Flight of the Resistance (Star Wars)

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Ok so going back and forth between an explorer (fringer) and a Smuggler (pilot). I have basic concepts for each just not sure which to go with and since I have never played the game before little makeing me lean one way or the other. Quick back ground of each so people can give their opinion.

Explorer: Grew up in the back water of the Outer Rim. Family was a bunch of junkers/scavengers on his planet. He always had an obsession with space. However his family always kept him planet bound. But when his mother finally passed he had nothing holding him to the planet. He left and never looked back.

Smuggler: He was always a troubled child. He had been getting himself and his sister in trouble since he could walk. As a teen his parents threw him out. He would have been dead if not for his skill as a pilot. He got involved with the wrong crowd, eventually joining with some pirates. He knew what they did wasn't legal but they always went after corporate traders and people rarely got hurt. That changed when a new leader took over the pirate gang. This new leader began attacking civilians and kidnapping children. The last straw was the capture and spacing of all adults on a colony ship. My character couldn't take it anymore and fled taking his ship with him.

 

[Quickleaf]

Good starts. One question I'd ask both of you is:

How do you see your PC getting involved in finding the Resistance informant SKYLARK? How do you end up in a chase through the rainforests of KABAL? As you whittle down your concepts, I'll help you figure out a good fit.

Human padawan who was there when the Knights of Ren fell to the dark side, but managed to escape thanks to an old Jedi who'd survived order 66. They fled for a short while, but the Knights of Ren pursued them relentlessly until the old Jedi sensed the chase was up. He shoved the padawan into a shadowed nook and faced the Knights is a last stand. The padawan watched, frozen with fear, as the Jedi battled. The old Jedi was fearsome, but outnumbered. He managed to cut down one before succumbing to there numbers. The padawan stayed in that nook for what seemed like days before the Resistance showed up and found the poor boy. He's been with them ever since.

Or

Old Wookie heavy support gunner

His father fought along side Yoda and the clones during the Battle of Kashyyk. His family has always fought against the imperials so joining the rebellion was a natural fit. He's been working with the rebellion ever since he was old enough to hold a heavy repeating blaster.

Either of those concepts could work...my initial thoughts...

The Jedi padawan fits well into the larger story, giving the party a connection to the Knights of Ren which will make exploring the Force and fate of the Jedi more pertinent to your group. Kabal could simply be a hiding place...or your padawan could be investigating the "water spirits" of that planet which are shrouded in a secretive religion...or you could be looking to acquire a nova crystal in the hopes of making your first lightsaber. Depending on who in the party is Force-sensitive (definitely Arsinoë, possibly Kospirian), that could be something that your padawan senses and is drawn to. Also could be a connection to Rex, who accidentally decrypted data relevant to Jedi?

The wookiee gunner would be along way from Kashyyk! There is a lot of history of criminal activity on Kabal, including Spice-dealers, slave-traders, and nova crystal smugglers...so maybe there's a connection there? More broadly, Kabal is a rainforest/ocean world with lots and lots of aliens. I realized that my initial number overestimated the human population (it should be closer to ~60%, not 90%). There are lots of Outer Rim aliens that probably haven't been seen in the movies much & Kabal acts as a sort of rough-and-tumble haven for alien refugees/exiles/outcasts fleeing neighboring sectors that suffered under the Eriadu Authority and Grand Admiral Thrawn post-Battle of Endor. The Resistance (not Rebellion, different era ) is primarily concerned with opposing the First Order, but cleaning up criminal activity is definitely something they aspire to...they just don't have the resources to make it a priority...and sometimes they need to deal with unsavory types since their alliance with the New Republic is tenuous at best. Could be a connection to Kospirian, who is full of remorse of his family's involvement in Spice/slave trade?

Ok so going back and forth between an explorer (fringer) and a Smuggler (pilot). I have basic concepts for each just not sure which to go with and since I have never played the game before little makeing me lean one way or the other. Quick back ground of each so people can give their opinion.

Explorer: Grew up in the back water of the Outer Rim. Family was a bunch of junkers/scavengers on his planet. He always had an obsession with space. However his family always kept him planet bound. But when his mother finally passed he had nothing holding him to the planet. He left and never looked back.

Smuggler: He was always a troubled child. He had been getting himself and his sister in trouble since he could walk. As a teen his parents threw him out. He would have been dead if not for his skill as a pilot. He got involved with the wrong crowd, eventually joining with some pirates. He knew what they did wasn't legal but they always went after corporate traders and people rarely got hurt. That changed when a new leader took over the pirate gang. This new leader began attacking civilians and kidnapping children. The last straw was the capture and spacing of all adults on a colony ship. My character couldn't take it anymore and fled taking his ship with him.

I think you've got a start...

Explorer (fringer): What if you ran with that... What if Kabal is his home and he has never been off-planet before (despite dreaming of it)? Would he be mired in the organized crime that runs rife on Kabal? What if his mother's death (or something else bad befalling his family) is part of the dramatic opening scene that gets him involved in something bigger than himself? How would you feel about being the "local contact" for the party? It might mean being more up on the setting, specifically lore about Kabal. I'm not seeing any connections to the adventure or to the other PCs yet. On the one hand, that does fit this "fresh off the backwater" concept, but I think you could keep that concept while making some more specific connections.

Smuggler (pilot): A lot of bad things still went on after the Galactic Civil War ended. With the New Republic chasing down criminals once "allied" with the Empire, many criminals felt pushed into a corner and became more dangerous / revealed their true colors. At the same time there were Imperial holdouts all over. For example, nearby Kabal there was the Eriadu Authority which was a brutal corporate-ocracy governed by a former Imperial officer turned warlord. Attacking the Eriadu Authority - or similar groups - could be a kind of "robbing from the rich to give to the poor (and yourself)." The obvious PC connection is to Arsinoë who was marooned by pirates. Not seeing an adventure connection for this character yet.

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Good starts. One question I'd ask both of you is:

How do you see your PC getting involved in finding the Resistance informant SKYLARK? How do you end up in a chase through the rainforests of KABAL? As you whittle down your concepts, I'll help you figure out a good fit.

I think you've got a start...

Explorer (fringer): What if you ran with that... What if Kabal is his home and he has never been off-planet before (despite dreaming of it)? Would he be mired in the organized crime that runs rife on Kabal? What if his mother's death (or something else bad befalling his family) is part of the dramatic opening scene that gets him involved in something bigger than himself? How would you feel about being the "local contact" for the party? It might mean being more up on the setting, specifically lore about Kabal. I'm not seeing any connections to the adventure or to the other PCs yet. On the one hand, that does fit this "fresh off the backwater" concept, but I think you could keep that concept while making some more specific connections.

Ok like this now I can get more detailed. Though to throw a wrench in the mix just picked up FaD and looked at the Seeker (Pathfinder) and that could fit this concept as well. And might actually be more in line if I am a native from Kabal.

Question if I pick up a specialization outside my career what skills do I add to the list all that careers skills or only the bonus skills of the specialization?

 

[Quickleaf]

Ok like this now I can get more detailed. Though to throw a wrench in the mix just picked up FaD and looked at the Seeker (Pathfinder) and that could fit this concept as well. And might actually be more in line if I am a native from Kabal.

Question if I pick up a specialization outside my career what skills do I add to the list all that careers skills or only the bonus skills of the specialization?

OK, so you begin with your Career, following the guidelines for the career skill ranks listed there.

Then you select your first Specialization, which must be within your career. You get to choose some starting ranks in skills from that Specialization's skill list as described in the "Seeker Specializations" section.

If you add a 2nd Specialization outside your career, I believe you must purchase skills using XP as normal...the Specialization just gives you an expanded list of skills to choose from now.

Source: See "Character Creation" under "Specializations" (F&D p. 44, AoR p.41, EotE p.35).

[SECTION]Each specialization also includes four additional career skills. These four skills should be marked on the
character sheet as career skills if they are not already marked. During this step of character creation, the player may choose two of the four additional career skills and gain one rank in each (without spending experience).

He may not choose the same skill more than once. However, he may choose to train a skill that was also trained during the career selection step, allowing the character to start with a skill trained to level two.

If the character can choose multiple Specializations at character creation (whether due to some factor of character
creation or because he purchases an additional Specialization with starting experience) he must select one and only one Specialization from which-to choose his two free ranks in two career skills.[/SECTION]

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

OK, so you begin with your Career, following the guidelines for the career skill ranks listed there.

Then you select your first Specialization, which must be within your career. You get to choose some starting ranks in skills from that Specialization's skill list as described in the "Seeker Specializations" section.

If you add a 2nd Specialization outside your career, I believe you must purchase skills using XP as normal...the Specialization just gives you an expanded list of skills to choose from now.

Yeah I understood this part but wanted to see which skills got added as career skills. I reread the section and it looks like the four bonus skills. So I could pick up a new specialization and then buy those skills as career skills. just trying to get the character creation rules down.

 

[Quickleaf]

Yeah I understood this part but wanted to see which skills got added as career skills. I reread the section and it looks like the four bonus skills. So I could pick up a new specialization and then buy those skills as career skills. just trying to get the character creation rules down.

Yeah, it's an obtuse system. The core idea is pretty simple – assemble and roll dice, some results cancel each other out, interpret the results for maximum fun – but there are lots of hidden details in the books that could be better presented. I've been confused several times and had to ask some clarification questions on d20 Radio forums.

Here's an example of creating a Seeker PC with respect to skills...

Seeker (career) gives you 1 rank in 3 of the following of your choice: Knowledge (Xenobiology), Piloting (Planetary), Piloting (Space), Ranged (Heavy), Survival, Viligance.

Pathfinder (1st specialization) gives you 1 rank in 2 of the following of your choice: Medicine, Ranged (Light), Resilience, Survival.

Fringer (2nd specialization outside career, costs 20+10 = 30 XP) gives you no bonus skill ranks. However, you do get Fringer Bonus Career Skills – Astrogation, Coordination, Negotiation, Streetwise – which you can gain ranks in by spending XP. The benefit of making a skill a "career" skill is that the XP cost to buy ranks is less.

[SECTION]The XP cost for skills is 5 times the purchased rank in experience. Each rank must be purchased sequentially. Each rank in a non-career skill costs 5 additional XP.[/SECTION]

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

Source: See "Character Creation" under "Specializations" (F&D p. 44, AoR p.41, EotE p.35).

[SECTION]Each specialization also includes four additional career skills. These four skills should be marked on the
character sheet as career skills if they are not already marked. During this step of character creation, the player may choose two of the four additional career skills and gain one rank in each (without spending experience).

He may not choose the same skill more than once. However, he may choose to train a skill that was also trained during the career selection step, allowing the character to start with a skill trained to level two.

If the character can choose multiple Specializations at character creation (whether due to some factor of character
creation or because he purchases an additional Specialization with starting experience) he must select one and only one Specialization from which-to choose his two free ranks in two career skills.[/SECTION]

If I'm reading this correctly I can choose the two specialization skills from any specialization I purchase during character creation as long as both come from the same specialization? That changes things if I'm reading that correctly. I could go seeker and then pick up fringer or pilot and get the two skills from this as well. This might work, think I'm going to go with the Seeker (Pathfinder and pilot). I'll be a Kabal native human.

 

[Quickleaf]

If I'm reading this correctly I can choose the two specialization skills from any specialization I purchase during character creation as long as both come from the same specialization? That changes things if I'm reading that correctly. I could go seeker and then pick up fringer or pilot and get the two skills from this as well. This might work, think I'm going to go with the Seeker (Pathfinder and pilot). I'll be a Kabal native human.

Yep, that was my read too.

 

[Quickleaf]

A bit more on Kabal's culture...
[MENTION=6801311]KahlessNestor[/MENTION] [MENTION=6788545]xynthoros[/MENTION] [MENTION=14655]Green Karl[/MENTION] [MENTION=6803188]VLAD the Destroyer[/MENTION] [MENTION=6814006]Thateous[/MENTION]
Read if you're in the mood. I'll leave it up to you each to determine how much each of your PCs knows about the planet.

A Culture of Secrets
“Why speak a secret if you could sell it?” Goes an old Kabalian saying. Originally, the obsession with secrets began with initiation into the priesthood, which kept the confidence of “water spirits” whom it was forbidden for other castes to have contact with. Even till this day, the priesthood is surrounded by mystique and closely guard the secrets of what dwells beneath Kabal’s oceans. In time, the Kabalian penchant for keeping secrets merged with the code of silence observed among the criminal element running deep through the culture. More recently, the tug and pull of galactic politics has made Kabalians cautious about who they divulge secrets to…both for their own protection and to maximize their profits. Many old Imperial secrets are floating around the sector, ranging from data caches of the Eriadu Authority or Grand Admiral Thrawn’s conquests to passcodes kept only in the minds of aging alien gangsters.

Den of Scum and Villainy
Kabal lies on the Sharlissian Corridor and the Sanrafsix Corridor, an off-the-beaten-path hyperlane used by Spice-dealers, slave-traders, and nova crystal smugglers. Kabal’s criminals once made a hefty profit trading the Spice mined on the neighboring canyon planet Sevarcos, but the New Republic shut down the Spice mines of Sevarcos. In the months after the Battle of Endor, the New Republic attacked key sources of revenue for the Empire, including the slave camps and spice mines on Sevarcos secretly supported by Imperial agents. Trade in kitonak slaves from Kirdo has been reduced to a trickle of what it once was, but the New Republic lacks resources to shut down the Sanrafsix slave trade entirely; slavery is ingrained in Kabalian culture, making stamping it out a battle for hearts and minds. Finally, the nova crystals produced on Cotellier continue to be used as an informal currency in the Outer Rim, despite the New Republic attempting to outlaw it, and arms-dealers use nova crystals in a volatiles state as ammunition and explosives.

Old Rebel Outpost
During the Galactic Civil War, the Rebellion had a small listening outpost in the rainforests of Kabal where they monitored the illegal activities in the system and spied on the Eriadu Authority created in the wake of Palpatine’s death. The officer in charge of the station, Khiar Doman, disagreed strongly with the New Republic’s aggressive stance fighting the Spice trade, believing it was creating enemies where they could instead make allies. Contact with the station, and even its location, was lost after the Battle of Jakku and end of the war. What befell Khiar Doman and his guerilla fighters remains a mystery to this day.

Rough Haven for Alien Species
Neighboring sectors suffered during the Galactic Civil War, and a whole spectrum of exiles, refugees, and desperate aliens looking to make a new life have made Kabal their home. It’s not an easy life between the corrupt politics, insular locals, and organized crime, but in most cases it is better than what they left behind. While humans are in the majority, collectively alien species account for 40% of Kabal’s population. In addition to the more numerous squib, houk, and krish – who are deeply involved in commerce and crime – are the kitonak slaves, omwati searching for children abducted by Grand Moff Tarkin, and sharlissians with their featureless oblong faces and spindly fingers in every pie. Rarer species unseen in other parts of the galaxy can also be found in the cantinas of Kabal, such as mate-less h’nemthe troubadours, pious tritonites espousing heretical doctrines, and even the last of the icarii believed to have been wiped out by Imperial genocide. Two alien power groups – the criminal Houk Barcad and the Squib Merchandising Consortium – wield a great deal of influence in Kabal’s markets and backalleys.

 

[VLAD the Destroyer]

[MENTION=20323]Quickleaf[/MENTION] So my character was going to be a junker or scrapper but not sure if they have this on Kabal. What would be a equivalent on Kabal?