one rank in. So you can either use that to start out with a rank in pilot, or you could go full circle, start with pilot as your career, and use those bonus skills to start with, say, charm and negotiation as a nod to your courtly past.

From a mechanical standpoint, if you want to represent this concept, your starting characteristics are going to matter more than anything since they form you base dice pool, at least for the first half dozen sessions or so before you rack up enough XP to buy a lot of talents and skill ranks. As a human, I'd reccomend starting with a high presense and agility (3 or 4 in each). With obligation, a non-human can start with a 4 in both agility and presense, which is really fun!

Given the brief description, for me it would depend on a much more thorough explaination of her background.

For instance, Leia was a princess and also a life long member of the rebellion. I believe she could co-pilot a starship and was pretty good with a blaster, but Talent wise, I would put her very invested in Politico probably with some other stuff from Age of Rebellion.

Starfire (yes the Teen Titan) was also a princess, but I definately wouldn't make her a politico. It would also depend on what type of culture she came from. if they were like the people who made the clones (species eludes me) she could be a Doctor. But if they were more primitave in outlook, say like... deeja thoris she could be an assassin or even a marauder.

as they say, the devil is in the details.

I'd say Colonist/Politico to start, and use her Human bonus skills to pick up a rank in one or both of the Piloting skills, and then buy into the Pilot specialization after the game begins to account for her learning the ins and outs of being a freighter pilot.

But that's based solely upon the "snapshot" of the character's background that we've been given. if it weren't for Charm being replaced by Survival for the Explorer, I might suggest Explorer/Fringer as an idea, although again being Human you could spend one of her bonus skill ranks on Charm, since it's a non-career skill for the Explorer and it's existing specializations, and Fringer opens the door for some decent piloting abilities along the way (not as good as Pilot, but then Fringer is a lot less focused).

Well, even if her experience with the underworld is negligible, would you see Politico or Scoundrel talents as more likely for her to have? What sort of experience does she have? What did she do? Study? Partake in charity events and dinner parties only? Was she a rebel or daddy's/mommy's proper girl learning the tricks of being a politician/noble? Or did she party with friends, and stuff like that? Looking at the talent trees (as afb earlier) perhaps politico is a better fit to start with, then pilot or scoundrel or whatever else after.

Well, looking over all three Colonist specializations, it looks like Politico is pretty much in line what I had in mind for her pre-adventuring life. Lots of parties and diplomatic gatherings and the like - and she was a pretty obedient, dutiful child with just an ever so slight wild side. She trained martial arts and enjoyed training under her master and sparring with the other students. I'm beginning to suspect that she's an adrenaline junkie - she just doesn't know it yet.

I love the idea also, I wish I had players with similar creativity (not that I'm complaining they're bloody amazing sometimes, yet less adventurous it seems, playing it safe ).

You'd love some of my other characters then - I've played a Episode 1 era Jedi who was more like a used car salesman or game show host than a custodian of the force (and a real hit with the ladies), and I'm currently playing a terrorist* just before the Battle of Yavin.

* While all rebels are terrorists in the eyes of the Empire, he's an actual terrorist. You know, car bombs, strikes against the Empire where civilian casualties were acceptable if the target was big enough and so on. Oh, and he's a Royal Guard clone from a batch that went wrong - and the empire did all manner of experiments on him to find out why. So yeah he's pretty psychopathic.

Given the brief description, for me it would depend on a much more thorough explaination of her background.

I'm thinking she's a bit more of a harder Leia than a bad girl like Starfire. When I get the write-up finished, I'll post it for you guys.

Okay, here's the first draft of the character. I think all my ducks are in a row and all the numbers jibe. I'm going pure Politico for the moment, and as soon as I get some experiance, pick up the Pilot specialization and start building those skills. But that wont be for a few games into her career.

Agility: 3

Cunning: 2
Deception: 1

Prescence: 3
Charm: 2
Negitation: 1

Brawn: 2
Athletics: 1
Brawl: 1

Willpower: 2

Intellect: 3
Core Worlds: 1
Eductation: 1

Obligations:
Bounty (Family wants her back alive): 15
Blackmale (Someone knows who she is, threatens to sell her out): 10

Talents:
Grit
Toughened

Soak: 3
Wound Threshold: 14
Strain Threshold: 13

Her equipment consists of a blaster, a comlink and heavy clothing

And here's my background 50 questions that I banged out over a couple of lunches. It's kind of long, so feel free to skip it if you want. (:

- The Basics -

01 - What is your full name?

Princess Salina Bymm, Queen of a Thousand Years

02 - List any and all aliases used. (How long in use? Why?)

It's Captain Bymm now, I guess

03 - How old are you?

18 years old - born on Imperial Unification Day, in fact.

04 - Where were you born?

In my ancestral home on the core world of Apess Rosha in the Cheseath Commonwealth

05 - Do you have any relatives and how close are you?

My father is Lord Tarlson Bymm, his wife the lady Chandra Bymm. I have a sister, younger than me by two years named Vexa. I also have an uncle, Admiral Thressa Bymm of the Imperial navy.

06 - Describe your parents, including current status.

My father is Lord President of the Dynastic Union of Apess Rosha. My mother, she putters about being his dutiful wife, organizing his social life and being the beautiful accessory on his arm.

07 - Where are these relatives now?

As far as I know, they're all still back on Apess Rosha - although Vexa (who was always was one to idolize and emulate me) might be looking to make a break away from the family.

08 - What was/is your family's social status (Poor? Well-to-do? Wealthy?)

My family is extremely wealthy and powerful, running amongst the core world elite - and have done so for at least eight generations. My family has extensive holdings - although unfortunately I'm unable to access any of these assets without tipping them off to my location.

- Background -

09 - What is your level of education?

I had a full run through the academy, with top marks I might add. I had just graduated before I had to leave the core worlds.

10 - Where did you study?

I had some of the best tutors and teachers at the Capital City University, plus finishing school at the Rufass School for Young Ladies. Also, I studied martial arts at The School of the Eternal Thunder, under Master Phan - where I achieved third-level with the Sixteen Rivers Submission stance

11 - Do you hold any degrees?

I have a degree in Theoretical Inter-Planar Mathematics - in fact my thesis impressed my professor (high praise indeed).

12 - What jobs, positions, or titles have you held? (When? Where?)

Titles? To list all of my titles would have us here all day.

13 - Did you ever serve in the military?

I did not.

14 - Do you have a criminal record? (Why? Are you still wanted?)

Not a criminal record, but my family has an extreme interest in bringing me back home - so I do have a sizeable bounty on my head (alive only, of course).

15 - Where do you live now?

As of this writing I am about half an hour out from making planetfall on Pandorica, deep in the outer rim. I expect I'll be living off my ship, the Magnificent Stargazer, for the meantime. It's a very pretty ship, although I had to sell off some of the luxuries to get this far in the outer rim. Disposing of the 500 year old Residian brandy was exceptionally painful.

16 - Where did you spend most of your life?

Most of my life was spent on my home world, with occasional excursions to Courscant and other major core world planets like Alderaan or Chandrila. The furthest out in the galaxy I've ever been - until now - was the Wheel.

17 - Name two notable places you've visited

I've been - admittedly very briefly - to the Imperial fortress world of Byss. I was never allowed away from my father's side, so all I ever saw was the spaceport, the turbolift and the diplomatic gardens - but I was indeed on one of the most secure planets of the Empire.

The other notable place for a person of my standing to visit was Down Below on Courscant. A turbolift malfunction sent me and my academy friend Marassia rocketing to the depths of the planet - nearly level 50! As we were wandering around lost, we were approached by Marcus, a grizzled old spacer who lived in the neighborhood. He escorted us back to civilization - but as he did, he regaled us with tales of daring amongst the stars. I have to admit this was the seed of the idea to leave - it opened my eyes to the idea of getting out of my ivory tower.

18 - Are you or have you ever been married or romantically involved? (With who?)

There was one fellow, a friend from when I was small - Barret Janaesson. If left to our own devices, we might have become a couple - but the blossoming romance was cut short by the sudden announcement by my father of an arranged engagement to Count Rosmer na-Mevrain of the Travain Confederacy.

Suddenly I was about to find myself trapped in a loveless, joyless existence with a man three times my age that would have dominated the rest of my life. But it brings peace to the region, my father claimed, that the union will provide stability with the Empire - but . . . but - I knew that entering into this union would have slowly choked the life out of me.

So I did the unthinkable. I defied my parents, took some credits from petty cash, packed a few possessions I couldn't part with and had the valet prepare a family starship and fled. I asked Barret to come, but he was reluctant to drop his comfortable life for an unknown quantity on a whim. Once I get settled and established as a freighter captain, I can persuade him to join me in my exciting and daring life.

19 - Describe a significant event from childhood and/or adolescence.

It's so weird the things that get stuck in our heads from childhood - events that sometimes don't seem important at all, yet we can't forget them. There was one time I can remember vividly - breaking my arm at primary school. I remember the medical droid being as cold as ice. It was so inhuman and detached and as if they deliberately made the droid so frosty. That's not the case - but to a traumatized child, it seemed like it was targeting me.

20 - Describe a significant event from adulthood.

When I was 15, at one of my first official state dinners, I unknowingly used the wrong fork when the salad was served. I was mortified for the rest of the evening at the sheer scandal! I still think back to this most traumatic event of my life with horror.

21 - Did you know or know of other characters prior to beginning this campaign?

Nope - I barely know anyone in the outer rim, let alone them.

22 - How do you describe your lifestyle?

I would describe my old life as a very tough one. The demands placed upon one, the ridged societal structure, the ability to make an enemy with an insignificant word or perceived slight. Your family expects you to behave a certain way, society demands that you behave another way - and heaven help you if you ran out of Treekal Bubble Water at the annual Ladies Spring Gathering! Can you imagine the scandal? You'd never live it down!

My new life? I have no idea - but I can't imagine that it would difficult to get by at all.

23 - Do you have any enemies (who? why?)

There have been a laundry list of people at court I've offended with an insignificant word or perceived slight - they come with the territory. Fortunately they probably won't come out too far in the rim. We're in different worlds now.

There was the one time, in the academy that I had a classmate's boyfriend thrown out for making inappropriate overtures and very friendly advances towards me. Total frame job, I did it so as an in on her clique. It worked and I was accepted into her inner circle of friends, but I imagine that her former boyfriend was put out.

24 - What conflicts might arise due to your past?

I gather that Count na-Mevrain took my refusal to wed very hard and probably wants to an example out of me. I take it that he's a very "Nobody says 'No' to me!" sort of man.

25 - Do you have any friends or contacts? (where are they now?)

My sister, I imagine, is still home - but if precedence holds true, she'll be following in my footsteps soon. Of course there's Barret - who is still back home. Master Phan gave up his temple , realizing that his training was incomplete. Last I heard he was walking the earth, seeking enlightenment. And I wonder if Marcus the old spacer ever got out of Down Below like he said he was going to.

28 - What are your hobbies?

I do try and keep up on my martial arts, even if there's not much call for it in the halls of society, and I found that it translates well into dancing, which I also enjoy. Oh and I sing. I'm terrible at it, and exposure to it could be considered a war crime, but I like it - which is why I'll never do it in public.

29 - What awards and honors have your received?

I already mentioned the third rank in the Sixteen Rivers Submission stance. Beyond that, I graduated top of my class at the academy.

- Personality -

33 - List three physical traits.

Very fit, not overly muscular, but I look pretty good in a swimsuit, I'm quite proud of my long blond hair and I do get plenty of dirty old men (and believe me, there are plenty in the upper crusts of society) leering after my . . . ahem, ample assets.

34 - List three positive (or 'good') mental traits.

Despite being isolated in my ivory tower growing up, I do have sympathy for the lesser privileged - I helped my mother with charity dinners all the time and I contributed to the Imperial Charter for Underprivileged Aliens from my personal allowance all the time.

I'd like to think I'm intelligent - not just smart, but clever savvy. Not streetwise - I'm working on that though. And shockingly, for someone in my position, I'm loyal. Very rarely have I ever thrown anyone under the speeder (either socially or for real).

35 - List three negative (or 'evil') mental traits.

I become easily frustrated with stupidity and stupid people. Really I have no time for individuals like that. And I can be a . . .well, a touch ruthless. It's an artifact of my upbringing. And I guess I'm a perfectionist.

36 - List three social traits.

It depends on how you define social traits, but see myself as a pro Imperial conservative. Mind you, I'm not saying the Empire is perfect - every large government has its flaws - but a unified central government with a strong, singular hand to bring order out of the chaos that engulfed the galaxy was vital if civilization was to survive.

I'm also grateful to Lord Palpatine and the Empire for being forward thinking enough to save us from the Jedi coup. I just don't trust anyone who can change my brain around with a wave of their hand.

Oh and I know not to eat salad with the wrong fork now.

- Outlook on life -

38 - What are your short term goals?

I want to get good enough at starship piloting to get my license. I'm good enough to land and take off, but actual competence eludes me. And then there's everything that goes with it - like figuring out which end of the blaster to point at the bad guys and so on.

39 - What are your long term goals?

See as much of the galaxy as I can, hopefully giving my father enough time to cool off so I can go back and make amends. That or I delay returning long enough for Count na-Mevrain to lose interest and the whole thing becomes academic.

41 - What are your hopes and fears?

My worst fear is exposing weakness, that I'll stumble and make a fool of myself somehow. I guess that's only natural since I'm so far out of my element, but it's still very hard to accept. The flip side is that eventually I'll find a circle of friends that like me for me and not my position - which is why I keep quiet about who I am.

Well, that and the bounty hunters.

43 - Do you have a religion or believe in a mystical energy?

Oh, you mean the order of baby snatching monks who would bend a man's mind to their whim? The ones who plunged the galaxy into civil war after one of their order fanned the flames of the confederation? The ones who have decimated whole worlds in pursuit of their ideological war?

We're better off without them.

44 - What would you like to be doing in 5 years?

Hopefully by then I'll have figured out the mean streets of the Rim. It's all so exciting and new right now!

45 - Were do you see yourself in 10 years?

Perhaps after I get out and see the galaxy for a while, I might go back to my family - but on my terms. First I have to experience all that life has to offer - then we'll talk about returning.

46 - How do you see yourself?

I was a very obedient, dutiful child with just an ever so slight wild side. I always enjoyed training under Master Phan and loved the rush that I would get sparring with other students of the temple.

47 - How do other see you?

The average man-on-the-street probably sees me as a stuck up spoiled child from a life of wealth and excess. That's kind of true - to a point. I'm finding out that I don't know nearly as much as I thought, and I'm getting better.

48 - In a short paragraph tell of your most vivid memory:

I was at a diplomatic reception on Courscant with my father, when I was presented to the Emperor Palpatine. He struck me as a powerful, intimidating man with the most piercing eyes. It was several years ago now, but it was an event I'm not likely to

forget.

Oh, and I did NOT like that Lord Vader fellow. We never talked, but even just being in the same room as he made my teeth itch.