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

Ace Career Skills: Astrogation, Cool, Gunnery, Mechanics, Perception, Piloting (Planetary), Piloting (Space) and Ranged (Light)

Pilot Specialization Skills: Astrogation, Gunnery, Piloting (Planetary) and Piloting (Space)

Out among the stars, engines screaming through the cockpit while he performs a maneuver that would send lesser beings into seizures or unconsciousness, the Pilot is truly himself. While the sheer joy of flying is often rewarding, most Pilots gain true satisfaction when they pit themselves and their machines against an aggressor force and duel it out in the blackness of space.

In addition to being skilled at flying and knowing where to go, Pilots must also be exceedingly tough and trained to endure the harshest conditions if they are going to have the slightest chance of surviving when the worst happens.

No one denies the special place Pilots have in a military organization, least of all the Pilots themselves. Most have at least a certain amount of cockiness (sometimes bordering on arrogance), which is to be expected when a person wraps a few tons of machinery around himself and hurls into the void of space to regularly risk instant vaporization. The average life expectancy of a typical Alliance starhghter Pilot engaged with Imperial forces is extremely low; only by being the very best does a Pilot stand a chance of survival or success.

Not surprisingly, true Pilots are considered a precious commodity in the Alliance. Commanders are often seen as being too cautious in deploying them; each mission is almost guaranteed to cost at least a few lives and a few machines. The Rebellion ultimately stands or falls on the capacity of its Pilots to face the overwhelming odds of the Empire's best and somehow be better.

Potential Backgrounds

  • Entertainer: Pilots who have flown as entertainers might have raced starships or airspeeders, or flown in aerial stunt shows. Their light touch on the flight stick allows them to coax their chassis of choice into maneuvers never intended by its engineers. Former competitive Pilots are valued in the Rebellion and Empire alike as combat Aces, due to their preternatural ability to dance between laser blasts and flit through formations of enemies, coming out the other side unscathed.
  • Prototype Tester: Test Pilots have crashed more airspeeder and starship models than many other pilots have even flown. These Pilots know the actual stress limits on their vehicles, and just how far outside the safety margins they can be pushed. They also study the specifications of enemy craft, which means they often have a basic maneuvering game plan to beat any enemy combatant they encounter. Because of this, High Command often brings in test Pilots when developing new combat tactics to counter enemy fighters.
  • Bush Pilot: Bush Pilots often fantasize about being behind the controls of a starfighter, and most work an extra job to save up for an Incom T-16 Skyhopper or Santhe/ Sienar Systems Rho-c\ass airspeeder. Both airspeeders are favored by backwater youth for their cockpit similarities to the X-wing and TIE/ln starfighters.
  • Clone Wars Veteran: Pilots with dogfighting experience in the Clone Wars are almost exclusively from planetary defense forces, as those in the Grand Army of the Republic were clones and Jedi. However, local combat Pilot forces made a large impact in the Clone Wars, turning the tide at Virujansi and on countless other battlefronts across the galaxy.
  • Imperial Defector: Imperial Pilots have a tendency to come in only three varieties: the brilliant, the lucky, and the dead. The fragile nature of the TIE fighter encourages Imperial swarm tactics, but those who survive more than a few sorties are either incredibly lucky or very skilled in maximizing the TIE fighter's speed and maneuverability advantage. Academy pilots who make it to the Rebellion often increase their survivability by a factor of ten, thanks to a Rebel preference for shielded fighters with onboard hyperdrives.
  • Criminal: Pilots with a criminal record are usually smugglers who might be willing to work with the Rebels for the right price. The Rebels aren't common criminals; they can be trusted not to backstab the Pilot and are known to pay for their cargo on time with minimal funny business. Unfortunately, if Imperials catch wind of a smuggler supplying Rebels, the subsequent bounties attract a string of hunters. Because most of a smuggler's typical associates would sell them out in a Coruscant minute, smugglers are forced into working for the Rebels almost exclusively or joining them outright, at least until they can somehow clear their record.