http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=4617

I really can't decide if I like these or not.

I'm a Bounty Hunter, but I want those.

I thought the Explorer Signature Abilities were pretty neat, so I'm certainly intrigued by the Hired Gun options.

The "Last One Standing" sounds like a chance for some really cool scenes, and as noted it takes the player out of the action for a couple rounds (though there might be an upgrade to reduce that time). Having played plenty of 7th Seas with it's Brute Squad rules and being a general fan of Hong Kong martial arts films, the ability to wipe out a bunch of mooks in a flurry of violence does have a certain appeal to it.

"Unmatched Protection" I'd have to actually see the full rules on before making a decision, but I can see it appealing to those players that like the ability to simply be so tough that they can shrug off enemy attacks like they were nothing.

I'm loving it. They sound great for a Hired Gun. Also, I am enjoying these abilities the more I see them. They give a real distinctiveness to your choice of career.

Dual wielding blaster pistols an walking out of the cantina...casually tossing a coin to the bar keep...."sorry bout the mess" ....oh yes.

Last one standing sounds awesome! I think I may pick that up for my bodyguard. Reminds me of the bride vs the crazy 88's if taken for a marauder.

Sadly, no word on if the concussion rifle is in this book.

And an example of last one standing:http://static.fjcdn.com/gifs/Ownage_2f7175_135982.gif

Definitely excited for some new content.

I'm not all that into Hired Guns at this time, but (to be fair) I wasn't into Explorers until archaeologist came along. I can't wait to see if this book changes my attitude.

Im sold! Last One Standing will be great for my Mandalorian character, talk about the great scenes you can get out of that.

"I have an army."

"Do I look like I care?"

Unmatched Protection will be great for my budding Jedi Guardian who started off as a bodyguard! Why isn't this book out yet?!

Im sold! Last One Standing will be great for my Mandalorian character, talk about the great scenes you can get out of that.

"I have an army."

"Do I look like I care?"

Unmatched Protection will be great for my budding Jedi Guardian who started off as a bodyguard! Why isn't this book out yet?!

Heh heh. Sounds awefully familiar.

BBG: "I have an army!"

Group: "We have a Wookie!"

These seem... significantly more impressive than their Explorer counterparts.

I really like them. I also liked the explorer ones however.

Seems a good idea to give battle hardy careers a more combat focussed ability whereas the explorer ones had a more narrative focus (well, one of them did.)

So, on a metagame level, does the Hired Gun's player get to know which opponents are minions before using the ability?

I would hope so. But that may just be our GM answering the cries of "how many feckin' yellow dice?!" that go around the table whenever we run into minions.

The last man standing sounds amusing, but I can't form an opinon without seeing the actual teir tree. I actually don't really like it that much as I could see myself from being prevented from using it unless I set up a situation where I have several groups that I could have probably have killed anyway, but in a shorter length of time. To me, I can see it not working as intended and hence a poor ability for sessions I play in.

On the other hand, it cuts down "boring" combat down, so I don't necessarily have to personallly fight every single minon, but the guy goes nuts and simply deals with a whole load of minons offscene. Encoutners I have played in often draw out for too long due to discussion or cleanup duty, so being able to occationally handwave that (they are dealt with) is useful, if to cut down on boring combat scenes (Marauder deals with it, we can get back to roleplaying and not spend a hour rolling dice).

From personal experience, I would probably treat every group as a minon but your right, it makes certain metagaming assumptions about the people you are facing. Though often in most dynamic scenes it's fairly clear, the guy who is talking is sangificant, the guys who are small bit crews are not. I guess it highlly depends on their sangficance to the scene

The other ability sounds pretty cooler and much more sensical to me. The ability to stride through any scene fightiNg a super heroic last stand. We all scene those clips where that tragic hero takes of otherwise lethal wounds before keeling over as a final geasture, that marial arts scene where he parries all the attacks, reducing damage to himself while keeping pace. It could even be used to describe lightsaber defensive forms given the right context. I really like the second destiny tree and I am hoping it's the easier of the two to obtain.

Naither ability really strikes me as a star wars OT themed ability, but I can see them being used in some context. I just don't like Last Man Standing since I could see that being house ruled to uselessness due to the potencial to completely reverse a scene where the PC's are "meant to be overwhemed and have to retreat dynamically".

No no no...

It's:

I have an army..

We have a houk.

I know it's a bit outside of the topic, but is there any word on what Specializations Dangerous Covenants will offer?

Demolitionist, heavy and enforcer are the specializations.

The Last One Standing sounds goddamned EPIC! And completly appropriate to the genre:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw5RJytOsBA

Man, I cant wait to see the full write up on these.

I have to say I am not a fan of the direction that FFG is giving to character evolution. I don't like this "awesome characters" which I think they are more in line with the Naruto cartoons than with Star Wars.

Yet, it is still a great game, just I will keep it on a more low profile level for PCs (and NPCs).

I have to say I am not a fan of the direction that FFG is giving to character evolution. I don't like this "awesome characters" which I think they are more in line with the Naruto cartoons than with Star Wars.

I hardly think this is a fair representation...

Demolitionist, heavy and enforcer are the specializations.

Oh, that just sounds amazing. Gives me some nice ideas for a Technician/Outlaw Mech Saboteur/Demolitionist...

Maybe off topic, but I want to know what signature abilities will be available for colonist?

The swagger -

The level of swag is so great, that...as long as the character is wearing a hat in a sufficiently jaunty manner, he can do no wrong. He can shoot a merchants wife and still get a good deal...though he may have to make his hat a little more jaunty.

It's been a while -

You know an NPC. Any NPC. GM gives an NPC, you can use this ability to go, "Ah, my old friend, remember when I got you out of prison saved your family and loaned you all that money which you never paid back?" This can have the potential to make people react very well, or allow you to know information you otherwise would not know.

Connected -

You get a gang, or a business or a polotical office that you can exploit for your own benefit.

I have to say I am not a fan of the direction that FFG is giving to character evolution. I don't like this "awesome characters" which I think they are more in line with the Naruto cartoons than with Star Wars.

Yet, it is still a great game, just I will keep it on a more low profile level for PCs (and NPCs).

In fairness, the Hired Gun along with the Bounty hunter are the quintessential combat-oriented careers in EotE. I suspect the signature abilities for the other careers will be quite a bit more subdued.

I have to say I am not a fan of the direction that FFG is giving to character evolution. I don't like this "awesome characters" which I think they are more in line with the Naruto cartoons than with Star Wars.

Yet, it is still a great game, just I will keep it on a more low profile level for PCs (and NPCs).

In fairness, the Hired Gun along with the Bounty hunter are the quintessential combat-oriented careers in EotE. I suspect the signature abilities for the other careers will be quite a bit more subdued.

The ability to clear out any number(?) of minions from an encounter seems rather overpowered to me, but that could be because I make heavy use of minions.