Scholar

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

Colonist Career Skills: Charm, Deception, Knowledge (Core Worlds), Knowledge (Education), Knowledge (Lore), Leadership, Negotiation and Streetwise

Scholar Specialization Skills: Knowledge (Outer Rim), Knowledge (Underworld). Knowledge (Xenology) and Perception

At first, the idea of a Scholar wandering with a bunch of ne'er-do-wells in the Outer Rim might seem a bit odd, if not downright ridiculous. However, with all of the dangers and wonders of "a thousand thousand worlds," having someone around who actually knows something more than how to reload a heavy blaster could be exceedingly useful under any number of circumstances. This is especially true when a group is faced with something truly unknown, or needs to find something that simple tracking alone cannot locate. The Scholar's skills emphasize both his role as a font of information and his keen awareness of his surroundings.

Even in the Outer Rim, there are those who have a keen respect for knowledge and learning. Even criminal overlords find having some "brains" around helps them when they want to expand their operations or exploit a new opportunity. Other Scholars, however, are far more interested in getting out into the galaxy, seeing for themselves the things they wish to study, and digging around in ancient places for the lost knowledge they want to uncover.

A Scholar in a group is very likely of the held researcher variety; seeking allies with physical capabilities who can defend him is a matter of simple expediency. It may be that he's signed on with some kind of operation that actually has no direct impact on his research, but the group is likely to travel to places he wishes to go, which suits his desires well.

Potential Backgrounds

  • The Opportunist: Scholars may become opportunists when they travel to a settlement as part of their research. They may be studying some local phenomenon, or even studying the colony itself. In any case, their reception may depend entirely on their demeanor. A polite or deferential Scholar may earn the amused tolerance or even respect of the locals, while an arrogant or superior Scholar probably breeds resentment and hostility.
  • The Grizzled Settler: A Scholar may be a colonist with a deep love of learning and knowledge. However, given his finances and resources, a proper education and career in academia was always out of reach. Thus he became a self-taught researcher or historian, but without the credentials that establish him as a "proper" Scholar in the eyes of the larger galaxy.
  • The Fugitive: A Scholar could have been a respected researcher for a corporation, until he made a terrible discovery in the course of his work. He realized that his invention or research could cause terrible harm, and he doubted his employer could resist the temptation of using it. His only recourse was to flee, vanishing from galactic society as best he could. In this case, the corporation doesn't just want the Scholar, they want the highly valuable knowledge he possesses.
  • The Local Leader: Most colonies put their children to work on farms and ranches at an early age, but colonies with hopes of expanding their little town into something resembling the civilization of the Core benefit greatly from a schoolmaster. A Scholar may have served the educational needs of the youth in a community or collection of far-flung hamlets.
  • The Idealist: Scholars often make their way into unexplored regions of space in the hopes of learning and cataloguing new information, often to then educate others on the subject of the worlds, societies, and phenomena that they discover. While it can be extremely dangerous to plunge into unknown space, it can also lead to academic discoveries that would never have occurred otherwise. Even a sparsely inhabited desert world might contain incredible biodiversity, with new species of flora and fauna whose unique properties can unlock the cures to dozens of currently unbeatable diseases or be home to sentients whose particular technological innovations can overcome problems long thought to be intractable. An idealist Scholar in the Outer Rim knows the power of education, and hopes to discover new knowledge that can help the galactic community at large.