I'm considering leaving my Doctor's Intellect at 3 to spread the XP love to other areas. Is this viable, or should I bump it up to 4? That critical wounds table has some scary stuff!

IMHO it's viable. More characteristics at 3 means a more well-rounded, capable character in more situations, and you can always take 2 ranks of Medicine (YYG) which is almost as good as (YGGG). But really it's how you want to play your character. If you want an uber-nerd who is a specialist, then go for Intellect 4.

As for the crit chart, yes some of those are scary, but presumably when starting out it's unlikely you'll have to deal with the worst of them. Your opponents won't necessarily have the talents or weapons to get serious boosts on the crit roll, and they'd still have to roll pretty high. By the time you have to deal with them, you might have invested enough XP to take Dedication and boost your Intellect.

Myself, I really enjoy playing a character with a 4 in something. Especially because that first Dedication talent can boost it up to a 5 I've got a Slicer that started at Intellect 4, and he is crazy good at making all those computers and mechanics checks, and he'd do for a medic's assistant in a pinch. But he's also got a multiphobic personality, as all his learning has made him realize just how fragile and volatile life is. Sometimes his fear paralyzes him.

I suggest you go with what you'd enjoy playing. A more well-rounded character is, as whafrog says, more capable in a wider field of situations.

Just remember, your doctor has stim application if he really needs another characteristic up fast (temporarily). A high intellect will better ensure that you fully leverage that talent.

you can also get the brain implant for a +1 int.

3 is perfectly fine.

Actually I was going to say that if you bumped your medicine skill early and got to stim application then that 3 becomes a 4 quite readily. As well as your other scores getting bumped as needed. This allows you on the fly to switch between a brilliant doc to a bruiser to a ace fighter pilot or what have you depending on what other characteristics you bump to 3. Take some ofthe resolve talents and you will hardly feel a thing or push down the left hand side of the tree to multitask on a triumph

A 3 in Intellect is perfectly viable, especially as that Characteristic will come to mean less and less as your character accumlates XP and begins raising their Medicine skill.

You know what you call a doctor who graduated last in his class?

Doctor.

3 intellect is quite good considering that an average human would have 2's in all stats. I'd spend experience on the doctor tree to be a better doctor.

Do what suits your character. If the character was supposed to be a genius I'd raise it to 4.

I have found that characters that are really balanced tend to be a bit boring... I would actualy appreciate a doctor that has intellect 4 and is underdeveloped in other fields more. Both as a character to play with as well as a team mate this just strikes as a more interesting role.

But then again I like it when a group itself is balanced by the strength of it's parts and not the individual players themselves... There is no right or wrong way to go about it, I guess.

3 Intellect is totally viable if you also go Wookiee and Marauder

Character Sheet: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8Nut-ZSuRHQdTV4eWM1YUdmN0U/edit?usp=sharing

While I see the allure that is 3 in Intellect, I just think that those involved in technical careers seem better served with 4s. Our slicer and mechanic both have 4s in Intellect and it seems to serve them well. Not to mention, that while shopping for a surgeon, I'm sure I would go with the guy that had a 4 in Intellect and 3 Agility, rather than the guy with 3 Intellect and 3 in Agility.

Go go the doctor that graduated with a C average!

While I see the allure that is 3 in Intellect, I just think that those involved in technical careers seem better served with 4s. Our slicer and mechanic both have 4s in Intellect and it seems to serve them well. Not to mention, that while shopping for a surgeon, I'm sure I would go with the guy that had a 4 in Intellect and 3 Agility, rather than the guy with 3 Intellect and 3 in Agility.

Go go the doctor that graduated with a C average!

Oddly enough, the technical fields have less need of a single high Characteristics since almost all of their core trade comes from a single skill that they can push up. The Mechanic is almost all Mechanics, the Slicer is almost all Computers, and the Doctor is almost all Medicine. This means that they can branch into secondary areas more easily than a face (there are several social skills) or a combatant (there are lots of combat skills).

While I see the allure that is 3 in Intellect, I just think that those involved in technical careers seem better served with 4s. Our slicer and mechanic both have 4s in Intellect and it seems to serve them well. Not to mention, that while shopping for a surgeon, I'm sure I would go with the guy that had a 4 in Intellect and 3 Agility, rather than the guy with 3 Intellect and 3 in Agility.

Go go the doctor that graduated with a C average!

Oddly enough, the technical fields have less need of a single high Characteristics since almost all of their core trade comes from a single skill that they can push up. The Mechanic is almost all Mechanics, the Slicer is almost all Computers, and the Doctor is almost all Medicine. This means that they can branch into secondary areas more easily than a face (there are several social skills) or a combatant (there are lots of combat skills).

Yea I'm the "face" of the party with high social skills etc. But that means jack when you roll like crap. The droid with 1s in all social characteristics succeeded where I failed. It was rather amusing failing at charming a working girl for information and the droid walks up and and passes it.

While I see the allure that is 3 in Intellect, I just think that those involved in technical careers seem better served with 4s. Our slicer and mechanic both have 4s in Intellect and it seems to serve them well. Not to mention, that while shopping for a surgeon, I'm sure I would go with the guy that had a 4 in Intellect and 3 Agility, rather than the guy with 3 Intellect and 3 in Agility.

Go go the doctor that graduated with a C average!

Oddly enough, the technical fields have less need of a single high Characteristics since almost all of their core trade comes from a single skill that they can push up. The Mechanic is almost all Mechanics, the Slicer is almost all Computers, and the Doctor is almost all Medicine. This means that they can branch into secondary areas more easily than a face (there are several social skills) or a combatant (there are lots of combat skills).

Our Mechanic and Slicer roll 4 yellows already and are quite happy with the amount of triumphs they generate in a session. That, and considering we do not have a doctor / medic, it's nice to see 4 greens as opposed to 3. The other Intellect skills that they have no ranks in have been handled well with 4 greens too.

While I do see your point, they are quite happy and glad they took 4s.

While I see the allure that is 3 in Intellect, I just think that those involved in technical careers seem better served with 4s. Our slicer and mechanic both have 4s in Intellect and it seems to serve them well. Not to mention, that while shopping for a surgeon, I'm sure I would go with the guy that had a 4 in Intellect and 3 Agility, rather than the guy with 3 Intellect and 3 in Agility.

Go go the doctor that graduated with a C average!

Oddly enough, the technical fields have less need of a single high Characteristics since almost all of their core trade comes from a single skill that they can push up. The Mechanic is almost all Mechanics, the Slicer is almost all Computers, and the Doctor is almost all Medicine. This means that they can branch into secondary areas more easily than a face (there are several social skills) or a combatant (there are lots of combat skills).

Yea I'm the "face" of the party with high social skills etc. But that means jack when you roll like crap. The droid with 1s in all social characteristics succeeded where I failed. It was rather amusing failing at charming a working girl for information and the droid walks up and and passes it.

Sometimes those working girls just need a little mechanical assistance when your charm alone won't suffice...

For a 3 intellect doctor, I think we even have the perfect SW character model.

For those playing TOR, see Jedi Knight companion, "Doc."

The guys a slacker ladies-man who dabbles in the black market medicine world.

I mean geared in all set bonus'ed 72's, he's a better doctor than nearly anyone in the entire galaxy, but you get the point with his personality.

Go for the 3, I say.

While I see the allure that is 3 in Intellect, I just think that those involved in technical careers seem better served with 4s. Our slicer and mechanic both have 4s in Intellect and it seems to serve them well. Not to mention, that while shopping for a surgeon, I'm sure I would go with the guy that had a 4 in Intellect and 3 Agility, rather than the guy with 3 Intellect and 3 in Agility.

Go go the doctor that graduated with a C average!

Oddly enough, the technical fields have less need of a single high Characteristics since almost all of their core trade comes from a single skill that they can push up. The Mechanic is almost all Mechanics, the Slicer is almost all Computers, and the Doctor is almost all Medicine. This means that they can branch into secondary areas more easily than a face (there are several social skills) or a combatant (there are lots of combat skills).

Our Mechanic and Slicer roll 4 yellows already and are quite happy with the amount of triumphs they generate in a session. That, and considering we do not have a doctor / medic, it's nice to see 4 greens as opposed to 3. The other Intellect skills that they have no ranks in have been handled well with 4 greens too.

While I do see your point, they are quite happy and glad they took 4s.

Sure, high Characteristics are better than lower ones. I'm not arguing against that. I'm saying that the 'technical' characters can be good at their key skill (since most are based on a single skill) even with a average linked Characteristic and then put the points into another Characteristic to be good at a number of things beyond Intellect.

While I see the allure that is 3 in Intellect, I just think that those involved in technical careers seem better served with 4s. Our slicer and mechanic both have 4s in Intellect and it seems to serve them well. Not to mention, that while shopping for a surgeon, I'm sure I would go with the guy that had a 4 in Intellect and 3 Agility, rather than the guy with 3 Intellect and 3 in Agility.

Go go the doctor that graduated with a C average!

Oddly enough, the technical fields have less need of a single high Characteristics since almost all of their core trade comes from a single skill that they can push up. The Mechanic is almost all Mechanics, the Slicer is almost all Computers, and the Doctor is almost all Medicine. This means that they can branch into secondary areas more easily than a face (there are several social skills) or a combatant (there are lots of combat skills).

Our Mechanic and Slicer roll 4 yellows already and are quite happy with the amount of triumphs they generate in a session. That, and considering we do not have a doctor / medic, it's nice to see 4 greens as opposed to 3. The other Intellect skills that they have no ranks in have been handled well with 4 greens too.

While I do see your point, they are quite happy and glad they took 4s.

I'm playing a Mechanic in my group. I chose to start with 3 Intellect and I am actually very happy I made that choice. I started with 2 ranks in Mechanics as well. I feel like if I had put 4 into Intellect, I would have been stuck as a one-trick pony and been really disappointed with my character. So not only do I think putting a 3 in intellect is viable, but it can much more enjoyable for someone who doesn't want to be pigeon holed.

Also, our Doc has 3 intellect and none of us have felt that he is lacking.

I think for now, I'm leaning towards 4 Intellect and 3 Agility, but that might change depending on how the rest of the gaming group builds their characters. For a while, I considered a 3 Intellect, 3 Agility, 3 Willpower build, but this doc has the Addiction Obligation, so a lower Willpower made sense. Regardless, thanks for the input, everyone! You've definitely given me a lot to think about. I also really like how flexible this system is!

Sometimes those working girls just need a little mechanical assistance when your charm alone won't suffice...

There is no possible response better than this one.