Archetypes

Having trouble with your concept? Need some inspiration? Does your biography start with 'is an orphan'?

This page gives a brief and general overview of some popular choices for Independent characters, they are by no means the only options, but aim to give some context to the role and aid you in creating your character.

Smuggler
Many smugglers were once legitimate spacers - some come from military or law enforcement backgrounds but most faced the backbreaking reality of trying to make a living in interstellar trade. Massive conglomerates control much of shipping, they pay their employees as little as they can get away with and independent traders must compete with the economic might they can bring to bear, often being quite literally priced out of business. When a spacer tires of scraping by, he may turn to earning credits on the side.

For many smugglers they didn't start out to become criminals. The offer of a tidy sum to hide a crate of spice among their regular shipment, or look the other way when a cargo doesn't match its manifest puts money in their pockets and food on their table. And this is as far as most smugglers go. Some however get a taste for the finer things this money affords them, or enjoy the thrill.

These beings invest in their efforts, they make contacts with the criminal underworld to supply them with work, forge their documents and identify corrupt officials they can bribe. They alter their vessels to better evade inspections, installing hidden cargo holds and modifying their engines to illegal standards in order to outrun interdiction craft.

While most smugglers look to minimize risk, carefully planning routes, gathering intelligence and doing their best to avoid suspicion especially brave, reckless or greedy smugglers sometimes take up blockade running, seeking out the most active interdiction forces and reaping the rich rewards that come from thwarting them.

Bounty Hunter
Bounty hunters are among the most dangerous beings in the galaxy, they make their living tracking and capturing those who can successfully evade the regular authorities. Their journeys bring them into close contact with a criminal underworld that loathes and despises them, often without any kind of back up.

Bounty hunters come in many types. Some view themselves as frontier law-beings, dedicated to the ideals of law & order and prepared to undertake great personal risk to bring dangerous fugitives to justice. Others are ruthless mercenaries prepared to accept any contract, if it pays well, and use the title to provide a degree of respectability and a pretense of legality to their activities. The former generally holds a low opinion of the latter. The latter rarely cares.

Bounty hunters are nominally self-regulated by the Bounty Hunters Guild, membership in this professional body is mandatory to have a claim of being a bounty hunter taken seriously by both other hunters and the authorities. Rules prohibit 'bidding wars' for contracts interfering with another member's hunt and mandate abiding by local laws. In practice, the guild rarely acts to discipline its members.

Bounty hunters are frequently early-adopters of technology. In their line of work, every edge counts and as most bounties specify a live capture the hunter begins at a disadvantage - their quarry rarely operates under such restrictions!

Pirate
Pirates are beings that for one reason or another have taken to preying on others to make their living. Some have philosophical reasons, citing the general failure of governments to hold up their end of the social contract and opposition to the institutions of power that devalue individual lives. Others are simply thugs who find it easier to steal what better beings have built.

Most pirate crews are democracies with each member holding an equal share in their enterprise. Captains are elected, although some prefer to use violence and intimidation to garner votes than genuine respect and merit. Discipline is strict, often more so than on military or commercial vessels as vigilance is essential to survival. Pirate crews enjoy a much finer lifestyle however - as well as being considerably better compensated ships are warmer, quarters larger and food better.

By necessity, pirates are highly skilled - to survive they must not only overwhelm their prey, but evade the authorities on a habitual basis and fend off other pirates - there is truly little honor among thieves. Violence is a way of life and while many pirates prefer their dealings to go smoothly,preferring the threat of violence they are notorious for the examples made of those who resist or threaten them, all the better to compel the next prey to surrender quickly.

Some pirates choose to work with the authorities in return for immunity and even pardons, attacking that government's enemies or even other pirates. These privateers typically earn less than their strictly criminal cousins and are often unwelcome among other pirates who regard them as traitors and sell-outs. None the less, there are many successful privateers and the advantages of docking in a government port without fear can be attractive.