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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JazzEwok" data-source="post: 185382" data-attributes="member: 4546">The RCRB is fantastic, by the way.  But I was confused by the way they implement the new rules for droid characters (which also appeared in Star Wars Gamer 3?).Am I correct in assuming that when I begin play as a droid character, I add prior professional levels to heroic levels (if any) to determine character level?  In other words, if I want to create a Scout from a 21B unit (which has 2 prior Expert levels), I begin as a 3rd-level character with 3000 XP.  If I want to play an R2 unit (which has 4 Expert levels but which cannot begin with heroic class levels), I begin as a 4th-level character with 6000 XP.This seems to be the model that the designers used to generate the sample independent droids on page 347.  This is implied by the way the designers assigned level-dependent ability increases.  The 3PO unit (Diplomat 1/Scout 3) has a Dex +1 above the base, the J9 (Expert 1/Soldier 6/Starship Ace 1) has a Dex +2 above the base, and the 2-1B (Expert 6/Fringer 3/Soldier 3) has a +1 Int / +2 Cha.  These increases are consistent with the level-dependent increases that would occur if the prior professional levels of these droids are factored into their character levels.  Still, there is something confusing here: it is not possible for a droid to raise its physical abilities through level-dependent bonuses (page 361).  A similar problem crops up in the battle droid stats on page 340-341: the higher-level droid with 4 levels of Thug appears to have had a +1 level-dependent bonus added to its Con score.The only problem that I have with the interpretation that a droid begins as an X-level character depending on any previous professional levels is that factory droids do not seem to operate as if their professional levels give them the normal benefits of class levels.  R2 units (4 levels of Expert) have the same number of starting feats as 3PO units (1 level of Expert).  If I decide to play an R2 unit character, does this mean that I do not gain the standard level-dependent benefits of a 4th-level character (+1 ability and 2 bonus feats)?Or perhaps I actually have this all wrong, and droid characters begin play as 1st-level characters, regardless of previous professional levels.  The text does not really make this clear at all.One other thing confuses me: the example describing how to add a heroic class to a droid with previous levels in a professional class states that the droid's Defense suffers the "standard -2 multiclass penalty" (pg. 360).  This seems to be contradicted by a passage on page 281 which states that "A character multiclassing on top of a professional class does not subtract 2 from his Defense bonus."Despite these confusing bits, the RCRB is well worth the wait (and price).</blockquote>

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