One of the ways I get a feel for a system is to fiddle and design custom stuff. I'm a little surprised that (other than a few Jedi homebrews) there doesn't really seem to be any of that going on. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place...

Anyway, I'm probably going to do some custom talent trees, not necessarily because I think the game needs more (I actually think what we've gotten is a very nice range), but because I want to help myself get a better feel for the system.

Although I may try a Jedi homebrew of my own, I want to start with easier stuff, so I plan to start with a) a new specialization for an existing career, followed by b) a new career with three specializations.

For the new career, I'm thinking Pirate, with specs for maybe Swashbuckler, Slaver, and Raider (or something similar), but first I want to focus on the smallest bit, with a spec for an existing career.

In my Saga game (which will eventually convert over into EotE), one of my PCs is a double-fisted gunslinger, so I've noticed that there's no build that favors light weapons. Certainly, you can make an effective character in a number of ways, but the best ranged specs in EotE seem to favor heavy ranged weapons (Mercenary Soldier, Bodyguard, and Assassin).

So, I'd like to start with the Gunslinger (or perhaps Pistolero), a new spec for the Hired Gun career. I'd appreciate any feedback (although remember that part of the reason I'm doing this is for self-education, so I'd rather not hear "Don't bother" -- I would, however, be interested in "Well, here are some current builds that work well for light ranged character...).

Here's my current starting point:

• Career skills are probably Ranged (Light), Cool, Coercion, and Mechanics
• I want a spec that can represent a one-gun, Old West-style pistol duelist (like Gallandro) or well as some two-handed, John Woo mayhem (such as Cad Bane).
• I see the build being most effective at shorter ranges.
• Possibly a branch of the tree accommodates modifications (so, in a certain way, this is to guns what the Gadgeteer is to armor).
• Ranked talents will most likely include Point Blank and Quick Strike.
• For non-ranked, Quick Draw and Spare Clips are pretty much a give.

Anyone interested in offering feedback?

Thanks,

George

Without the skill Cool you just summed up a Bounty Hunter Gadgeteer.

Gadgeteer has tinkerer so you can add a hard point to your weapon that's your baby.They get point blank, and spare clips both are 10 points I'm not mistaken. The armor talents are Armor Master and Armor Master Improved. One adds more soak, which you can use on any armor, the other adds 1 defense if your armor is above 2 soak. So my gadgeteer uses Armored Clothing with jury rigged ranged defense. He's got like 3 ranged defense from that. If you'r going to shoot it out with people you want to survive

The idea of mashing a class together while it sounds cool you're actually quite capable of doing what you just put up there above with gadgeteer/scoundrel. Quick strike, quick draw, 2 guns, coercion, ranged light, mechanic, cool, some good brawling talents if you want to throw your knuckles, better armor and deadly accuracy lets you add your skill ranks to your weapon damage. You'd also have my favorite talent: Intimidation. Nothing says I'm awesome like threatening someone and you have zero purple dice on your roll.

That's just my 2 cents but your idea is fairly close to a character I'm currently working towards. He has almost filled out the left tree into Gadgeteer and I'm probably going to take scoundrel or maybe agitator whenever i get the AoR book. 6 ranks in Intimidate sounds awesome Threaten crowds... maybe even whole planets...

I definitely get that there's a certain similarity to the Gadgeteer and that it IS possible to build a gunslinger character, I still feel that there's no career that lends itself to Ranged (Light) as a combat focus. That's the concept I'm looking to build around. In Star Wars, I would say that most "named" characters favor Ranged (Light), but it seems to me that the mechanics of the game lean more toward stuff that explicitly supports Ranged (Heavy) (which already has a damage and distance advantage).

Although I liked the idea of a gunslinger having the option to fiddle with his own armament, perhaps that should be removed to avoid similarity with the Gadgeteer.

I'm playing a Smuggler: Scoundrel as a Gunslinger (Quick Draw / Quick Strike x 2). You can get Heavy Blaster Pistols up to 11 Damage and 2 Pierce (Blaster actuator module (+2+2) and Superior (+1 / Auto Advantage). you then dual wield said Heavy Blaster Pistols(there are rules for this already {basically works like auto-fire}). If you take this with Outlaw Tech or Gadgeteer as a 2nd Spec, you can Jury Rig and have them always both hit on any Success. Needless to say, it's pretty ridiculous.

You're also going to want Gadgeteer or Mercenary Solder. These let you grab Deadly Accuracy which add your ranks in a single skill to its respective weapon damage. So if you took Gadgeteer and Mercenary Soldier for the pistol side you'd get something like 3 point blanks and 2 deadly accuracy which could be applied to brawl or melee to offset you being a non-brawny gunslinger.

Plus strong arm since grenades are also Ranged Light it would allow you to add ranks to grenade damage if I remember correctly at an extra range increment from Strong Arm on Merc Soldier. I don't have my books with me as I'm at school so I could be wrong on some of this.

So it really depends on what sort of Pistol Bandito you want to make. Is he the leader of a squad of toughs? or is he the man with no name? Gadgeteer seems to give you more toughened and with armor mastery your armored clothing would provide a nifty set of defense dice. Mercenary Soldier however would provide you with side step, which is awesome for defense and a boost to your leadership skill if you want to lead a group of brigands.

Me personally, I'd start with Gadgeteer,add Assassin for 20xp and then add Mercenary Soldier for 30. Gives me 4 ranks in lethal blows, 2 dodge, 1 sidestep, 3 deadly accuracy, 1 quick draw, 1 rank in quick strike, precise aim if you want it to negate defense dice, and 2 ranks in sniper shot to push your blaster range out to extreme from medium for a total of 5? Diff dice. Plus 2 ranks in true aim to give you upgrades, 1 rank in brace for those pesky environmental black dice ala crowds or darkness, and natural marksmen for when you just need to hit the guy.

That guy with the right blasters would be one nasty sucker. Plus later on, when you lay hands on a disruptor pistol, would be a face melter.

You're also going to want Gadgeteer or Mercenary Leader. These let you grab Deadly Accuracy which add your ranks in a single skill to its respective weapon damage. So if you took Gadgeteer and Mercenary Leader for the pistol side you'd get something like 3 point blanks and 2 deadly accuracy which could be applied to brawl or melee to offset you being a non-brawny gunslinger.

Plus strong arm since grenades are also Ranged Light it would allow you to add ranks to grenade damage if I remember correctly at an extra range increment from Strong Arm on Merc Leader. I don't have my books with me as I'm at school so I could be wrong on some of this.

So it really depends on what sort of Pistol Bandito you want to make. Is he the leader of a squad of toughs? or is he the man with no name? Gadgeteer seems to give you more toughened and with armor mastery your armored clothing would provide a nifty set of defense dice. Mercenary Leader however would provide you with side step, which is awesome for defense and a boost to your leadership skill if you want to lead a group of brigands.

Me personally, I'd start with Gadgeteer,add Assassin for 20xp and then add Mercenary Leader for 30. Gives me 4 ranks in lethal blows, 2 dodge, 1 sidestep, 3 deadly accuracy, 1 quick draw, 1 rank in quick strike, precise aim if you want it to negate defense dice, and 2 ranks in sniper shot to push your blaster range out to extreme from medium for a total of 5? Diff dice. Plus 2 ranks in true aim to give you upgrades, 1 rank in brace for those pesky environmental black dice ala crowds or darkness, and natural marksmen for when you just need to hit the guy.

That guy with the right blasters would be one nasty sucker. Plus later on, when you lay hands on a disruptor pistol, would be a face melter.

To clarify, that should be Mercenary Soldier, not Mercenary Leader (which is not an EotE Specialization).

Fixed. Thanks HD.

One of the ways I get a feel for a system is to fiddle and design custom stuff. I'm a little surprised that (other than a few Jedi homebrews) there doesn't really seem to be any of that going on. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place...

For me, I'd like a couple more samples to work from, I'd like to get to know the game better with a couple of GMing sessions under my belt before I tear into things. Right now I'm in a state of "Is this too powerful? Is this too weak?" to be useful putting stats up for others.

One of the ways I get a feel for a system is to fiddle and design custom stuff. I'm a little surprised that (other than a few Jedi homebrews) there doesn't really seem to be any of that going on. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place...

Other than the Jedi homebrew stuff, a lot of the older Saga Edition character concepts can be covered with the existing material that we've already got, such as the Gunslinger (either Smuggler/Scoundrel or Hired Gun/Merc or even Bounty Hunter/Gadgeteer) or the Privateer (Smuggler/Pilot with Assassin as an additional specialization).

Reason Jedi have been getting so much love in terms of homebrew material is that 1) they really are an iconic part of the setting, and 2) there's not really any way to fully replicate a Jedi with the official material. Granted, that second one's not a huge issue for Rebellion Era games that stay faithful to the idea that properly Jedi are about as rare as hen's teeth, but it's an issue for GMs that want to run campaigns using this system in eras where Jedi were far more numerous, such as the KOTOR/SWTOR eras or NJO/Legacy Eras, both of which feature a fairly active Jedi Order that is actively training new Jedi.

Don't get me wrong, I understand exactly why the Jedi are getting so much attention. As I said, though, for ME one of the ways I get a handle on the system is fiddling, so that's what I was hoping to do. Seems I'm in the minority.

I'd also like to point out that although there are certainly a number of solid gunslinger builds, I believe that in most cases you can use the same build more effectively with Ranged (Heavy). Other than the fact that a few specs offer Ranged (Light) as a spec skill, what builds/options are inherently beneficial to Ranged (Light) over other options?

I personally would love to see a Gunslinger type specialization. I envision it being taliored to fit the man with no name. Any progress on stating out that specialization tree?

I'm currently playing a gunslinger to the best of my ability, I've mixed Smuggler/Scoundrel with Gadgeteer and thinking about picking up Assassin to round it out.