Game Guides Archive
Thread: Role-Playing the Wook
Role-playing the Wook
A guide to being the best Wookiee you can be, by TewBacco
First of all, let’s put aside the fact that Star Wars is made up. Let’s put aside all the feelings of “I’m not a geek and I’ll ridicule anyone who knows more than me about Star Wars”. Let’s face it bub, if you’re reading this, you are in FACT a geek, deal with it.
The following is based largely on Expanded Universe information and some websites I’ve come across in my countless bored hours of web crawling at work and what not.
WARNING: If you are an Imperial wook, you probably won’t like much of what is said here.
Wookiee Names
Wookiees do not have the best vocalization skills, it’s true. They’re high intelligence is often mistaken for stupidity due to their inability to speak any language other than Shyriiwook. Despite what most people name their wookiees, BACCA is not that common in a wook’s name. In fact it’s a sign of family relation that wookiees have such names.
Chewbacca, Lowbacca, Lumpawarump, Mallotobuck *female*, Snoov, Attichitcuk, Chenlambec, and Sirrakuk *female*.
During my tenure in Star Wars Galaxies I have come across a few player made wookiee names that I considered to be outstanding.
Kyzara, Shryyyk, Bactaaalo, Karuza, and Tobev.
A good wookiee name will distinguish you from the countless Cheeweebacca, Chewboocca, Tchewbaca clones out there.
Wookiee names have repeating vowels, commonly a triple y or ikeep this in mind too.
More than likely however you’ve already come up with your wookiee’s name, and hopefully you were more creative than the horribly named wook “harrypotter” I once saw roaming around Coronet.
Wookiee personality
Wookiees as a whole are a fun loving, good natured, friendly race. However to every rule there are exceptions. They are typically known to have short tempers, and last out in fits of EXTREME violence. Wookiees are a VERY honor bound species, throughout a wook’s life honor will be one of his driving forces. They are also, adversely, a humble people, hence the reason so many of the wookiees in the universe have been taken as slaves by the Empire.
Although it would be rare to see in Star Wars Galaxies most other humanoid species fear wookiees. Their incredible size and strength make them a force to be reckoned with in a hand to hand fight. Frequently male wookiees are found paired up with female Twi’leks, an odd coupling I think, but it’s found in several different occasions in the Expanded Universe. A well played wook, will be kind hearted and rather flirtatious with females.
Wookiees and Faction
One word, Rebel. There is no such thing as an Imperial wookiee, not because they’re too kind hearted to join up, not because the Empire has turned their people into slaves, but because the Empire WOULD NOT TAKE THEM. If you’re wanting to role-play your wook, and you’re Imperial, just stop reading now because it’s not true to form, and it shows a rather significant lack of Star Wars knowledge.
The game allows it so that any player can be a part of anything they want to do. In a canonical game that would NOT be allowed, deal with it. Wookiees may help the Empire yes, but as far as actually joining up, forget about it. It was the wookiee’s enemies, the Trandoshans who convinced the Empire to blockade Kashyyyk and start to enslave their race.
For the most part wookiees want to stay out of the Galactic Civil War, and the ones that have joined the rebellion mostly joined to backup people to whom they owe a Wookiee Life Debt. However that is not to say that some wookiees haven’t joined the Rebellion on their own.
More than likely one of your wookiee’s friends, or family members has been a slave to the Empire at one time or another. This is usually a good reason to make a character join up with the Rebel Alliance.
Another little tidbit, wookiees are not to use their sharp claws in combat. It is considered Barbaric to do so, and one could be banished for doing so. The title “Mad Claw” is given to those wooks who have disgraced themselves and their family by using their claws in combat.
Weapons of the Wook
Unfortunately for wooks their trade mark weapons are pieces of crap in Star Wars Galaxies. As if the devs wanted to make sure there was no role playing. However the weapons are here… well 2 of them anyway.
The Bowcaster, the trademark weapon of the wook. In Star Wars Galaxies only wookiees are certified to use them and they are considered to be a Rifle. Which is acceptable as most other races find them needlessly heavy and clumsy to use. The Bowcaster is a crossbow looking weapon that fires quarrels of energy at a target. The Bowcaster is indeed a signature weapon, but it tails in comparison to the Ryyk Blade. The Ryyk is a sturdy curved *scimitar like* melee weapon. In Star Wars Galaxies it is considered a one handed weapon. There are 2 types of Ryyk, the blade, and the scythe type. Only one is available in Star Wars Galaxies, maybe the devs will figure this out and make a more powerful scythe type Ryyk and make it available later on. *I won’t hold my breath and I wouldn’t advise you to either*
Clothing of the Wook
Despite what many say or think wookiees DO have clothing, and let’s face it, in a game where I myself have come across 4 other wookiees that look EXACTLY like mine, clothing is downright necessary to discern one from the other.
Wookiee clothing is limited severely, but hopefully that will change soon enough.
We wooks have also been given the ability to wear armor recently, so that also provides us options. Wookiees in the Expanded Universe would frequently wear suits, armor, pants, you name it. Despite what the decision makers of Star Wars Galaxies may think, the people of Star Wars did not develop faster than light travel, energy weapons, mystical forces, and skip over clothing dyes and varying sizes.
Many wookiees simply wear their belt, bandolier, and backpack, this is acceptable too of course, because wookiees, covered with fur, are never truly “naked”. Clothing choices are of course up to the player.
Friends and Enemies:
It goes without saying that wookiees have a few natural predators off of their world, apart from Trandoshan Hunters. The Trandoshans, Dark Jedi, Empire, and Nightsisters are all in their own part responsible for the enslavement of the wookiee race. The Trandoshans pushed the Empire to blockade the planet, and capture slaves. The second time the wookiees were brought into slavery was after the Battle of Endor when Nightsister Tamith Kai, and a Dark Jedi named Zekk, brought down the planetary defenses, and let the Empire’s bombers into the atmosphere. It is from that, safe to say that wookiees would harbor some resentment for the people that took a hand in the enslavement of their people.
The Life Debt - When someone rescues the life of a wookiee while putting his or her own life in danger, then a wookiee owes to that person a Life Debt. This means that the wookiee and his family unit will serve faithfully said person untilone of the 2 parties involved dies. It is through this pairing that Han Solo and Chewbacca came to be partners. This act is seen through many other Star Wars Expanded Universe situations. The Elders of Kashyyyk declared that wookiees who were not already bound in their life debt, should pledge one to the rebel alliance for setting their planet free.
Wookiee Honor Family - When 2 or morewookiee family units develop a special bond it is not uncommon for the groups to form an Honor Family. All the wookiees in the Honor Family take a pledge to lay down their lives for the others if necessary.
Between these two things, it is apparent that friendship and life are both cherished by wookiees. In Star Wars Galaxies a Life Debt is easy to simulate. The Honor Family on the other hand might be more believable if two guilds composed primarily of wookiees were to form an alliance. But I find it hard to believe that there would be two guilds of only wooks on one server.
, but it does keep Star Wars savvy people from taking you seriously.
Other Things all Wookiee Players Should Know:
Family Unit: wives and their children. Their brothers/sisters and their spouses and children. A typical wookiee family unit could be in the range of hundreds of members.
Hrrtayyk: The coming of age ritual for wookiees. This can consist of ANY dangerous act in which the wookiee and usually some friends, take part in a large big game hunt. The most common of which is to take the silk from a syren plant, without having ones arm eaten by the carnivorous flora. Some wookiees have done other tasks such as rescuing a member of their family unit from slavers as their hrrtayyk rite. There is no one set thing that must be done, but it is always suggested that the wooks should do this as a group, as most people who attempt a hrrtayyk alone, are never heard from again.
Kashyyyk: The home world of the wookiees, although some sourcessuggest the wookiees might have migrated to this planet thousands of years BBY, and simply claimed it for themselves. The planet is full of dangerous creatures which is the reason the wookiees make their homes high in the tops of the mighty wroshyr trees. Vast wookiee cities tend to populate within these conjoined trees, that can house up to 2-3 million wookiees per city. The lower levels of the planet are extremely dangerous. One particular creature is the siren plant. Taking the strands of silk from within this carnivorous plant is a common rite of passage for young wooks into adulthood.
Kroyie:A species of birds native to Kashyyyk and noted for their delicious meat. They are considered a delicacy to wookiees. Being attracted to bright lights the birds are easy to deceive and kill.
Life Day: A wookiee celebration of life and loved ones, also a time to remember those who are dead and gone. Life day is comparable to our Christmas, as it started out as a Wookiee only day of celebration but it spread to the galaxy, practiced even by some Trandoshans and many Imperials. Life Day is one of a Wookiee’s most important holy days.
Mad Claw: Occasionally a wookiee will disgrace himself to his people by fighting with his claws. This is punishable by banishment from his society to either off world or the lower levels of the Kashyyyk jungle, and the name Mad Claw is given to these disgraced wookiees. Some wookiees have also been given this title simply by betraying their people. For exampled a wookiee that helped slavers round up some of his own people, or aided the Empire in some way.
Rwookrrorro: One of Kashyyyk’s most beautiful and populated metropolitan areas. It Covers roughly over one square kilometer and has many levels. Shops and homes are built right into the trunks, and large branches of the tree. A wroshyr merge of this magnitude is not uncommon.
Syren Plant: A carnivorous plant found on the jungle floor of Kashyyyk, frequently used inhrrtayyk rites. Older wookiees hold the planet open while younger ones go in and harvest the silk strands. Some wookiees die, some lose limbs. The plants are harvested regularly, but by no means is it easy.
Wroshyr trees: These incredible trees grow up to several kilometers tall and frequently join with other wroshyr trees around them. It is not uncommon to have several hundred to a few thousand of these trees merged into one thriving unit. It is thought that the wookiee’s concept of honor come from the wroshyr trees symbolism of unity and togetherness.lty, and unity, are in place due to the symbolism in the tree’s merging.
Other little tidbits
Many wookiees are attuned with the force. In fact it has been suggested in some Expanded Universe books that there are more force sensitive wooks than any other race. Few Wookiees however would leave their home planet to become a master of off-worlder practices.
Wookiees although highly intelligent, strong, and group minded, are a passive, peaceful people, for the most part. This is partially why they have been taken into slavery by the Empire.
There has been one wookiee born with a speech impediment that allowed him to speak common language. Ralrracheen was his name and he was used by the Empire as an “ambassador” to the other wookiees. Ralra resisted the Imperial’s demands that he help them but was swayed quickly when the Empire started executing other wookiees in his family unit.
Wookiees have a vast technological side, in fact one of their cities was noted for being a key importer/exporter of computer technology for the galaxy after the Battle of Endor. They frequently however prefer to use their crude tools, bowcasters, ryyk, etc… to do their day to day work.
Most of the wookiee population of the galaxy took a life debt to the Rebel Alliance after their species was freed after the Battle of Endor. This isn’t something to worry about in Star Wars Galaxies since our timeline is only shortly after the Battle of Yavin.
A wookiee’s claws are not to be used in combat, using them in a fight, especially against another wook could quickly result in banishment from the safety of a wroshyr tree city to the harsh lands of the forest floor or even off the planet altogether. Where death is almost guaranteed. If you want to play the Role of the disgruntled self loathing wook who used his claws in a brawl against another wook, then the possibilities for a good Bio are almost boundless. Keep in mind though, that wooks, ALL wooks have a tendency to side with their people, even if only to serve their own immediate purposes.
Many wookiees have braved the Trandoshan/Imperial blockades that surround their planet to return to Kashyyyk. The bond they share with their planet is almost as strong as the bond they share with other wooks in their Honor Family. It is in every way, they’re home.
Despite what many players think or say for a laugh or an insult, wookiees spend an inordinate amount of time grooming themselves. Keeping clean is not just sanitary but a mark of class. Wookiees are not inherently stinky, nasty, mottled creatures. They are in fact very clean, pleasant beings.
Wookiees have an average life expectancy of 600-750 years. Some wookiees are said to have even broken the 1000 year mark, although nothing written seems to confirm this thought.
Wookiees have large appetites. Their keen sense of smell, and broad palette of taste makes them true taste test masters. They do however still enjoy the occasional raw meat treat, even though this is considered “low class”. Many wookiees simply partake of the raw meat when no one else is around. Many times a wookiee’s hunger has proven to be a crucial error, and occasionally even fatal.
A wookiee’s keen sense of smell can make him/her an exceptional findsman. When in large dense crowds a wook can pick up the individual smell of each and every person, filter them out, and trace that person down. This having been said, coupled with their amazing strength and intelligence, makes a wookiee bounty hunter a force to be reckoned with.
Banthas are imported to Kashyyyk as beats of burden and mounts. This was a nice little tidbit to stumble upon since Banthas have recently been allowed as mounts. While bikes in Star Wars Galaxies are faster and better for travel, for role-play purposes it couldn’t hurt to have a bantha mount on hand.
The Mos Eisely cantina is owned by a wookiee named Chalmun. Not Wuher the bartender, this is a common misconception.
Chenlambec a famous wookiee bounty hunter, helped many of his “acquisitions” escape to the Rebellion, and still manage to collect his bounty from the Empire. He also has been chasing the wookiee hating Trandoshan Bossk for a long time. This is yet another interesting aspect as many, if not ALL wookiee bounty hunters have had some run in with Bossk. It’s a way to tie your character in with a canonical character and not be blatantly ridiculous.
Lowbacca is the only wook in known history to go through jedi training. He is the nephew of the Wookiee Chewbacca.
Chewbacca’s father was named Attitchituk he was an elder of Kashyyyk and one of the wisest and oldest of the wookiees.
Wookiees are known to have bonded with some of the most dangerous creatures in the galaxy, they are suited for Creature Handling very well and in Star Wars Galaxies get bonuses for such a career.
As a general rule, wookiees and trandoshans will not get along. The hatred of each has been bred into them. This loathing started thousands of years before the Battle of Yavin when Trandoshans, leaving their murky swamp covered planet Dosha, tried to colonize Kashyyyk but the wookiees were able to drive them off repeatedly. This along with the fact that the Trandoshans are partially responsible for the enslavement of the wookiee race, has made for some bad blood between the mammals and the reptiles.
Compiled by: TewBacco aka Tex Standridge, for questions concerning content or corrections please email [email protected] for corrections please include proof of said correction, including website address or book and page number.
Thank you.
Excerpts taken from the Star Wars Encyclopedia, and http://www.starwars.com
5 stars for you! wish every speices had something like this! great job with the info!!Message Edited by Randomperson on 08-13-2004 06:56 PM
while many of us do have the background knowledge to rp such a rich and noble species, always good to show the rest of the galaxy we're not just a bunch of "furballs". thanks for that!
There has been one wookiee born with a speech impediment that allowed him to speak common language. Ralrracheen was his name and he was used by the Empire as an “ambassador” to the other wookiees. Ralra resisted the Imperial’s demands that he help them but was swayed quickly when the Empire started executing other wookiees in his family unit.