The Rogue... A quick overview...
Of all my character Archetypes I have experimented with this one is my favourite. If you've ever played online multiplayer games like WoW or what have you you know rogues are all over the board. They are characters that are troublemakers or have unique unorthodox sets of skills.
Rogues will spit in your eye, then befriend you, then betray you, then befriend you again if it suits them. This is part of the fun of playing these characters. The versatility of personalties and motives that makes them can be either complex or just simple. The characters can be anything, Jedi, Sith, Dark Jedi, Pilots , Soldiers, Merchants, smugglers or just an over all mix of whatever you want them to be.
How a Rogue operates..... A breakdown.
When you first make a rogue, build their motives first. What's your guy after, money, fame, ships?
The motive is like the core of the character. When you have a clear motive the decisions your character makes along the way are all streamlined to your character making them more believable. For example most of my characters are with the Ravens and are the Smuggler/Adventurer type.
This allows me to flesh out their motives which are dual motives.
Money and whatever agenda the Ravens have. Making the Ticon family come to life gave me a third motive, family loyalty.
As a rogue you should operate with the mindset of say Han Solo or Lando Calrissian. No way is the right way but these are common characters you can pick and choose traits from. think scummy or savvy, political or criminal?
For example my character Colap is built on the traits of a famous Starcraft Character Jim Raynor. I took what he is like and moulded it to fit the SW universe. When I play I imagine if I was a scoundrel with a set cause what would I do? How would I act, how do I feel?
My other Rogue character and quickly becoming my favourite is Lisa.
Lisa wasn’t built on an existing character but really a unique concept I've been toying with for a while. I wanted to make a rogue Dark Jedi, but not your typical lightsaber wielding zealot. To be truly unique I made her a sniper, medic and an excellent TK user. This mixture is what sets her apart and adds depth to her repertoire of moves.
Lisa operates within the Ravens but has no real discipline. She gets into trouble, she gets out of trouble, she just generally raises hell.
What about weapons and armor?
What about them? Weapons and armor are an extension of the rogue. They have some pretty unique fighting styles ranging from DPS to Assassination types. In reality in the wide world of sci fi and fantasy rogues are the sneaky types. So thus rolling around in a big suit of armor with a massive gun might be your choice, but it makes you more of a soldier or tank.
Most rogues I roll go light, no fancy massive armor or big ol guns. I tend to write them as light armour, light weapons but strong intellect. The sneaky factor of the rogue is an intellect thing to me. Being devious and resourceful makes it a lot more interesting. Making your character do more with less really brings out the class in all it's glory.
In closing go with what you want, but tailor it to your characters strengths and weaknesses. Are they a sneaky cloak and dagger type, a ranged type? Or are they pugilists, relying on fists of steel. Are they political? Do they manipulate others into doing dirty work or do it themselves?
Subclasses of the Rogue
Subclasses of the archetype, pilots, smugglers, assassins, robbers, pirates slicers the list goes on. when creating this archetype you have tons and tons of options. Mercenary’s are popular these days, which is interesting. Most mercs don’t have a faction so it requires more time and management to build a rep and you have to be careful to avoid pissing off major factions.
That's all I got for now, hopefully it helps, now go make a rogue and have fun!
