SWSE Droid Pilot..and ONLY a pilot (AKA Sentient Ship)

[Blind_Prophet]

So a little backstory

- Everyone (including the DM) agrees we need a pilot

- No one wants to be a pilot

- The DM has agreed to let us build a droid pilot

- This is a Lvl 1-20 premade campaign (so obviously this droid and everyone else will be lvl 1 to start...not sure what level we get the ship and droid)

- The DM is a first-timer, I'm the normal DM hence why I'm building the droid

- This is the first time we've ever done a star wars campaign so even I'm unfamiliar with the system

- The Droid will be unable to leave the ship as he's technically part of it...think EDI from Mass Effect mixed with Wheatley from Portal 2 or even Max from Flight of the Navigator. This is just fluff and doesn't limit any chassis or class choices.

- So far I've found a few good options for a pilot but most guides/builds focus on making a pilot non-useless off the ship...we don't have that worry.

- Were limited to the core rulebook but I may be able to convince the DM to let us use a single other book (heard "scavengers guide to droids or w/e is really good)

- We need a ship that can accommodate the whole party which so far consists of:

An Ewok Force User (Me) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16086321#post16086321)

A Droid Scoundrel w/ plans to go gunslinger

Scout or Soldier that will be a Bounty Hunter

A Sith focused on being a front line fighter

A force power focused Sith that was kicked out of the academy for insisting the sith were misinterpreting the Sith Mantra and continues as such

The last one is unsure...wants to be a jedi but would have the same issue a Paladin would with the rest of the party its full of Siths (Blackguards) and Neutral characters.

So including the droid pilot that's 7 people. Also said ship needs to be able to dock easily at most space stations/planets and not require a massive crew like a star destroyer or something...the Ebon Hawk from SWTOR is a good size...but apparently a pretty crappy ship in SWSE :P



Anyways that said Here's what i got so far

- The Wealth talent from noble is pretty much essential...not sure how to fluff out a droid noble who is also a sentient ship though...feel free to make suggestions

- Ace pilot (durrr)

- Dexterity/Wisdom are the most important stats with int as a decent tertiary

- There's quite a few feats/talents that will make the crappy non-pilots helpful to the droid pilot such as Wingman + Squadron Maneuvers

- Good skills are: Pilot, Use PC, Acrobatics and Mechanics

- Treat Injury is a good skill to have since our droid is gonna have a high wis...we'll treat it as a med bay fluff wise.

- Getting your Pilot skill as high as possible is essential

- There's so pretty obvious feats to take like Vehicular Combat

So ummm...yeah that's pretty much all I know I could really use some suggestions on how to have this guy be effective from Lvl 1 - 20 (again not sure when we will find said ship)...luckily since he's a droid most random level selections can just be hand-waved by saying thats just how he was programmed but It would be better to have some actual fluff to back it up so feel free to suggest that as well.

Feel free to ask for any more info that might help and I'll respond ASAP

[Xaragos]

Independent droid so that you can take the talent that allows you to take 10 on dex checks, aka Pilot checks. Vehicular combat, Vehicular Surge, Starship Maneuvers (of which there are many options though I like Snap Roll and Zeta 9).

Like your idea for synergy with medical treatment even though that has the potential to steal some crucial feats.

Having a droid with Heavy weapon prof, Wpn Focus (hvy weapon), Burst Fire, and those kinds of shenanigans in the Elite Trooper PRC can be fun.

Alternatively, you can have the droid go the Gunslinger route so that they can basically Rapid shot without the penalty. This way the droid is viable out of vehicle as well as in vehicle.

There are builds that use the Scoundrel crit chain that combined with Elite Trooper Crit and some of the Starship Maneuvers that are based on Crits can be quite powerful.

Its all in how you want to flavor the droid.

[Blind_Prophet]

Independent droid so that you can take the talent that allows you to take 10 on dex checks, aka Pilot checks. Vehicular combat, Vehicular Surge, Starship Maneuvers (of which there are many options though I like Snap Roll and Zeta 9).

What book is independent droid in? Were limited to what we can find at our local comic store and convince the DM to let us use (although with the Droid Ship she might be a bit more lax) know anywhere we can legitimately buy PDFs of SWSE stuff?



Like your idea for synergy with medical treatment even though that has the potential to steal some crucial

I figured since there's no need to be functional outside of the ship...since he is the ship and thus cannot leave he'd have a little more feat room. It's a secondary concern though.



Having a droid with Heavy weapon prof, Wpn Focus (hvy weapon), Burst Fire, and those kinds of shenanigans in the Elite Trooper PRC can be fun.

Hmmm...is it possible to have gun turrets etc. INSIDE a ship for defenses if were boarded that would be fun



Alternatively, you can have the droid go the Gunslinger route so that they can basically Rapid shot without the penalty. This way the droid is viable out of vehicle as well as in vehicle.

It is the ship and cannot leave it...also I don't want this guy to step on the actual gunslingers toes



Its all in how you want to flavor the droid.

Sentient Ship like EDI from mass effect except runs around the ship on a rail system like Wheatley from Portal 2 or Max from Flight of the Navigator

So it sounds like a mix of Noble,Independent Droid, Ace Pilot, Elite Trooper (name refluff likely) and Officer is the way to go so far

[Xaragos]

What book is independent droid in? Were limited to what we can find at our local comic store and convince the DM to let us use (although with the Droid Ship she might be a bit more lax) know anywhere we can legitimately buy PDFs of SWSE stuff?

Scavengers Guide to Droids is a great resource!


I figured since there's no need to be functional outside of the ship...since he is the ship and thus cannot leave he'd have a little more feat room. It's a secondary concern though.

This makes perfect sense to me. I missed the part where the droid was the actual ship :)


Hmmm...is it possible to have gun turrets etc. INSIDE a ship for defenses if were boarded that would be fun

I don't see why not. You can upgrade your ship to have that antipersonnel gun attached to it aka what is on the Millenium Falcon. No reason you can't have a couple of those or variants installed.

Understanding that this will actually be your ship...I think focusing on the core responsibility (Flying) is the best idea. Reason being, if this thing isn'g going to participate in anything else, what else do you really need it to do?

Do you want to maximize your BAB? Then go Soldier
Are there some perks like re-rolls and some crit shenanigans you want? Scoundrel
Increased movement and other flying goodness (AKA EVASION!!! Foot Stomp) then dip or start with Scout.

[Beleriphon]

If all the droid is doing is flying the ship focus entirely on that, you will have w wicked good pilot that can't do much else but since it isn't supposed to who care? If you need the PCs to run the gun turrets as necessary.

[LibraryOgre]

I'd go even simpler; ships already have an Int, so install a heuristic processor and call it a droid. If you really want to level it, stick NH levels on it and give it feats as it learns more about piloting. It should be trained in the various ship skills (UC, Mechanics, Pilot), and get Skill Focus as necessary.

If you want to give it "real" levels, I would suggest primarily Scoundrel, since that has a lot of the piloting talents.

[Blind_Prophet]

Scavengers Guide to Droids is a great resource!


Indeed it is :D



This makes perfect sense to me. I missed the part where the droid was the actual ship :)

To be fair its only fluff...mechanically its a droid NPC piloting a ship




I don't see why not. You can upgrade your ship to have that antipersonnel gun attached to it aka what is on the Millenium Falcon. No reason you can't have a couple of those or variants installed.

Cool :D



Understanding that this will actually be your ship...I think focusing on the core responsibility (Flying) is the best idea. Reason being, if this thing isn'g going to participate in anything else, what else do you really need it to do?

It flys...thats about it...although if I can fit in a "Med bay" it would be nice



Do you want to maximize your BAB? Then go Soldier
Are there some perks like re-rolls and some crit shenanigans you want? Scoundrel
Increased movement and other flying goodness (AKA EVASION!!! Foot Stomp) then dip or start with Scout.

Soldiers probably the best bet...maybe a level of scout and/or scoundrel to start though.

[Thrysierius]

Throwing my 2 cents into this. I'm giving you a page from my PC's book which started out as a focused pilot. I would highly recommend Starships of the Galaxy book be added. Without it, you're going to be extremely limited in your piloting choices and honestly, at that point, you're better off just hiring some schmuck NPC.


Stat focus: Dex, Wis, Int (in that order)
Starting level should be Scoundrel. Talent should be Knack
Starting Feat: Vehicular Combat
Skills: Pilot, Use Computer, Mechanics, Stealth, Treat Injury (if you want to do the whole treatments in the med bay thing)

After that stick with Soldier levels. The BAB increase will help with pilot fired weapons (if your ship gets any and I highly recommend it does) and you'll be able to choose from a wider variety of Feats.

Suggested Feats: Skill Focus: Pilot, Skill Focus, Stealth (can't evade enemy ship radar without a good Steath skill), Skill Focus: Use Computer (make those hyperspace coordinates a piece of cake), Starship Maneuvers (class level feat only)

Your Prestige class should be Ace Pilot (Level 7, Vehicular Combat, trained in Pilot) and I suggest you take the Talent Vehicular Focus: Space Transport. It lets you take 10 on any pilot check (even in combat) with any colossal space transport vessel (like freighters) and you get an additional +2 bonus to attacks with weapons that are pilot fired. Other good talents are Ellusive Dog Fighter and Vehicular Evasion.

[LibraryOgre]

Why Knack? Given that it's a droid, he will have no Force Points to activate it with.

[Alejandro]

Why Knack? Given that it's a droid, he will have no Force Points to activate it with.

Droids can have Force Points. At least, Droid PCs can. They cannot have Jedi levels, nor can they have the Force Sensitivity feat, but they get FPs.

I assume Knack is for rerolling a bad pilot check. Knack does not require a FP, it is simply once a day.

[Thrysierius]

Droids can have Force Points. At least, Droid PCs can. They cannot have Jedi levels, nor can they have the Force Sensitivity feat, but they get FPs.

I assume Knack is for rerolling a bad pilot check. Knack does not require a FP, it is simply once a day.

That's precisely what Knack is for, re-rolling important Pilot/Use Computer/Mechanics checks once a day. It would, for instance, let the droid pilot try a second time on a Vehicular Evasion roll. It is though limited to once a day per the number of times you took that talent.

[LibraryOgre]

Droids can have Force Points. At least, Droid PCs can. They cannot have Jedi levels, nor can they have the Force Sensitivity feat, but they get FPs.

I assume Knack is for rerolling a bad pilot check. Knack does not require a FP, it is simply once a day.

I was thinking of "Fool's Luck".

And I have no idea why droids are allowed Force points, given that they have no connection to the Force.

[Blind_Prophet]

So Noble 1, Scoundrel 2, Scout 3, Soldier 4-7, Officer 8, Independent Droid 9, Ace Pilot 10 - 19, Elite Trooper 20?

I'd say 4th degree (+2 dex, -2 int/cha) the -2 int is a little annoying but worth the extra dex and honestly a battle droid type suits a combat pilot well.

Small size (+2 Dex, -2 Str)

Tracked Locomotion - rides a rail system throughout the ship, can also communicate through computers and speaker system if necessary

Heuristic Processor - kind of required for a sentient ship

Vocabulator, Translator unit & Comlink - Guy obviously needs to talk

Diagnostic Package - +2 to mechanics you say

Storage compartment/spring-loaded mechanism - could make for some interesting uses if were ever boarded...have it carry a grenade or two :P



And I have no idea why droids are allowed Force points, given that they have no connection to the Force.

Force points is kind of a dumb name for it anyways

[Alejandro]

Mostly game balance. A droid PC already has no HP bonus and no Con bonus to Fortitude and is locked out of one class. All players get FPs.

And don't forget, if the pilot has Evasion, then you don't need Vehicular Evasion.

[Blind_Prophet]

Any suggestions on a ship?

It needs to be relatively small...from what I understand whilst we don't need to be stealthy exactly rolling into a a space station/landing pad in a star destroyer probably will attract all the wrong attention not to mention those need like 300-20,000 crew we don't have but something more the size of the Ebon Hawk would be fine as that should fix 6 people

On the other hand it needs the firepower to actually survive most space battles.

[IdleMuse]

Droids get FPs because even though they have no personal connection to the force, and they can't _use_ it, their actions are still guided by it just like everything in the galaxy.

[Blind_Prophet]

So far it seems like a Republic Cruiser C70 Refit or Thalassian Slave Transport (removing all the slave cages) are the best options crammed with Imperial TIE Defenders or CEC S-100 Stingers...but I doubt my DM would let me get anything even close to those more likely we'll end up with a junker and a world war 2 plane as a fighter :P

Any suggestions on ships that we could actually get our hands on?

[Mando Knight]

and is locked out of one class.

Actually, they can get Jedi levels, they just can't start as a Jedi or take Force Sensitivity. (And most of the Jedi talents are useless without UtF anyway)

They are locked out of any Force User PrC, though.

[Blind_Prophet]

Actually, they can get Jedi levels, they just can't start as a Jedi or take Force Sensitivity. (And most of the Jedi talents are useless without UtF anyway)

They are locked out of any Force User PrC, though.

So they can its just a dumb idea :P

[Mando Knight]

There's a few things to be had from the Jedi class without UtF:


Adept/Master Negotiator, if you like to talk enemies to death
Skilled Advisor, for looking like a know-it-all
Acrobatic Recovery, for not falling prone when you don't want to
Elusive Target, for a melee character who really doesn't want to get shot while he's cleaving through enemies
Resilience, as a Force Point fueled alternative to Indomitable
Battle Meditation, since that technically doesn't require UtF
Throw Lightsaber, if you really don't want to get a real ranged weapon (you won't be able to use the Force to fetch it, but you can still throw the thing)
Lightsaber Defense, if you like +1-to-Defense talents over real options

[Alejandro]

There's a few things to be had from the Jedi class without UtF:


Adept/Master Negotiator, if you like to talk enemies to death
Skilled Advisor, for looking like a know-it-all
Acrobatic Recovery, for not falling prone when you don't want to
Elusive Target, for a melee character who really doesn't want to get shot while he's cleaving through enemies
Resilience, as a Force Point fueled alternative to Indomitable
Battle Meditation, since that technically doesn't require UtF
Throw Lightsaber, if you really don't want to get a real ranged weapon (you won't be able to use the Force to fetch it, but you can still throw the thing)
Lightsaber Defense, if you like +1-to-Defense talents over real options

On page 186 of the core rulebook, Class and Level: "You are first level in one heroic class (noble, scoundrel, scout, or soldier) of your choice. You cannot choose the Jedi class."

[Mando Knight]

On page 186 of the core rulebook, Class and Level: "You are first level in one heroic class (noble, scoundrel, scout, or soldier) of your choice. You cannot choose the Jedi class."

All the clarifications state that droids can take Jedi after 1st level.

And in any case, the list is just as valid for anyone who dips Jedi after 1st level but doesn't take Force Sensitivity.

[Alejandro]

Where are the clarifications? I hate it when I am missing an errata. I don't see it in the official errata.

[Mando Knight]

Where are the clarifications? I hate it when I am missing an errata. I don't see it in the official errata.

This thread (http://thesagacontinues.createaforum.com/general-discussion/my-compiled-files-of-all-saga-edition-rpg-resource-documents-reference-tools/) contains a link to this MediaFire folder (http://www.mediafire.com/folder/1o8o442fygi5s/Resource_documents_and_reference_tools), which includes a compilation of all of WotC's official and unofficial clarifications and rulings from their forums (before they took said forums down).

[Blind_Prophet]

\(before they took said forums down).

Well if it makes you feel better the current WOTC forums are kinda crap

[Alejandro]

This thread (http://thesagacontinues.createaforum.com/general-discussion/my-compiled-files-of-all-saga-edition-rpg-resource-documents-reference-tools/) contains a link to this MediaFire folder (http://www.mediafire.com/folder/1o8o442fygi5s/Resource_documents_and_reference_tools), which includes a compilation of all of WotC's official and unofficial clarifications and rulings from their forums (before they took said forums down).

Thank you. You get +1 internets.

[Blind_Prophet]

Thank you. You get +1 internets.

Yes thank you Mando this is a great resource it answeres quite a few rules questions we had.

[Ahrimon]

Why be fancy? The hand wave answer is always the simplest. Want your star ship to be a droid? Just say it is and give it a pilot skill based on the party level. Alternatively, you could use the droidification rules. Then your ship would be the droid in both fluff and crunch.

[Blind_Prophet]

Alternatively, you could use the droidification rules. Then your ship would be the droid in both fluff and crunch.

Wait wait wait....droidification rules...what book is this in?

[LibraryOgre]

Wait wait wait....droidification rules...what book is this in?

Scum & Villainy. However, they kinda suck at the level of a starship.

Easy option? Declare your ship the equivalent of an astromech droid.

[Mando Knight]

Easy option? Declare your ship the equivalent of an astromech droid.

Yeah... just install an Astromech droid brain into the ship. The Falcon has a couple, though they're not set up for autonomous flight AFAIK.

[Thrysierius]

Yeah... just install an Astromech droid brain into the ship. The Falcon has a couple, though they're not set up for autonomous flight AFAIK.

Hmmm, I'm wondering what would really be the benefit of doing so. You can only get 2 assistants with Use Computer unless you just have the droid brain do it for you.

[Alejandro]

You can do that for some crew tasks; it depends on how automated you want the ship to be. Like the Katana fleet.

PCs are generally better, though.

[Blind_Prophet]

Well if Katana Fleet is any example its to NOT have a fully automated fleet :P

[Thrysierius]

Well if Katana Fleet is any example its to NOT have a fully automated fleet :P

"Whoops, I unleashed a fleet of EMP mines... WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!"

That's the first thing I'd hear our Engineering/genius PC say if we ever encountered them....