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My group is starting a new scum and villainy campaign without force users. I've decided to finally play a droid. Going with a scoundrel, a tech specialist.

Can a droid use tech specialist to upgrade himself?

I don't see why not although you need to remember he can only get one modification. I'd most likely include the -5 penalty that beings often take if they do work on themselves.

Yeah, I'd allow it. Nothing in the rules prevents it, and it makes sense for certain character types. Like StevenO said, I'd apply a -5 penalty for working on yourself. Consider having other PCs help your droid to counteract that pesky penalty.

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I'm going to disagree with the other posters at this point and say that, no, you cannot use Tech Specialist on a droid PC, for the simple reason that at that point, it's not a piece of equipment anymore, it's a full-on player character.

There are already numerous ways to trick out your PC droid, even in just the core rulebook, so I don't know that this needs to be an option for them. A PC using a droid under the protocol format as a glorified blaster rifle? Heck yes they'd be able to use Tech Specialist on it, but I don't think I'd allow a PC droid to do so.

Besides, if you want to negate that nasty -5 to self-Mechanics checks, there's a pretty sweet prestige class for droids that can let you do that.

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I'm not following your argument here. Droids are explicitly listed as a thing you can tech spec, entirely apart from equipment. They have unique modification options. Even if a droid isn't a piece of equipment, it's inarguably still a droid...

It's still a droid, yet, but it's also a droid that has many benefits that normal droids do not, and cannot hope to compete with. You can tech spec a blaster pistol, a suit of armor, a tool kit, a ship, or a droid companion - but it breaks down for me when the object in question has a player sitting behind the stats.

Tech Specialist always has and always will fall into the "modify equipment" (which non-PC droids tend to fall into - they're purchased to help with certain tasks, even if they are given full characterization at the table) vein of the game.

But that's just my personal thoughts on it. I'm honestly not sure what RAW states on the issue, but it's how I run it at my table, personally.

As always, YMMV.

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Don't get me wrong but while a PC Droid can certainly be broken I think allowing one to use Tech Specialist on itself could be the least of your problems. Assuming you're looking at the Droid Traits available through Tech Specialist (+2 DEX, INT or STR; double for Superior Tech) an important consideration is making sure they are priced accordingly. Also remember they are allowed only ONE such modification.

Even if you want to say "you can't use Tech Specialization on yourself," what's to keep a droid from finding/building another chassis "of its same model," use Tech Specialist on that chassis, and then transfer/download itself into that other chassis? If you just consider how broken that can become Tech Specialization no longer looks so bad.