The trade of these goods across the spacelanes
also requires legions of ships, pilots, and crews, which
in turn require food, fuel, and explorers to track the
fastest routes through hyperspace; they also require
weapons to protect cargoes from those interested in
"harvesting" that which has already been gathered.
Trade federations, guilds, and local governments
regulate and tax this commerce where they can. Most
use this wealth to provide for the common good. Lo-
cal authorities, such as those that govern Cloud City
on Bespin, empower and employ a company of se-
curity guards and escort ships for the freighters who
purchase their valuable Tibanna gas. This provides
employment for thousands of gas miners, traders, and
technicians—and blaster gas for the entire galaxy.
Of course, where there are rules, there are those who
break them, and where there are tariffs, there are those
who avoid them. Smugglers and black marketeers
profit greatly by transporting and selling restricted or
taxed goods throughout the systems. Some of these
goods are of the most despicable variety, such as ad-
dictive narcotics or slaves. Some may be used for good
or ill, such as weapons or explosives that might be used
for anything from crime and terrorism to fighting off
cruel and oppressive local regimes. Some cargoes may
actually be of a heroic nature, such as those bringing
medicine to a blockaded settlement or smuggling ne-
cessities to some backwater world suffering from a re-
pressive or monopolistic government.
Characters in EDCE OF THE EMPIRE may be black-
hearted scoundrels, unscrupulous smugglers, hired
guns, or ruthless bounty hunters, but some genuinely
see themselves as champions for common citizens op-
pressed by their own authorities. Of course, it doesn't
hurt to have a little operating margin as well.CURRENCYGoods and services are paid for with "credits." This is a
universal term for everything from local units of currency
with distinctive names and denominations to the galac-
tic standard Imperial credit. All are interchangeable and
can be carried as physical bills or coins, or tracked via
digital cred sticks (also called "chips"). The former are
most often used by criminals who don't want to leave
any sort of electronic trail, or by locals on distant worlds
who don't trust institutions based light-years away.For the most part, these fears are unfounded. Cred
sticks are encoded with values up to the currency limit
of the planet that issued them, and backed by the In-GEAR AND EQUIPMENT
•EDCE OF THE EMPIRE