“Never tell me the odds.” 
   –Han Solo

Fly Casual, a sourcebook for the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ roleplaying game, is now available at your local retailer and in our online store.

As a Smuggler, you thrive on risk and adventure. You’re happy never knowing what your next job might be or where it might take you. You might transport spice for a Hutt kajidic on one trip and ferry stolen medical supplies to a Rebel cell on the next. You don’t mind taking on illegal jobs from nefarious crime lords, as long as the pay is good. You just want to avoid Imperial attention, remain independent, and stay alive. 

For players who want to experience the thrills, dangers, and freedom of a Smuggler’s life, Fly Casual introduces new specializations, species, and signature abilities, along with new vehicles, and gear. For Game Masters, it provides copious information about smuggling in the Star Wars galaxy, from ideas for smuggling jobs to guidelines for quick-draw showdowns.

Shady Characters

We’ve already previewed the three new specializations – Charmer, Gambler, and Gunslinger – featured in Fly Casual, along with the three new species: the glamorous and shrewd Falleen, the empathic Gotals, and the aggressive Quarren. All are well-suited to becoming Smugglers, but there’s no limit to the careers they might take on. A Falleen could use her grace and intelligence as a Politico or Trader, while a Gotal might use his sensitivity to others’ emotions as a Doctor in an Outer Rim colony.  A Quarren, given the species’ meticulousness, might find employment as an Outlaw Tech. 

Although Smugglers may be Scoundrels, they aren’t necessarily cynical criminals or Outer Rim low-lifes. Fly Casual offers numerous suggestions for Smuggler backgrounds and Obligations. A Charmer might have been born into a privileged situation in a core world, but gave it all up in order to experience the open skies. A Gunslinger might once have been part of the Imperial military, but then became disillusioned with the Empire’s policies and left. Your Obligation might come from the notoriety you’ve gained for flagrantly breaking the law, or you might have a family on your homeworld that you support through smuggling.

No matter your specialization or background, as a Smugglers you are most certainly self-reliant. The new Unmatched Fortune signature ability helps you control your fate. The basic ability allows you to spend two Destiny Points to change the face of a positive die in your pool, making success out of failure, or even a triumph out of a success. If you foresee yourself getting into a lot of tough situations with no obvious exit, you may want the Narrow Escape signature ability. It allows you to spend two Destiny Points and make a Streetwise check: if you pass, you can escape from the present problem unscathed and live to fight, and fly, another day.

The Ship of Your Dreams

Some Smugglers, particularly Gamblers, might be able to sustain their career planetside. But most need a ship to carry their contraband, or at least help them make a clean getaway. Fly Casual features a range of ships suited to smuggling and new attachments so you can customize your chosen vessel. A whisperthrust engine, for example, makes your ship hard to detect at low speeds and can help you avoid getting boarded by Imperial officials. If you do get boarded, cloaked smuggling compartments and a rapid cargo evacuation chute can ensure they won’t find any evidence of your illegal merchandise. 

A good smuggler’s ship at a low price is the Starlight-class light freighter, which costs just under 70,000 credits and is incredibly fast at unloading and loading cargo. The sail-like shape of these freighters makes them unmistakeable, but it also makes them difficult to handle and unable to carry too much weight. Nevertheless, for lighter jobs and quick exits, you can’t do much better for the price. 

One of the best light freighters is the YT-2000, twice as expensive as the Starlight-class freighter, with better handling, better durability, nearly twice the encumbrance capacity, and better guns. YT-2000 was intended to be the pinnacle of the YT light freighter series, but the design was leaked through espionage and production was rushed before all the kinks were worked out. For that reason, keeping a YT-2000 in shape means constant work for a Mechanic or Outlaw Tech – but that job could easily become a labor of love. 

Occupational Hazards

If smuggling were easy it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. Therefore, Fly Casual offers Game Masters a number of ways to complicate smuggling jobs. To assist you in creating Imperial entanglements, it provides details on the Imperial Customs Office, the Bureau of Ships and Services, and the logistics of hacking transponder codes. If you’re staging a heist, you can use some of the detection devices and traps described in Fly Casual. The book even introduces rules for playing hintaro, a game played with chance cubes that is certain to drain your PCs credits – unless they know how to beat the odds.

Game Masters may also appreciate the three types of nemeses described: the Patron, the Law, and the Friendly Foe. A Smuggler’s relationship with his Patron may begin positive, but a failed job or personal offense could turn a Patron into a deadly and powerful enemy. The Law, of course, is seldom on a Smuggler’s side. The Friendly Foe may have gotten you out of countless scrapes, or even taught you everything you know, but that doesn’t mean you can trust him. He might buy a round of drinks only to distract you while he steals your cargo, or hook you up with a spice smuggling job a few days before turning you in to the authorities.

Take to the Skies

Whether you’re an ambitious and cunning Charmer looking to pick up the perfect talents, a seasoned Pilot in search of the perfect ship, or a Game Master developing smuggling adventures for your Edge of the Empire campaign, you’ll find what you need in Fly Casual. 

The open skies of the Outer Rim are waiting. Pick up your copy of Fly Casual today!