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

Jedi Career Skills: Athletics, Cool, Discipline, Knowledge (Lore), Lightsaber and Piloting (Space).

Padawan Specialization Skills: Coordination, Knowledge (Education), Mechanics and Vigilance

A Jedi begins play with a Force rating of 1

“Padawan” means “learner, ” suggesting a deep philosophical foundation, encouraging Jedi to continually strive to learn and understand. A Padawan studies not only facts and information, but also the ideas of fluidity and flexibility, and the act of learning itself, so as to be open to understanding. Some Jedi scholars consider “Padawan” to be a state of mind rather than a title. Many a Knight has found themself revisiting the path of the Padawan to recover the balance they lost or never really had in the first place.

Once a child completes their time as an Initiate, obtains their kyber crystal, and constructs their lightsaber, they become a Padawan, an apprentice to a Jedi Knight or Master. The status, role, and function of an apprentice has changed throughout the history of the Jedi Order, but in this time of war, a Padawan acts as a runner, attache, and even lieutenant for their master. To signify their dedication to learning, a Padawan with hair ties it into a braid. A Padawan without hair might wear a band of silka beads or other appropriate material arranged around their head in a similar fashion. Upon completing their training, the Padawan cuts off the braid or beads to symbolize the severing of their attachment to their master.

The Clone Wars have put the Jedi Council in a difficult position. When the war began, most Padawans had not yet faced the stresses of life in the galaxy, much less the fear and despair that come from war. They had not yet learned to command, to lead. Moreover, many Knights did not want the distraction and added responsibility of training an apprentice in the midst of a galaxy-spanning war. Practical realities forced their hands, however: Padawans needed masters, and Knights needed assistants trained in the ethics of the Jedi Code. While the clones can follow orders, the Jedi Council worried that without a subordinate who could interpret a Knight’s commands through the lens of the Force, only military, not spiritual, needs would be met. So, the council sent its Padawans to war.

Most non-Jedi do not realize that the title of Padawan represents the idea of learning and the many paths to learning. Knights and even Masters sometimes “become” Padawans again in order to get back to basics. To “open your mind as if a Padawan” means to rid oneself of preconceived notions or biases and to see things in a fresh, perhaps innocent, light. Although it is a metaphorical lesson, a few have taken this idea literally. All Initiates hear the story of the Jedi Master Vai Isa, who repeatedly took on the title of Padawan, often testing the patience of her Knights with annoying, “obvious” questions, only to come across a hidden wisdom, enlightening them both.