Does the GFFA have some approximation of the Geneva Convention? Has it ever had anything along those lines in galactic history? I haven’t been able to find any reference to it, nor to any mention of war crime laws aside from “The Old Republic outlawed war crimes,” which is pretty vague. Thanks!

Hey, sorry for the wait! I was away with no internet. Wartime provisions were covered under the Galactic Constitution, the Galactic Republic’s founding document, as was the Rights of Sentience clause, so it can be assumed that laws relating to civilians and other non-combatants were located in a similar document. The laws do exist, as people have been charged for war crimes under the Republic, but beyond that I cannot find any reference to a Republic document that outlines those laws. As the Imperial Charter is based on the Galactic Constitution, it is possible that those laws remained – likely with modification, as occurred with the Rights of Sentience and many acts surrounding the military and law enforcement. Likewise, I can’t find specifics for the New Republic in canon or legends.

Sorry I couldn’t be more help!

~ Jacen

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I have some questions about the Galactic Standard Calendar. is there a format for writing dates, similar to MM/DD/YYYY? also, do the months have names, or just numbers? I’m trying to figure out how a SW character might refer to dates/months in conversation. thanks for your help!

Actually, this exact question is answered here! Take a look at this post for extra info, or have a scroll through my calendars tag.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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Has there ever been anything like a white phosphorous grenade in Star Wars? I feel like the Empire would have something like it but I cannot find anything.

Well if you’re thinking of the smoke-producing abilities in particular, then yes smoke grenades exist and are called such in the Star Wars universe. These smoke grenades don’t normally seem to be lethal, however, and don’t have the same toxic effects as phosphorous. A gas grenade can be filled with many different chemicals, presumably including white phosphorous if you like. I don’t know of any chemical-based grenades that a) produce deadly smoke and b) throw off chemicals that can burn so deep into tissue, so you may want to take a look at chemical load grenades as a middle ground.

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen

This is kind of random, but do you know why the Empire tends to handcuff people in front whereas other baddies like Jabba cuff in back?

I have no idea actually! I haven’t thought of this before! I’m afraid I can’t find reference of it anywhere, but if I had to take a guess I might say it’s because cuffing a person’s hands in front makes it easier for them to attack someone or escape, and a whole lot of on-screen escapes are from Imperial officers, thus making it easier for our heroes. If anyone has a more informed answer please feel free to add on!

~ Jacen

Do you know of any reference books that have detailed blueprints/cross-sections/images of the Executor? I’ve got a ton of reference books, but only one has any real detail on the Executor and it’s just the command tower (The Complete Locations, pre-TFA version). I’ve seen articles that mention blueprints for the ship, but I haven’t been able to track down where those might be found. Any help is appreciated!

I’m sorry, I’ve taken a look through my reference books and I’m running into the same problem. I don’t know of any detailed blueprints – perhaps because the ship is just so big, it would be very difficult to create a true blueprint for the entire thing. The most detailed image I could find is this, which I expect you’ve probably already found (from The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels):

If anyone else would be willing to take a look in their books the help would be greatly appreciated!

~ Jacen

Hi! I really love your blog and appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I’m wondering if you have a masterlist of things a beginner should know about writing in the SW universe?

Hello, and thank you! I don’t have a masterlist per say – that would be a very long list indeed! – but I do have a few resources that might help you get started.

First, you could check out the vocab list for some common terminology used in the Star Wars universe. (This is always linked in my bio, for mobile users, and as always you’re welcome to suggest additions.)

If you’ve got the time, you may like to look through my day to day tag, where I stick things I think might be useful in writing the general life of a SW character. Some won’t apply to you specifically, of course. More tags can be found on my taglist, and if there’s something not on there that you want to know about (for example, the HoloNet) the search function is always available. The not an ask tag would also be a good place to start, because I sometimes reblog general references that may be useful. Give reference, resources and worldbuilding a shot too.

There are a few posts in the masterposts tag, but they’re not nearly as general as what you’re looking for. I’d say ships and ship terminology are always a good thing to read up on, though, so you could give this post a try!

Ultimately, in my opinion, the best thing you could do is just dive into it. Learning by consuming the material is much more fun than reading up on Wookieepedia! (Also a good resource, by the way.) The extended universe is full of little details that will make your writing much more organic. If you’re wondering where to start, try this ask! And, of course you can always send an ask my way if you have specific questions!

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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By chance, do you know if the Empire used anything similar to the separatists’ defoliator canon? If so, do you think this weapon would be effective in destroying a semi-primitive city of mostly wooden buildings, or do you think the Empire employ something like a squadron of flametroopers to do the job?

I don’t know of any weapon resembling a defoliator that was used by the Empire. Flametroopers (called incinerator stormtroopers in Legends) would definitely be a viable alternative, and have been known to take on this role.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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Can you hazard a guess at how many Alderaanians might have survived the destruction of the planet? I read somewhere that Alderaan had a population of about 2 billion (not sure if that’s accurate), and I’m struggling to come up with a realistic number for how many might’ve been offworld at the time (working or studying on other planets, moved to their partner’s homeworld, vacationing on another planet, etc). Tens or hundreds of thousands? Maybe even a few million? Thanks for your help!

According to Coruscant and the Core Worlds, about 60,000 Alderaanian citizens were offworld at the time of Alderaan’s destruction. The same book, as well as a few others, cite Alderaan’s population before 0 BBY as 2 billion, so yes that is accurate. This is the estimate I have used personally, but if anyone knows of others feel free to add!

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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(Mount Anon again) To be specific, I’m looking for a species of small-to-medium sized riding animal (so about Fathiers’ size), that could be used by a rebel cell on a jungle planet (like Devaron or Kashyyyk) similarly to how the Twi’leks used blurrgs. Something fast, agile, and that you could easily fire blasters/use melee weapons while riding, y’know?

In that case, I think a fathier might be a good choice. They’re quite expensive and may be hard to acquire, but they are definitely fast and agile and there is an instance of the Rebellion using them for hit-and-run missions. A falumpaset might also work, as they’re intelligent and used to navigating jungle and swamp, though they won’t be as fast – they may be better used for carrying equipment/ammo. Many ungulate species may also work, depending on where in the galaxy you are, especially the kybuck, a Kashyyykian animal resembling a tauntaun. You might like to look through the ungulates category on Wookieepedia, and see if anything there fits your location and circumstances.

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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Do you have a tag for animals/non-sentient species? I’m looking specifically for a good animal for a character to ride into combat cavalry-style—something similar to a Tauntaun, though possibly something adapted to a warmer climate. Any ideas?

I do have an animal tag, though I don’t believe there’s anything there to answer your question. One that immediately comes to mind would be a fathier, but I imagine this would depend heavily on the planet and context you’re thinking of. Would you mind elaborating a bit?

~ Jacen