Droid Specialist

Of the 8 Career Skills, choose 4 to get a free rank. Of the 4 Specialization Skills, choose 2 to get a free rank.

Engineer Career Skills: Athletics, Computers, Knowledge (Education), Mechanics, Perception, Piloting (Space), Ranged (Light) and Vigilance

Droid Specialist Specialization Skills: Computers, Cool, Mechanics and Melee

Like battlefield surgeons working on organic soldiers, Alliance Droid Specialists focus on making their charges functional for combat but often must sacrifice perfection for practicality. A Core World droid factory may have the luxury to produce repairs that return a damaged droid to a like-new state. In the midst of horrific combat or in repair bays lacking proper resources, though, Droid Specialists can’t be fancy. When faced with dozens of droids, having to stop and reassess a custom configuration not only slows the repair work, it complicates the job. At the end of the day, if their mechanical comrades are fit for another day of support and battle, then their mission is accomplished.

Droids serve two purposes in the Alliance: to assist their organic counterparts and to integrate with computers and other data storage devices. Some Droid Specialists see themselves like the sergeants of a droid platoon, treating their inorganic soldiers harshly but fairly, sending them out into battle without hesitation, and working hard to ensure the droids have the programming and technology they need to come back. Others have a colder practicality. Repairing a damaged droid takes less time and resources than replacing or building a new one.

The topic of droid manumission remains a messy one. Various bases treat droids differently depending on their commander’s attitude, the soldiers’ attitudes, their morale, and the circumstances. Regardless, Droid Specialists tend to be protective of their inorganic soldiers. Whether it is because they recognize them as sentient beings or as valuable machines depends on the individual. The Alliance as a whole treats droids with more consideration and respect than the rest of the galaxy. Droid Specialists advocating on their behalf have contributed to this positive change.

Although the Rebellion receives equipment en masse, Droid Specialists can’t count on consistency or quality. As supply lines and alliances change, so do their sources of parts and droids. As a result, Alliance droids tend to take on a patchwork look much like that of their Outer Rim counterparts. Rebel agents can often tell how well a base is supplied just by the droids: if they look clean and relatively uniform, the base is obviously well supplied. If the droids appear completely different from each other (and have personality quirks to rival a rogue Outer Rim droid), then the agent knows the base is in dire shape.

This is the difficulty most Droid Specialists face in Rebel outposts without a regular supply line. Organics tend to get the most supplies, followed by the machines of war: blasters, cannons, and starfighters. At the bottom of the ladder stand the droids, which must bear the brunt of rationed supplies while functioning to serve their organic commanders. Some Droid Specialists see this work as a punishment. Others come to identify with their charges. Droid Specialists often see their quartermaster as their greatest nemesis, the Empire being a close second.

Potential Backgrounds

  • Academic: Many Droid Specialists with an academic background come straight from industry R&D labs. They are often responsible for droid brain design and construction and are experts in droid behavior. Others, professors who have taught the theories behind droid design, come from universities. Thanks to their experience, many have rejected the Empire’s callous treatment of droids. Countless droid designers and Engineers have resigned their positions in protest or disgust, and have found a home caring for the many droids that serve the Alliance.
  • Eccentric: Droids created by eccentric Droid Specialists are often indescribable wonders or dangerous perversions of engineering (or both). Eccentric Droid Specialists see droids more as a list of parts and internal systems than as sentient beings. They break apart and combine different droids for uses far outside their stated missions and tinker with droid brain architecture and programming to create droids with surprising and often deadly behavioral patterns.
  • Journeyman: Journeyman Droid Specialists often travel in starships and vehicles packed with droids and droid parts. They traffic in legal and quasi-legal goods and occasionally have among their collections rare, antique, and strange one-of-a-kind droids from long-forgotten manufacturers. The Rebel Alliance aggressively recruits journeyman Droid Specialists to keep its own battered, old, and secondhand droid personnel operating at peak performance.
  • Talented Amateur: Amateur Droid Specialists are typically laypeople or technician’s assistants who enjoy both the utility and company of droids. Many are simply tinkerers who perform light maintenance and repair on droids or fix simple droids for some extra credits. Others are hobbyist remote operators who fly their tiny remotes around for fun or to explore areas that are otherwise inaccessible or off-limits. Those who find their way into the Rebellion make excellent shop attendants or apprentice droid maintainers, and they often improve their skills to a professional level through long hours and desperate work.