Astral Projections – Porgs for FFG Star Wars

January 15, 2018 Linda Whitson Astral Projections, Lore Check 4

© 2017 Disney/LucasFilm Ltd.

This is the first of several planned articles about new species introduced in The Last Jedi. 

At long last, Xenobiology majors, I have gotten the chance to study Porgs! Porgs are small pelagic (dwelling on or by oceans) seabirds. These charming birds are native to Ahch-To, the planet where Luke Skywalker, distraught over his nephew Ben Solo’s choice of the Dark Side, went into exile. Ahch-To was only recently rediscovered by Resistance agents. Oddly, flocks of porgs are called “murders,” possibly because the term is used for flocks of some bird species, such as corvids, on more familiar worlds.

The birds live on the rocky shores of islands such as Temple Island and may spend part of each season over the seas between the archipelagos, something I hope to discover if I am fortunate enough to ever observe them in their natural habitat. Porgs live in family groups and nurture their hatchlings (porglets) in large nests. As is often the case with animals that have had little, if any, contact with sentients, porgs show little fear of Humans and other sentient species. They make a variety of noises. Again, I intend to study their communication if I can reach Ahch-To.

PORG [Minion]
Beast

Characteristics
Brawn 1
Agility 3
Intellect 1
Cunning 2
Presence 2
Willpower 1

Skills (Group only)
Perception, Survival

Talents: none

Abilities
Flyer: Porgs follow the rules for flying creatures in the Force and Destiny Flying sidebar (p. 208)
Pelagic Avian: Porgs live and feed by and/or on open oceans. They do not suffer penalties to swim, dive, or take prey in water or on the surface.
Silhouette: 0 (1 for very large flocks at GM’s discretion)

Soak: 1      Defense (m/r): 0/0      Wound Threshold: 2
Force Rating: 0

Equipment: Bite (Brawl, Damage 3, Critical 5, Engaged range)

Design & Play Notes: Nearly everyone loves Porgs, the puffins from the Galaxy Far, Far, Away and I’m no exception. (Yes, I got a Porg toy for Christmas and I love it!) So many people adore them–and even a hungry Wookiee could be guilt-tripped by those large, sad eyes and expressive body language.

While Porgs, per Canon, only live on Ahch-To, I think it is fine to have them, or very similar birds, on other water (or even terrestrial) worlds in your games. It is very common in Star Wars to find the same species, such as bantha, all over the galaxy. Perhaps as the original Jedi spread from Ahch-To, they brought the birds with them, and so they might be found in other long-abandoned Jedi enclaves or temples.
Besides Star Wars references, some of the information in the introduction comes from terrestrial puffins.

Credit: Thanks, Jon “Donovan Morningfire” Stevens, for feedback and suggestions.

 

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Linda Whitson

Contributing Writer & Copy Editor at D20 Radio
Linda Whitson is a long-time RPGer, amateur musician & artist, & an officer in the Rebel Legion Star Wars costuming club. Linda met her husband in an AD&D game and they have 2 teenagers, an anime fangirl daughter and a son who plays on his university's quidditch team. She is the Lead Mod of D20 Radio's forums and Copy Editor for the blog. Linda can be reached at GMLinda@d20radio.com

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4 Comments

  1. Great writeup. I can see throwing a few murders of porg in an adventure.

    One question: Beak? I don’t remember them having a beak, more an impressive set of teeth.

    Keep these descriptions coming!

    • LOL. I already have a request on Facebook for a Nemesis level Porg.

      Maybe I should do a follow-up article. First week of April?

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