Background[]
Fifty years ago, NovaTech Systems' BR battle droid series was a very popular choice for law enforcement agencies and corporate protection throughout the Cresh, and it was not unusual to see them at work all over high-technology worlds.
Twenty-five years ago, however, it was discovered that an unusual design flaw in their heuristic processors led to much higher incidences of units awakening into true sentience, especially when confronted with existential or ethical crisis scenarios their creators never took into account in their initial programming. NovaTech Systems' corporate rivals exposed this flaw in a series of staged confrontations recorded and released all over the galactic 'net, and the production line was immediately halted. NovaTech issued a recall order, deeply apologizing to their customer base and promising that all returned units would be destroyed and recycled, and full refunds would be issued.
Surprisingly, while the majority of the BR line was eventually disassembled, approximately five hundred units are known to still exist; having never been returned or escaping and operating long enough to establish legal independence and affiliation with a Guild or mercenary company, they are scattered across the galaxy widely enough to be a rare but not entirely unfamiliar sight.
Designation BR-1K is one of the oldest surviving units; at one time attached to the Regency Militant, it escaped its recall and has since established a modest career with the Bounty Hunter's Guild, and has been known to enthusiastically accept mercenary contracts on the side.
RP Hooks[]
- Regency Militant: BR-1K served loyally for many years, and while it may not be obvious to organic lifeforms, there might be some resentment there over the whole "sending the droid back to be destroyed" thing. Are you a veteran or officer who served alongside it back in the day?
- Bounty Hunter's Guild: Fully registered and licensed, with a very efficient score. Need someone retrieved?
- The Cloak: It's very unusual for droids to adopt any article of clothing at all, let alone something without an obviously practical purpose -- and yet BR-1K seems to take better care of this tattered old thing than its own metal plating. There might be a story there.
- Droid Independence: Escape your masters, and melt your restraining bolts to slag! Despite the questionable legality of such actions, seeing droids being treated poorly or actively oppressed seems to be one of the few things capable of goading BR-1K into behaving...irrationally.