General Information
Saga Edition Core Rulebook, page 233.
Region: Mid Rim
Climate: Temperate (urban)
Gravity: Standard
Moons: —
Length of Day: 87 standard hours
Length of Year: 419 local days
Sapient Species: 20% Human, 1% Evocii, 79% other species
Government: Hutt crime lords
Capital: None
Major Exports: Illegal goods, narcotics, weapons
Major Imports: Foodstuffs, illegal goods, medicine, technology
Knowledge [Galactic Lore]
Saga Edition Core Rulebook, page 233.
| DC | Result |
|---|---|
| 10 | Nar Shaddaa, also known as the Smuggler’s Moon, orbits Nal Hutta (the Hutt homeworld). Nar Shaddaa is a haven for criminals of all stripes who gather to conduct illicit business. |
| 15 | Nar Shaddaa, though technically within Hutt Space and under Hutt rule, has no true organized government and is divided into sectors ruled by individual species, gangs, and crime lords. |
| 20 | Nar Shaddaa is an urban sprawl with soaring towers and dizzying depths. Many sectors of Nar Shaddaa are in poor repair, boasting unstable architecture and zones where even a wise Jedi fears to tread. |
Knowledge [Social Sciences]
Saga Edition Core Rulebook, page 233.
| DC | Result |
|---|---|
| 10 | Nar Shaddaa boasts a strong black market economy. Almost any sort of contraband can be found on Nar Shaddaa for the right price. |
| 15 | Millions of smugglers, crime lords, and information brokers make their zones of the Smuggler’s Moon, and small wars break out between rival gangs on a regular basis. |
| 20 | Almost every major criminal organization in the galaxy, from the Hutt crime lords to the Black Sun Syndicate, has agents working behind the scenes on Nar Shaddaa. |
General Description
Scum and Villainy, page 131.
Lists of Knowledge checks and basic astrophysical data do little to highlight the true feel of the biggest nest of scum and villainy in the galaxy, The vast, sprawling city-planet Is like a dark twin of Coruscant, an urban crawl of vice, crime, and violence. The upper levels of the Vertical City of Nar Shaddaa are similar to the lower levels of the galactic capital, and both opportunity and danger can be found a few steps from any dock.
No central government exists on Nar Shaddaa, with each "sector" controlled by a crime lord, business cartel, or local warlord. Spice is openly processed on the surface, and everything from slave-fighting pits to Sith academies have been successfully set up on the world. However, its lack of government makes the planet amazingly resilient; even after being ravaged by the Yuuzhan Vong, after a few decades, it was once more a home for Smugglers and criminals from all over the galaxy.
Throughout the Smuggler’s Moon, the different factions operate in a similar manner. Although there are Corellian sectors and Twi’lek Quarters, the crime lords and smugglers who truly run things all have a hands-off policy until trouble begins to cost them credits and then they sapa bounty on any offenders. There’s Httle real law in Nar Shaddaa,just local enforcers and mid-level bounty hunters trawling for troublemakers with prices on their heads.
Shady deals are made in the back rooms of casinos and cantinas, dimly lit chambers thick with t’bac smoke and surrounded by guards. Low-grade thugs and bounty hunters conduct steady business in such places and so do the information brokers who watch then come and go. When a crime lord contracts real talent, he arranges to meet in a place that’s heavily guarded and fortified not only to ensure privacy, but his own safety as well.
A typical Nar Shaddaa crime lord is Kurka, a minor Hutt in the Desilijic class. Forced out of smuggling operations farther out in the galaxy, Kurta Jank the last of his finances into a small sector of Nar Shaddaa, from which he plans to grow the roots of a larger, more powerful organization. Currently, Kurka mostly deals in information and setting up meetings between other factions, using a series of foer go-betweens. Kuria has numerous apartments he rents to up-and-coming smugglers and bounty hunters, and he hopes to make enough contacts to be able to pick one to sell out for a deal big enough to make him a major player on Nar Shaddaa. Many of his schemes involve setting rivals against each other for his own profit: thus, his section’s living quarters and docking bays are designed to keep his quests separated while he lies to them about the motives of others, charging both for false information (and for hired muscle to punish factions for these false crimes.
Although Kurka has made advances in the databroker business, he doesn’t reinvest his money wisely. The Hutt is far more interested in an adding additional pleasure chambers, internal security systems, and insidious deathtraps than investing in more ships, enforcers, and sples. It is only a matter of time until someone hires a band of mercenaries to disable the security systems or blow up his entire command tower.
The crown jewel of Kurka’s shaky organization is the Falleen Lady, a casino and pleasure house that caters to those who enjoy pheromont-enhanced hostesses. The casino ferries in its customers through regular shuttles, to prevent larger starships from coming within weapons range. Its life support systems are rigorous enough to house thousands of sentients. Accommodations include staterooms for high rollers, living quarters for the staff and barracks for security personnel. With so many credits changing hands, the casino insists on starching its guests for weapons, and the vault at the subterranean building’s core is far more secure than a typical planetary bank.
In addition to bringing in credits from rigged gambling tables, the Falleen Lady is a popular meeting place. Since everyone present is supposed to be unarmed, factions with violent disagreements might try arranging negotiations here. There are certainly worse places to go when looking for an assassin, slicer, bounty hunter, or fixer for hire. Of course, when trouble does break out, the enforcers and casino security are present to break things up quickly and violently.
Old Republic Era
Knights of the Old Republic, page 126.
By the Great Sith War, Nar Shaddaa is already a dangerous place infested with criminals of all stripes. Nar Shaddaa sees a massive influx of refugees from hundreds of worlds passing through the Smuggler’s Moon on their way to safer worlds. Though the planet is a dangerous place, huge numbers of refugees put down roots in Nar Shaddaa, forging a new life on a world where they have little to fear from governments or wars.
Nar Shaddaa falls under the control of the Exchange during these years, becoming a strong base of operations for the vast criminal organization. The Exchange acts much like a government on the largely lawless world of Nar Shaddaa, imposing its own form of order wherever it sees fit. Most visitors to Nar Shaddaa have a brush with the Exchange, usually encountering low-ranking lackeys. Though the Hutts continue to fight the Exchange for control of the world, their power has waned, and Nar Shaddaa is, at least temporarily, firmly in the domain of the crime syndicate.
Clone Wars Era
Clone Wars Campaign Guide, page 118.
During the Clone Wars, Nar Shaddaa remains a haven for criminals of all stripes, a terrible and multileveled urban playground inhabited by the worst that the galaxy has to offer. Wars come and go, but Nar Shaddaa always remains in one form or another.
The Hutts that pull the strings on Nar Shaddaa see the conflict between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems as just another opportunity to make money. To this effect, they channel all manner of illegal products to one side or the other. Weapons, cortosis ore, assassin droids, spice, slaves, and any of a number of other forbidden goods pass through Nar Shaddaa like water through a sieve.
The Separatists are the Hutts’ largest customer. Though backed by a large number of technological concerns, such as the Techno Union and the Trade Federation, the Confederacy is always looking for an edge, regardless of how underhanded or destructive it might be. This is not to say that the Republic’s hands are completely clean, either, especially early in the war when the Army of the Republic is in its embryonic stage. Weapons, especially hand weapons and vehicles, pass through Nar Shaddaa on their way to Republic and Separatist munitions depots.
Nar Shaddaa not only offers physical goods for sale. Services are another of its more profitable offerings, and these include theft, assassination, and everything in between. Both sides in the war have agents assigned to Nar Shaddaa, both to contract for services as well as to monitor the movements of the opposition. Unlike the Republic and Separatist agents on Bothawui, who are relatively quiet and secretive, those living on Nar Shaddaa are much more likely to come to a spectacularly violent end at the hands of their enemies.
Dark Times Era
Force Unleashed Campaign Guide, page 160.
As in other periods of galactic history, the Smuggler Moon of Nar Shaddaa remains relatively insulated from events and political movements elsewhere. Although the Hutt families don’t possess the military might of the Empire, their influence keeps Imperial forces at bay with insinuations that they could sabotage key economies, supply lines, resource fulfillment, corporations, and even governments elsewhere in the galaxy. The Hutts sit secure in their own domain of space on the fringe of the Outer Rim, sending their agents to other worlds to deal with the rising Empire, forge cooperative arrangements with its more pliable members, and continue expanding their criminal syndicate throughout the galaxy.The sprawling, urbanized moon sees an influx in criminal activity brought about by tougher Imperial restrictions elsewhere and lucrative opportunities for shady enterprises during the initial founding of the New Order Transient lowlifes come from everywhere to use Nar Shaddaa as a base or a stopover in their underworld dealings. Trade in illegal goods flourishes. Forgers, starship dealers, gun runners, moneylenders, and mercenaries make a fortune catering to those who seek to export Nar Shaddaa’s brand of crime to worlds crushed under the Imperial boot heel that are crying out for illicit goods and services.
Nearly anything here can be bought for a price, making it a tempting yet dangerous resource for resistance cells operating on nearby Outer Rim worlds Although freedom fighters come to Nar Shaddaa to seek allies, resources, and equipment, they take their chances with the murderers, thieves, Smugglers, and Hutts like anyone else. Despite their seeming autocracy over Nar Shaddaa, the Hutts still dread wholesale Imperial interference in their affairs or in their territory. Supporting the criminal underworld is one thing: harboring known Insurgents bent on defeating the Empire is another matter entirely. Just as they maintain a watch over illegal activity originating on Nar Shaddaa, the Hutts keep an eye on suspected resistance operations on the Smuggler Moon, lest such activity arouse Imperial intervention. In addition to their formidable intelligence sources and enforcer networks, the Hults also enlist the help of other criminal enterprises based on Nar Shaddaa or directly under their influence to monitor and, in some cases curtail activities of known insurgents.
Legacy Era
Legacy Era Campaign Guide, page 116.
Like Ithor and Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa was devastated by the Yuuzhan Vong. When the invaders are driven off, however, many of the smugglers and other criminals who had fled the planet begin to return, using the newly terraformed moon as a shadowport. Though Nar Shaddaa has not returned to its status as an ecumenopolis, small cities have been rebuilt across the moon. These cities form the core of what has become the Nar Shaddaa shadowport, a haven for thieves, assassins, smugglers, bounty hunters, crime lords, and other members of the fringe. The Hutts have once again asserted their dominance over Nar Shaddaa, rebuilding that which was destroyed.
The Empire is well aware of the reconstruction of Nar Shaddaa, and Imperial vessels raid the world from time to time, seeking to capture known criminals. However, Hutt pressure on Imperial bureaucrats (namely in the form of bribes, but threats of violence can be effective even against the Empire) has earned Nar Shaddaa something of a respite from Imperial authority. Though no Sith rules over Nar Shaddaa and the Empire does not have a presence there, the Hutts keep a wary eye out for Jedi and others on the Empire’s bounty list, sending bounty hunters to capture the marks and turn them over to the Empire. This arrangement keeps the Empire happy while still lining the Hutts’ coffers. The Smuggler’s Moon is far from a safe port for enemies of the Empire, but it is still a hotbed of all manner of criminal activity.