Table Top RPG noob desperate for character advice

[Mychal'el 83]

3 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

 

Edited June 24, 2017 by Mychal'el

[Mychal'el 83]

3 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

You could go plain human, lose a point of wounds, gain a 4th skill starting  at 3 (brawn agility cunning and willpower) which means you gained a point of strain which is harder to come by than wounds.  You also get 2 ranks in non career skill.  Since your starting ataru striker it can'take be lightsaber but one could be ranged light or whatever else.

As I said before, I'm picking Mandalorian for the name only, I would've re-skinned Human or Sathari stats but I don't want my character to get banned so...

[Atticus Havelock 64]

It's not that I'm opposed to the Diathim idea, per se.  More that I don't know all that much about them and home brewing game mechanics isn't really my strong suit.  I latched onto the idea of a Mandalorian Saber Guard Vader clone.  I thought that was pretty cool.

[EliasWindrider 2,714]

4 hours ago, Mychal'el said:

As I said before, I'm picking Mandalorian for the name only, I would've re-skinned Human or Sathari stats but I don't want my character to get banned so...

Mandalorians are human, I think even Tramp would allow a baseline human to be called a Mandalorian human especially when the character was just raised by Mandalorians instead of being a biological Mandalorian.

[Mychal'el 83]

6 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

Mandalorians are human, I think even Tramp would allow a baseline human to be called a Mandalorian human especially when the character was just raised by Mandalorians instead of being a biological Mandalorian.

In legends continuity Mandalorians are a culture made up of many different species. Anyone who bested them in battle was respected and offered a place among them. Plus as world conquerors they would've no doubt created many orphans, and they are an adoption heavy culture, so they probably would have had many different species represented. Humans were actually not the original Mandalorians, they assimilated into their culture. Basically any playable species that can wear Mandalorian armor should be able to put "Mandalorian" in their backstory if they wanted.

However, FFG made them a playable race. So even though Elias's logic is sound, now that Mandalorians are in the official rules, I doubt rule-nazis will allow much leniency. But in my opinion, the FFG system is an imperfect one that tries to translate Star Wars into an RPG. I appreciate that the rules are there to help facilitate a gaming experience, but some people could care less about the theme and are just obsessed with the mechanics. 

But as a huge Mandalorian fan, I just can't not have it as my race.

Edited June 24, 2017 by Mychal'el

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

One thing you should consider as well with having a fighter, which, in principle I have no problem with, is that the patry will be "stationed" on a modified YZ-900 Medium freighter, my character's ship, the Jedi Star, which was modified as a mobile Jedi training facility and does not have a hanger. Therefore, docking and going to and from you fighter to my ship to interact with the others could be tricky. It's not a deal breaker though, just something to consider. Having another capable pilot is always a benefit. 

[Mychal'el 83]

9 hours ago, Atticus Havelock said:

It's not that I'm opposed to the Diathim idea, per se.  More that I don't know all that much about them and home brewing game mechanics isn't really my strong suit.  I latched onto the idea of a Mandalorian Saber Guard Vader clone.  I thought that was pretty cool.

And I very much like your take on it. I think it is cool too obviously. I'm very appreciative of your thoughts.

The Diathim are one of the several species in Star Wars that fall into the Space-Elves trope. If they were a playable race I would totally choose Diathim, and then just have him be raised by Mandalorian Warriors, and then wear Mandalorian armor.

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

Another point about the fighter, if you still want one. Instead of an Aethersprite, which is seriously obsolete by the time of TFA (and was not a Mandalorian ship anyway), I'd recommend the Mandalorian Protectorate Starfighter, AKA the Fang Fighter from No Disintegrations. You still need to either change the career listed on your sheet or take a Warrior spec for a first spec. Your first specialization must match your chosen career. I agree with Atticus, that Seeker Ataru Striker would be a good fit. We could use a Seeker in the party. 

Edited June 24, 2017 by Tramp Graphics

[Mychal'el 83]

10 hours ago, Atticus Havelock said:

It's not that I'm opposed to the Diathim idea, per se.  More that I don't know all that much about them and home brewing game mechanics isn't really my strong suit.  I latched onto the idea of a Mandalorian Saber Guard Vader clone.  I thought that was pretty cool.

And I very much like your take on it. I think it is cool too obviously. I'm very appreciative of your thoughts.

The Diathim are one of the several species in Star Wars that fall into the Space-Elves trope. If they were a playable race I would totally choose Diathim instead, and then just have him be raised by Mandalorian Warriors, and then have  wear Mandalorian armor.

But I'm not super keen on home brewing game mechanics either, because I'd like to be able to join anybody's game and still be accepted.

So if I can play a fully armored, lightsaber focused grey Jedi, that can close the distance as quickly as possible (freerunning, jumping, or flying) , and possibly engaging multiple enemies at once that would be ideal.

Hopefully the Ataru/ Assassin build can make that happen

[Mychal'el 83]

10 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

One thing you should consider as well with having a fighter, which, in principle I have no problem with, is that the patry will be "stationed" on a modified YZ-900 Medium freighter, my character's ship, the Jedi Star, which was modified as a mobile Jedi training facility and does not have a hanger. Therefore, docking and going to and from you fighter to my ship to interact with the others could be tricky. It's not a deal breaker though, just something to consider. Having another capable pilot is always a benefit. 

The Delta-7b is super small and could probably fit in a cargo hold. Didn't an Eta-2 fit inside the Rigger-class light freighter in The Clone Wars?

My Delta-7b would be retrofitted with Mandal Motors aftermarket tech much like Slave 1 was. The Delta-7b was newer than the Firespray and both were made by Kuat Systems Engineering. 

The Millennium Falcon was a hunk-of-junk during A New Hope and was still going strong in The Force Awakens.

Plus it might be nice to split up in a dogfight.

Edited June 25, 2017 by Mychal'el

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

Nope. It won't fit. I don't have hatches large enough for even a small fighter, and the upper deck averages only 2.5 meters in height; the highest point being the central ridge at maybe 3.5 meters . I might be able to fit a speeder bike, a smash one at that, and even that would be tough given the width of the cargo lifts. Not only that but a good percentage of the hold has been converted into a workshop, dojo, and library. This is the ship the party will be using as our "base".

 

now, looking over you sheet, add your Brawn to your wound threshold and your Willpower to your Strain threshold. This is why I suggested putting a 3 in Willpower. Next, pick three skills from the Seeker career skills list then two from the Ataru Striker list and take one free rank in each up to a max of 2. Your choices from Seeker are: Knowledge (Xenology),Piloting (planetary), Piloting (space), Ranged (heavy), Survival, Vigilance. Your choices form Ataru Striker are Athletics,Coordination, Lightsaber, Perception. 

Edited June 25, 2017 by Tramp Graphics

[Mychal'el 83]

4 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Nope. It won't fit. I don't have hatches large enough for even a small fighter, and the upper deck averages only 2.5 meters in height; the highest point being the central ridge at maybe 3.5 meters . I might be able to fit a speeder bike, a smash one at that, and even that would be tough given the width of the cargo lifts. Not only that but a good percentage of the hold has been converted into a workshop, dojo, and library. This is the ship the party will be using as our "base".

So could my fighter be docked to your freighter until need two ships, or should I just rent a hanger in a starport somewhere?

[Mychal'el 83]

On 6/23/2017 at 9:08 PM, Atticus Havelock said:

Seeker Ataru Striker scratches several itches for you.  It does lightsaber combat very well.  It has access to the Saber Throw talent.  It gives you the piloting skills you wanted.  It's got Perception!  And Ranged (Heavy) for when you need to engage from a distance or avoid drawing attention with the lightsaber.  Lastly, it synergizes very nicely with the second specialization I've selected.

The second specialization addresses two other aspects of your concept; keywords "bounty hunter" and "sneaky."  So I'm going with Assassin.  This specialization will give you additional ranks of Dodge and Quick Strike.  Jump Up and Quick Draw are duplicated in Ataru Striker and so you'll be able to move into the third row cheaper.  You get access to Melee, which can be used in conjunction with several Ataru Striker talents.  Likewise, several of the Assassin talents can be used with Lightsaber.  Your Ranged (Heavy) combat improves too.  You also get access to Stealth and the Stalker talent, which works well with your Coordination skill from Ataru Striker.  And you get Skulduggery, great for espionage and sabotage.

For abilities go with Strength, Agility, and Cunning at 3.  Those abilities cover a wide array of skills useful to your concept; Athletics, Melee, Coordination, Lightsaber, Piloting, Ranged (Heavy), Stealth, Perception, and Skulduggery.  Thanks to Mandalorian, you'll start with a wound threshold of 14.  And your free rank in a combat skill can bump up your starting Lightsaber to 2.

It seems like my character definitely fits into the Seeker/Ataru Striker role first and foremost. What are the Seeker's signature abilities? The only signature abilities from Force & Destiny that I can find are for the Guardian.

The Assassin talent tree looks like it might fit well for my character's movement and combat style however I'm not glued to the idea of stealth if it means giving up Armor.

I really would like some of the Armorer and Gadgeteer talents, namely Armor Master, Tinkerer, Jury Rigged, and Inventor. Also, Racer has the freerunning talent which I love plus other piloting perks.

I'm curious what the most efficient way of getting some of these other talents would be.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Mychal'el

[EliasWindrider 2,714]

1 hour ago, Mychal'el said:

It seems like my character definitely fits into the Seeker/Ataru Striker role first and foremost. What are the Seeker's signature abilities? The only signature abilities from Force & Destiny that I can find are for the Guardian.

The Assassin talent tree looks like it might fit well for my character's movement and combat style however I'm not glued to the idea of stealth if it means giving up Armor.

I really would like some of the Armorer and Gadgeteer talents, namely Armor Master, Tinkerer, Jury Rigged, and Inventor. Also, Racer has the freerunning talent which I love plus other piloting perks.

I'm curious what the most efficient way of getting some of these other talents would be.

Gadgeteer has deadly accuracy which can get you up to +5 damage on say a lightsaber, but since ataru striker only provides 1 force rating (from the seeker career) I would choose armored over it if you really wanted to invest in armor. 

Also take a look at force sensitive emergent (universal spec from aor), it can git you a bit of the stealth and toughness your looking for, a dedication and a force rating.

I'm not sure about this next bit, but I think that sharpshooter (aor soldier) is the only specialization with the "quick fix" talent which once per game session will let you use agility in place of another attribute for any skill check as long as you can come up with a semi plausible explanation.  Sharpshooter also has 2 ranks of deadly accuracy so you can apply it to 2 skills.  And it helps to be able to use a pistol well when you don't want to reveal that you are a Jedi by using a lightsaber.

[Mychal'el 83]

2 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

And it helps to be able to use a pistol well when you don't want to reveal that you are a Jedi by using a lightsaber.

I wouldn't mind him having an E-33 Carbine for long range I guess. But I'd rather him run, jump, or fly over super fast and engage with lightsabers or swords.

I wouldn't call my Character a Jedi per se, but if he needs to use his lightsabers, then anyone he uses them on won't be able to tell anybody anything anymore.

I think Vader and Ponda Baba would agree with me when I say, being disarmed by a lightsaber is worse than death. And I bet Count Dooku really regretted using the disarming technique.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Mychal'el

[Mychal'el 83]

7 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

Also take a look at force sensitive emergent (universal spec from aor), it can git you a bit of the stealth and toughness your looking for, a dedication and a force rating.

I may be underestimating them but nothing really looks very exciting in the Force Sensitive Emergent & Exile talent trees except the extra Force rating.

Dedication is really good too right?

Edited June 26, 2017 by Mychal'el

[Atticus Havelock 64]

I'll second Elias.  If you want to trade out "sneaky" for "fix-it," then Armorer is the way to go.  It'll give you all the necessary talents to trick out your armor (and other equipment), plus it'll give you some pretty good defensive talents and another rank of Force Rating.  Two Grit and two Toughened.  It'll also give you Falling Avalanche, a good lightsaber combat talent that'll benefit from your higher Brawn.

[Mychal'el 83]

9 hours ago, Atticus Havelock said:

I'll second Elias.  If you want to trade out "sneaky" for "fix-it," then Armorer is the way to go.  It'll give you all the necessary talents to trick out your armor (and other equipment), plus it'll give you some pretty good defensive talents and another rank of Force Rating.  Two Grit and two Toughened.  It'll also give you Falling Avalanche, a good lightsaber combat talent that'll benefit from your higher Brawn.

So im not trying to frustrate you guys, I really just want to understand fully before I proceed.

Since Mandalorians start out wound-11 / strain-10 and can only pick three characteristics...

And it was suggested that I would need more Willpower, so then should I drop Brawn or Cunning instead???

Race combat skill: Lightsaber - 1

2 - Brawn

3 - Agility

2 - Intellect

3 - Cunning

3 - Willpower

2 - Presence

 

3 Seeker Career skills?

• Knowledge: Xenology (Int)
• Piloting: Planetary (Ag)
• Piloting: Space (Ag) - 1
• Ranged: Heavy (Ag)
• Survival (Cun) -1
• Vigilance (Will) -1

2 Ataru Striker Class skills?

• Athletics (Br)
• Coordination (Ag) -1
• Lightsaber (Br)
• Perception (Cun) -1

Edited June 26, 2017 by Mychal'el

[Mychal'el 83]

...Or

Race combat skill: Lightsaber - 1

3 - Brawn

3 - Agility

2 - Intellect

3 - Cunning

3 - Willpower

2 - Presence

 

3 Seeker Career skills?

• Knowledge: Xenology (Int)
• Piloting: Planetary (Ag)
• Piloting: Space (Ag) - 1
• Ranged: Heavy (Ag)
• Survival (Cun) -1
• Vigilance (Will) -1

2 Ataru Striker Class skills?

• Athletics (Br) -1
• Coordination (Ag) -1
• Lightsaber (Br)
• Perception (Cun)

 

I guess the skills don't matter as much because I can buy them pretty easily yeah?

[Mychal'el 83]

On 6/23/2017 at 9:56 PM, EliasWindrider said:

You could go plain human, lose a point of wounds, gain a 4th skill starting  at 3 (brawn agility cunning and willpower) which means you gained a point of strain which is harder to come by than wounds.  You also get 2 ranks in non career skill.  Since your starting ataru striker it can'take be lightsaber but one could be ranged light or whatever else.

Maybe I should just give up trying to be a Mandalorian. 5xp makes such a difference at chargen!!! Does RAW stand for the Rules Are Wacked? Lol

... seriously though, what does RAW stand for? 

Edited June 27, 2017 by Mychal'el

[Richardbuxton 7,319]

If you want to play Ataru I would either go:

Agility 4, Willpower 3.

or

Agility 4, Cunning 3.

[Mychal'el 83]

10 hours ago, Richardbuxton said:

If you want to play Ataru I would either go:

Agility 4, Willpower 3.

or

Agility 4, Cunning 3.

Oh dear, more choices without knowing what the consequences are...

What are the play style differences between the two?

Won't I need 3 Brawn if I plan on taking on Armorer and Assassin later?

Edited June 27, 2017 by Mychal'el

[EliasWindrider 2,714]

On 6/26/2017 at 3:26 AM, Mychal'el said:

...Or

Race combat skill: Lightsaber - 1

3 - Brawn

3 - Agility

2 - Intellect

3 - Cunning

3 - Willpower

2 - Presence

 

3 Seeker Career skills?

• Knowledge: Xenology (Int)
• Piloting: Planetary (Ag)
• Piloting: Space (Ag) - 1
• Ranged: Heavy (Ag)
• Survival (Cun) -1
• Vigilance (Will) -1

2 Ataru Striker Class skills?

• Athletics (Br) -1
• Coordination (Ag) -1
• Lightsaber (Br)
• Perception (Cun)

 

I guess the skills don't matter as much because I can buy them pretty easily yeah?

I would choose these attributes (to get a bonus point of wound and strain threshold), but 4 agility and 3 in Brawn or willpower is not terrible either

[Mychal'el 83]

On 6/23/2017 at 9:08 PM, Atticus Havelock said:

Seeker Ataru Striker scratches several itches for you.  It does lightsaber combat very well.  It has access to the Saber Throw talent.  It gives you the piloting skills you wanted.  It's got Perception!  And Ranged (Heavy) for when you need to engage from a distance or avoid drawing attention with the lightsaber.  Lastly, it synergizes very nicely with the second specialization I've selected.

The second specialization addresses two other aspects of your concept; keywords "bounty hunter" and "sneaky."  So I'm going with Assassin.  This specialization will give you additional ranks of Dodge and Quick Strike.  Jump Up and Quick Draw are duplicated in Ataru Striker and so you'll be able to move into the third row cheaper.  You get access to Melee, which can be used in conjunction with several Ataru Striker talents.  Likewise, several of the Assassin talents can be used with Lightsaber.  Your Ranged (Heavy) combat improves too.  You also get access to Stealth and the Stalker talent, which works well with your Coordination skill from Ataru Striker.  And you get Skulduggery, great for espionage and sabotage.

For abilities go with Strength, Agility, and Cunning at 3.  Those abilities cover a wide array of skills useful to your concept; Athletics, Melee, Coordination, Lightsaber, Piloting, Ranged (Heavy), Stealth, Perception, and Skulduggery.  Thanks to Mandalorian, you'll start with a wound threshold of 14.  And your free rank in a combat skill can bump up your starting Lightsaber to 2.

All in all, you'll have your sneaky super-killer, running amok with a lightsaber and cutting Imperials down left and right.  Infiltration and combat are your specialties and you'll be pretty good at both.

Is the Executioner the Seeker version of Assassin? I can't find much info about it online

Edited June 28, 2017 by Mychal'el

[Tramp Graphics 2,328]

On 6/26/2017 at 0:31 PM, Mychal'el said:

Maybe I should just give up trying to be a Mandalorian. 5xp makes such a difference at chargen!!! Does RAW stand for the Rules Are Wacked? Lol

... seriously though, what does RAW stand for? 

RAW stands for Rules As Written.