Monday, July 13, 2009

Planet Profile: Pergitor


The planet Pergitor was introduced in Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters—which is possibly one of the best sourcebooks ever made for the Star Wars game. I say 'probably' because my own judgement is clouded by personal fondness for this book. In any case, this post is just a bit of a blurb about how I used Pergitor, and how it could be used in someone else's campaign.

As it's name would suggest, Pergitor isn't a very nice planet. It is a world of steaming jungles and volcanic wastes. And as if that weren't bad enough, it is ruled by corrupt and oppressive theocracy called the 'Church of Infinite Perception'. As with most of the planets in this guide, Pergitor is only sketchily described. But those sketches sparked my imagination and I ran with the idea (though truthfully, not until AFTER the first time I did the Minos campaign).

I expanded upon the idea of the Church by creating several agencies for it. The first of these were the 'Templar'. These were fanatical warriors (brainwashed) absolutely loyal to the corrupt hierarchy of the Church (i.e. they were the Church's version of Stormtroopers). To give them a unique look, I envisioned them wearing fearsome armor reminiscent to gothic full-plate armor complete with ornate religious symbols (in this case, the 'all-seeing-eye' of the Church). Instead of your typical weaponry, the Templar were equipped with 'Blast-Pikes'—a combination force-pike and blaster-rifle, heavy and fearsome looking. The Templar were responsible for enforcing order and obedience from the masses of the planet.

Keeping with the religious motif, I added the Inquisitors. As their name suggests, these are agents of the Church who root out 'heretics' and other troublemakers (i.e. anyone who stands against the Church). Thus, the Inquisition is the 'secret police' of the Theocracy, finding threats for the Templar to crush and otherwise making life miserable for the masses.

I tweaked the world itself a little, giving it a red sun to play up the 'hellish' aspect of living there (actually, I can't remember if it was ever specified what color the sun was...but anyway.) The main occupation there was working in the mines and smelting plants. So imagine an industrial nightmare with low-tech mines worked by millions of hapless citizens. Picture broken-down train rails hauling the ore up to gigantic smelting plants, belching pollution out into the already volcanic-ash-laden skies. Picture block upon block of crowded housing for the people, looked over by Templar and Inquisitors as loudspeakers constantly broadcast pseudo-religious doctrine. And then picture a massive palace-cathedral at the center of it all—from the outside stern and threatening damnation. Long lines of people march in and out—a constant 'conveyor belt' of mandatory worship. But behind this facade are the decadently luxurious private chambers of the high-clergy, where they indulge in every vice imaginable. Yeah. Now Pergitor really is living up to its name, huh? Anyway, it was just a fun thought—and hopefully it can be of use to someone in another campaign!

Oh, and by the way—no, I don't dislike organized religion, but I think when it goes bad, it can go REALLY bad (witness the Spanish Inquisition). 

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