The Good, the BAF, and the Ugly

For any Star Wars fan, the chance to explore the galaxy is an exciting opportunity. Star Wars Galaxies had at it's disposal the intellectual property of the genre, but even this was not sufficient to flesh out an entire planet, let alone a galaxy full of them. This led to the creation of many new and exciting creatures.

For example, I've never heard of a humbaba in any Star Wars medium, but here's a young 'un having a snack.

Creatures in those days had numerous stats and capabilities. Any good  hunting party would have a scout in tow to make mention of the "Effectiveness" and "Vulnerabilities" attributes of each creature. As a scout advanced, more information about creatures would become known.

At the time, I wasn't quite sure how these values would affect our strategies, but it was obvious that the sooner we learned, the better we'd all be.

My idea was to record this information; to build up a database of creatures. I began on Corellia, taking the picture of the humbaba above and moving on to the mottled wrix, below. I was careful to take their picture on a solid background rather then in the environment so I could extract them in Photoshop. This was serious business!

Of course, it was also time-consuming business. It was very fun to explore the galaxy. It was not fun to pretend to be a scientist cataloguing nature. My idea didn't make it past a few screencaps before I realized that being a scout wasn't about having the SWG version of the Monster Manual handy.

It was enough to learn that each creature had it's own strengths and weaknesses. Some were aggressive and some were not. It was also key to know which would "BAF", as Ooyna called it. This meant "bring a friend"; shoot one and it'll bring the herd. The excitement would be learning first-hand.

It didn't take us long to know which butterflies on Corellia were best left to their own, which big cats would stalk you dozens of meters, and which could disease you with a single bite.

Cyra, Ooyna and Vincer continued to refine their strategies, using this knowledge to their benefit. And they became a better hunting squad for it.