Galaxy of Intrigue Will's Rating / 4

"Many Bothans died to bring us this information..." While war rages on throughout the galaxy, a more subtle conflict is taking place in the shadows: a war of intrigue. Secrets are whispered in dark corners, bribes pass through corrupt hands, and saboteurs and assassins directly attack the resources and allies of their enemies. A campaign full of intrigue is a campaign full of mystery, where as one layer of the plot is revealed, so are three more mysteries whose true meaning have yet to be discovered.

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Reviews

Will: One of the very first archetypes seen in Star Wars is that of the noble - Princess Leia's whole mission to Tatooine racing across the movie screen, fleeing an Imperial Star Destroyer, has become an iconic part of both science fiction and wider media lore. It's no surprise, then, that one of Wizards of the Coast's Saga edition roleplaying sourcebook would be about nobles - Galaxy of Intrigue.

At 224 pages, GoI (to borrow an abbreviation) is one of the longer supplements for the Saga system, and it packs a lot into those pages. Creating noble characters is discussed, and a wealth of new feats are made available for all five base classes of characters - Jedi, noble, scout, scoundrel, and soldier.

New talents are available for nobles, scouts, scoundrels, and soldiers, and some of the prestige classes, but not for Jedi (although Jedi characters are able to take such talents if they multiclass into one of the other classes). GoI also features nine new alien species for characters to play, including Bith, Defels, Givins, Gotals, Herglics, Mrlssi, Umbarans, and the Fosh, as well as updated information for Neimoidians (who first had a short entry in the Saga Edition core rulebook).

An entire chapter is set up for skill challenges, in which players use their characters' skills to achieve a specific result instead of fighting. Almost any situation, whether hot-wiring a shield bunker's blast doors, negotiating with a Hutt, or Podracing, can be resolved with a skill challenge, and GoI does a good job of explaining how gamesmasters can set up and run such challenges. Nobles, who start with the largest number of trained skills at character creation (6 plus their Intelligence modifier), can shine during skill challenges, but any character can stand out.

The equipment section offers some useful weapons and other devices, such as the legendary "invisible blaster bolts" of the Xerrol nightstinger, and redirection crystals to make the nightstinger's blasts appear to come from somewhere besides their true start.

An entire page is set aside for poisons, with mentions of KOTOR (Devaronian blood-poison) and the dreaded "Dragon's Breath," trihexalon. New droids, vehicles, and items such as toxin detectors, shield cages, and more also are available for characters.

GoI gives several nods to a major slice of EU lore, West End Games' Lords of the Expanse sourcebook. Along with the Herglics and Mrlssi, the Tapani nobles get two pages devoted to them under the factions and organizations chapter. Also, the Firebird Society, with its leader Tessela Corvae, is featured. Other factions and organizations featured include the Core World nobles, the Droid Equality Foundation, the Galactic Alliance Guard, the Hapans, House Korden, Imperial Intelligence, the Kashyyyk Resistance, the Naboo Resistance Movement, New Republic Intelligence, the Praetorite Vong, and the Tagge Company.

One area where GoI doesn't skimp is in pre-made, playable scenarios and adventures. Eight short mini-adventures are available, as is an entire story set on a new Mid-Rim world, Nyriaan. Nyriaan receives its own chapter, with adventure ideas ranging from the KOTOR era all the way to Legacy and its One Sith.

GoI isn't without some flaws, but they're few and far between. I'm not sure that the following line is quite accurate about Hapan society as a whole: From the lowest beggar to the Queen Mother, Hapans get ahead in life by forcing their will on others, using blackmail, threats of violence, and outright violence. Similarly, there may be a continuity conflict in the Firebird Society's entry, about when the group was actually founded (the entry says that the Firebird Society started c. 2,000 BBY, originally as an exclusive club for female fighter pilots at the Lianna military academy, while older sources make it an Imperial-era organization founded at Tallaan). The retcon is presumably to allow it to be used in other campaign eras, but might be jarring for continuity-minded fans.

In all, Galaxy of Intrigue is a useful, wide-ranging sourcebook for gamers who want to add some Senate negotiations, cloak-and-dagger encounters, or other exploits in galactic high society.