The Most Interesting Places in the Galaxy

[mr_odd]

Let's say you were about to play in a new Star Wars campaign. Where would you want to go? What would you want to do? What creatures would you want to meet?

Let me hear your thoughts for inspiration!

[Hunter Noventa]

Nar Shadda is one of the more interesting planets. Well, it's technically a moon that's nothing but city. It barely has a government, is populated almost entirely by smugglers and other criminals, and it orbits Nal Hutta, the Hutt capital. (Not the Hutt homeworld, interestingly enough)

[JAL_1138]

Nar Shadda is one of the more interesting planets. Well, it's technically a moon that's nothing but city. It barely has a government, is populated almost entirely by smugglers and other criminals, and it orbits Nal Hutta, the Hutt capital. (Not the Hutt homeworld, interestingly enough)

+1. Kenobi was wrong--you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Nar Shaddaa. Mos Eisley ain't got $&@% on that rock. Want to play Shadowrun: Star Wars Edition? Head there and set up shop.

Edit:
It's sort of a dark mirror of Coruscant, or what you'd get if you scraped the top half of Coruscant's buildings away and left only the under-city.
Members of every species and organization in the galaxy can be found there in some capacity--that capacity typically being either "shady as hell," or "down on their luck," or both.
It's also a great place to find less-than-legal supplies, weapons, ships, information, and/or work.

[Lord Raziere]

I agree with Nar Shadda.

what else would be a good place?

Ryloth:
This is the Twi'lek Homeworld, and also the place where many criminal groups have taken Twi'lek's for slaves. Those Twi'lek dancer girls? probably kidnapped from here. Also a planet of harsh extremes with jungles, mesas valleys and volcanoes- the Twi'leks live underground where its safer, so you can see Twi'leks get a pretty raw deal when it comes to their own planet. To compound matters, the Twi'leks allegiances has switched from Republic to Separatist to Imperial to Independent, so it has a history of rebellion, independence and changing sides. Between being exploited by various criminal enterprises, screwed over by both the Imperials and the Separatists, they have good reason to not trust offworld influences.

Rodia:
The Rodian homeworld. Jungle planet, with domed cities that protect the inhabitants from its dangerous wilderness, is on the Outer Rim so plagued by pirates, Rodians are notorious for working as bounty hunters, has connections in the criminal underworld, long history of violence and hunting, but has notable food problems due to the lack of arable land, but also has notable force sensitives and thus some connection with the force. Good place to find a Dark Sider villain.

Iridonia:
Home of the Zabraks- y'know, the race that Darth Maul was. This place is even harsher in its environment, with acid pools and seas, it has windy canyons and farmable places in them though. Iridonians hate the place so much they developed space flight and colonized five star systems to escape it. Has changed hands throughout its long history more than Ryloth so much its ridiculous, once had a sith academy there, and still rules all its colonies presumably, so a lot of places you can make up to connect to it.

Duro:
A heavily polluted world, was never the same after the Mandalorians laid waste to it, but with how long its history is and how the Duros species was one of the first to achieve space flight, one doubts it would've stayed nice and pristine forever. It is so ruined that the Duros now live in twenty orbiting cities with many shipyards, with most of the surface abandoned. It mainly exports starships and technology, and imports food ore and labor. A good place for any plots involving restoration of its surface, some new invention, finding something in the ruins of somewhere dangerous or if you just want your smuggler to ambitiously steal a new ship.

[JAL_1138]

The Corellian system. Five habitable planets (Corellia, Tralus, Talus, Selonia, Drall, IIRC), and a superweapon space station between two of the planets (Talus and Tralus, "the Twins," a pair of planets orbiting a central gravitational axis-point that orbits the star). Home of some of the finest commercial shipyards in the galaxy, with a relatively tense somewhat-isolationist political climate depending on the era.

[Fri]

The Corellian system. Five habitable planets (Corellia, Tralus, Talus, Selonia, Drall, IIRC), and a superweapon space station between two of the planets (Talus and Tralus, "the Twins," a pair of planets orbiting a central gravitational axis-point that orbits the star). Home of some of the finest commercial shipyards in the galaxy, with a relatively tense somewhat-isolationist political climate depending on the era.

Also every single person in the system are hotshot ace pilot and/or dashing smuggler. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

[Drascin]

Also every single person in the system are hotshot ace pilot and/or dashing smuggler. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Not all of them - some of them are hotshot engineers that buiild the ships those pilots and smugglers make a career in! Half the smugglers in the galaxy seem to use ships made in Corellia, after all!

[JAL_1138]

Not all of them - some of them are hotshot engineers that buiild the ships those pilots and smugglers make a career in! Half the smugglers in the galaxy seem to use ships made in Corellia, after all!

Given the number of ships that seem to make their way dubiously-legally and/or outright illegally into the hands (or tentacles, hooves, paws, claws, talons, pseudopods, or other grasping appendages, as applicable) of dashing smugglers and/or political factions opposed to whomever Corellia is nominally allied with at the moment, I'm gonna say most of the shipbuilders probably kind of count as dashing smugglers.

[Lord Raziere]

Also every single person in the system are hotshot ace pilot and/or dashing smuggler. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

But if they are like that, how can they tell? To them, such great piloting skill is NORMAL, and everyone else is horrible at it. Thus, they can always tell if your from out of system by the fact that you don't pilot as well as they do. You can't fool them, they always know by the way you drive.

[JAL_1138]

But if they are like that, how can they tell? To them, such great piloting skill is NORMAL, and everyone else is horrible at it. Thus, they can always tell if your from out of system by the fact that you don't pilot as well as they do. You can't fool them, they always know by the way you drive.

You might be able to fool them if you're sufficiently dashing and are smuggling something. E.g., "Never could fly worth a dang, but I can slip 40,000 kilos of glitterstim right under the Imps' noses any day of the week. *charming smile*"
Cheating at sabaac (the national pastime...not the actual cards, the cheating at them) will help your cover, too.

[mr_odd]

Nar Shadda is one of the more interesting planets. Well, it's technically a moon that's nothing but city. It barely has a government, is populated almost entirely by smugglers and other criminals, and it orbits Nal Hutta, the Hutt capital. (Not the Hutt homeworld, interestingly enough)

+1. Kenobi was wrong--you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than Nar Shaddaa. Mos Eisley ain't got $&@% on that rock. Want to play Shadowrun: Star Wars Edition? Head there and set up shop.

Edit:
It's sort of a dark mirror of Coruscant, or what you'd get if you scraped the top half of Coruscant's buildings away and left only the under-city.
Members of every species and organization in the galaxy can be found there in some capacity--that capacity typically being either "shady as hell," or "down on their luck," or both.
It's also a great place to find less-than-legal supplies, weapons, ships, information, and/or work.

Growing up playing KOTOR 2, Nar Shaddaa always seemed like such an interesting place to have a campaign.

[TheTeaMustFlow]

It's sort of a dark mirror of Coruscant, or what you'd get if you scraped the top half of Coruscant's buildings away and left only the under-city.
Members of every species and organization in the galaxy can be found there in some capacity--that capacity typically being either "shady as hell," or "down on their luck," or both.
It's also a great place to find less-than-legal supplies, weapons, ships, information, and/or work.

Speaking of which, the Coruscanti undercity might be interesting - the same 'attractions' as Nar Shaddaa, while being a few miles from the greatest power centre in the Galaxy.

[Lord Raziere]

Speaking of which, the Coruscanti undercity might be interesting - the same 'attractions' as Nar Shaddaa, while being a few miles from the greatest power centre in the Galaxy.

Yeah, and Coruscant in general is probably a good place for plot hooks, if you don't mind the high politics. just think of all the dancing Twi'lek girls that know dirty secrets about the politicians, all the potential senators that might be in the pocket of the under city crime lords....

and think of like, the structural problems that both Coruscant and Nar Shadda might have! I mean think about it: how many people actually go check the foundation or inner workings of something? like, these city planets must have some pretty complex technology and structures to keep them working and standing. And who actually goes down far enough make sure all this stuff is maintenanced? Droids probably, but a whole bunch of forgotten stuff could be down there- just miles and miles of abandoned places that are just gathering who knows what.

and entire adventure could be "go down there and fix this important thing/make sure its still working", and it would work, because it turns out a bunch of droids left there too long have gone a little glitchy and kill-happy, maybe some alien species from another planet has somehow found it way down there, oh and maybe there is this tunnel tribe of humans who have been down there so long that this is all they know and think your demons. and you have to fight through them all while braving structures that are falling apart and not safe to casually go through, like poisonous gas leaks, rusty metal bridges, things like that, oh and you have to do this before an entire section of the city collapses on top of you if this thing isn't fixed. good luck. being a technician/maintenance worker on Nar Shadda or Coruscant could be an entire adventure to itself.

[Jay R]

The cool thing about visiting the forst moon of Endor is that we didn't know what Ewoks were, and were surprised by their capabilities. Going to Naboo meant having to learn about Gungans. The first encounter on Dagobah would have been dull if we already knew who Yoda was.

So the most interesting place to go would be a planet we've never heard of, with creatures we know nothing about.

Also every single person in the system are hotshot ace pilot and/or dashing smuggler. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Not true. There has to be somebody to say "Just like bullseyeing womp rats back home" to.

[JAL_1138]

Not true. There has to be somebody to say "Just like bullseyeing womp rats back home" to.

Why does that make it not true? That was Wedge Antilles, practically the hotshot Corellian ace pilot, for the non-smuggling hotshot ace pilots anyway, and future leader of the most elite fighter squadron of the Alliance/New Republic. He just wasn't quite as much of a hotshot ace pilot as Luke at the time.

[Anxe]

I always liked the idea of a mission to blow up a droid factory.
One of my other wishes for Star Wars was to fight a Hydra like monster and then figure out the baddies created it through genetic engineering and are cloning more for some nefarious scheme.

[Jay R]

Why does that make it not true? That was Wedge Antilles, practically the hotshot Corellian ace pilot, for the non-smuggling hotshot ace pilots anyway, and future leader of the most elite fighter squadron of the Alliance/New Republic. He just wasn't quite as much of a hotshot ace pilot as Luke at the time.

The point of the comment it to convince the people who think that the mission is impossible. That implies that they are not as good as Luke.

Besides, if all the pilots can do that, then they aren't hotshots, they're average. That's what average means.

Similarly, nobody brags about making the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs* unless other people make it in more than 12 parsecs.

*Yes, I know a parsec is now a unit of distance, not time, based on the Earth's orbit about the sun. Obviously, it meant something else a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, before anybody measured parallax from Earth.

[Mechalich]

This question cannot be properly answered without answering two others: which continuity are you playing in - Legends, Disney, or Mixed? Also, what timeframe are you using? There are numerous different eras and planets range from being completely unknown and unsettled in one era to massive powerhouses in others. For example: Belsavis is a chaotic prison planet full of riots, recently released ancient monsters and a bizarre genocidal alien race if you go there during the SWTOR era, but afterwards it spends thousands of years being boring before becoming a run-down fringe planet that is later host for an unusual conspiracy regarding surviving Jedi initiates, and then it goes back to being boring again. Of course, in the Disney continuity it doesn't necessarily even exist.

[JAL_1138]

The point of the comment it to convince the people who think that the mission is impossible. That implies that they are not as good as Luke.

Besides, if all the pilots can do that, then they aren't hotshots, they're average. That's what average means.

Similarly, nobody brags about making the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs* unless other people make it in more than 12 parsecs.

*Yes, I know a parsec is now a unit of distance, not time, based on the Earth's orbit about the sun. Obviously, it meant something else a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, before anybody measured parallax from Earth.

(Of course, we're now taking a joke far too seriously, but still.)

Wedge was still a hotshot ace pilot compared to most other Alliance pilots at the time. That doesn't mean he was the single best pilot, just that he was among the best, nor does it mean he loses that status if a few other Alliance pilots can keep up with him or outfly him. It's like if one Top Gun pilot outflies another, or comparing a bronze-medal or silver-medal Olympic athlete to a gold-medal Olympian--they're both in the top tier, but one is higher within that tier than the other.

Likewise, Corellians could be hotshot ace pilots compared to most of the rest of the pilots in the galaxy. So yes, there would be an "average" or even "bad" Corellian pilot for Corellians, but compared to the vast majority of non-Corellian pilots, they'd still qualify.

Also, there's a (formerly) canon (now Legends) explanation for the Kessel Run parsec thing. Kessel is near a cluster of black holes called the Maw. The faster a ship moves in hyperspace, the less likely it is to be caught in a massive object's gravity well. To make the run in 12 parsecs' distance, one has to plot a course that skirts extremely close to the Maw cluster, and be going ludicrously fast not to get caught in the black holes' gravity wells. In other words, being able to take a shortcut instead of going around a longer but safer way is a function of how fast your ship is.

[Berenger]

Similarly, nobody brags about making the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs* unless other people make it in more than 12 parsecs.

*Yes, I know a parsec is now a unit of distance, not time, based on the Earth's orbit about the sun. Obviously, it meant something else a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, before anybody measured parallax from Earth.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, it also meant a unit of distance. There is dangerous stuff like asteroids and sources of gravity and radiation in space and Han plotted a shorter course that no one else dared to fly because it led him close to said hazards. At least, that's what our DM said when our characters gave lip to Han Solo.

Edit: Dang. Jawa'd.

[Hunter Noventa]

Yeah, and Coruscant in general is probably a good place for plot hooks, if you don't mind the high politics. just think of all the dancing Twi'lek girls that know dirty secrets about the politicians, all the potential senators that might be in the pocket of the under city crime lords....

and think of like, the structural problems that both Coruscant and Nar Shadda might have! I mean think about it: how many people actually go check the foundation or inner workings of something? like, these city planets must have some pretty complex technology and structures to keep them working and standing. And who actually goes down far enough make sure all this stuff is maintenanced? Droids probably, but a whole bunch of forgotten stuff could be down there- just miles and miles of abandoned places that are just gathering who knows what.

and entire adventure could be "go down there and fix this important thing/make sure its still working", and it would work, because it turns out a bunch of droids left there too long have gone a little glitchy and kill-happy, maybe some alien species from another planet has somehow found it way down there, oh and maybe there is this tunnel tribe of humans who have been down there so long that this is all they know and think your demons. and you have to fight through them all while braving structures that are falling apart and not safe to casually go through, like poisonous gas leaks, rusty metal bridges, things like that, oh and you have to do this before an entire section of the city collapses on top of you if this thing isn't fixed. good luck. being a technician/maintenance worker on Nar Shadda or Coruscant could be an entire adventure to itself.

The SWTOR MMO actually has some missions that go into this, and you actually do go down into the depths of Coruscant, beyond the shady parts and into the bowels for several missions, it's fairly neat. So yeah, going down there to fix the power or water systems can be a whole set of quests on its own.

[Beleriphon]

and entire adventure could be "go down there and fix this important thing/make sure its still working", and it would work, because it turns out a bunch of droids left there too long have gone a little glitchy and kill-happy, maybe some alien species from another planet has somehow found it way down there, oh and maybe there is this tunnel tribe of humans who have been down there so long that this is all they know and think your demons. and you have to fight through them all while braving structures that are falling apart and not safe to casually go through, like poisonous gas leaks, rusty metal bridges, things like that, oh and you have to do this before an entire section of the city collapses on top of you if this thing isn't fixed. good luck. being a technician/maintenance worker on Nar Shadda or Coruscant could be an entire adventure to itself.

Isn't that basically the plot of all of The Works quests on Coruscant in The Old Republic MMO?

[Hunter Noventa]

Isn't that basically the plot of all of The Works quests on Coruscant in The Old Republic MMO?

Yeah that's exactly what I was referring to. You learn a bit about how Coruscant got built up the way it is too.

[Jay R]

(Of course, we're now taking a joke far too seriously, but still.)

Of course. And I hope you're all having as much fun with it as I am.

Wedge was still a hotshot ace pilot compared to most other Alliance pilots at the time. That doesn't mean he was the single best pilot, just that he was among the best, nor does it mean he loses that status if a few other Alliance pilots can keep up with him or outfly him. It's like if one Top Gun pilot outflies another, or comparing a bronze-medal or silver-medal Olympic athlete to a gold-medal Olympian--they're both in the top tier, but one is higher within that tier than the other.

I was trying to disprove the statement "Also every single person in the system are hotshot ace pilot and/or dashing smuggler. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. " Thank you for supporting my position so well.

Also, there's a (formerly) canon (now Legends) explanation for the Kessel Run parsec thing. Kessel is near a cluster of black holes called the Maw. The faster a ship moves in hyperspace, the less likely it is to be caught in a massive object's gravity well. To make the run in 12 parsecs' distance, one has to plot a course that skirts extremely close to the Maw cluster, and be going ludicrously fast not to get caught in the black holes' gravity wells. In other words, being able to take a shortcut instead of going around a longer but safer way is a function of how fast your ship is.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, it also meant a unit of distance. There is dangerous stuff like asteroids and sources of gravity and radiation in space and Han plotted a shorter course that no one else dared to fly because it led him close to said hazards. At least, that's what our DM said when our characters gave lip to Han Solo.

Edit: Dang. Jawa'd.

I've heard that explanation. It's ingenious, but it doesn't work. A parsec is defined by the earth's orbit around the sun, and could not have been used a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. It was just a "sciency" word misused in the attempt to make this story feel like science fiction. In truth it's a fantasy story in a science fiction setting.

[Aeson]

I've heard that explanation. It's ingenious, but it doesn't work. A parsec is defined by the earth's orbit around the sun, and could not have been used a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

If you want to be this way:
It's true that it would be an incredible coincidence if the Star Wars Galaxy had a unit called a "parsec" that just happened to be exactly the same as a real-world parsec. However, it would be at least as incredibly coincidental if Galactic Standard Basic, the language that most characters in the movies converse in, just happened to have the same vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation as 20^th Century American or British English, or whatever other language you happen to watch the films in. Therefore, the dialogue (and any English-language text) in the movies has been translated for the convenience of the audience. If the translators did their jobs correctly, then when Han tells Luke and Obi-Wan that the Millenium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, he really did tell Luke and Obi-Wan that the Millenium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 12 real-world parsecs ... but not by using the real-world units. He might have told them that the Millenium Falcon made the Kessel Run in 148915 yahoigneins, with a yahoignein being a unit of distance such that 148915 yahoigneins is just a bit under 12 real-world parsecs.

The logical conclusions from that scene in the movies, if you want to argue that the Star Wars Galaxy does not have Earth-based units, are "translator error" or "Han's trying to bull**** Luke and Obi-Wan in some way," not "the Star Wars Galaxy has a unit of time called a parsec," because if the Star Wars Galaxy does not use Earth-based units, it also does not use Earth-humans' languages, and so any time we hear or see a real-world unit in the movies, we must assume that the measurement given has been translated to real-world numbers. I've also heard that there's a note in the script indicating that the scene was intended as "Han's trying to bull**** Obi-Wan and Luke." The EU, for whatever reason, decided to take the statement that the Millenium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs to be both factually correct and indicative of the Millenium Falcon's superior qualities, but there is no reason in the movies why this necessarily has to be the case.

[Mechalich]

If you want to be this way:
I've also heard that there's a note in the script indicating that the scene was intended as "Han's trying to bull**** Obi-Wan and Luke." The EU, for whatever reason, decided to take the statement that the Millenium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs to be both factually correct and indicative of the Millenium Falcon's superior qualities, but there is no reason in the movies why this necessarily has to be the case.

Force Awakens validated the EU interpretation though (which was dumb choice but whatever) so we're stuck with the convoluted distance around black holes example.

[Jay R]

Force Awakens validated the EU interpretation though (which was dumb choice but whatever) so we're stuck with the convoluted distance around black holes example.

No, we aren't. You may be, but I'm still free to consider it a writing mistake, just compounded now by an unconvincing retconned explanation.

[Fayd]

The main Galactic Bank? I'm sure that should generate a lot of interest.

...I'll see myself out.

[khadgar567]

depends on my job if darth lord probably in super weapon pulling extorcion money from some republic worlds
if jedi probably pulling darth vader on council then pulling first