Explore the fringes of galactic society like never before. Customize your bounty hunter's suit of battle armor, outfit your smuggler's ship with illegal technology, and train your cantina brawler new tricks and techniques to help stay alive in places that can be more than a little rough.
Character Options
Main Article: Character Options
Star Wars explores the conflict between light and dark, but the Star Wars universe features numerous examples of antiheroes- individuals who fall somewhere in the middle and who could care less about notions of good and evil, instead forging their own ways, by their own rules. Lando Calrissian, Han Solo, Boba Fett, and many others take this role at some time in their careers, standing in that murky zone between hem and villain until circumstance or fate pushes them to one side or the other.
Such antiheroes are some of the most engaging figures in the Star Wars universe. Their inexorable slides to evil as well as their efforts to achieve redemption resonate with us all. Thus, characters of ambiguous morals and shady principals are often adopted in the roleplaying game. To this end, this chapter presents new Character Creation material to help you design rogue heroes that are every bit as compelling as any of the reluctant or fallen heroes found In the galaxy.
Outlaw Tech
Main Article: Outlaw Tech
Whether you need to find someone, keep yourself hidden, cheat at games of chance, or be ready with a surprise in a fight, you can make the difference with equipment not found in the bright stores of the Core Worlds. Even if you prefer to keep yourself on the tight side of the law, you might want to enhance that simple heavy blaster with a few legal, if expensive, add-ons. This chapter is about making sure you have the right tools for your jobs, even if you have to ignore a few rules to get them.
Outlaw Tech
Main Article: Outlaw Tech
Whether you need to find someone, keep yourself hidden, cheat at Games of Chance, or be ready with a surprise in a fight, you can make the difference with Equipment not found in the bright stores of the Core Worlds. Even if you prefer to keep yourself on the right side of the law, you might want to enhance that simple Heavy Blaster Pistol with a few legal, if expensive, add-ons. This section is about making sure you have the right tools for your jobs, even if you have to ignore a few rules to get them.
Fringe Campaigns
Main Article: Fringe Campaigns
Crime, it can be argued, is one of the building blocks of society. Although illicit trade and commerce are certainly unethical, and perhaps even immoral, the rule of supply and demand sometimes prevents necessary goods from reaching those who need them most- except at exorbitantly high prices. Smuggling enables important cargos to reach their intended targets, without the costly and time-consuming red tape of a slow (And at times corrupt) bureaucracy. Certainly, the smuggler makes a profit from supplying needed goods; without profit, he or she could not afford to remain in business. Still, a reasonable markup is what draws the line between smuggling and profiteering.
Heroes in a Fringe Campaign might be those who have taken to a life of crime to make their fortunes, embracing expediency over ethics and using guile and force to do what others need hard work and cooperation to accomplish. Alternatively, the heroes could be noble-spirited individuals struggling to rise above their environment and make something of themselves, fighting the temptation to take the easy way out.
All this is rich, fertile soil for fringe heroes to grow and thrive- both as characters and as criminals who might one day come to control their own criminal empires.
Fringe Elements
Main Article: Fringe Elements
Although many crooks take to a life of crime looking for an easy way to make a credit or escape the consequences of a bad decision, in truth, life on the edge isn't easy. Once you move away from the safety of government- laws and its guardians- you're on your own if someone crosses you. Even worse, if you anger the wrong shadowy figure, you might find bounty hunters or assassins looking to even the score.
Even so, some prefer to live by their own wits even it means they have to keep their eyes open and a blaster handy. Some can't abide life under society's rules (Be those fair or foul). Others already stand accused, rightly or wrongly, and prefer any free existence to life in the spice mines of Kessel. Finally, a few can't keep away from the forbidden, preferring life in the underbelly of the galaxy exactly because others shun it.
Point Nadir
Main Article: Point Nadir
Point Nadir is a shadowport situated in the bowels of a comet. Though ruled by the Anjiliac Huffs and their representatives, Point Nadir is far enough from the beaten path that its governance is largely independent of direct Huttese intervention. In fact, a number of criminal organizations hold sway in Point Nadir, each with different specialties and goals.
Its location varies, so Point Nadir can be inserted into a campaign set during any era. Because multiple organizations claim various degrees of control within the shadowport, it is possible for different play groups to impose themselves upon it in their own inimitable fashions. In effect, Point Nadir is a complete location- a hive of scum and villainy, if you will- that is well suited for use in any campaign, at any time, in any place you see fit.
Mini-Adventures
Main Article: Mini-Adventures
This chapter is intended for Gamernasters and contains several mini-adventures ideally suited for outlaw heroes. If you're a player, you should probably skip over this chapter and wait for your GM to spring these adventures on you and the other players in your group.
The Fell Star
Main Article: The Fell Star
The Fell Star is a complete adventure that can be used as a launching pad for a Fringe Campaign. Ideally, this adventure will involve a group of four starting heroes, and it focuses primarily on the seedy side of life in the Star Wars universe. Heroes can come from any background, though characters with connection to The Fringe- especially Scoundrels- should feel right at home. This adventure can be set during any era.
If you are a player, you should stop reading now so that you do not spoil any surprises for yourself. If you are the Gamemaster, please feel free to continue on. As the GM, you should also read Point Nadir before running this adventure.