Attack of the Swarm has called for several Profession (soldier) checks. Since none of us invested in that skill at level 1, many of us are putting ranks into it at level 2.
However, we couldn't help but notice that there is no such skill mentioned in the Core Rulebook. The Core Rulebook only lists the following Profession skills:
Common Intelligence-based Profession skills
Common Wisdom-based Profession skills
Common Charisma-based Profession skills
Aside from us being annoyed that the module called for a skill check we had no way to expect, as it doesn't exist, it doesn't bother us too much that the Profession list is expanding As many professions as there surely are in an intergalactic society, it's kind of to be expected. However, we're all at a loss as to what the relevant ability score for Profession (soldier) should be. The module makes no mention of the relevant ability (that I'm aware of), and as I said, it doesn't appear in the Core Rulebook. So what are we to do?
Has there been any clarification on this point? The closest we can find is Profession (mercenary).
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A) Those are only the COMMON professions. That list was only ever intended to be a guideline and examples of common profession titles and mental stat pairings. It is definitely not a comprehensive list.
B) The mechanism for deciding which stat pairs with which profession is mostly based on the players' choice. As a GM I might ask for some justification from my players.
Just an FYI if you think Profession Mercenary would work in place of Profession Soldier, just let them roll that too, or any other similar profession. Usually Profession rolls are kinds of catch-all that some of the other skills don't represent well, like say Tactics or Leadership.
Does the module allow for some uses of a profession not listed in the CRB, or effectively require that skill to be possessed by the party? One of these provides handy examples of a relevant profession coming in handy I'd someone has it, and is good. The other represents an unreasonable expectation, and is a problem.
The module tends to say "Use either this skill from the CRB or a Profession (Soldier) check." The DCs are often different as well. There are some instances where a Profession (Soldier) check can reveal information. The adventure can proceed with no players having Profession (Soldier).
I think it is a shame that the "player section" of book 1 did not mention that players would consider that particular profession when creating characters; though given the back story of the 5th it's as likely as not none of the players are professional soldiers.
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I'm in book three now with my group and there was no scene where you "have to" have this skill. Most times there were other ways or the skillcheck only gave additional information. Also it's YOUR game, if you want to pass this info to your players, let them roll for something similar (e.g. I let a player with the mercenary background roll on culture (including their theme bonus) instead).
That is the nice part on Starfinder (and every P&P RPG) YOU (the DM) make the rules, adapt them if needed!
Profession is written to be an open ended skill in the first place, so it not showing up in the CRB is fine.
It's a misstep on the book's part to not include a mention of this skill somewhere in the player's guide though.