Colonist

Choose 4 skills from the following:
 * Charm
 * Deception
 * Knowledge (Core Worlds)
 * Knowledge (Education)
 * Knowledge (Lore)
 * Leadership
 * Negotiation
 * Streetwise

You automatically gain one rank in the chosen skills without spending experience, and you receive a discount when spending experience to purchase ranks in any of these skills.

A Colonist's Role

In a way, Colonists are the most out-of-place people in the Outer Rim. They are most often from the Core Worlds, where they were well educated and part of the cultural and professional elite. A Colonist doesn't tend to have the training to survive in areas of high conflict, and he isn't particularly adept at physical exploits.

What he does possess, however, is a keen grasp of the bigger picture, and he usually has both the knowledge to understand problems and the capacity to get them solved. He probably came to the Outer Rim to create opportunities for himself, or to find a better life than what he left behind. If he cannot find that better life, he'll apply all of his knowledge to the task of creating it, and he'll use his considerable social skills to gather like-minded allies to his cause.

Of course, not all Colonists are necessarily altruistic in their pursuits. If knowledge is power, and power corrupts, then it follows that the Colonist is well-suited to take what he knows and exploit it for personal wealth. With charisma and street smarts, a Colonist might gather quite a team of specialists together to both watch his back and see to it that his enemies are brought to heel as he solidifies his power base. Countless Outer Rim worlds have become the personal fiefs of Colonists with bold ideas and willing followers.

Of course, some Colonists fail in their pursuits, and run afoul of the law or their fellows. These Colonists are forced to flee their lives of luxury and survive wherever they can. Some of these individuals may fall in with less reputable, even criminal, individuals. Luckily, these unfortunate Colonists sometimes find their unique skill sets are in high demand.

The clever Colonists—the ones most likely to survive their first few months in the Outer Rim—figure out how to parlay their knowledge and talents into currency and contacts. Providing excellent advice, medical aid, or valuable knowledge can easily endear a Colonist to a warlord or gang leader, giving him the very thing he needs most: security. From a position of relative safety, a wise Colonist will begin gathering connections and data, building up a network that he can one day exploit for his aims, whatever they may be.

Colonists are the consummate leaders, negotiators, inspirational speakers, and strategists. A Colonist can take any small group of capable operators and turn them into a true force to be reckoned with. A capable Colonist in a group can mean the difference between just getting by and doing something truly spectacular in the galaxy.

Colonist Specializations Colonist Stories
 * Doctor—The Gift of Healing
 * Politico—The Gift of Leadership
 * Scholar—The Gift of Knowledge

What drives a Colonist to abandon the comforts and safety of the Core Worlds and take such terrible risks out in the dangerous Outer Rim? What might he be seeking? Are his ambitions noble or purely selfish?

Here are some possibilities: The Colony
 * Knowledge: Despite doctrine to the contrary, the vast data resources of the Empire do not contain the sum of all knowledge. In fact, there are entire subjects that are continuously being subverted and redacted, with entire periods of history and elements of culture being systematically removed. A Colonist may be searching the Outer Rim, hoping to find important information about a subject lost to such purges, or perhaps he simply wishes to follow the trail of a particular legend or mythos. An academic career might well be founded on the knowledge one might uncover on a far distant planet.
 * Power: If an individual believes himself a born leader, yet has neither the ear of the Emperor nor access to the corridors of power, frustration might drive him to truly desperate measures. In the Outer Rim. opportunities abound for those with plenty of determination and charisma. Before the Empire sweeps across a particular planet, an ambitious Colonist might find a seat to call a throne. Someone will have to negotiate with Imperial agents upon arrival, and it might as well be him.
 * Nobility: In this time of turmoil and war, countless millions suffer, and neither the Empire nor those who seek to bring it down offer any aid. For someone with the knowledge and means to help, the call to do so may be too strong to ignore. Making his way to the Outer Rim, a Colonist might seek any number of ways to apply his gifts to make at least a few lives a little better. Of course, the realities of survival may mean making some pragmatic decisions, but he's decent at heart, and he'll do what he can out there.
 * Understanding: Sitting in a perfect, sterile, luxurious home, surrounded by servants, wanting for nothing, a person may find his life has no true challenges. The machinery of the Empire runs inexorably towards domination of the galaxy; has it truly all come to this? Is there nothing left to discover, to struggle against? Perhaps becoming a Colonist is nothing more than a decision to leave behind comfort and complacency in order to embrace the challenges left in the galaxy, hopefully to better understand life and one's place in it.
 * Revolution: With the destruction of the Death Star, a glimmer of hope has been ignited in the galaxy. There are those who finally see the total confidence in the New Order shaken at all levels. While there is still no chance for change in the Core Worlds, the Outer Rim could finally offer a chance to stir the embers, to galvanize populations and acquire resources. A Colonist may have to bide his time and act carefully, cultivating contacts, allies, and resources over time, but out on the Rim, he might well point the way towards unchaining the galaxy from the yoke of the Empire's oppression.

The Outer Rim is dotted with colonies large and small, each with its own character. Some are small farming communities with little contact with the galaxy at large. Others are mining settlements, ruthlessly exploited by corporate or criminal overseers. Each colony could serve as a home or point of origin for any PC, and each could serve as the site of many adventures in the Star Wars galaxy.

Here are a few ideas for colonies that can serve as home base for a colonist PC:
 * A small farming community that grows a vital crop.
 * A nomadic caravan of speeders and ground vehicles, herding enormous  alien creatures on a remote planet.
 * A political or religious outcast group in hiding from the Empire.