Star Wars_ Edge of the Empire Rule Book

CHARACTER CONCEPT

Before a player starts generating attributes, he should
put some thought into what sort of character he wants
to play. Does he want to play a roguish pilot, quick to
wdraw his blaster when things get sticky? A taciturn
explorer driven to see everything the galaxy has to
offer? In EDGE OF THE EMPIRE, any character concept
found within the Star Wars universe is possible.

The CM should give the players an idea on what
sort of campaign he intends to run for the players.
If the game focuses heavily on combat, the players
may consider choosing more martially-oriented char-
acters. If the campaign runs deep with intrigue, then
building characters with strong social abilities and
skills makes more sense.

The CM should encourage the players to discuss
what kind of careers might be the most useful during
a campaign. Ideally, a group of PCs should include a
mix of characters to ensure they'll survive whatever
the CM comes up with, keeping the campaign style
in mind—someone who can fight well, someone who
can pilot a ship, a person that can fix machines, and
so on. Some overlap may occur, but there is enough
variety in EDGE OF THE EMPIRE that even if two play-
ers choose the same career, each could offer his own
unique abilities and talents.
It should be noted that no character is ever a
"wrong" choice, regardless of the campaign. The GM
should never discourage a player from a particular
character choice and should integrate all the charac-
ter concepts into the campaign at hand. Indeed, part
of the fun that comes from playing EDGE OF THE EMPIRE
is the interesting mix of characters thrust together
during a campaign.

GENERATION STEPS

To create a character, each player follows these steps.
The steps are briefly explained below, then broken down
into more detail throughout the course of this chapter.

1. Determine Character Concept and Background


2. Determine Starting Obligation


3. Select Character Species


4. Select Character Career


5. Select Specializations


6. Invest Experience Points


7. Determine Derived Attributes


8. Determine Starting Motivations


9. Choose Gear and Description
   10. Group Chooses Starting Ship

DETERMINE CHARACTER CONCEPT

AND BACKGROUND

Every character starts as an idea. Does a player want to

play a dashing scoundrel of a smuggler, a brawny Wook-

iee pilot, or a feared and competent bounty hunter? Be-

fore starting, the player should take a few moments and

think about the character he wants to build and what he

wants his character's background to be. Basically, where

did he come from, and what happened to make him into

the character he is today? No person springs into being

fully formed. Individuals are influenced by a lifetime of

decisions and circumstances, starting from birth.

More on determining a character's background is

covered on page 36.

DETERMINE STARTING OBLIGATION

When creating an EDGE OF THE EMPIRE character, the

player chooses a starting Obligation early on. It can

inform other decisions a player makes during charac-

ter creation, such as the type of character he wants

to play, what sort of overall group the players collec-

tively want, and the sorts of skills, gear, and abilities

they may wish to start with.

More on Obligation is covered on page 38.

SELECT CHARACTER SPECIES

The galaxy is a crowded place, full of numerous sentient

species that all have their own unique abilities and beliefs.

After a character's Obligation is determined, the player

should define the character's species. Once selected, it

can never be changed. A character's species determines

its starting characteristic ratings for Brawn, Agility, Intel-

lect, Cunning, Willpower, and Presence. It also provides

default wound threshold and strain threshold values, as

well as innate abilities, bonuses, and starting XP.

More on the various species players can choose

from can be found on page 43.

SELECT CHARACTER CAREER

A career sets the character along a certain path or way

of life, but is by no means limiting. A career is a broad

archetype or template of related skills and abilities.

Within each career are a number of specializations.

Each career has eight associated career skills. These

skills should be checked on the character sheet to indi-

cate they are career skills. During this step of character

creation, the player may choose four of the eight start-

ing career skills and gain one rank in each of the select-

ed skills free (he does not spend experience points). He

may not choose the same skill more than once.

During play, career skills are less expensive to train

and improve than non-career skills.

More on the six careers can be found on page 53.

CHARACTER CREATION

'EDGE OF THE EMPIRE