Suns of Fortune is a source book for the Edge of the Empire RPG, focusing on the Corellian Sector of space (yes, that Corellian Sector – where Han Solo and Wedge Antilles call home). 144 pages long, it continues in the Edge of the Empire standard of being beautiful hardcover source books. Retailing for about 40 bucks, it’s certainly worth it if you plan for your group to be adventuring there, or even if you just want your character to call it home.
The book contains four chapters: The Corellian System, The Corellian Sector, Player Options, and Modular Encounters. The first covers those planets in the actual Corellian System – Corellia itself, Drall, Selonia, Talus and Trallus, and the mysterious Centerpoint Station. Those who are familiar with the expanded universe likely recognize these locations. For those who are not, Corellia is the home of Han Solo and the seat of power for the System and Sector. One of the homes of Humans in the Star Wars Universe, it is primarily known as being home to smugglers, scoundrels, hot shot pilots, and many other types of adrenaline junkies. Drall and Selonia are home to two different non-human species, who will receive more attention in chapter 3. Talus and Trallus are twinned planets orbiting opposite each other around Centerpoint station, a mysterious artificial space station reminiscent of Babylon 5 or the Citadel from Mass Effect.
Chapter 2 looks at other prominent planets and systems in the Corellian Sector, including but not limited to Duro, Nubia, and Froz. Again, there’s a lot of details pulled out of the expanded universe and explained for the RPG. Both of these first two chapters are presented as travelogues, giving brief descriptions of the planets involved – history, terrain, importance, people and places of interest, even adversaries (mostly creatures) unique (or not so much) to each planet… the types of things you’d want to know so as to be able to incorporate the planet in question into your game world realistically. Plus it’s a good read if you’re simply interested in some background on the planets involved. Reading through these chapters (especially the bits hinting at the mystery that is Centerpoint station) made me want to dig out the Expanded Universe books that covered it and reread them (it’s introduced in the Corellian Trilogy – Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint – CS).
Chapter 3 gets into player options: new species, weapons, gear, and of course given the Corellian Sector’s reputation some of the fastest ships and vehicles in the game. Three new(ish) species are presented for players: the Drall – super intelligent (highest starting int score of any race) but small furred aliens – The Selonians – basically sentient otters – and Corellian Humans – a slight tweak on the standard human template to make it clear they are daredevils and pilots. After that are new weapon and gear options, to me the most interesting being prices for cases of things like Corellian Whiskey that the player characters might be interested in transporting to various locations which the authorities might not be so happy with them taking there in the hopes of securing a profit from less than noble types. And of course lots of fast ships, speeders, swoops, and even some vehicles that aren’t built only for speed (smuggling. they’re built for smuggling).
Chapter 4 is perhaps the most useful for an aspiring GM looking to bring the Corellian Sector into their game: Modular Encounters. Nine mini scenes to incorporate into your game as you see fit, they range from what’s really just a single scene in a session to what could be a whole game night on its own. Each should give a nice view into the unique flavor and situations encountered in the Corellian Sector.
In all, I greatly enjoyed this book. Any player looking to play Han Solo, or any GM looking to bring that independent spirit of the Corellians into their game should certainly pick it up. Even if you’re not planning to immediately bring the Sector into your game it should give plenty of ideas to incorporate into your game world, even in smaller pieces. While written to give a feel for the Corellian Sector, there’s nothing to say you couldn’t have many of the Modular Encounters with ex-pats in Hutt Space or wherever your campaign is taking place. Even if you want nothing to do with Corellia itself there are plenty of new options for gear and weapons to bring into your game.
All that said, despite probably seeing Jedi as a kid, I don’t believe in hokey religions or ancient weapons – preferring a good blaster at my side.