One of my players (we are using knight rules) wanted a Rodian Cryogen Whip at start.
In the past I've heard that most species specific items are limited at start to those species like a bowcaster to wookies, but I couldn't find this in the rules when I looked.
Is that true and if so where does it stand?
Generally, restrictions on gear are provided in the form of Cost, Rarity, and the details of Star Wars fiction that the group will be using for the campaign. This extends to species traits, the ability to use the Force, and so on.
If an item is considered to be rare, and/or limited to a specific set of individuals, it will indicate this in the write-up for the item. For example, the bowcaster itself (EotE, p160, 162) is listed with:
Similarly, light sabers are 'put beyond reach' with descriptive text, cost, and rarity.
The R notation for Restricted items is applied to Black Market gear such as some military quality weaponry (light repeating blaster) or items of specific cultural significance (the light saber). These are forbidden to starting characters unless permitted by the GM (such as starting with a light saber in Force & Destiny).
None of this prevents a character from picking such a device up on the field of battle, or from a vendor somewhere, but rarity will still apply. Rarity as listed will vary by location and can be modified at GM discretion.
Creating a backstory does not necessarily provide the freedom to bypass these accessibility details, without GM approval. At start of play, if an item is out of reach either by cost, by ability to acquire it due to rarity (GM ruling), or due to some other condition imposed by the group's specific implementation of Star Wars lore (era of play, for example), it is out of reach.
Generally speaking, cost and being listed as restricted are the limiting factors which see the most use.
If not inaccessible for these reasons, then there is no reason for the character not to start with an item - providing the possession of it makes sense.
That's not true. All equipment is available at character creation, provided that the character can pay for it. There is no need to consider rarity or make an availability check to find that gear because it's assumed to be part of the character background. The only exception is restricted gear (as described on page 97 of the core rulebook), which may not be purchased at creation without GM approval.
The cost of more restrictive gear is enough to leave them outside of new characters reach.
There are lots of race-specific equipment that is not restricted to characters of that race (unless the GM decides to add such a restriction), I compiled a small list of weapons that are specific to certain races shuffling through the books I own:
As well as numerous armors and equipment all over the books that are clearly invented or used mainly by members of a specific race. But as you can see, only two of the weapons I listed are actually restricted, others have forbidding costs that a starting character cannot pay for.
