You Don’t Have To Leave Wolfy Behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' Your Companions Level Up With You!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Turjan" data-source="post: 3337138" data-attributes="member: 3477">Heh, too true. The sad thing is that the system has been jury-rigged now for years. I like the Jedi Counseling that tries to save the tech specialist (bolding for emphasis mine):[sblock]Q: My players and I have some problems with the tech specialist class. It has the lowest skill points of any heroic class (tied with the soldier and Jedi guardian), medium base attack progression, only a single bonus feat at 1st level, and no proficiency with modern weapons (such as blaster pistols). On top of that, you're guaranteed never to master more than two tech specialties, and the most attractive one -- mastercrafting -- costs a ton of XP to use! On account of all of this, I've never had a player who wanted to take levels in the tech specialist class, even if their character concept seemed to fit. They'd all prefer to be a scoundrel, a fringer, or even a soldier than portray a "techie" character. Do you have any suggestions to make this class more attractive?A: These are common observations about the tech specialist class. The original intent was to make it a noncombat class (thus the lack of blaster pistol proficiency) that was really good at a handful of technical skills (thus the low skill points). Nevertheless, here are some ways to make the class a little more attractive to players. These variants may be used individually or together:Variant: Tech Specialist Bonus FeatsIn this variant rule, the tech specialist class gets bonus feats at 1st, 6th, 12th, and 18th level, chosen from the following list: Artistic*, Cautious, Cybernetic Surgery*, Dodge, Gearhead, Inventor*, Kit-Bashing*, Low Profile, Sharp-Eyed, Spacer, Starship Dodge, Starship Operation, Surgery, Technical Wizard*, Weapon Group Proficiency (blaster pistols), Zero-G Training. The tech specialist still must meet all prerequisites for the feat to select it. This change allows the tech specialist to be proficient with blaster pistols at 1st level if desired.* Feat found in the Hero's Guide. Variant: Stacking Tech SpecialtiesIn this variant rule, the Tech Specialty ability is changed so that each time the character gets it, he selects one new specialty at +1, and all previous specialties also increase by +1 (to a maximum of +3). Thus, after a character has gained six Tech Specialty abilities, he'll have four at +3, one at +2, and one at +1. This encourages the tech specialist to select his chosen specialties early in his career, but he can still gain competence and even mastery of more than a few different specialties over time.Variant: Cheaper MastercraftingIn this variant, the XP requirement for mastercraft items is reduced to 1/100th of the cost of the item. The Inventor feat from the Hero's Guide reduces this to 1/150th of the cost of the item. This change makes the XP cost of mastercraft items more in line with the equivalent XP cost for making magic items in Dungeons & Dragons.Variant: More Tech Specialist Skill PointsIn this variant, the tech specialist receives (6 + Int modifier) x 4 skill points at 1st level, and 6 + Int modifier skill points at each additional level. The tech specialist class skill list is not changed.[/sblock]I repeat that wonderful sentence: These variants may be used individually or together. This means that the class is still not overpowered if you ramp it up with all four power-ups. Or maybe it is. I have the feeling that nobody of the designers knows or cares.</blockquote>

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