Tactician

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

Commander Career Skills: Coercion, Cool, Discipline, Knowledge (Warfare), Leadership, Perception, Ranged (Light) and Vigilance

Tactician Specialization Skills: Brawl, Discipline, Leadership and Ranged (Heavy)

All of the victories in space, in the air, and even on the ground mean nothing if the winning force cannot hold the territory taken. At the end of the day, a few troops with blasters and bombs can disable any installation, disrupt an entire defensive grid, and create the conditions of victory. They do so under the courageous and savvy leadership of a Tactician.

Tacticians often insist on being able to fight even without weapons if called upon to do so, and many prefer heavier weapons for combat. Additionally, they are the ones who must be true leaders, even in the face of the worst possible odds.

When all is going well, a Tactician tends to be the person the rest of a team grouses about over too much work, monotonous duties, and repeated training. However, when the blaster fire is flying and people are screaming and dying all around, the team looks to the Tactician to lead them, whether it's out of danger or into glory. A Tactician assesses the situation at all times, looking for the best way to accomplish the mission and keep his people alive. His team depends on him for these skills.

By Alliance philosophy, Tacticians are made, not born. Battlefield promotions happen constantly, for Alliance ground forces suffer the greatest losses constantly. Those who show any capacity for leadership are brought up in rank rapidly when the need calls. Others are cultivated more fully for the most important and dangerous missions. The Alliance is blessed with a high proportion of talented individuals; what it needs are special individuals who can organize and lead them.

Potential Backgrounds

  • Defector: Serving with ground forces isn’t exactly the most prestigious occupation in the Imperial war machine. Nevertheless, the Imperial Army is a powerful organization with limitless personnel and excellent equipment. Former Imperial Tacticians get acquainted with the brutality of combat early on, and many of them question the ethics of terror tactics. Taking ground is one thing, but murdering innocents serves no tangible purpose. It isn’t unusual for such individuals to defect to the Rebel Alliance, and some view their decision as the only thing that can save their soul.
  • Citizen Soldier: Civilians trained in tactics are a rarity, and those who are usually come from law enforcement backgrounds. Other Tacticians were once war scholars and historians, familiar with small and large unit tactics due to their chosen area of study. Still, there are those who participate in mock combats, either on holographic tabletops or in skirmishes on civilian “stun ranges,” where fun and safety are the rule rather than the exception. Though they may be derided by the trained soldiers they serve with, many find their experiences a boon on the battlefield.
  • The Failed Leader: Every Tactician makes mistakes, but it’s the size of those mistakes and the cost they inflict in lives that they fear the most. Whether a Tactician planned a failed raid on an enemy facility, or chose to hit a flank the Empire had secretly reinforced, he’s lost a significant number of troops due to his own miscalculations. His own self-confidence is shaken, and he feels—rightly or wrongly—that the trust his troops and his commanding officer have placed in him has been weakened too.