Lit Fragments from the Rim: A look at Galaxy Guide 9 w/ Charlemagne19

Of course, rank gives privilege.

Even if many of the higher ups quickly became more like normal board members and branch CEO:s who has their arms and armour on display in their office but rarely go out in the field

 

Skine Bounty Hunter College

The Skine Bounty Hunter College isn't an institution of learning but a private detective service, which surprised me. The organization doesn't actually specialize in bringing people back in but finding them and has a thriving side business in finding missing persons. They track down old girlfriends, boyfriends, missing children, kidnapped victims, and "cold trails" on targets that only need to have been seen once in 15 years to be valid. The organization has exceptionally high SEARCH and INVESTIGATION kills at 7D or higher, which is impressive because a person only needs a 4D to be considered a "professional" in said subject.

The SB College is notably employed by the Mandel Family to investigate the disappearance of their daughter and while it's taken them a few years, they've pretty much found leads no one else in the galaxy would do.

Three of their members were Triplets introduced in ADVENTURE JOURNAL who I got a bunch of use out of.



The Guild of Hunters

THE Bounty Hunters Guild that operates off Coruscant. This is a secretive, powerful, elites-only affair that extends its membership by invitation only. This is the group which suffered the most from retcons as Bounty Hunter Wars made Bossk's father into its boss and had Boba Fett joining somehow result in the collapse of the organization. Later retcons in Insider made no sense as it had it as a alliance of a dozen other groups including the Ragnar Syndicate, Slaver Syndicate, Mantis Syndicate, Jedi killers, and a group which only specialized in hunting murderers while also being one of the most moral around.

Sometimes retcons don't make no sense.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Bounty_Hunters'_Guild/Legends

I'm inclined to ignore the Insider retcon.

UP NEXT - MERCENARIES

 

Military Units

One of the things which FRAGMENTS FROM THE RIM repeatedly attempts to beat down is the galaxy is a wild and lawless place, particularly the Outer Rim (with the apparent exception of Naboo and Entralla). That means that individual planets often hire mercenary units and maintain their own vast armies that repeatedly clash on countless worlds. The Empire cannot be everywhere to deal with these problems, though they often sporadically deal with said things just to keep busy.

The Empire sometimes employs these units for themselves because as expensive as mercenaries are, they're actually much less expensive than sending their own people. A humorous but purely accurate line is, "mercenary units, of necessity, only take part in legal missions, such as defense from pirates and to suppress rebellion on a world. However, many underground mercenary armies, do quitely take missions that skirt the limits or even flagrantly violate Imperial Law."

The First Sun Mobile Regiment

This is one of the more interesting organizations in the book because they're scumbags. The First Sun Unit is a repulsorlift infantry regiment (what would called "Mounted Infantry" in WW1) that run search and destroy missions across the Outer Rim. They even call them SLAMs (Search, Locate, Annihilate Missions).

What makes them scumbags is they have often taken BASE DELTA ZERO command: Described here as the elimination of all assets of production including factories, arable land, mines, fisheries, droids, and sapient beings versus destruction of planets. In short, they're war criminals and all of them. They are further described as having a reputation for "total ruthlessness" and have committed some of the "more heinous atrocities of the Galactic Civil War."

Sweet Yoda.

The twist is the First Mobile Regiment is actually no longer friendly with the Empire as one of their companies has been eliminated by a Moff's stormtroopers after the ISB got on his case for the fact he sent them in and they killed all the rebels before they could be interrogated. They're still working for the Empire (money talks and fools walk) but it's a strained relationship.

They're not likely to join the Rebel Alliance but they might be willing to be employed against the Empire, if that's a distinction that makes sense. The Rebellion could probably hire them through an intermediary or at least farm them out through intelligence.

The problem is they're not Space Nazis but they're pretty much MILICE (look it up) and there's a real moral dilemma in terms of pragmatism versus idealism. Yes, the Rebellion could probably use them but what is the cost and is that justice?

Stats: The First Sun Mobile Regiment is about as talented as the Imperial Storm Commandos and far better than Stormtroopers, who are extremely good themselves. They even have 7D in Blaster Rifles. In short, they're an entire military of Special Forces that will tear through Rebels better than the average professionals.

Churhee's Riflemen

Churhees' Riflemen have a similar story to the First Sun Mobile Unit, minus the reputation for crimes against sapience. Their job was "rear guard harrassment of the enemy" and weren't exactly a bunch of Cub Scouts to begin with. During what's implied to be the Clone Wars, they frequently sold their services to both sides of the war and employed themselves for the highest bidder.

Unfortunately, they failed to realize this kind of fence sitting only gets you kicked from both sides and after accepting a mission against the Rebel Alliance, the Empire didn't bother to show up for backup. This is when "Vlladym Churhee" died.

Churhee's Riflemen have made the choice facing the First Sun Mobile Unit and now accept any and all anti-Imperial contracts as long as their price can be met. Because they employ rear-guard tactics, they've made a mess of the Empire in the Parmel Sector. There's a certain irony that this has done more damage than the Rebellion there but are about to get exterminated by the Empire pulling a full Sector Fleet together.

The Rebellion is mostly onboard with offering them a place in the Rebellion. Accent on the word "mostly." It's the rare case where their survival is UPPED for joining the Alliance.

Stats: Better than stormtroopers but slightly worse than the First Sun Mobile Unit.

The Laramus Base Irregulars

Wraith Squadron!

No, seriously, that's exactly what they are except they're ground troopers. The Laramus Base Irregulars are an "affiliate" of the Rebellion because their original base was destroyed and they pretty much left Rebel High Command only to go on a rampage through the Empire, inflicting heavy casualties before finding their way back but with zero military discipline left.

The Rebellion hates these guys to the point they have actually sent them on suicide missions, only to find them carry them out (except for the times they come back with 95% casualties). This has resulted in them being given almost complete operational freedom. The worst screw ups in the Rebellion who aren't worth imprisoning (or are valuable enough to) are sent to the Irregulars. Discipline is lax to nonexistent but there's the simple fact the missions have their way of weeding them out. The group doesn't have a base yet and is always on the move but can live off the land in way others don't.

I already feel like they've got the nickname "B-Company" (For Bad).

Stats: About equal with the First Sun Mobile Unit and Storm Commandos. They can walk the walk and talk the talk.

Canon Fate: Surprisingly, the Irregulars survive the Battle of Endor and capture Moff Balfour along with his entire Sector.

Ailon Nova Guard

It's important to remember just because you're an alien doesn't mean you're not a fascist. The Ailon Nova Guard are an entire planet full of warriors who believe in "survival of the fittest", are disgusted by the weak, and that the strong should destroy the weak. In effect, they're the Mandalorians before we found out what the Mandalorians were all about. [Note: I'm not a big fan of Mandalorian apologia.]

The military government of the Ailon System is over 13,000 years old and it has a career as mercenaries for every other race in the galaxy stretching back almost as long. Basically, again, they're Mandalorians in everything but armor.

This has made them something that would be hilarious if not for the fact it's sad: they're the Empire's most ferverent but completely unwanted allies. They are cheerfully pro-Imperial and worship the Emperor as a living god. This despite the fact the Empire has more or less outlawed their former military operations and instead regulated them to throwing regular military celebrations and parties to show themselves off instead of actual deployment. The Empire sends TIE fighters and stromtoopers to join in the celebrations despite the fact they're loathed by the troopers involved.

It's mentioned the Emperor "despite his known distaste for non-humans" does employ the Ailon Nova Guard on occasion. He sends them on suicide missions and as cannon fodder while phrasing it as a "great battle only the Ailons can perform." They actually relish the coming slaughter and the casualties they suffer.

My inclination is they are a planet which voluntarily joined the Imperial Remnant and now form a back of the stormtroopers. They also probably served the One Sith since they viewed Roan Fel's flight as cowardice.

Stats: Better than Stormtroopers but not by much.

 

My Opinion

I like the mercenary units depicted here and they have a number of interesting ideas but I think they're a bit too similar to be all that interesting. All of them basically have, "the Empire killed a lot of them so they have bad feelings" except for the Ailon Nova Guard, which is probably why I found them to be the most interesting. The Laramus Base Irregulars are perfect, though, for many fun adventures as a possible hiding place for the PCs.

Some ideas for sprucing them up

1. The First Sun Mobile Regiment is actually composed primarily of humans who didn't actually make it through the Imperial Academy and a lot of COMPFORCE graduates who were offered more money to do basically the same job. It turns out they're WORSE than the majority of Imperials out there. The Moff who executed a company of them had a rare moment of human decency and did it because of the atrocities they'd committed (against a human city) with the ISB being unable to interrogate Rebel prisoners as an excuse.

There's a strong alien supremecist vibe to the unit and they will not recruit nonhumans (but may make an exception for near-humans if only because the ones who join are usually the most psychotic and eager to prove themselves). Matt Talon is actually the biggest enemy of the Rebellion trying to recruit them as he knows exactly how psychotic his fellow members are.

Any attempt by the Rebel Alliance to use them is a spectacularly bad idea as they're very useful and eager to become terrorists. Post-New Republic, the FSMR becomes a Karma Houdini (see TV tropes) and actually becomes a massive Sector-spanning army from defected Imperial personnel. It finds haven in the Pentastar Alignment where they get permanent incomes from the corporations there.

They only get punished when Grand Admiral Pellaeon turns over a number of their leadership for war crimes trials. A compromise because as they were not actually members of the Imperial military.

2. Churhees' Riflemen: Churhee's Riflemen are willing to join the Rebellion in order to escape from the Sector they've been raising hell in but are actually more interested in using the Alliance rather than joining it. The Rebellion is a little confused by this but they will disappear quickly after joining but continue to harass the Empire, raise military forces, and seemingly act with a lot of funding. This is due to the fact the Riflemen were expecting rescue from the Empire but NOT by the PCs and the Alliance. In fact, Churhee's Riflemen have a patron in Garm Bel Iblis and have been doing his part of the war against the Empire.

The PCs could potentially alter history and get Garm Bel Iblis to join back with the Rebellion earlier (possibly getting Corellia to join forces or lend a few hundred more ships to the Battle of Endor and help stabilize the New Republic earlier) or agree to help his group. Unfortunately, Churhee's Riflemen are VERY suspicious of Mon Mothma and any other Rebels.

3. Laramus Base Irregulars: There's a factoid about the Laramus Base Irregulars the Rebellion doesn't like to question and that's the fact they don't have a budget. Specifically, the Rebellion doesn't have to share any of their resources with the group. This is due to the fact the LBI are heavily involved in disorganized crime. They often pull of daring heists of criminal organizations, the Empire, and megacorporations. The Rebellion wouldn't be entirely adverse to this but for the fact they're also very prone to allying with other mercenaries, criminals, and pirate groups to get the job done.

There's a whole army of Thieves and Hutts they've created which would send many of the Rebellion into apolexy. They're MOSTLY on the side of angels but that could change if the bad influences keep gaining power.

4. The Ailon Nova Guard: The virulently anti-alien sector governor of the Ailon Nova Guard's terirtory has had an unfortunate run in with Darth Vader, resulting in the promotion of his significantly more moderate (in certain ways) secretary who once served under Grand Admiral Thrawn. The new Moff is intending to restore the Ailon Nova Guard's mercenary privileges and employ them across the sector to allow the redistribution of Imperial assets to deal with the incredibly active rebel activity in the Sector. Guard work isn't exactly what the Ailon Nova Guard have in mind despite their name but they will take Imperial money and exploit a loophole to make their own Bounty Hunter Syndicate (one easily the size of the Ragnar Syndicate) with a decidedly Pro-Imperial slant.

Worse, he has the approval of Grand Moff Kaine who is as racist as most COMPNOR educated Imperials but sees no reason not to employ aliens in nonessential positions if it benefits him. It could see the extension of "special privileges" to aliens like the Coynites, Iotran, and Zygerians the way the Empire has with the Tradoshans. This won't stop the Rebellion but this will make their lives much-much harder.

The PCs, Galactic Newstack Weekly, the Laramus Base Irregulars, and a group of jawas are assigned to make sure the Ailon Nova Guard turns completely against the Empire before Oversector Outer becomes too hot to handle.

 

Do we get any pictures or descriptions of the mercenary companies uniforms/looks?

Do the book give a description on what specie/s make up the Ailon Nova Guard? Or do it just say "aliens" without specifying what kind?

 

FIRST SUN MOBILE REGIMENT



CHURHEE'S RIFLEMEN



We don't get any images of the Ailons but later works gave them some distinctive armor.

They Ailons.

No, we don't get any description of what they look like or their racial stats.

 

NEXT UP - PIRATES!

 

Featuring the Harmzuay story, which ranks high among WEG's stranger moments. "We've dropped out of hyperspace in front of a giant H!" Slavers with a penchant for whimsy and Talon Karrde-style wordplay in their ship names? Sure, why not. (Yeah, they're described as pirates rather than slavers, but Thalassian Slavers have "slaver" right there in their name so I have to run with that.)

 

Slaver pirates are doubly chaotic evil.

 

Or just lawful evil depending on the law of the land.

Nice, do they get any description about their corp-culture, or in the Ailons case, over all culture?

Ok, they don't seem to be tech-barbarians (unlike WH40k Orks and some of it's Imperial Guard regiments; or some Mando cosplayers)

Realised that I only listened the boring sides of being a member of the Mantis Syndicate, among the good sides are that you will get a monthly paycheck even if you did not catch your prey, their health plan is so much better then paying the local medic to stich you up, you always know what kind of backup you can call if you are in over your head, since the equipment is standardised so is there no problems finding ammunition or spare parts (unlike for those bounty hunters who use more exotic equipment), etcetera.

 

Sadly, my description of the Ailon Nova Guard IS the description of their culture. Every single person of the planet is either part of their military or subordinate to it. It's a culture of nothing but military honors and the glory of battle. As for the others, the broad strokes of both is pretty much all that's offered. Why I added some details.

The original articles just say:

* Sun Mobile Unit: Nasty, mean, Imperial allied but not happy about it jerkasses. A repulsorlift-based unit.
* Churhee's Riflemen: Primarily snipers and guerilla warriors who had no real loyalties until the Empire backstabbed them.
* Larazus Base Irregulars: The most capable but independent soldiers in the Rebellion. Incredible discipline problems and suicidal bravery.
* Ailon Nova Guard: Survival of the fittest based culture that worships strength and the Emperor in particular--treated like garbage by the Empire who doesn't want aliens fighting for it so they just hold constant parades and military celebrations.

As for the Mantis Syndicate, I like to think they make a decent package if you manage to get signed up. You get a training course, your own armor, your own starship (after serving as backup for existing hunters for awhile), rifles, and other resources. Everyone recognizes a Mantis Syndicate operative's signature armor (I'm thinking blue) even if it's not the same level of effect Boba Fett's has.

 

That's all? If so I think they should have just done like Games Workshop did with their Imperial Guard and had page full of pictures of representatives of different military forces with names and some short information for the GM to use a inspiration
EDIT: maybe with some side comments by a Imperial and/or Rebel officer.

I can actually see the Mantis Syndicate to be more known then Boba Fett for the common man since they are many and can be found all over the known Galaxy, while Boba is just one man who can only be at one place at a time. Now post Endor I can see Boba being more well known when moviemakers all over the galaxy makes movies about the heroes of the Rebellion in where Boba will appear as the bad guy in many of them.

 

Yeah, these blurbs aren't terribly long for organizations.

The characters get more information.

 

Pirates

We open with a bit of in-universe description of piracy.

"...and now, not only is the Imperial Navy faced with greater and greater challenges as the treasonous Rebel Alliance becomes more experienced in matters of space combat but the forces of Emperor Palpatine are continuouslyt forced to combat pirates across petty skirmishes throughout settled space. And these groups are no longer the ragtag cutthroats of a few decades ago, they are seasoned combat veterans with a fierce hatred of the Empire. The Navy has its work cut out for it."
-Kaelldin Krothburt, Study of the Galactic Balance of Power

I'm inclined to think he means that a large number of pirates in the galaxy are either former Separatist soldiers or people who are members of planetary militias who have been driven into priacy the Empire's takeover of their territory. This is actually the reason piracy became a huge problem in the Caribean due to the English War with the Spanish creating a vast overflow of trained sailors with training in privateering.

The introduction also mentions many pirates are allying together against the Empire and are trained soldiers. It's also stated the Empire does enforce anti-piracy but that its been left to fester so long in the Outer Rim territories the Empire has lost many such battles.

Which is IMMEDIATELY undercut by the next entry.

The Khuiumin Survivors

The Baativ Pirates are one of the groups which fans of the RPG are going to be familiar with and have a number of ties to the rest of the EU but almost all flew under the radar. Readers of this thread will probably be most familiar with them as some of Leona Tavira's gang in I, Jedi with Jacob Nive being one of the pirates who Coran Horn persuades to get out of dodge. Indeed, a number of the pirate gangs in this group are part of Leona Tavira's group.

The gang originally, however, existed to show the Empire wasn't the Keystone cops and that while the Rebellion has a history of losing to the Empire--the Empire UTTERLY ANNIHILATED them. Once one of the most fiercest gangs in the galaxy, they were wiped out by two Victory Star Destroyers that they assumed they'd be able to handle. This despite the fact they had 28 corvettes, 70 Starfighters, and 50 yachts. Less than 300 pirates escaped the ensuing massacre. The story for this was one of the most memorable ones in the STAR WARS SOURCEBOOK which was one of the first books printed for the roleplaying game.

This is good continuity from West End Games and provides an interesting band to encounter. The Khuiumin Survivors have only a single Corellian Corvette to their name but four squadrons of starfighters that they use to take on anti-Imperial missions. They only take on jobs against the Empire and sometimes dabble in anti-Empire mercenary work as well. The book implies they're inevitably going to be destroyed but are in a nice spot where they are too small and insignificant to find but large as well as skilled enough to cause a lot of hassles. An obvious adventure hook for the PCs would be to recruit Jacob and company for the Rebel Alliance as either privateers or full-on members of the Alliance.

(And yes, the Rebellion DOES use privateers--would anyone be interested in me reviewing PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS next?)

Canon Fate: There's actually a pair of different contradictory fates for the organization. Both are listed in the Wookieepedia. One of them says the Survivors became the legitimate police force of the moon where I, Jedi's climax took place and the second is they returned to piracy and were defeated by the New Republic. My assumption is that Nive and company split up and both are true.

Thalassian Slavers

One of the things that annoys me about this book is it introduces the Zygerians, Ailon Nova Guard, and Thalassians but never bothers to explain what they are or their stats. We get some stats for their fighting skills but nothing about what they look like. At least with the Ailon we know they're fascists.

In the case of the Thalassians, they are directly contrasted with the Zygerians. The Zygerians are a professional group of thieves who make long term investments in world and wield the iron fist in the velvet glove. The Thalassians don't bother with any of that. They're scum by the standards of pirates as well as slavers. They're undisciplined, rude, crude, and view the best way to handle piracy is to view the crews of ships as a form of prize in themselves.

They get the most characterization as there's a bit of fiction called "Who says Pirates don't have a sense of humor?" (I dunno, who does? I've never seen any depiction of pirates in fiction as humorless). Which amounts to the Thalassian slaver ship, The Harmzuay grabbing a ship in a tractor beam. Which the captain notes means, "They're in Harm's Way." Notably, this pun means Basic must be not only similar to English but identical. It also makes no sense because they don't use the English alphabet.

Canon Fate: Notably, this group and the Harmzuay get wiped out by Admiral Tavira (for poaching) in I, Jedi. Good riddance to bad rubbish.



It should be noted the ship is REALLY powerful and equivalent to a Victory Star Destroyer. So, not only are these yokels running a slipshod pirate gang but they are running one with massive power. Presumably, the Empire would give a shavit if not for the fact they're probably their best customers.

Jacob Nive

There's a loose description of him as a handsome blond-haired human who doesn't like killing people when looting non-Imperial craft (but will). He's meant to be a redeemable sort of character but still dangerous. He also is running the ship like a very well-disciplined military unit. Jacob wasn't the leader of the Survivors before the massacre but became so by
default due to being the highest ranking pirate left alive.

I am going to assume he's based somewhat on Eroll Flynn's Captain Blood because why not. He's, sadly, kind of a flat character.

Dharus



Dharus is the only actual character in this section but he makes up for a lot of it in style. He's an orange-skinned near-human with quite a memorable piece of art. He also is implied to have a serious thing for human women because the only time he's ever been captured is by Zardra when she dressed up like a harmless Imperial noble.

Dharus uses a pair of Corsair cruisers which are basically Skipray Blast Boats and yet somehow is one of the most fierce pirates in the Outer Rim. I'd give this guy a fleet if I were running him because he deserves it. On the other hand, he DOES have a Corellian Gunship (which means this Pirate Section has a lot of very boring starships).

Dharus is a swashbuckling pirate and now a proud rebel privateer due to the fact he was tortured by the Empire during his brief captivity. The Rebellion rescued him and he's genuinely grateful for it.

Canon Fate: Dharus is hired by one of the races going back to war in Specter of the Past and is mentioned as a former Rebel General so he apparently did well for himself.

 

Adventure Hooks

1. The Treasure of Khuiumin

The Baativ Pirates were one of the most successful pirate fleets in the Outer Rim territories and had a fortune taken from an Imperial treasure ship in Khyber Crystals among other precious relics stolen from Jedha. The Victory Star Destroyer Captains made a pact to leave their massive vaults unplundered and have regularly sent agents back there to sell off the loot therein for themselves in-between trips. They've left a huge mine-field and a garrison to guard it, unbeknownst to the rest of the Empire.

The Khuiumin Survivors are ready to ally with the Rebel Alliance and go after it to get it back. However, double-crosses are to be expected because the Rebel officer who the PCs are assigned with and his squadron are ready to desert over the massive amount of treasure. There's also a group of Whil monks who aren't terribly impressed with the Alliance and believe it is thievery (they will be persuaded if one of the PCs is a Jedi or Jedi in training).

Jacob Nive WANTS to help the Rebellion but he ALSO wants 50% of the treasure which the Alliance could REALLY use. Oh did we mention one of the VSD captains is very heavily in debt and is coming back for ALL of it?

2. Slaver's Revolt

This is a fairly straight-forward mission. The PCs are a team of Rebels who have been given the very unfortunate job of getting themselves captured by the Thalassian Pirates and enslaved but as part of a larger plot to lure the Rebel Alliance's fleet to attack the Harmzuay. They have to swallow a tracker and have their droids carry weapons as well as tools to get themselves free. The slaves inside have spies among them and the Thalassians are in a spot as well as they're in deep debt to the Mantis Syndicate which has dispatched a couple of Nebulon B frigates to blast the ship to pieces (regardless of the slaves onboard).

3. Where has all the Lum Gone?

The PCs wake up on a deserted jungle planet and Dharus with deep hangovers. They've been marooned here by his crew after being drugged due to the fact his rebel sympathies really started to impact their bottom line. Thankfully, Dharus made this the spot to maroon crew members for a reason as he's kept a Skipray Blast Boat, bunker, and credits there to give him an escape. Unfortunately, the PCs are being chased because his crew ALSO dropped a tip to the Ragnar Syndicate that he (and his 500,000 credit bounty) are on said world.

The PCs have to survive until they can escape and did we mention the planet has a Sith Temple and a bunch of insane natives?

(Extra points if it's Yavin IV and they're just 30 miles from the former Rebel HQ or Jedi Academy)

4. Yo, Yo ho, A Pirate's Life for Me

The PCs have been assigned Jacob Nive, Dharus, and some old Weequay named Hondo for a mission which sounds too good to be true. There's a slave rigged Nebulon-B frigate (or Carrack Cruiser or Dreadnought) which the Alliance has asked the PCs to steal. The Alliance actually needs supplies more than it needs capital ships for once and have an offer this is to be given as part of a commerce warfare unit to strike at Imperial military shipping (hence why such a big ship is needed).

All three of the pirates know such a vessel could be the basis for a new criminal gang. All three of them are thinking about the fact they want to be captain.

The PCs have two options according to General Cracken.

1. Keep them together
2. Betray them first and be the Captain.

He doesn't care which they choose.

 

Absolutely. Between this and the AJ thread, it's been a lot of fun recapping and rediscovering stuff I haven't seen in eons. Seeing other people's ideas and expansions on the concepts in these books has been especially fun.

You could essentially name any WEG book and I'd be happy.

 

Going by your summary so dose it feels like the authors have misunderstood the goal of piracy = money, preferably much money, for so little work or danger as possible.

You don't attack warships, they don't have any cargo and can fight back, you run from them. Also why do they think that selling crew and passengers (the ones you can't get a good ransom for) as slaves is something not many pirates do if they can? There is good money in slaves and a good way to get rid of the people that don't want to join you when you take over the ship (either to sell or to ad to your pirate armada).

Also if people are interested so did Kenneth Hite and article about pirates and how they work and what they need to be able to operate. You can find it in Best of Fenix vol. 2, available at Drive Thru RPG.

Here is a small part of that article:

I like that design, have we ever got a description of his species? If not, do you have any personal fanon?

 

Personally, I'd retcon Dharus into being a Falleen.

 

That could work.

 

I'd just make up a species for him, or describe him as some humanoid unknown to the PCs (unless one passes a relevant skill check maybe). After all, what are the odds that most people can identify too many species beyond the high profile ones in their part of the galaxy?

I try to avoid retconning unknowns into something previously known unless it enhances something or fits just perfectly. Makes the universe feel small to me when the same old species crop up everywhere, beyond those established as unusually numerous and widely dispersed (humans, duros, etc.)

 

I have a large number of thoughts on the PIRACY section of the book, due to the fact I've used pirates hundreds of times in my games. Bluntly, this game didn't do as well a job with them as it did Bounty Hunters and Pirates and Privateers wasn't as awesome as the Adventure Journals article (which I wish I had a copy of).

1. This article is a little too heavy on the anti-Imperial pirates with, essentially, two out of its three pirate groups being anti-Imperial ones. Pirates are an easy group to use as either "swashbuckling dashing rogues" or "despicable scum the player characters can kill" with everything in-between.

2. The article doesn't do a great job with establishing how pirates operate or their usefulness in a campaign. I would have appreciated having a larger section talking about working as a independent pirate, working for a criminal organization, working for the corporations, and working for the Empire.

3. The lack of criminal organization pirates is strange as is the lack of large fleet bases of pirates. There's no equivalent of the Ragnar Syndicate or Mantis Syndicate here, which is a shame. We should have Jabba the Hutt's Pirate gang for example.

4. This is a bit of a male dominated article as Pirate Girls are a time honored and historically accurate trope.

5. No mention of CRIMSON JACK! Which is a shame. Ditto Mistress Crimson the Adventure Journal pirate. She was a famous pirate in the RPGing universe.

If anyone wants my notes on piracy in RPG, I'll happily throw them your way.

 

Charles Phipps' WEG SW Pirate Notes

Plenty of this ended up in Lucifer's Star (my space opera novel series) setting that was originally going to be a tabletop RPG but ended up becoming a novel series instead. Obviously, the direct Star Wars information is gone,

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Pirates in the Outer Rim

Because the Star Wars galaxy is an ocean in space, piracy is a lucrative trade that has existed the entirety of the Old Republic and will continue to do so until the last stars burn out. The Old Republic used a combination of their fleets, Sector Rangers, and Jedi to keep them in check. However, the Empire has taken a different strategy for dealing with them: containment.

In a strategy adopted by Grand Moff Tarkin then spread to the rest of the Empire, many Imperial Moffs are absolutely ruthless in their prosecution of pirates but are not particularly interested in their activities beyond how it impacts Imperial commerce.Pirates are an "out of sight, out of mind" problem that benefits the Empire in a backhanded manner as independent planets which have not yet been taken up by the Imperial war machine are abused until they capitulate while commerce turns to the Empire for protection. Imperial aligned corporations have also employed their own mercenaries to harass businesses until they become ripe for absorption.

The value of this "protection" is dubious as many larger pirate groups have arrangements with Sector Governments that let it be known which groups to avoid and simply switch targets when informed through intermediaries. This has led the Rebel Alliance to actually divert valuable military resources to go after some Imperial-aligned pirate gangs and destroy them. They have also employed some of the less repulsive groups with letters of marquee to go after the Empire's protected cargo.

Generally, most pirates are a small gang of a few freighters and starfighters which can and do live fast lives before going down. Their big challenge is the fact they're an ubiquitous threat and only getting worse.

Sample Pirate Fleets

The Loyal Sons of the Emperor

The Loyal Sons of the Emperor are not ironically named despite they have prices on their head and are something of an embarrassment for the Empire. They are an all-human pirate organization led by Victor Kruel who is a a former TIE fighter pilot who lost his right eye and arm due to a battle against the Rebellion over the Death Star (or so he claims). In fact, he and his inner circle are a group which actually was expelled from the Imperial military despite their COMPNOR ties and mostly Core World blue bloods.

The Loyal Sons of the Emperor are employed by Grand Admiral Pitta and have been outfitted with TIE Fighters, TIE Interceptors, modified Stormtrooper armor, a couple of Nebulon-B Frigates, and a Victory Star Destroyer. They are, as a result, ridiculously overequipped for a pirate gang. They have basically a mandate of harassing alien planets and they've done so with horrifying results. They prefer to go after lesser technology planets and have even decimated some. Many aliens have actually commented surrender is pointless because they are prone to executing survivors.

The group's viciousness and cruelty have actually had a serious impact on the Empire as their open Imperial fanboyism has undercut a lot of tales of order, security, and peace. So much so Grand Admiral Pitta has been criticized by people who think they're just rousing up massive amounts of rebellion wherever they go.

To which he's replied, "So what? They're just aliens."

Canon Fate: The Rebel Alliance will dispatch a fleet to destroy the group with the mission to destroy them and capture their leadership or sabotage their flagship. Danetta Pitta will also have the survivors annihilated when one of them makes a comment about his own Near-Human heritage.

The Rancors

Jabba the Hutt's personal pirate fleet and his private army that operates primarily across the Outer Rim territories as well as in Hutt Space against his rivals. The Rancors are actually less of a single fleet than a number of smaller fleets which Jabba employs and "licenses." The fees for being a member are outrageous with 50% of all takes going directly into the Hutt's account and everything else divided among expenses as well as paying the crew. The Rancors' captains are notoriously greedy and its often said that there's 50 shares for Jabba and then 25 for the Captain, 20 for the ship, and 4 for Salacious Crumb before the rest goes to the crew.

Mind you, the majority of Rancors aren't particularly smart or in the best of positions in Jabba's organization. They're a combination of slaves, low rent thugs, people in deep debt to Jabba (who doesn't mind as long as they continuously work it off), and captured spacers who had a choice of "joining or dying." Mutiny is all but impossible, though, due to the fact the ships' captains keep their best killers well paid and are happy to make "examples" of them. When mutinys do happen, Jabba has also been known simply to offer the same terms to the new captains (with bills for damage done).

The Rancors have explicit instructions to leave Imperial shipping alone and those willing to pay his protection. He's rich enough, though, that he's harrassed megacorporations and planetary governments often enough.

Canon Fate: The Rancors swiftly broke up after Jabba's death with most becoming independent spacers or turning against one another.

The Lost Cause

Technically, they're Loyal Siblinghood of Grevious Loyalists. However, most of the galaxy call them Lost Causers for obvious reasons. The Lost Cause, if their name didn't indicate what they were, are Neo-Separatists who claim to be the Remnant of Admiral Trench's forces from the Clone Wars, fighting against the Empire and for Galactic Independence.

It should be noted the Rebel Alliance has adopted a "shoot on sight" policy with the Lost Cause. Members of the organization, like JAN, are considered to be terrorists by the Rebel Alliance and unwelcome at any Rebel Base. The feeling is mutual and they hide strongly behind the rhetoric the Alliance is no different from the Empire, highlighting they're led by Imperial Senators. The Lost Cause isn't actually a political organization and hasn't been for a long time. They fund themselves by charities and donations from individuals who still believe in the Confederacy and recruit from former CIS worlds heavy-hit by the Empire.

While there are a number of "true believers", the vast majority are aware its just a scam and use it to keep themselves outfitted while they make a fortune through piracy, slavery, spice, and arms trafficking. Piracy remains their biggest source of income, though, as well as protection from the Empire. The latter which they don't really provide for reasons which will become obvious.

The Lost Cause employs outdated equipment and not just from their side: blaster carbines, Z-95 Headhunters, Clonetrooper armor, modified security droids, and decomissioned Old Republic equipment. They're exceptionally well armed for pirates despite their complete outclassing by the Rebellion or Empire and this is because all of their surplus is bought from the Empire.

The Lost Cause is an Imperial Destabilization (DESTAB) Project crafted by then-agent Ysanne Isard who surgically altered various agents to appear as aliens to head the group. The Lost Cause is meant to destabilize the Rebellion and deny them resources while justifying Imperial crackdowns. The entire fleet is modified with a "kill switch" that will annihilate the group if they ever become a problem.

Canon Fate: Managed to survive Ysanne Isard and soon found their leadership purged after something "shocking" was discovered. Jedi Master Kyle Katarn was dispatched by the New Republic to deal with them and inflicted heavily casualties.

The Blazing Sword

The Jedi Knighthood used to have many satellite or allied organizations of non-Force users before the Ruusan Reformation. Freedom Sons, the Antarian Rangers, and the Monks of the Whill. The Blazing Sword is the remnant of a number of these who have interpreted their mandate in a way the Old Jedi would not have been particularly happy about.

The Blazing Sword is a Rebel Alliance-aligned privateer organization which preys primarily on poorly-guarded Imperial supply shipments, Imperial nobility, megacorporations, and other valid military targets. They're a generally bloodless organization that prefers to use stun weapons even when attacking regular Imperial targets but have inflicted a massive amount of economic losses on the Empire.

Its targets tend to be better guarded than the majority of pirate issues but the group has a shocking ability to predict when and where things will go wrong before handling it. For pirates, they're also prone to stealing in port and somewhat madcap plans that get them what they need. The group is already considered to be folk heroes in song and many just go along with them.

The thing about the Blazing Sword is the Rebel Alliance isn't particularly happy about the group. It's a collection of incredibly idealistic pirates who happily lend their services to rebels against the Corporate Sector Authority, Imperial Remnants post-Endor, Hapans, and other people the Rebellion would like to ally with. It is also notable for the fact it has a zero-tolerance policy for slavers and have executed every single person they've raided who uses them (which many Rebel Alliance soldiers sympathize with).

The Blazing Sword is led by Akira Two-Zee who is actually a Jedi youngling saved in-mid transport to the Temple and was educated by a Force Using Alien Mystic along with a Temple Protocol Droid (B-2Z) who mostly gave her erroneous impressions of the Jedi. She is about as romantic about piracy as she is about the Jedi even though she can't be both.

Canon Fate: Luke Skywalker and Han Solo were dispatched to talk some sense into the group after they began a war with the Thalassian slavers. They made the "problem" much much worse.

 

Indeed, what Kyle Katarn did to the Lost Causers can best compared as a heroic equivalent of Vader's actions at the end of Rogue One.

 

Do they make any mention about raiding against planetside located settlements?

Fully agree.

Yaar, were be the booty?

from https://www.deviantart.com/mikeangerhauser/

(slightly sarry for this sexist joke, but not sorry enougth to not post it, me be willing to post sexy pics of male pirates if people be willing)

And no Silver Fyre, that's just bad.

 

So what about pre-Endor?

I can see some Wardens of the Sky as members of The Blazing Sword and a possibility of the people Akira trains becoming their own Force tradition by the time of the Legacy comics.

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Here is a Force tradition I made up sometime ago that fit pirates (I more or less created them as the dark conterparts to the Wardens of the Sky)

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Some possible pirate concepts I can think of
* the moff of a sector/sub-sector dislike her counterpart in the neighbourhood-ing sector/sub-sector and to discredit him she is secretly backing her own band of pirates that are attacking her rivals protections.
* a pirate band made up by duros supremacist who only attack non-duros ships
* a pirate band using a fallen Warden of the Sky, or an Illtraveller to give them an edge.