Village Inhabitants

Detailed here are some of the NPCs who can be found in Sim-Neleg Village.

Typical Villager (Minion)

Brawn 2 Agility 2 Intellect 2

Cunning 2 Willpower 1 Presence 1

Soak: 3

Wound Threshold: 5 each

Strain Threshold: NA

M/R Defense: 0 / 0

Skills (group only): Athletics, Brawl, Mechanics, Melee, Perception, Survival

Talents: None

Abilities: None

Equipment: Heavy clothing, toolkits, truncheons

These rugged individuals have banded together for the purpose of reclaiming a life from the rugged Jakku desert. While not especially imaginative or altruistic, they are quite resilient and clever when it comes to finding and refurbishing what might otherwise seem to be junk.

Duwo Sim, Sullustan Salvager (Rival)

Brawn 2 Agility 3 Intellect 3

Cunning 1 Willpower 2 Presence 2

Soak: 3

Wound Threshold: 12

Strain Threshold: 12

M/R Defense: 0 / 0

Skills: Astrogation 1, Computers 2, Education 1, Mechanics 3, Melee 1, Negotiation 2, Outer Rim 1, Perception 3, Piloting—Planetary 1, Ranged—Light 1, Vigilance 2

Talents: Contraption, Fine Tuning, Gearhead, Redundant Systems, Skilled Jockey

Abilities: One free rank in Astrogation skill and Skilled Jockey talent

Equipment: Heavy clothing, datapad, comlink, blaster pistol

Duwo Sim is a smallish Sullustan who dresses in protective clothing and oversized goggles. While not particularly gregarious, he enjoys tinkering and deals fairly with the other beings in the village. Indeed, those who earn his respect can win his friendship, but he is initially distrustful of outsiders.

Sonjah Neleg, Ithorian Scout (Rival)

Brawn 2 Agility 1 Intellect 2

Cunning 2 Willpower 3 Presence 2

Soak: 3

Wound Threshold: 12

Strain Threshold: 14

M/R Defense: 0 / 0

Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 1, Discipline 2, Leadership 1, Lore 3, Medicine 2, Melee 2, Negotiation 1, Perception 2, Piloting—Planetary 1, Ranged—Light 1, Resilience 2, Survival 3, Vigilance 2, Xenology 1

Talents: Beast Wrangler, Expert Handler, Expert Tracker, Forager, Outdoorsman

Abilities: Free rank in Survival skill; Ithorian Bellow (see page 58 in the Age of Rebellion rulebook for details)

Equipment: Heavy clothing, force pike, suvival gear, comlink

If Duwo Sim is the brains behind the Sim-Neleg Village operation, then Sonjah Neleg it the village's soul. In addition to training and caring for the dewbacks that the villagers use for exploring Jakku's wreckage fields, Sonjah is an adherent to the Church of the Force. She provides medical care—what she can, anyway—to those who need it, and tells stories from the days of the Jedi as a way of teaching these beings how they should live and work together. While Sonjah is friendly toward newcomers, she is not naive; the Ithorian knows that criminals would happily take advantage of her and her fellow salvagers, and that the First Order would like to stamp out any remaining traces of the Jedi and their teachings.

Sim-Neleg, Scavenger Village on Jakku

Many of the scavengers on the planet Jakku live a solitary existence, dwelling by themselves in isolated places and selling what materials they can scrounge to shady, self-interested brokers. There are exceptions to this rule, however, groups who have banded together to work for a common good. One example of this is the beings who live in Sim-Neleg Village. 

The Village

While it might not look like much when compared to the settlements on other planets, on the harsh and arid world of Jakku, this is almost a little slice of paradise. The buildings are made from cut stone covered in a coating of whitewashing clay. None are taller than one story in height, allowing the desert winds to blow across them. All are built around a central square, in the middle of which stands the village's moisture vaporator.

A typical house in the village (1) has a common living space with a kitchen and table (A), along with a larger bedroom (B) and one or more smaller bedrooms (C). There is also a compact but serviceable refresher unit (D). Typically these homes are occupied by a family or by a few unmarried scavengers.

The hub of daytime activity in the village is Duwo Sim's shop (2). Here, scavengers bring their found items to clean and prepare for sale. The main work room (A) is filled with low tables for that purpose. Off of that are a refresher unit (B) and a storeroom for items that are ready to sell (C). There's also a kitchen for Duwo and his assistant, along with their bedrooms (D and E, respectively).

Next door to the shop is the home of Sonjah Neleg, the dewback wrangler. It is laid out much like the other homes, with living quarters (A) and a fancier refresher (B and C), along with a kitchen (D), storage area (E) and bedrooms (F and G). More notable is the fenced-in dewback pen and covered stalls (H), where a handful of those creatures are kept.

What looks like nothing more than a small comm booth (4) is in fact a shrine for the Church of the Force. There is a compact workstation and vidscreen. While this is generally used for contacting nearby settlements and ships in orbit, those who know the proper codes can access a database with teachings about the Jedi Order. (Note that these detail the history of that group, not ways of using the Force.)

After the workday is finished, activity in the settlement tends to take place in the small cantina (5). Rather than having its own proprietor, the cantina is a place where the locals come together to share food, drinks, and whatever entertainment they can muster.

Using Sim-Neleg Village in an Episode VII-Era Campaign

This village and its inhabitants can be incorporated in a campaign in many different ways; a few of the possibilities are detailed here.

• PCs who crew a tramp freighter could be hired to deliver supplies here and thus have a chance to interact with these beings.
• Alternately, the PCs could be natives of the village; this option gives the GM a chance to use the settlement rules from Far Horizons, as well as the shop rules from Special Modifications.
• One who has medical training could even be called on to provide aid to an injured scavenger or even help deliver a newborn dewback.
• When the scavengers run afoul of a ruthless salvage gang, they might turn to outsiders for help settling the conflict. This could involve claim jumping, payment of protection money or something similar.
• During a nastier-than-normal sandstorm, some of the village's scavengers go missing; they ask the PCs to help find them.
• A vicious beasts lurks in the nearby desert and begins preying on unsuspecting scavengers.
• This could be a stop on a Force-sensitive character's path to learning more of its mysteries; these beings might even have met Lor San Tekka, and perhaps know some of the lore that otherwise would have died with him.
• The discovery of a long-lost Imperial vessel in the sands of Jakku, one that holds important secret information, draws unwanted attention to this settlement.
• After the destruction of Tuanul Village by the First Order, some of the scavengers begin calling for militant action against that organization. Others disagree, however, arguing that it's just too powerful of a foe.

Demo Characters

Here's a PDF presenting five characters for use with demo scenario that I printed previously. 

Demo Characters

-Nate

The Guardian and the Teacher

Here are stats for the beings associated with the Church of the Force shrine. 

-Nate

The Guardian

Currently the shrine has one regular inhabitant, a Barabel warrior named Aurakh. He is a skilled hunter who prowls the surrounding jungle during the night and then takes shelter in the shrine as the deadly sun begins to rise. He also spends time interacting with the holocron, slowly learning what he can about the ways of the Force. While some of this training may seem contradictory to the Barabel's inherently predatory nature, Aurakh is doing his best to develop the discipline of a Jedi warrior.

Aurakh, Barabel Force-Sensitive Exile (Rival)

Brawn 4 Agility 2 Intellect 2

Cunning 2 Willpower 2 Presence 2

Soak: 5

Wound Threshold: 18

Strain Threshold: 10

M/R Defense: 0 / 0

Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Coercion 1, Cool 1, Coordination 1, Discipline 1, Lore 1, Medicine 1, Melee 3, Perception 3, Ranged—Light 2, Resilience 2, Stealth 2, Survival 3, Vigilance 2

Talents: Expert Tracker, Forager, Hunter, Outdoorsman, Stalker, Swift; Sense Basic Power, Uncanny Reaction, Uncanny Senses

Abilities: Free rank in Cocercion; natural weapons; radiation resistance; stun resistance*

Equipment: Hide armor (treat like heavy clothing), hunting axe (treat like a gaffi stick), backpack with five days' rations and fresh water

While he might at first glance look like a savage warrior, Aurakh the Barabel is in fact an honorable warrior dedicated to learning the ways of the Jedi.

*This character is made using stats from the Unofficial Species Menagerie, Revised & Expanded

The Teacher

This item is imprinted with the personality of Ritsam Mit-Sanij as its gatekeeper. As such, it can provide information for characters who hope to learn the ways of the Force (limited at the GM's discretion, of course). He was a Knight who fought during the Clone Wars and survived into the early times of the Galactic Empire. What is more, he managed to record much of his knowledge in it.

To that end, characters who acquire the holocron can use it to study some of the techniques that Mit-Sanij himself had studied when he was alive. Mechanically speaking, those could include any that the GM wishes to allow characters to learn. What is more, the imprint of Mit-Sanij could be a source of information about the events leading up to and during the Clone Wars and the fall of the Jedi Order, since he lived at that time. In fact, although the imprint doesn't know it, the Jedi guardian died on Nar Shadaa, the Smugglers' Moon, after running afoul of a Hutt crimelord's enforcers.

Pirate Attack! Demo Version

Back on International Tabletop Game Day, I arranged to run some Edge of the Empire. I was expecting a four-hour slot, much like at a gaming convention. It quickly became apparent, however, that what would have been more appropriate is a one-hour demo event. With that in mind, I put together and edited material from my Pirate Attack! posts into the following short PDF.

-Nate

Pirate Attack! Demo Version PDF

Church of the Force Shrine

Following the end of the Clone Wars, the destruction of the Jedi Order and the rise of the Galactic Empire, access to knowledge of the Force and the lore of those who studied it became quite limited. The Empire persecuted those who showed interest in or sympathy toward the ways of the Jedi. Even so, adherents that came to be known as the Church of the Force managed to pursue their inquiries in secrecy, even creating safe havens where like-minded beings could gather to share their discoveries. One such location is a cave hidden behind a waterfall on the planet Barab I. 

The Waterfall

Deep in the jungle of Barab I is a place where a strong but narrow stream plunges over a vertical wall of rock. The water cascades down into a small pool, what seems to be a place to rest and refresh oneself. What most visitors don't recognize, however, is that the place harbors a secret shrine to the Jedi and the Force.

It takes an average Athletics check with one setback die to climb the rock wall next to the waterfall—while there are adequate handholds, the surface is slippery. Those who succeed can reach a ledge of rock behind that leads behind the water and into a small cave.

This place was once the hideout of a Jedi who survived Order 66 with help from the local Barabels, a Human male by the name of Ritsam Mit-Sanij. While this Jedi Knight was eventually found and killed, he managed to leave behind a holocron that he'd prepared along with some other personal items. Later a Barabel hunter named Aurakh discovered the place. That individual now resides in the cavern, recognizing its importance and revering the honorable ways of the Jedi warriors. 

Facility Personnel

Presented here are stats for some of the personnel who can be found in the secret facility. 

-Nate

Research Facility Personnel

Detailed below are some of the characters who might be found in this facility.

Jiru Dow (Rival)

Brawn 2 Agility 2 Intellect 4

Cunning 2 Willpower 2 Presence 1

Soak: 2

Wound Threshold: 12

Strain Threshold: 12

M/R Defense: 0 / 0

Skills: Coercion 2, Computers 3, Core Worlds 2, Discipline 2, Education 3, Lore 1, Mechanics 1, Medicine 4, Negotiation 1, Outer Rim 2, Perception 2, Resilience 2, Xenology 3

Talents: Cyberneticist, Eye for Detail, Improved Overcharge, Overcharge, Toughened, Utility Belt

Abilities: Free rank in Coercion

Equipment: Clothing, tool kit, datapad, comlink

Jiru Dow is an irrascible Arkanian, a genuius when it comes to blending technology and medicine, if not a very pleasant being. He is amoral when it comes to scientific research, valuing any possible discoveries more than what they might cost in sentient life. He is also egotistical, and hates it when “lesser minds” question his methods or results.

Staff (Minions)

Brawn 2 Agility 1 Intellect 3

Cunning 2 Willpower 3 Presence 1

Soak: 2

Wound Threshold: 5 each

Strain Threshold: NA

M/R Defense: 0 / 0

Skills (group only): Brawl, Computers, Education, Mechanics, Medicine, Melee, Xenology

Talents: None

Abilities: None

Equipment: Clothing, datapad, comlink, stun baton

These Humans assist Jiru Dow in his research, and can also act as security guards when necessary. They are trained to respond en masse to problem situations in the facility.