I'm lookng at non-combat character and was wondering what some strong outlets would be to still making myself useful. Right now I'm looking at a Politico but am open to other options.

Politico is a riot. Doctor's a good, useful support character, too.

Though I still think Bounty Hunters and Hired Guns get the best constructed Talent trees for their roles, FFG have done at least a decent job with most of the others (the Techie one's are calling me) - I doubt you'll hate any of them so go with whatever looks the most fun to you.

Explorer feels like an odd one (jack of all trades, master of none), but the Specs in the splatbook interest me.

I have a semi-vision of a character who pretend to be a Jedi/Sith. Holds up his hand when someone shoots at him, and the bolt is deflected by his personal shield, uses Coercion or charm, to get people to believe him, etc.

But...we play in a very unforgiving galaxy (we'll actually be agents of the Emperor) and I'm worried if I can go entirely non-combat.

Sounds more like Deception, really. Politico or Scoundrel is probably best then.

My suggestion for any non-combatant is have something to do in combat even if its just taking ranged (light) 1 and a stun pistol.

There are plenty of options. I'm running a game with six people party members now, only one of whom is combat oriented, with ONE other party member having two ranks in Ranged (light). Mind you everyone has a decent Agility rating so any one of them could do reasonably well in a firefight, but entire sessions have gone by without a single violent confrontation. It all depends on your group's style, but this game has more options available for non-combatants than it does combatants.

Colonist is an all-around amazing career choice. None of its talent trees are particularly combat oriented, but two of them (Politico and Scholar) have Well Rounded, which is a talent that gives you two additional career skills. Thus, you can dabble in combat stuff while still becoming awesome outside of combat.

Doctor is the easiest choice. Everyone loves a healer, but with Stim Application you'll be able to use drugs to make important checks noticeably easier for everyone.

Traders will be just as well-loved as Doctors for all the discounts they give, particularly after they pick up the amazing Master Merchant talent.

Scholars focus on knowledge skills, but they can really become good at anything they put their mind to.

Fingers are great at balancing being a skilled navigator and pilot with being street smart and tough, making them incredibly diverse.

Archaeologists from the Enter the Unknown supplement are a lot of fun because, well, INDIANA JONES. Duh. (Plus they get Well Rounded as well, so that's two free career skills of your choice, allowing you to dabble in combat without focusing on it.)

Mechanic might as well be called "Scotty the Specialization", because you'll be holding the party's ship together just as miraculously as the famous Enterprise engineer.

Outlaw Tech is great for kissing one or two player's ass(es) if you absolutely don't want to do anything combat-based.

And last but not least, Politico is the go-to specialization for social skills and buffing your party reliably and often; it's highly recommended for a lot of characters, and is proving to be a popular ambition at my table.

My suggestion for any non-combatant is have something to do in combat even if its just taking ranged (light) 1 and a stun pistol.

To right. If there is going to be a lot of shooting, you will find the novelty of saying "I hide under the table!" every time a fight starts wears off remarkably quickly.

My suggestion for any non-combatant is have something to do in combat even if its just taking ranged (light) 1 and a stun pistol.

To right. If there is going to be a lot of shooting, you will find the novelty of saying "I hide under the table!" every time a fight starts wears off remarkably quickly.

I don't know. I could mix it up. I hide under a table. I hide under a small table. I hid under a large table. I hide under a coffee table, a picnic table, a card table... the possibilities are endless!

I know that roleplaying games are usually focused on adventure/combat scenario but Edge gives a few option to recreate a few interesting non-combat options like Doctor, Mechanics, Scholars, Politicos... like it!

In my main game my player have about 70 important NPC's. 3/4 of them are non-combat characters and I like the idea that each one can have a character sheet that represents him/her.

I will have to open a massive Google Docs to put the sheets there XD

My favourite non-combat PC to play is always a wacky inventor. Outlaw tech and/or Mechanic. Max out Intellect, with Presence as your dump stat, and you're well on your way to being that strange companion that always says the wrong thing, but everyone is happy to have in the group, because you're so useful.

You can also get very creative in combat, hiding from direct conflict, but causing all sorts of complications using Mechanics or Computers.

I played a dwarf artificer in my last D&D 4E campaign who was basically built just for tinkering. Combat was a blast, because I was always playing in a supporting role, and my DM is amazing, always saying "yes" and trying to figure out the mechanics of some of my more zany requests.

The narrative mechanics (and an open-minded GM) should make a tinkerer character in EOTE a blast to play.

After GMing a couple dozen sessions, it's my observation that you really don't want to be hiding under a table; you really want to be making skill checks, even if your chance of success isn't particularly good. Your goal shouldn't necessarily be taking down the opposition; it should be generating Advantage, so you can buff the guys who are taking down the opposition.

In the movies, even politicians were sometimes seen as combatants (Padme and Leia for a couple of examples). The true non-combatants were C-3PO and R2-D2 and there were plenty of opportunities for them to aid in combat without firing blasters - be it R2 jacking himself into a computer system and messing with doors/ramps/etc or you could go the 3PO route and run/hide in various ways.

Our group has a politico. The player is actually a junior high and college church pastor and so is very good at story telling and public speaking in general, so he really makes the character shine during our sessions. Our fist adventure was GM'd by a novice (first time GMing anything) and he gave the politico a disruptor pistol, which he absolutely loves (Id be a jerk to take it away)...so he does get to drop the occasional baddie with a disruptor bolt...but overall, he is non-combat oriented--the 'Face' of the party--and really does a great job in negotiating with NPCs and charming the party out of bad situations.

We also have a jawa mechanic...he has a light blaster pistol and has ranged (light) trained, but I wouldn't say hes a combat character. He does little damage when he contributes to a battle, but really helps out with mechanics and computers related tasks.