Yes, I am replying to my own question now.
What does the Old Rep need? Prior to DotF, I would say that they needed:
1) Better damage output
2) More "spoiler" abilities
3) Movement breakers and the ability to have their many melee pieces survive to adjacency
4) Ways to boost the older pieces, especially the uniques, who are generally pretty lousy
Now, the V-Set Bastila alone helped address the first two issues (although there is still probably room for improvement to bring them up to par with the other factions).
Here are a few possible ideas I have for pieces (including, in some cases, links):
Admiral Forn Dodonna: My current version of her is pretty straightforward: Bravado for Unique Old Rep allies; Impulsive Shot for non-Unique followers. The fun is in finding the right balance to take advantage of that... although with the addition of Bastila Shan, I wonder if the Impulsive Shot commander effect is just too much? (And also if Bravado is as necessary as I once thought it was.)
As a sidenote, she also gives Rookie to Old Rep Recruits. If she goes away, I think SOMEBODY needs to have this commander effect to help those poor suckers!
www.bloomilk.com/Custom/6518/admiral-forn-dodonnaArca Jeth: Arca is a fan favorite and I've seen many different versions of him through the years. I don't have a currently-statted version, but I've been thinking about an ability called "Sheltering Stance" or something like that, that he would probably have, and also offer as a commander effect.
Sheltering Stance would allow a character with a defensive lightsaber ability (Block, Deflect, Reflect, Defense) to defend an adjacent ally with it. This is sort of a Force-related version of Energy Shield, and I think would go a long way toward helping with "survival to adjacency."
Echani Dueling Master: This non-Unique fills a similar role to Arca, so there is not really a need for both of them. He has Energy Shields, and also a commander effect that grants Close-Quarters Combat and Teras Kasi Style. I think these are all abilities that could be useful to the Old Rep (especially the melee pieces), but on bloomilk, there were some concerns about game balance.
www.bloomilk.com/Custom/6555/echani-dueling-masterG0-T0: I don't have a specific idea for him. I just like the character! I also thought it would be interesting to have a piece that helped the Old Rep synergize with droids and/or the Fringe.
I've also thought about a special ability that would allow him to be unique but not count as unique (I think I've seen people call it Anonymity or similar).
Gryph: I think most of you are familiar with my take on Gryph, which is based around the combo of Diplomat and Disruptive. Not as necessary thanks to Bastila, but I think he still provides a viable alternative, since hte characters are designed so differently and serve very different purposes.
Post-V-Set, options to make him cheaper (and more limited) might be replacing Diplomat and Disruptive with Aggressive Negotiations and Distraction, respectively.
I think the commander effect (which currently provides swap capabilities) is an aread for improvement, although I still kinda like it because he's so very different from other swap commanders.
www.bloomilk.com/Custom/6378/gryphHylo Visz: I don't know much about Hylo, but I know she's sort of a smuggler queen in the upcoming Old Rep video game. Like G0-T0, she might provide Fringe synergy. I envisioned her with a commander effect that goes something like this:
"Pilot allies gain X. Smuggler allies gain Y." Although that will primarily help Fringe pieces (and give Dash a good reason to be in an Old Rep squad), it would also help old Carth and new Atton (and, I imagine, new Carth).
Kerra Holt: The main character of the Knight Errant comic book. I modeled her after Dass Jennir (since the two actually have a lot in common, in terms of situation, outlook, and capability). Paired with the Old Rep Senator, she becoems sort of "Kerra-Cannon."
I think she provides something useful, although she may overlap too much with other shooters like Atton and Carth.
www.bloomilk.com/Custom/6747/kerra-holtKrynda Draay: Krynda provides an interesting kind of movement breaker. I still think she's a fun idea, but she might be too much, especially paired with Revanchist or Gryph (if the commander effect remains intact).
www.bloomilk.com/Custom/6520/krynda-draayOld Republic Gunslinger: A non-Unique piece designed to work with Hylo Visz (although I actually like him even without her).
www.bloomilk.com/Custom/6670/old-republic-gunslingerRodian Arms Dealer: Could be unique, not be non-Unique. This guy was always envisioned as a Swiss-army knife kind of guy like the Rodian Trader, maybe with 2 or 3 abilities. Stuff like:
Bondar Crystals (Allies with lightsabers gain Jolt against adjacent targets)
Renewable Droid Shields (Unique droid allies gain Shieds 2)
Improved Scope (Allies within 6 with 20 damage and non-melee attacks gain Sniper [or Accurate Shot]).
Between Bodar Crystal and Renewable Droid Shields, I think PROXY suddenly becomes an interesting Old Rep recruit!
Tarsus Valorum: Tarsus has long been one of my controvesial customs--he allows non-Unique REPUBLIC characters without Order 66 to be in an Old Rep squad, giving the Old Rep more options (about 20 new pieces, mostly Senate Guard types, Wooks, Gungun, and a few low-end shooters).
I don't know; I still like him.
www.bloomilk.com/Custom/6517/tarsus-valorumLooking at things from a mechanics and functionality point of view, I've been pondering three special abilities as pre-reqs for commander effects:
Ambush
It's a Trap!
Recon
Revanchist provides Ambush to allies; other than that commander effect, currently no pieces other than Savage/Droid characters have Amush, so even on a Fringe commander, this would be a nice net bonus for the Old Rep.
The OR Security officer gives It's a Trap! and Recon to non-Unique Old Rep allies (A New Rep commander effect also gives It's a Trap! to non-Unique allies, which means if that's a Fringe gateway, the New Rep can get it too, which isn't terrible).
Those commander effects aside, there are only slightly more than a dozen pieces with each ability (and the number gets smaller when you factor out droids or, potentially, commanders).
Just some stuff (okay, a lot of stuff!) to think about.
