Bounty Hunter Code (Book Review)

  This Bounty Hunters Guild Handbook has some interesting guidelines for Bounty hunters. It gives some very clear instructions on how to be a Bounty Hunter, but it often takes them to the point of redundancy and sometimes even contradicts itself. The rules of etiquette are based on Imperial rule, which is not surprising seeing as it makes sense to update these guides as laws and lawmakers change. Just like the Book of Sith, this Bounty Hunter Code has various comments from a couple of characters. But they're less abundant and only a handful have any mildly entertaining value, which is disappointing. Only the last chapter is actually done right, in that regard, with Jango and Boba commenting a lot.
 

  But I can't help but feel being treated as an imbecile when reading this. The book sometimes speaks about being part of an elite organization, but other times it treats its new members with the contempt of a Grand Moff. Survival tips, equipment tricks, tracking tactics; there are various interesting topics in this book, but there is also a lot of fluff that shouldn't have been included in a Guild handbook. There are also a lot of examples in the book that do have informative value, but they're so specific they only apply to a small number of things. There are instructions on how to acquire your target that if you wouldn't already know this you don't deserve to be a Bounty Hunter at all. So halfway in it feels like it's right between a Guild handbook and complete Bounty Hunter guidebook; too much information for one and too little for the other.
 

  However that doesn't mean that it's a bad read; on the contrary. But if I were a new Bountyhunter in the Star Wars galaxy it would be insulting my intelligence. And sure, I know that they'd have to take guys like Greedo into account, who just aren't very bright. But if they're as concerned for their reputation as they claim these people shouldn't make it into the guild in the first place.
 

  Halfway through the book it gets better though. That's when various pieces of equipment come into play, and it highlights the pros and cons, and prices, for each one. Speeders, tracking equipment, guns, that's the stuff that's interesting. After that it highlights several different guilds and their origins. Most of that is pretty dry, with one or two interesting passages.
And the final chapter is the most interesting, and it doesn't even have anything to do with Bountyhunters; a journal of the Deathwatch. It describes the Mandalorian history, their view on the current leadership under Satine (which we saw in the Clone Wars) and their goals. This chapter is to this book what the Book of Sith was entirely. It's a shame they couldn't keep up the same level of quality. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it. And if you consider playing a Star Wars Dnd, where you want to play a Bountyhunter, then this is definitely for you.

Article by: Joel "Mith" Storms