This section will cover any major updates to the character's story as the campaign unfolds.
- Please provide a brief (at least one short paragraph) backstory for your character.
Roshu Lentaja grew up moving between space stations with his father, who worked as a station maintenance tech and mechanic. He doesn’t really remember his mother, as his father never talked about her much. They finally settled on a Space Station on a major hyperlane when Roshu was 16, as his dad was made Maintenance Chief of the station. Roshu works under him as a maintenance tech for a few years, but meets Jadrek, the Duros leader of a mercenary squadron that mostly headquarters out of the station between jobs and serves as the station’s defense force, mostly by reputation. Very few pirates would choose to target a station with ties to a mercenary outfit, after all. Jadrek shares dog-fighting stories with Roshu and taught him a bit about modding starfighters.
Roshu started sneaking into the training simulator for Jadrek’s squadron to learn to fly. After a few weeks, he was “caught” by Jadrek (who knew the entire time due to the auto-recorder). Jadrek offered to train him as his training recordings showed promise, and Roshu agreed. When Roshu turned 20, he was hired on to the mercenary crew and did jobs with them for about a decade. However, contrary to Jadrek’s stories of adventure, the job was mostly low-action escort missions and such. Pirates tended to decide to look for other targets rather than tangle with a half dozen modded-out Z-95s flown by professional mercs, so Roshu didn’t need to fight more than a handful of times over the years. He acquitted himself well enough when he did, though, and became somewhat cocky about his skill-set, not realizing that the kind of poorly trained pirates he’d faced off with were nothing special.
One day, Jadrek’s crew headed out on another escort mission, but Roshu stayed at the station because it was his father’s birthday. While the squadron was gone, a rival mercenary group attacked the station. Roshu launched in his Z-95 to try to fight them off, despite being heavily outnumbered. He went in thinking his skills were equal to the task, but the enemy this time was a disciplined group of mercs and he quickly realized he was in over his head. Luckily, there happened to be a Jedi passing through the station at the time, Samara Wincott [[subject to review]], who also launched and flew so well against the numerically superior mercenary forces that they quickly turned tail and ran after she disabled three of their fighters and damaged the freighter they brought with them. Roshu did his best to stay on the Jedi’s wing to protect her, and managed not to embarrass himself, even getting some good hits in on an Ugly before they disengaged. But he knew he never would’ve been able to stop them on his own.
Roshu approached the Jedi after she landed. “I’ve never seen someone fly like that, was that the Force?” Samara says yes, and to Roshu’s great shock, she tells him they could feel his abilities with the Force during the fight. PLACEHOLDER is Force Sensitive and could learn those same skills! - Why does your character want to be a jedi? He was dismayed by his sense of powerlessness when the mercenaries threatened his home. If the Jedi hadn’t been there, who knows what would’ve happened? He wants to develop his abilities and become stronger, strong enough that he can stick up for those who need protection. And he really, really wants to learn to fly like that Jedi.
- Are
there aspects of your character’s background (people, events, places)
that were more formative to your character’s current personal
development?
Jadrek’s stories filled Roshu’s head with tales of adventure and dashing starfighter combat. Roshu snuck into the station’s Z-95 simulator and learned how to fly. When they were caught by Jadrek, they thought they were in trouble, but after reviewing the recording, Jadrek instead offered to train them as they seemed to have talent. They end up working with Jadrek as part of his mercenary squadron for a decade, doing escort runs and other low-risk work. Over this time period, they learn the ropes of being a fighter pilot and mechanic, but their actual combat experience is fairly low. - Describe the kinds of personal relationships you might have had in your past?
Father: warm but busy, consumed by work to support them. Hard working mechanic, keeps the space station running.
Jadrek: mentor who fostered their love of starfighters. Spent a lot of time together, learning to fly and also how to hot-rod a fighter.
Friends on the station: good bunch of sentients. Good to have a lum ale with, but he’s fairly standoffish/doesn’t make close, fast friends easily. - What is most Jedi-like about your character? What is least Jedi-like about your character? Most Jedi-like: the ability to step back from himself and see the world around them as it is without emotions clouding the situation, an extension of their situational awareness in combat piloting, and essential to being a good troubleshooter as a repair tech and modder. Least Jedi-like: tends to jump into things without thinking ahead.
- Does your character have a strong idea of the Force? Do they experience it in a certain way or is it a mystery to them? They know little of the force. They’ve always just had gut feelings that turned out right every time, lucky breaks going their way, and they also seemed to have superb situational awareness in combat situations. It was only a few weeks ago that a Jedi crossed their path and informed them that they have Force potential. They’re excited to arrive on Dantooine and start learning, but as of now, it is mostly a mystery to them.
- Some
characters have dark (or great) secrets that they keep locked away from
even their dearest friends. Does your character harbor a great regret
or a secret aspiration that is central to their character? Nope, he’s lived a pretty straightforward life.
- What elements of your character are you most excited to explore, whether narrative or mechanical? I foresee utilizing the respec mechanic for this character as they grow in understanding and connection to the Force. Their journey will likely be one of discovery and re-alignment, going from someone who is mostly concerned with showing off their combat skills (typical hotshot pilot and rigger) to, hopefully, someone who begins to take the Force more seriously, broadening and deepening their connection with the Force until it makes sense to respec from primary career of Ace to that of Seeker (well, likely Seeker, not 100% sure on that, it’ll depend on how they grow as a character).
- Does your character have a long-term plan, mechanically? See above. This character will always be a pilot and mechanic, and is currently built with that as their focus. I expect to eventually transition/respec them into becoming more focused on the Force, with pilot/mechanic as their secondary (though still good) skill-set. Nothing is set in stone, of course, and a lot of their progress and goal shifting will emerge through game play.
- The
Dark Side tempts each Jedi differently. How does it prey upon your
character's emotional weakness and what makes them susceptible to it? Right now, he wants to show himself to be an amazing pilot, to be seen as useful and even more than that, the “best” of the new Initiates. The Dark Side has a clear and easy path to tempting him to short-term gains, and it’ll be interesting to see how he reacts. I’m excited to develop this side of the character more through play.
- Would you rather start your character as an Initiate or as a Padawan? Definitely an Initiate. They know nothing of the Force right now.