The Path Less Traveled is a regular series in which I’ll be examining a single specialization from the Star Wars Edge of the Empire/Age of Rebellion/Force and Destiny lines of games. The purpose and hope is to take a look at a specialization that perhaps many players might overlook or ones that are somewhat new to the game lines. We will look at strengths and weaknesses, synergies with other species and specializations, roles in a party, how to incorporate them into a campaign, and perhaps some uses which are not always obvious at first glance.
Overview
Of all the specializations in the Soldier career, the Vanguard might be the most unique and the most avoided. When you look at the career and see things like Commando, Medic, Sharpshooter, and Heavy, the Vanguard is one that doesn’t stand out for characters that want to be a “Shooty McShoot Face” type. But the Vanguard offers up talents that no other Soldier can get, and the Vanguard fights in ways that no other Soldier can. The Vanguard’s main objective is to attack first and attack hard. A Vanguard wants to act first, get in close, and overwhelm the enemy, putting them back on their heels. A Vanguard is a Ranged (Light or Heavy) fighter, but one that fights up close generally. The Vanguard can take a lot of punishment, as they are generally the first ones into the fray. Vanguards get the jump on their opponents and try to act before the enemy knows what hits them.
Skills and Characteristics
Being in the Soldier career, the character gets Athletics, Brawl, Knowledge (Warfare), Medicine, Melee, Ranged (Light), Ranged (Heavy), and Survival as career skills. But what sets the Vanguard apart is the acquisition of Athletics, Cool, Vigilance, and Resilience as additional career skills. So, both initiative skills become known, as well as Resilience and a possible additional free rank in Athletics.
With the Soldier career skills, one would usually focus on Brawn and Agility as a general rule. However, a Vanguard, I would argue, has other characteristics to possibly address. Cool and Vigilance are all important to a Vanguard, and a good Vanguard shouldn’t just focus on the fighting characteristics. Willpower and Presence thus become characteristics that a good Vanguard should address. This makes character creation full of difficult choices. To be a great Vanguard, one would want to focus on combat characteristics, but also try to focus on multiple non-combat characteristics as well.
Species
So what species should one consider if eyeing a Vanguard? Well as you can see above, Brawn and Agility are important for a Soldier, but then Willpower and Presence are critical for a Vanguard. As ranged combat is a Vanguard’s specialty, let’s focus on Agility, Willpower, and Presence. Gungan, Mirialan, and Sullustan all have 3s in Agility, and 2s in Willpower and Presence. If you want to really focus on Willpower and Agility, the Selonian has 3s in both. The Aleena and Sathari are also quite strong in those three characteristics. I would definitely look at any of those to build yourself a great Vanguard.
If you would like to focus first on Presence, the Gran, Falleen, and Twi’lek could be strong options as well. Any of those can, with a little XP at character creation, give you a Vanguard with 3s in Agility, Willpower, and Presence, and you’d have a solid base for building a good Vanguard.
Talents
Looking at the Talent tree for the Vanguard, it’s hard to make out specific paths through the tree that define certain archetypes. However, the left and right sides have some similarities with the talents from top to bottom. The left two columns have several talents making the Vanguard an excellent bodyguard. In this tree, you’ll see two ranks of Body Guard, Improved and Supreme Body Guard. All these talents make the Vanguard able to spring into action protecting team members when the fight starts. Add in ranks of Toughened (there are four ranks in the entire tree) and Conditioned, and your character gains abilities to help stay upright when the shooting starts. Moving Target is also a talent that can keep you upright. If you’re already acted during the round, you gain one ranged defense per rank of Moving Target (there is one more on the right side of the tree).
The right side of the talent tree is what makes the Vanguard fantastic at initiative and acting fast and first when combat begins. Two ranks of Rapid Reaction give you the ability to add successes to initiative checks in exchange for strain. Suppressing Fire allows you and teammates to inflict strain on failed combat checks against enemies, and you’ll find two ranks in the right side of the tree. Point Blank adds one damage per rank for a ranged attack made at short range or engaged range. This plays to the Vanguard’s ability to get into the fight quickly, get in close, and start shooting. Playing to this theme, even more, is Dynamic Fire, which lets you suffer strain to reduce the difficulty of making ranged combat checks while engaged with an enemy. Lastly is the premier Initiative skill, Seize the Initiative. Once per session, you may use a maneuver to make a hard Athletics check. If passed, all your PCs can take all their turns immediately. This is a massive talent and can change the tide of any battle. Imagine a boss fight where all the members of your party get to go first before the bad guy gets to act. This is the best talent in the tree by far.
Specialization Synergy and Character Concepts
I likely could write a paragraph talking about how a Vanguard syncs up with each and every other specialization that there is. But for sake of space and time (yours and mine) I’ll focus on a few that I think would work fantastically, and ones not commonly thought of. For example, I will not focus on the other Soldier specializations, as those are too obvious. So, while this is hardly a comprehensive list, here are a few possibilities of some great character builds.
A Bodyguard or Mercenary Soldier from Edge of the Empire could make for a great character. The Bodyguard is an all-around weapon and great guy and the Mercenary Soldier is the ranged weapon and military tactic expert. Combine those with a soldier who specializes in acting first, while possessing some Bodyguard skills themselves, would create a potent soldier that can work quickly and with devastating results on the battlefield.
A Tactician could make an interesting choice with a Vanguard. The Bodyguard talents give even more ranks for the Vanguard in that area. But the Tactician also specializes in things that will amplify the combat and quick strike abilities of the Vanguard. More ranks of Toughened help keep the PC up and Confidence ranks will allow the PC to act quickly even in the face of fear. Rope in Field Commander and Improved Field Commander and the Vanguard can keep his own team able to maneuver faster than the opposition and get in position for the fight.
The Infiltrator could combine well with the Vanguard as well. With the combat abilities above, you could add the ability to stay out of harm’s way with Dodge, Defensive Stance, and Master of Shadows. You’ll also add Brawl and Melee abilities to the ranged combat skills of the Vanguard, making him an all-around fighter.
Lastly, one choice that might be interesting, the Recruit from the Age of Rebellion core book. The Recruit has some basic, average combat skills that, normally, don’t look sexy to a player. But to a Vanguard it would fill several gaps and skills that he doesn’t have. First, you can get many combat skills as career skills, ones the Vanguard doesn’t have to start. Many more ranks of Toughened, add Enduring, and Grit, and you have a PC that can stay up a lot longer in fights as he runs into the start. When you start the fights, you have to last the longest. Second Wind will help get strain back, and Quick Draw and Jump Up will let the PC not spend maneuvers on simple acts during combat.
So there you have it… my take on the Vanguard. I just might have to get this on the table soon!
Scott Alden
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