Fringer

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

Explorer Career Skills: Astrogation, Cool, Knowledge (Lore), Knowledge (Outer Rim), Knowledge (Xenology), Perception, Piloting (Space) and Survival

Fringer Specialization Skills: Astrogation, Coordination, Negotiation and Streetwise

Part negotiator, part astrogator, and savvy in the ways of the galaxy beyond the Core Worlds, the Fringer is a jack-of-all-trades. He focuses on knowing how to find what he needs and how to get where he needs to go. He's got the gift of gab when it's time to talk, and the awareness and reflexes to maneuver away when it's time to run.

Fringers are skilled navigators, rugged survivalists and many Fringers are excellent pilots, some rivaling even Smugglers in terms of talent. They are also highly prized for their ability to navigate ships through the unknown ranges of the Outer Rim. Fringers can also be tough, wiry, and nimble, surprising any would-be assailant with their ability to avoid getting hit and avoid getting caught.

A Player Character Fringer stands a good chance of being either the primary or secondary pilot for a group; he'll certainly be the likely choice for handling astrogation duties. He may also be the one the group turns to when it comes to dealing with employers, or finding a job in the first place. If someone needs to go into a starport or town to handle business, the Fringer should definitely be a part of that excursion.

Potential Backgrounds

  • Academic: Fringers frequently come from less adventurous backgrounds, taking what they knew and learned before and adding it to what they need to know to survive. An academic who finds himself on the Rim may well take his versatility as a learned man and apply it to his approach to making his way through life, which is exactly what a Fringer does. A scholastically minded Fringer may be just the perfect addition to any team trying to make a living away from the Core.
  • Criminal: Fringers are, by their nature, likely candidates for the life of a criminal. Inherently opportunistic, Fringers often fail to see the law as anything but a barrier to whatever goal they have in mind. Skilled at navigating the edges of society, Fringers actually make excellent criminal operatives. They tend to know where to go, who to talk to, what's of value, and how best to get to it. They also tend to be able to fill in many of the gaps a group may have in their ability pool when planning a caper.
  • Entrepreneur: Fringers are naturals when it comes to entrepreneurship. Always seeking opportunities, they are often gifted deal-makers and savvy about who to talk to for whatever they need. A Fringer tends to be adept at seeing a need; he may not have all the skills or resources to fulfill that need, but he's sure to know how to go about finding the people who do. Fringers tend to be "idea people," and if one cannot find a place in the Core Worlds to make the most of his talents, he'll head out to the farther worlds where people like him can thrive. Often he'll look for whatever problem he can find and then go about trying to figure out the best way to turn it into a fruitful business.
  • Ex-Imperial Operator: Fringers with this background likely operated as contractors to one Imperial agency or another; never truly a part of the Empire, they found reason to stop working for such a lucrative employer and move on to other opportunities. Perhaps one ran afoul of someone of importance and decided removing himself from the reach of his antagonist was the right decision. Then again, a Fringer may still be working for the Empire, out in the far reaches seeking something that will be the key to his freedom or his fortune.
  • Fallen Noble: Fringers come from all walks of life, so it wou not be at all surprising for one to turn out to ha connections to nobility as part of his history. The dilettante nature of most nobles flows well into a Fringer lifestyle, where being a jack-ofall- trades is the choice path. A combination of connections, charisma, and commitment j is exactly what a fallen noble will need as he makes his way out to the Rim.
  • Wanderer: Fringers are the most likely of all Explorer specializations to come from a wanderer background. Their diverse skills and talents indicate a journey along many different roads, experiencing the many vistas and challenges of a meandering traveler. Hitching rides on freighters, working whatever jobs he can at each destination, a wandering Fringer can find himself anywhere, especially on the Rim.