Bothan

Bothans are a furred, sharp-tongued species from the Mid Rim trade world of Bothawui, renowned across the galaxy as its consummate spies — political animals who treat intelligence-gathering as both a survival skill and a competitive sport, and who built the Bothan Spynet into the most feared information network anyone has ever run. "Many Bothans died to bring us this information," Mon Mothma told the Rebel fleet before the assault on the second Death Star, and that single line did more for the species' reputation than any battle ever could.

A Bothan stands a little over a meter and a half, a mammalian humanoid covered head to foot in fine fur that comes in creams, grays, and browns. Faces vary widely across the species, carrying canine, feline, or even equine cast, and both sexes typically grow beards. The fur is the giveaway most species learn to watch for: it ripples and shifts involuntarily with a Bothan's mood, broadcasting subtle reactions that plain speech leaves out. Borsk Fey'lya, the most famous Bothan of the New Republic era, was described as having wide violet eyes and cream fur that rippled with every flicker of feeling he was trying not to show, which made him a constant frustration to allies and a gift to anyone who knew how to read it.

Their homeworld is Bothawui, a cosmopolitan trade world sitting in the Mid Rim at the heart of a cluster of colonies known as Bothan Space. The planet's axis tilts unstably, so its highest latitudes swing through regular ice ages and the far northern and southern plains are left frozen or barren, pushing population and power toward the temperate middle. The colony world of Kothlis served as a secondary hub, and across this whole region the dominant institution was never a military or a throne but the Spynet itself.

What makes Bothans Bothans is their politics, codified in a doctrine called the Bothan Way: put yourself above your comrades, your family above other families, your clan above other clans, and the Bothan race above everyone else, by any means short of outright violence. Clan rivalry is the engine of the entire society, with a Bothan's clan marked in the last part of their name and centuries of assassination, sabotage, and espionage treated as ordinary politics rather than scandal. Control and influence, not wealth or firepower, is how a Bothan keeps score, and the constant mutual suspicion is precisely what forged the Spynet into a network where thousands of agents and informants spy on rivals and one another alike.

The species' defining moment came during the Galactic Civil War. In current canon, Bothan spies gathered the intelligence that confirmed the second Death Star's location and that the Emperor would be aboard, paying for it heavily enough that Mon Mothma's eulogy became one of the saga's most quoted lines. (In Legends, the operation ran deeper, with a Bothan spymaster named Koth Melan feeding the Alliance data lifted from a Coruscant supercomputer.) Fey'lya carried that prestige into the New Republic, where his skill at manipulation made him a power on the Provisional and Inner Councils for decades, an ally and obstacle to Mon Mothma, Leia, and the heroes of the Rebellion in roughly equal measure.

In SWURPG, a Bothan excels as a face, infiltrator, and information broker, though the kit supports other paths just as well. The +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma with proficiency in Stealth and Deception make them natural rogues and operators, while the -2 Constitution and -1 Strength keep them off the front line where they were never meant to be. Information Network and Plot Within Plots turn the Bothan Way into mechanics, letting you trade favors and dig up leverage the way the Spynet does, Bothan Cunning rewards thinking your way around a problem, and Wrendui (Mood-Fur) leans into that involuntary tell, a fitting double edge for a species that reads everyone while struggling to keep its own fur still.

Bothans are short, furred humanoid mammals — typically 1.5 to 1.6 meters tall — with tapered, pointed ears and slightly elongated faces that blend canine, feline, and equine features depending on lineage. Both males and females commonly grow beards. Their most distinctive feature is the fur covering nearly their entire body, which ripples involuntarily in response to mood — a phenomenon called Wrendui that betrays a Bothan's emotional state to anyone trained to read it. Fur color ranges through browns and creams; eyes are brown, green, or violet.

Though physically unimposing, Bothans are agile, quick, and unusually long-lived for their size — passing through young adulthood in their teens, adulthood from 17 to 45, and remaining vigorous into their eighties or beyond. Bothan dress favors layered, practical attire suited to mountain weather and city espionage alike — concealed pockets, multiple datapads, and unobtrusive cuts that fade into any crowd.

Bothans are curious, manipulative, crafty, suspicious, and habitually paranoid — "if you're not working with me, you're working against me" is closer to a folk proverb than a personality trait. They prefer indirect approaches: subtle pressure, careful misdirection, and the patient accumulation of leverage. Direct confrontation strikes most Bothans as both wasteful and rude. But the species is also fiercely loyal once trust is earned, and Bothans regard clan and faction loyalty as virtues equal in weight to personal ambition.

As adventurers, Bothans gravitate toward roles that reward information and influence over brute force: spies, slicers, diplomats, smugglers, nobles, and scoundrels. Their backstabbing reputation is mostly earned, but the same instincts make them exceptional intelligence officers, faction liaisons, and trouble-shooters when a mission needs more than a blaster.