Star Wars Universe Roleplaying Game

Noghri

The Noghri are a small, compact predatory Species native to the devastated Outer Rim world of Honoghr. Stocky, gray-skinned, and built for sudden bursts of speed and violence, they were shaped by generations of clan warfare and a harsh, poisoned environment. Their culture revolves around tightly knit clans such as Kihm'bar, Bakh'tor, Eikh'mir, and Hakh'khar, each with its own long memory of rivalries, blood-debts, and oaths. Even before outsiders reached Honoghr, the Noghri were already consummate hunters—stalking prey at close range, favoring stealth over spectacle, and relying on claws, fangs, and simple weapons to end a fight quickly.

Honoghr’s ruin during the Clone Wars left the Noghri on the brink of starvation. A starship battle in orbit seeded their world with toxins, poisoning soil and water and driving their ecosystem toward collapse. When Darth Vader arrived, he offered aid and environmental remediation in exchange for their absolute loyalty. Desperate to save their families and ancestral lands, the Noghri pledged themselves as the Empire’s unseen blades, serving for decades as covert enforcers, trackers, and assassins. Their loyalty was not blind, however—it was rooted in honor and the belief that they were repaying a life-debt owed to the one who “saved” their world.

Through Vader’s patronage, the Noghri were introduced to galactic politics and warfare, yet they remained deeply insular. They rarely traveled without a patron or handler and showed little interest in wealth, status, or ideology outside the framework of clan obligation. To most Imperial and later New Republic citizens, Noghri were phantoms—whispered rumors of gray-skinned killers who appeared from the shadows and vanished just as quickly. Only a handful of individuals ever saw their villages, walked their scorched plains, or understood how seriously they took their codes of honor, hospitality, and vengeance.

After the fall of the Empire and Vader’s death, everything changed. When one Noghri recognized Leia Organa as Vader’s daughter, their understanding of their service and their debt shifted. Realizing how profoundly the Empire had manipulated their people, many clans chose to redirect their loyalty from the Imperial remnant to “Lady Vader” and, by extension, the New Republic. Over time, Noghri bodyguards and scouts became a quiet but vital component of Leia’s security and of select New Republic operations—still rare, still terrifying in their efficiency, but now guided by a different cause.

In the eras that follow, Noghri remain uncommon off Honoghr, but those who do travel the stars are almost always attached to someone else’s mission—bodyguards, escorts, trackers, or specialists assigned to sensitive work. Their presence signals both danger and unwavering commitment: a Noghri does not take an oath lightly, and once they accept a charge, they will kill, suffer, or die to see it fulfilled.

Home Planet: Honoghr
Physical Description: Noghri are small, compact humanoids built for predation rather than presence. Standing only about 1.3 meters tall, they possess dense musculature, wiry limbs, and a low center of gravity that lets them move with startling speed and precision. Their gray skin is hairless and tough, stretched over sharp bone ridges and pronounced facial structure. Deep-set, beady black eyes sit within sculpted sockets, giving them a permanently intense, predatory stare. Their heads are topped with short horn ridges, and both hands and feet end in long, clawed digits suited for climbing, grappling, and rending. Although they can walk upright, Noghri often shift to a four-limbed posture when sprinting or closing the distance to a target, using a loping, animal-like gait to cover ground quickly. They can leap surprising distances, scramble over rough terrain with ease, and slip into shadows or cover that larger humanoids would ignore. To many offworlders, a Noghri looks like a cross between a stealthy apex predator and a compact, hardened infantry trooper.

Average Height: 1.3 meters
Average Weight: 80 kilograms
Age of Adulthood: 13 years

Personality & Customs: Noghri are fiercely loyal, intensely serious, and almost entirely defined by concepts of honor, obligation, and clan. They speak little, observe much, and rarely waste words on small talk or pleasantries. To a Noghri, promises are binding and oaths are sacred; breaking one is not a casual failure but a spiritual wound that stains both the individual and their clan. They show little understanding of humor, sarcasm, or lighthearted banter, and many outsiders find their whisper-quiet voices and unblinking stares deeply unsettling. Socially, Noghri place clan and sworn charges above personal desire. Their lives are structured by ritual greetings, submission rites, and formal acknowledgments of status and debt. Once a Noghri accepts someone as a rightful patron—whether that is a clan leader, a warlord, or a political figure like Leia Organa-Solo—they become almost impossible to bribe or intimidate away from that duty. This loyalty is not mindless; it is carefully weighed and then held with iron resolve. In offworld societies, Noghri often come across as cold and alien, but to those who earn their trust, they are among the most reliable protectors in the galaxy.

Languages: Honoghran (Noghrese), Basic

Example Names: Cakhmaim clan Eikh'mir, Ekhrikhor clan Bakh'tor, Khabarakh clan Kim'bar, Ovkhevam clan Bakh'tor, Ruhk clan Baikh'vair, Sakhisakh clan Tlakh'sar