Arbiter

Of the 6 Career Skills, choose 3 to get a free rank. Of the 4 Specialization Skills, choose 2 to get a free rank.

Consular Career Skills: Cool, Discipline, Knowledge (Education), Knowledge (Lore), Leadership and Negotiation.

Arbiter Specialization Skills: Knowledge (Xenology), Lightsaber, Negotiation and Perception

The Consular begins play with a Force rating of 1

An Arbiter knows that often, no matter how hopeless a situation appears, a path to enlightenment and balance can be achieved through perseverance and negotiation. An Arbiter channels the nonviolent tendencies of the Consular into active negotiation between potential allies who have fallen into conflict through misunderstanding or nefarious influences. Through an understanding of sentient nature and the ebb and flow of conflict, an Arbiter can often pave the way for a group in the face of the most violent opposition.

The career path of a Consular is a wide and varied one leading in such directions as those of the healer, student, or mystic. The Arbiter has chosen the path of the negotiator and peacemaker, following an innate impulse to seek peace and balance in the heated atmosphere of conflict and confusion. An Arbiter is able to stand between two foes, see to the heart of the conflict between them, and bring calmness and reconciliation to the situation.

Arbiters are born negotiators. Whether fully aware of their Force powers or not, they tend to find themselves following the career paths of diplomats and mediators, seeking to bring peace to the galaxy. Some Consulars work with the Rebel Alliance, finding like-minded societies and bringing them into the Rebel fold or helping them to overcome Imperial pressure. However, many do their work in secret, laboring with a wide variety of corporations, organizations, and other groups to help bring harmony and tranquility to a war-torn galaxy. Arbiters see the ebb and flow of pressures and struggles and instinctively sense the fault lines of thought and belief that perpetuate the violence and conflict bred by miscommunication and misunderstanding. Arbiters seek to bring balance to the galaxy through negotiation and reconciliation.

The Arbiter understands the importance of calmness, respect, and tact while dealing with a diverse array of possible allies and potential enemies. Although many, when confronted with injustice or intransigent negativity, might reach for their lightsaber, an Arbiter’s first recourse will always be discussion and negotiation. When the local situation looks completely hopeless, when ancient grudges or new transgressions threaten to tear a system down into violence and chaos, an Arbiter will be able to find a path through the bedlam, to see a course of action that will restore peace and create an environment conducive to the prosperity and contentment of all.

An Arbiter is skilled in acting as the face of a group, providing an interface between the group and the authorities controlling its current area of operation. An Arbiter can assist her group with social interactions, negotiations, and acquisitions, opening doors that less diplomatic characters may find indelibly closed. The Arbiter must at all times keep in mind the greater scope of her duties. Peace is always the ultimate goal, but there is often a bigger picture that must be considered. And when the time for negotiation is at an end, even Consulars must be ready to use more direct means, no matter how regretful they may be.

Potential Backgrounds

  • Failed Initiate: Arbiters might have been rejected because they were unable to resolve some internal conflict. After years of soul-searching, they are beginning to find some small sense of inner peace and hope to bring the same calm to those they encounter. By learning from their early failures and moving beyond them, Arbiters hope to both help others avoid similar pain and to find their own place in the Force.
  • Rogue Scholar: An Arbiter acts as a negotiator between two individuals or factions in conflict, guiding them to a deeper understanding of one another by showing them their commonalities as they struggle to make their way in the galaxy. By pushing past the Imperial rhetoric that keeps them divided, the Arbiter can end a seemingly ceaseless feud and provide evidence to both sides that they are being manipulated and distracted from the true source of their troubles. As a rogue scholar, the Arbiter is able to step back from the struggle at hand and view it objectively and with deeper insight in an effort to present the commonalities of all involved.
  • Relic Seeker: Arbiters in search of lost objects are tasked with deciding how to keep them safe for future generations. These decisions include how these things should be preserved and, in some cases, whether or not they should remain hidden or be destroyed. Often, Arbiters work to acquire relics from the hands of individuals who do not realize what they are carrying. Through negotiation and bartering Arbiters are able to acquire such relics. What is then done with them is the true test of whether or not Arbiters can maintain their balance and trust in the Force.
  • Wandering Diplomat: Arbiters are, by nature, diplomats. Seeking to bring balance to underlying conflicts and resolve ongoing struggles, Arbiters are well-suited to the role of a wandering diplomat, which allows them to stay one step ahead of the Galactic Empire. Unfortunately, they are rarely present to see whether their attempts to bring peace are effective, as they must often vanish as quickly as they appeared for the safety of both themselves and those they seek to aid.