I was thinking about changing droids special abilities in character generation. At the moment, they get 3 extra skills, meaning that they are stronger generalists than most other races. However, it feels to me like this is the absolute opposite of what most droids are: they're Specialists, not Jack-of-all-Trades.

As such, I was thinking of getting rid of the +2 career skills, +1 specialist skills and adding the ability: "Specialist: may raise any one skill from 2 to 3 during character generation"

Is this a fair swap? Should it be 2 skills to 3, or even 1 skill to 4?

Should I include this as an either/or - i.e. player chooses whether to have the 3 extra skills or the 1 higher skill?

They already include a rule for specialisation, they are incapable of getting a higher average stat than any other race. If you increase all stats to 2 ,(same as a human) , they are left with only 75xp. (They also start with 9 skill ranks in career skills ,humans start with 6 skill ranks in career skills and 2 in non career skills, further accentuating the specialisation)

They already include a rule for specialisation, they are incapable of getting a higher average stat than any other race. If you increase all stats to 2 ,(same as a human) , they are left with only 75xp. (They also start with 9 skill ranks in career skills ,humans start with 6 skill ranks in career skills and 2 in non career skills, further accentuating the specialisation)

Sorry, I don't see how that is a rule for specialisation. The maximum starting skill for a droid is 2, same as any other PC, they just have more of them. Whereas in the canon I'd suggest R2D2 and C3P0 are great examples of characters with a smaller number of high skills. The very nature of stats means increasing one of those is making you a generalist, because it improves your ability with every skill governed by that stat.

R2D2 and C3PO are not beginning characters in A New Hope.

R2D2 and C3PO are not beginning characters in A New Hope.

THIS. People on this board keep wanting to be able to build Han Solo, Leia Organa, Lando Calrissian etc. at chargen. Sorry guys, it's just not possible. It's not even really possible to model them with PC rules. They all need a couple ranks of Adversary.

They already include a rule for specialisation, they are incapable of getting a higher average stat than any other race. If you increase all stats to 2 ,(same as a human) , they are left with only 75xp. (They also start with 9 skill ranks in career skills ,humans start with 6 skill ranks in career skills and 2 in non career skills, further accentuating the specialisation)

Sorry, I don't see how that is a rule for specialisation. The maximum starting skill for a droid is 2, same as any other PC, they just have more of them. Whereas in the canon I'd suggest R2D2 and C3P0 are great examples of characters with a smaller number of high skills. The very nature of stats means increasing one of those is making you a generalist, because it improves your ability with every skill governed by that stat.

Starting droid characters are intended to be specialized at the ability level, not the skill level. All that extra starting XP is there so you can do things like have your Astromech Mechanic PC start with a nice high Intelligence while leaving other base abilities at only 1.

So said astromech with no additional Obligation can start with something like Br 2, Pre 1, Int 4, Cun 2, Ag 2, Wil 1, and still have 25 XP left over for stills and talents.

Remember it's a starting character so the game design has to plan for the long term. While it'll take a few ranks in Mechanics to really make the little trashcan a technical boss, even with that base ability of 4 he'll have the foundation needed to get there after 3-500XP.

Yes it does mean that the starting Astromech will be rather good at related skills like Knowledge, or Medicine, but it's not that weird if you think about it. Medicine and Mechanics are kinda similar (analyze symptoms->diagnose problem->apply corrective action) and most Knowledge skills are just about storing, recalling, and logically connecting information (the same thing required for bringing up mechanical plans and resolving unsusal technical issues). But once you get some XP under your belt and really start buying skill ranks and talents in earnest the Astromech will be very specialized.

Despite the intent of the Droid rules, it is possible to make a more rounded Droid. The LE-series pilot/repair Droid in my game started the game with everything at 2 except for an Intellect 3. He's somewhat inefficient compared to a human, but the character is intended to be a wanna-be biological. He tries really hard not to be a one-trick pony like so many other Droids. Of course, one look at his stat line brings a test to the eyes of a min-maxer.

The next time I make a character I intend to make a droid, I've not been that keen on them before but having looked at them more closely I more interested.

My impression is that droids get a rough deal compared to all the other playable races. Does anyone else feel this way?

My impression is that droids get a rough deal compared to all the other playable races. Does anyone else feel this way?

Even if that's true, I still get to play a droid. That's pretty awesome.

Yes it does mean that the starting Astromech will be rather good at related skills like Knowledge, or Medicine, but it's not that weird if you think about it. Medicine and Mechanics are kinda similar (analyze symptoms->diagnose problem->apply corrective action) and most Knowledge skills are just about storing, recalling, and logically connecting information (the same thing required for bringing up mechanical plans and resolving unsusal technical issues). But once you get some XP under your belt and really start buying skill ranks and talents in earnest the Astromech will be very specialized.

Hmm, I'm afraid I disagree entirely. I think it is *completely* weird. R2D2 is an expert at computers and technology. He demonstrates no knowledge skills whatsoever. OK, someone might argue that he's a know-all-genius, it's just that no-one ever asks him, but that's a pretty weak argument.

My point is not that Droids become specialised through experience, but that they start specialised specifically because that's why they are built. The very concept of experience for droids is really only one that applies to PC droids, as alluded to in the EotE rulebook (if I recall correctly).

And in response to a comment about trying to recreate R2D2 or C3P0, that's not my intention at all. I was using them as illustrative examples, being the two droids that we know the most about. If you are saying that it is not valid to do so, then equally Wookies should start with 2 Brawn the same as humans and no Brawl skill, because we've only seen one wookie in the original trilogy and his skill level and stats are different because of he is really experienced (facetious, of course, please don't respond to this statement )

The fact remains that extended the sample outside of R2D2 and C3P0, everything we know about droids in the SWU suggests that they fulfil specialised roles, and have the programming necessary to do so and no more. Int 3, Skill 2 isn't specialised: Int 1, Skill 4 is specialised.

Watch clone wars, there are lots of examples of droids doing some thing other than what they are programmed for.However even still PC droids have transcended there programming. Most droids IMO would have high abilities but not so much when it comes to skills.