Rigger

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)

Rigger Specialization Skills: Gunnery, Knowledge (Underworld), Mechanics and Resilience

While most Rebel Aces operate standard vehicles maintained by engineering crews, a surprising number bring their own private vehicles with them into a fight. The Rigger doesn't believe in risking his life from the seat of a stock-class anything, and is always adding, tweaking, and fine-tuning his vehicle not only to achieve the highest performance, but also to bring unexpected surprises with him to the battlefield.

Considering how outnumbered the Rebels find themselves in almost every engagement, it is no wonder that some of the Rebel Aces have taken it upon themselves to increase their survivability by learning about their vehicle. Riggers tend to have the highest rate of survivability in combat, and their offensive output at the start of a combat engagement can sometimes end a fight before it begins.

The Rigger is fascinated with the golden age of innovation in starship engineering that exists during the Galactic Civil War. He keeps up to date with the latest technical journals and even trolls shadowfeeds, following his favorite engineers. He has a number of friends in the underworld's outlaw tech community, who provide parts and kits to test on his vehicle of choice. If his ship is somehow blasted and left adrift, leave it to the Rigger to find some way to get it moving again.

The Rigger is resilient in the face of a challenge, and usually turns to technology to find a solution to most problems he might encounter. The Rigger believes in his customized ship's ability to outperform any other vessel on the battlefield. He has painstakingly finetuned it to fly faster and further, hit harder, and take more punishment than the competition. Despite his impressive ability to mitigate damage done to his ship, a Rigger is a cautious pilot, and bemoans every dent and scratch his ship accrues during a battle. If a Rigger finds he is still somehow outgunned, he can jury-rig a special trick for the enemy on the fly to regain the technological advantage

Most every team can benefit from a Rigger within their unit. Riggers bring a technological expertise that can apply to a variety of circumstances, and in combat, their vehicles are extremely durable offensive juggernauts. Riggers are also the only Ace to possess underworld contacts, which can prove useful for supplies, information, and even allies during missions. The biggest asset a Rigger brings to a team, though, is the element of surprise. Imperials don't expect an X-wing to have replaced its astromech slot with a bomb-bay—until the ordnance is already detonating across their carrier's bridge.

Potential Backgrounds

  • Entertainer: Riggers from the entertainment sector often work as demolition derby drivers, always upgrading their vehicles to make sure they have an extra surprise for the competition. Some racers are also Riggers, trusting only themselves to know every weld and rivet, and fine-tuning the engines so they know how to get every ounce of thrust from the engines. Riggers have a mechanical creativity envied by engineers, and are always cobbling together experimental modifications from spare parts and non-standard components.
  • Prototype Tester: Riggers from the testing world are often one-man operations, responsible for designing and prototyping their own modification kits for existing vehicles before getting in the cockpit and testing the designs first-hand. Riggers from this background have experience operating finicky systems and using non-standard parts. Their engineering background means that when they pilot, they can diagnose problems and come up with fixes on the fly, and their piloting background means that when they design new modifications, they have real world applications in mind.
  • Bush Pilot: Riggers with a background as bush pilots have access to a minimum of spare parts and limited facilities and tools, but somehow manage to turn the old family landspeeder into the fastest repulsordrive around. They are masters of jury-rigging, a hard-won skill gained through trial and error. Many Riggers are self-taught, and love nothing more than coming up with some new gadget to bolt onto their vehicle to make life a little bit easier or more exciting.
  • Clone Wars Veteran: Riggers from the Clone Wars era likely worked for a small planetary security force turned resistance in contested space. These groups were often shorthanded, so personnel were responsible for maintaining their own craft. The top pilots of the Separatists were often involved in the design and modification of their own vehicles, and most deviated sharply from standard production models. For the Republic, this practice was rare outside the Jedi, though toward the end of the Clone Wars, clones were encouraged to assert their individuality.
  • Imperial Defector: Riggers in the Empire are often frustrated Pilots in engineering programs or Imperial think tanks developing prototype TIE fighter variants. Imperial Riggers could also have functioned as test pilots. Most Riggers defect quickly; while a Rigger's tendency toward personalization and uniqueness goes against Imperial conformity, these same tendencies are celebrated by the Rebellion.
  • Criminal: Riggers are commonplace among the galactic underworld, where they work as smugglers, skip chasers, bounty hunters, and pirates. Every criminal wants to have the fastest vehicle with the latest armaments, and the Rigger makes sure he is the envy of all his contemporaries. Many of these modifications are illegal and carry long sentences even before a Rigger uses them to facilitate his illicit activities. Riggers from a life of crime lured to the Rebellion often fly their own customized fighters and transports into battle against the Empire.