Found someone, you have, I would say, hmmm?

–Master Yoda

Experience the life of a powerful Force sensitive with the Star Wars®: Force and Destiny roleplaying game. Those able to sense and wield the Force are rare, but they hail from all walks of life and all backgrounds: rich and poor, empowered and enslaved, born in cities of the Core Worlds and native to the wilderness of the Outer Rim. All living things are equal in the ways of the Force.

Today’s preview of Force and Destiny explores the species, career, and specialization options found in the Core Rulebook. The species you choose shapes not only your character’s body, but your base characteristics. Career and specialization determine what skills and talents you possess, as well as the direction in which your character will grow. Fortunately, the Core Rulebook offers eight different species, six careers, and eighteen specializations to choose from.

Marked for Greatness

The species of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook have all produced well-known Force users, from members of the Jedi council to warriors of the Sith. You could, for instance, take on the same species as Darth Maul: the Zabrak. This species once commonly served as mercenaries for Sith, and their culture is characterized by a violent savagery. Some Zabrak use their warlike tendencies for good, such as resisting Imperial domination and fighting to aid the oppressed.

Zabrak possess strong wills and good survival skills to help them withstand their civilization’s brutality. They are physically distinguished by their horns and their intricate facial tattoos, adopted during a traditional rite of passage, the patterns shaped by family tradition, personal choice, or significant life events. The horns and tattoos combine to give Zabrak a fearsome countenance they can use to intimidate other species.

The Togruta Ahsoka Tano traveled throughout the galaxy as a Padawan during the Clone Wars, and took on the role of military commander despite her young age. Her innate Togruta cunning and strong collaborative instincts certainly contributed to her successes. Having evolved as pack hunters, Togrutas still prefer to live and work in close communities, and they maintain a deep affinity with the natural world. Their tall, hollow horns are instruments of echolocation, granting Togrutas a heightened perception of their surroundings. No native Force tradition exists in Togruta culture, but their ability to understand and respond to their environment suggests that Togrutas possess a native sensitivity to the Force even without a clear awareness of it.

The human-like Mirialans have a profound respect for Force sensitives and, before the Clone Wars, at least one Mirialian was always in residence at the Jedi temple. Mirialans also have firm religious beliefs about fate, which have fostered a tradition of ritually tattooing significant life events upon the body, somewhat akin to the Zabrak tattooing tradition. Successes are displayed on a person’s face or hands, but poor life choices are also public knowledge. Mirial is a frigid, arid Outer Rim planet, so Mirialans have evolved to be fast and agile in order to survive in this harsh environment. They are fearsome martial artists and highly disciplined, able to focus intently on a task even in the most brutal conditions.

Unbeatable Career Paths

Even when the Jedi Order still existed, there were several career paths a Force sensitive could follow within it. Now, under the Empire, you must define your path without the Jedi Order’s guidance. Force and Destiny offers six careers to suit your character’s natural aptitudes and long-term goals, as well as your own style of playing.

If you want to play a skilled fighter, you might look at the Guardian and Warrior careers. Driven by a strong sense of compassion and responsibility, Guardians use their combat prowess and leadership abilities to defend those in need and keep the peace. Warriors are focused combatants, ready to risk their lives to defeat enemies and protect loved ones, yet Warriors risk falling towards to the dark side because of their aggressive tendencies.

Your calling might be more diplomatic. Consulars strive to settle disputes, smooth negotiations, and bring diverse groups closer together. They might use the Force to heal physical and mental wounds, or unite scholarship with statesmanship. Mystics delve deeply into the mysteries of the Force, learning a wide range of Force powers, relying upon the Force to guide their decisions and shape the advice they give to others.

Perhaps your character is restless, hungry to explore as much of the galaxy as possible. Seekers are adaptable, pragmatic, and usually nomadic individuals who go wherever they are needed, perhaps using their talents to fight hunger and disease, perhaps working with a group of Smugglers or Colonists. Sentinels can be even more pragmatic. These Force users hide in the brutal darknesses of great cities, utilizing their stealth and deception to skirt unfair laws, enforce justice, and save lives.

Unsurpassable Specializations

Within your chosen career you will take up a specialization. The Force and Destiny Core Rulebook offers eighteen different specializations, each with a singular set of skills and talents. The Shadow specialization within the Sentinel career, for instance, gives you the opportunity to develop the Sleight of Mind and Codebreaking talents, among others, so that you can pass through the streets unseen and decipher encrypted criminal, corporate, or Imperial communications. As a Seeker, you can choose the Pathfinder specialization to gain the Forager talent, which lets you find food, water, and shelter easily, and the Animal Empathy talent, which lets you use the Force to handle and even tame animals.

The Advisor specialization in the Mystic career increases your ability to negotiate and deceive. The talents open to Advisors transform scholarly knowledge into a practical tool that can be used to acquire rare objects or temporarily increase your Force rating. If you’re a Warrior hoping to join the Rebellion, you might want to pick up the Starfighter Ace specialization and gain the skills Astrogation, Mechanics, Gunnery, and Piloting.

Each career in Force and Destiny also includes a specialization dedicated to one of the six different forms of lightsaber combat– we’ll explore those in a later preview. If you find more than one specialization appealing, you can always add another, even specializations that lie outside of your career. Perhaps you want to become a Pathfinder and a Starfighter Ace, or a Consular who can wield her lightsaber like a Warrior.

Make Your Choice

The Force doesn’t differentiate between species, background, or homeworld, but manifests itself in infinite ways. So you are not limited to the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook as you create your Force sensitive character, but free to pick species and non-career specializations from Edge of the Empire™ and Age of Rebellion™ as well. No matter what species, career, or specialization you choose, as a Force sensitive you are bound to something far greater than yourself, about to embark on a journey to make your character into someone truly great.

Pre-order the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook from your local retailer today!