What could a scientist in my Star Wars RPG be researching?

[Maximum7]

Maximum7
Im trying to write an RPG profile about a scientist who is working on something in the era of the New Republic. He does not believe in the Force. I just need something for him to be researching. It really isn’t that important to the story; it just has to sound cool and scientific. Also it can’t have already been done in Legends or Canon. I want a fresh idea.

It cannot be

- A time machine

-A teleporter

-A matter replicator

-A singularity Weapon

- Any type of droid

-Anything to do with holograms

-A food synthesizer

- Anything to do with the Force or Midi-chlorians

- A shrink ray

-A freeze ray

-pico and femtotechnology

-A Dyson sphere or any type of megastructure.

-Liquid metal armor or a nano morph

-Any improvements on the hyperdrive

-Limb regeneration

-Hyperspace nullifier

-Holodeck

- Knowledge Transfer (Instant learning like in the Matrix)

-Philosophers Stone

-Kinetic weapons

-Solar sail

-Anything to do with kyber crystals

-Gene editing

-Mech suit

-Exosuit

-Gender change



In canon, during the Empire, scientists were researching methods to control droids, lasers that can punch through deflector shields and ship scale disintigrators. These ideas are therefore taken.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Maximum7

Maximum7
Im trying to write an RPG profile about a scientist who is working on something in the era of the New Republic. He does not believe in the Force. I just need something for him to be researching. It really isn’t that important to the story; it just has to sound cool and scientific.

So why not flip open any science journal and use one of the paper titles? Change a few of the nouns and you're probably good. Real science is more likely to be "the biochemistry of cell entry of blue spotted wheat blight virus", "the effects of ultra-high pressures on the glass transition of ultrapure carbonite", or "an improved chronology of pre-historic transmission of pottery styles among the Zarov Islands on Gorblat IV" than any of the stuff you have listed not to do - it doesn't look to me like *any* of that is science at all, it's engineering if anything.

[The Colonel]

Remember, if he's a scientist his work doesn't need to be anything applicable - he could equally well be studying gross weather patterns in one or more gas giants, taxonomy amongst a group of organisms, crystal structures in developmental synthetic materials, a specific enzyme in some random microbe, local trends in air pollution in a built up area.
Your average PhD thesis is about the size of an urban telephone directory from the 1980s and roughly as interesting to the average reader.

Okay, re-reading I think I've just said what Malloyd did only with more and different words...

[Anaraxes]

Are are the PCs, and in this case (more importantly) going to care what the scientist is researching? I can see why you're having trouble coming up with a topic if you've already ruled out everything cool-sounding, relatable from other SF background, or characteristic of Star Wars (like droids or the Force). Those EU authors were hard at work mining out the available territory.

Suppose the scientist is just measuring the effect of solar spectrum on algae growth rates from Core to Rim, or an archaeologist looking for details to solve the long-standing question of exactly which ruler it was sitting on the throne as the "Middle King" 2700 years ago on the backwater world Wherevera? The exact topic is either an important plot point or a background color detail for the NPC, and that choice tends to influence the choice of subject matter.

If the research is a plot point, then maybe considering your themes might help you choose something appropriate.

[Irish Wolf]

Evolutionary patterns of life forms on "desert" worlds like Tatooine and Jakku.

[khorboth]

We have a scientist in my current Star Wars game. She specializes in megafauna: Rancor, bantha, rathtar, etc.

Another possibility is that he's trying to figure out how to make a cloaking device which doesn't render the ship blind (these were in the old EU, but were mostly useless because of the blindness problem.)

Other less-developed possibilities: Droid AI, Hyperspace speed upgrades, energy source efficiency, Human/alien migration patterns, Economic patterns in relation to shipping lanes, Sensors, automated construction, pilot AI.

[Hide]

Originally Posted by Maximum7

Maximum7
Im trying to write an RPG profile about a scientist who is working on something in the era of the New Republic. (...) It really isn’t that important to the story; it just has to sound cool and scientific. Also it can’t have already been done in Legends or Canon. I want a fresh idea. (...)

He could be a geologist, studying ancient races such as Yoda’s, strange creatures such as the “living hole” where Jabba held his executions or perhaps writing scientific journals about animal species we have not seen in the old movies (the “space penguins”, or the “sea cows” from the new movies). He could as well be an archeologist/historian, looking for all that stuff gone with the retcons or old tech.

It is cool because the guy shall be travelling the empire, akin to a scientific adventurer; a galactic empire LindyBeige of sorts.

[Gadget]

how to open a Jedi/Sith holocron ( without using the Force obviously as he doesnt beleive in it)

[Daigoro]

Is this question any different to the last time you asked?

http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=152793

[Kax]

Originally Posted by Maximum7

Maximum7
Im trying to write an RPG profile about a scientist who is working on something in the era of the New Republic. He does not believe in the Force. I just need something for him to be researching.

The composition of and relationship between living and/or semi-living crystals on different planets and how they are so similar across the galaxy despite mineral composition.


Not directly to do with the Force, as there are known sentient crystals and crystalline beings in the lore.

It has relevance to PCs, esp Jedi, as everything that is force-active is alive in some way, and lightsabre crystals are force-active. So 'attunement' to a crystal is actually telepathically making friends with a semi-sentient crystal and persuading it to let you use its power-modification and concentration abilities.

Which is why the Sith use artificial ones; they are 'brainwashed' to accept attunement because natural creatures stay away from the Sith.

They can be used without attunement but at lower efficiency.


There: within lore, relevant, visibly useful, has relevance to PCs, can happily get the PCs is all sorts of scrapes, but isn't going to change the universe.