Civilization doesn’t happen by accident. It’s hard work.

Accordingly, many people find it difficult to understand the colonist’s desire to brave remote areas and dangerous conditions in order to establish settlements on new worlds. When they could live on any of tens of thousands of civilized worlds, what exactly draws them to forge ahead with yet another settlement on a world that is most likely to be unremarkable or inhospitable?

This is a question that runs throughout Far Horizons, the Colonist sourcebook for the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Roleplaying Game.

Of course, there are as many specific reasons for colonists to pursue new settlements as there are colonists, but the larger reasons tend to fit into categories that are ages-old. Colonists willing to brave the dangers of the wilds often wish to break with current society or government, establish civilizations based on specific ideals, or exploit new resources.

Despite their best intentions, not all colonists are able to enjoy peaceful and profitable lives on their adopted homeworlds. Some become swept up in events and find themselves caught in interplanetary adventures. In such situations, colonists do well to draw upon their considerable courage and talents. Although anyone can become a colonist, the best are typically smart, ambitious, tough, and willing to brave the unknown. These are the characters you’ll find given more attention in Far Horizons.

For more about what Far Horizons offers these characters, we turn to lead developer Sam Stewart.

Lead Developer Sam Stewart on the Colonists of Far Horizons

“In our announcement of Far Horizons, we looked at how the sourcebook fleshes out the Colonist career with three new specializations: the Performer, the Entrepreneur, and the Marshal. However, the book offers much, much more for both your Colonist characters and any GM looking to write these characters into a truly engaging campaign that plays to their strengths and interests. Among the first new options Far Horizons offers your Colonists are two new signature abilities. Signature abilities are powerful, advanced abilities that are available only to a specific career. Specializations can be taken by any character, but signature abilities are exclusive to the careers to which they’re tied.

“Appropriately, the Colonist’s two signature abilities play to some of this career’s greatest strengths, and the Colonists who take them become even better at drawing upon the knowledge and skills that allow them to thrive on some of the galaxy’s wildest and most dangerous planets.

“The first is called Insightful Revelation. As befits the career with the Scholar specialization, Insightful Revelation allows characters to really put their Knowledge skills to use; a character with Insightful Revelation can make a single check to reveal vital information about his or her situation that he or she couldn’t normally uncover.

“This is great deal more potent than a normal Knowledge skill check, because it’s specifically intended to reveal relevant information that would otherwise be outside your character’s frame of reference. In complex negotiations with a Hutt Crime Lord? Use Insightful Revelation to find out that his new slave is actually a Rebel agent, and make a deal with her instead. Captured by the Empire? Turns out the lieutenant heading up your prison detail is secretly Force-sensitive, and desperate to hide it from his superiors. Who knew? Well, you did, thanks to Insightful Revelation.

“Playing alongside these sudden epiphanies, we have Unmatched Expertise. Perhaps more than any other characters, Colonists such as Doctors, Scholars, and Performers are defined by their jobs and specializations. Accordingly, it’s appropriate that Unmatched Expertise rewards them for their dedication and helps make them the very best at what they do.

“Specifically, Unmatched Expertise allows the most talented Colonists to decrease the difficulty of all career skill checks by one for an entire encounter. Nobody out-talks a Politico, out-medics a Doctor, or out-deals an Entrepreneur!”

New Species

“Far Horizons also introduces three new playable species: Arcona, Gran, and Chevin. These species offer you some interesting choices when you build your character. While you can use them with any career, each species works especially well as a Colonist.

“The Arcona are reptilian, community-oriented individuals from a dry desert planet. They have formidable wills, and their unique heat vision abilities allow them to read others’ moods, giving them a decided edge in negotiations. However, they have one dangerous weakness as a species; an Arcona can become fatally addicted to sodium chloride. To an Arcona, simple purified salt is more powerful than the strongest spice, and whenever these sociable aliens imbibe, they risk dooming themselves to slow and painful deaths.

“Meanwhile, the Gran first debuted in the Star Wars®: Age of Rebellion™ Roleplaying Game, but they’re back in Far Horizons because of their powerful personalities. Nobody gabs like a Gran, and their ability to talk the ears off a gundark makes them great Entrepreneurs, Performers, and Politicos.

“Finally, we have the Chevin. The Chevin are a species of cunning and dangerous merchants, nomads, and slavers from Vinsoth. Chevin may look clumsy, but you would be unwise to underestimate the resilience of their rock hard skin or their innate physical strength. However, as Far Horizons reveals, their real strength lies in their mercantile and mercenary minds. Chevin can find the advantage in nearly every situation, and exploit it for their benefit. And while many Chevin are known to be vicious slavers, there exist a significant number of Chevin who have turned their back on this deplorable practice and set out to try and change their society. A hard-nosed Chevin who turns away from slavery in preference for justice can make a formidable Marshal.”

Skills and Talents for Every Occassion

Isolation from the galaxy at large demands that colonists refine their intelligence, skills, and self-reliance. Simultaneously, the often challenging circumstances of their lives demand that they grow adaptable and resilient.

Accordingly, Colonists are some of the most reliable adventurers in Edge of the Empire. When they’re swept along by currents of events that carries them into adventures that may span the galaxy, you can rely upon them to make good use of all the skills and tools at their disposal.

Far Horizons allows you to prepare your Colonist for more of anything and everything with more talents, careers, and signature abilities. Of course, a good Colonist also knows when to share with others for the good of the homestead, and Far Horizons includes a wealth of material that any Edge of the Empire character can use.

In upcoming previews, we’ll look at some of the sourcebook’s new gear and at how Game Masters can use the book to craft dynamic and dramatic campaigns centered around a colonist’s homestead.

For now, be sure to book your ticket to the next remote planet… Head to your local retailer today to pre-order your copy of Far Horizons!