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Brom
2010-12-13, 07:55 AM
Too Long, Didn't Read (TL;DR) version: Playing 7th level Soldier/5th level Elite Trooper, want help with feats/weapons/talents. Character is human, statgeneration is 50 point buy. I need a setup that makes me not terribly reliant on any one weapon or armor, but able to use weapons and armor? Characters are fugitives running from the Empire.

I'm in a game with low wealth. There is no Luke Skywalker, no Leia. Starting the Rebellion is up to the PC's.

I figured the party could use someone who could train soldiers and infantrymen in proper breach and clear tactics, cover fire, and hand to hand combat. How else will they fight the endless legions of the Empire?

My character is a defective Royal Guard in the Emperor's personal defense cadre. I stood by him and watched the people he crushed, until he crushed something I cared about. And now? Now I'm going to teach people how to fight all of his men, so that we can make a ramp of corpses leading to his throne.

So I'm playing a Soldier 7/Elite Trooper 5. We have 12, 000 credits, and each and every one of us is a fugitive. I need to be able to fight and kill without drawing attention to myself.

Having both never played in a high level game and having never done a Soldier/Elite Trooper, I'm at a loss for what feats, talents, and weapons to get. My initial guess was a rifle, but if we're fugitives and have to be inconspicuous, I'm unsure if a rifle is still a good idea. After all, a rifle isn't a civilian weapon.

What about a vibro blade? Straight hand to hand combat? Just looking for some guidance and suggestions, if you have me, toss em at me. I'm not married to any particular form of combat. It's occurring to me that as both a former gang member, a royal guard, and a fugitive, my character may very well have both reason to use and to be experienced in melee combat.

Mando Knight
2010-12-13, 12:38 PM
Only 12000? Hm...

Well, Stormtrooper Armor, Armored Defense, and Improved Armored Defense are givens. If you want something heavier, go with Battle Armor (remember that Max Dex only applies to Reflex, not to ranged attack rolls and such) and carry a Jetpack, possibly instead of spending a talent on Juggernaut. Heavier armor allows for more upgrades from Scum & Villainy.

The Elite Trooper prereq feats (Martial Arts 1 and Point Blank Shot) are givens. As is being a Human, since you're an Ex-Royal Guard for the ridiculously humanocentric Empire. (The official Imperial social hierarchy is basically Humans > near-Humans > Rancor > Dirt > Worm under the dirt > less-humanoid aliens > droids)

Now, where you go from there is entirely up to you and what books you have available. You've got ridiculous point buy (50? Seriously? You can get 16 Str/Con/Dex/Int and still have enough points left for 14 Wis and 12 Cha!), so stat prerequisites aren't a problem. From here, I'd decide what kind of weapon you want to specialize in, since the Elite Trooper class is wasted unless you specialize in a weapon, and specializing in a weapon is better than not. With Martial Arts 1, Point Blank Shot, and 12 levels of full BAB, you're basically good at whatever you need to be, more so if you pick up Vehicular Combat.

mabriss lethe
2010-12-13, 03:40 PM
If I remember correctly, Imperial guardsmen were all Force sensitives, or there is strong canonical evidence that they were, in any case. going that route or not is up to you, though.

Mando Knight
2010-12-13, 04:16 PM
Some Royal Guards were. Kir Kanos had never received training, if he was Sensitive (there is some evidence that he could have been, but nothing canonically conclusive). The Sovereign Protectors, the elites of the Guard, were all Sensitive, but due to the corrupting influence of Palpatine and Dark Side training, I'm not sure any Protectors would turn just because the Emperor committed a personal injustice. Then there's the Shadow Guard, which are like the Sovereign Protectors, but worse.

Brom
2010-12-13, 06:30 PM
Might it be a good idea to specialize in vibro-weapons? Both to reflect my RP background (Guardsman, I believe, were force pike and hand to hand combat junkies, and gang violence is often done with close combat weapons) and because it covers a whole range of weapons, which vary from conspicuous to concealable (vibroknife.)

WinWin
2010-12-13, 07:05 PM
Virbro Weapons would be decent for a ganger. If a blaster rifle is out of the question, a pistol might be a decent option. Even a hold-out blaster is easily hidden.

Tech skills would be handy, not just for a ganger background (hacking/slicing credits and swoop-bike mechanics) but for Spec-ops; computer use should allow you to use a military comlink to listen in on other transmissions as well as interface with basic terminals and sensors. Demolitions and Disable device are also good skills, they don't need to be overt to be effective. Shaped charges for example. Finally piloting would be a good choice. Not for starships, but for military landspeeders and weapon platforms and the like.

Dex is a good focus, for piloting and stealth skills. Weapon finesse maybe. Intelligence helps out with a few skills. I probably would not devote too many resources on heavy weapons training or gunnery, but knowledge of how to use the big guns could come in handy every so often. At the very least you could use them untrained.

Brom
2010-12-13, 08:48 PM
Virbro Weapons would be decent for a ganger. If a blaster rifle is out of the question, a pistol might be a decent option. Even a hold-out blaster is easily hidden.

Tech skills would be handy, not just for a ganger background (hacking/slicing credits and swoop-bike mechanics) but for Spec-ops; computer use should allow you to use a military comlink to listen in on other transmissions as well as interface with basic terminals and sensors. Demolitions and Disable device are also good skills, they don't need to be overt to be effective. Shaped charges for example. Finally piloting would be a good choice. Not for starships, but for military landspeeders and weapon platforms and the like.

Dex is a good focus, for piloting and stealth skills. Weapon finesse maybe. Intelligence helps out with a few skills. I probably would not devote too many resources on heavy weapons training or gunnery, but knowledge of how to use the big guns could come in handy every so often. At the very least you could use them untrained.

Yea, I fully intend to take Advanced Melee Weapon proficiency even if I don't specialize in it. By the same dint going to take Vehicular Combat, Heavy Weapons training, Heavy armor training, Armored Defense, and Juggernaut. I want to be able to fight by any means necessary and have an okay chance.

That, after all, is what being an Elite Trooper seems to be about =D

Although I'm wondering: should I take Elite Trooper if I want to be a combat generalist? It seems to require that you use certain weapons over others.

Also, if I'm just going to use pistols, shouldn't I be a Gunslinger? Is there a reason that Elite Trooper > Gunslinger even in pistol use?

Mando Knight
2010-12-13, 10:11 PM
Don't take Heavy Armor proficiency. There's not much heavy armor out there that can do you much good compared to a good suit of Medium or Light armor and capping out your Dex bonus, which is easy with 50 point buy. Without Improved Armored Defense, you want armor with a Fort bonus and a Dex cap equal to your modifier. With it, they're actually almost all the same if you've maximized your Dex, except for the Fort bonus. If you need the additional bonus to Fort that Heavy Armor can give you, take Improved Defenses instead and get +1 to all three defenses instead of just +1 to one.

Furthermore, taking the Elite Trooper prerequisites and adding on Vehicular Combat (and possibly Heavy Weapon proficiency, if you think you'll ever need to use a non-pilot Heavy Weapon) as well as 12 levels of full BAB make you generalist enough while leaving a large amount of room to specialize in one weapon group.