Okay so I have been trying to think about how I would buff this class and make it feel more riddick-y since you basically start with worse gear than most classes, a massive downgrade in social status below even androids and actively gimp any group you are a part of worse than an Android would when SHTF.
So here's my pitch. Give Advantage to when one skill path (or chosen skill) is being used in a specific niche environment type.
This could be chosen by the player and argued with the GM or rolled on a table like
Roll 1d10: Environment Specialty
- 1 - Zero G
- 2-3 - Prisons
- 4-5 - Jungle
- 6-7 - Cramped Spaces
- 8 - "Home"
- 9 - While Others are Panicking
- 0 - In Complete Darkness
Alternative to any: Not Sober.
This at least means if they run off and do their loner thing they can at least do it well. These examples are deliberately vague in a way which allows them to be argued, but also rules a lot of possibilities out. "Home" is vague, but allows the concept to be mobile. A random room you got in Prospero's dream is not "home". A "Jungle" might also include the Maintenance Bay from Orphans. You could even tie this to the Crime Committed table, if you want.
A single chosen skill may be a better choice for the specialty, but Skill Path allows someone to gain Advantage to more than one skill, but for most of the Convict's playtime that's going to be two skills. Athletics/Rimwise and Hand to Hand, Jury-Rigging and Explosives etc. etc. It also means that said advantages are more likely to be useful while still limiting when they are useful by environment. This "path" would have to be at max, 1 trained, 1 Expert, and 1 master skill. Maybe you have an amazing underworld surgeon who is only truly great in his home office. Or a miner who has only ever been at their best under the pressure of a penal colony.
Testing would be needed to see whether a boost to one skill or a whole tree is enough.