I had a PC make a Zabrak BH for the current campaign I'm running. (An original scenario leading into Jewel of Yavin.) In talking to him before starting he was using words like KILL KILL KILL which worried me.

So I took his toys away. He managed to get a heavy blaster rifle at creation (that he named Vera), which I took from him in the form of a former foe dosing him at a bar and stealing it, all as part of a scheme tied into his Obligation. Gradually I put him in scenarios (like being offered a job as a bouncer at a bar) which forced him to focus on the other sides of his personality - coercion, perception, and vigilance. I rewarded these appropriately, not just in the form of credits - but with a immediate +1 boost to his Coerce to reflect his experience working in a bar for a week between the first scenario and the start of Jewel of Yavin.

He's still got a reasonably good chance at getting his Vera back, but Jewel of Yavin is not a particularly combat-heavy scenario. I feel like a did a good job of conveying that This Ain't D&D.

Sometimes I feel like I'm kind of forcing him to develop his character in a certain way - but his initial path would have resulted in a string of combat encounters and rising obligation to the detriment of the party - not to mention an unhinged killer not really being THAT good of a Bounty Hunter in terms of how they relate to the SW universe.

So now, he's playing his Zabrak less like a murder-obsessed lunatic...and more like Space Dalton from Roadhouse. He's nice...until it's time NOT to be nice. And everybody's having a great time with it, him included.

Did I mention I absolutely LOVE this system?

One of the most difficult things about running games like EotE, FireFly, and Shadowrun is a lack of understanding the difference between Heroes doing criminal things to achieve a greater goal and being an actual Criminal. One side are the characters we see in films and TV like Star Wars (Han & Chewy), FireFly, Guardians of the Galaxy, even the Riddick films. They are bada$$es, generally selfish, and have no problem killing when it must be done but they are still essentially good. Criminals on the other hand are F'n CRIMINALS, they don't kill they murder, they use their martial abilities to not only defeat their foes but to brutalize them, they prey on the weak and defenseless, they're bullies and thugs.

What I wrote earlier.

The setting of EotE itselfs is for criminals. Maybe with a heart of gold (or not), but the game is about being an outlaw, a smuggler and a ruffian.

But even being a criminal is not being a murder hobo.

I think this is a misunderstanding of the difference between an Outlaw and a Criminal. They can, and do, overlap but in my opinion it's an important distinction, especially when playing in the Star Wars universe. Your PCs shouldn't be more evil than the Criminals they encounter, that is unless you want to play that way, but then it won't be just the Empire and other Criminals that will be out to get you; it'll be Heroes... And Star Wars Heroes don't mess around.

I agree with everything Joker Two said. The NPCs should be reacting to this wookies actions very actively.

The bar tender should have taken a more up front stance in thwarting the dead body storage if he didn't want the bodies there OR maybe see a business opportunity in disposing of these bodies for the wookie.

Either way what you did although in no way "wrong" sounds (to me) more like a series of punishments rather than repercussions. Be clear with the player that what they are doing WILL bite them in the ass, but logically build up the suspense to it. Why did the stormtoopers pop in right after they killed the merchant? Wanted posters, NPCs avoiding them, etc don't just throw stormtroopers at them immediately. Be creative not vindictive.

im going to go a completely different rout in my advice. tell the guy playing the wookie to cool his jets. remind him he's not playing a video game, but a real rpg,that his actions have caused two of his friends to lose their characters, and have cost them what could have Been a friendly.merchant, as well as what could have been a source of info. let him know that if he's willing to not play his character as a homicidal psycho who brings downcrap in the rest of the party, you're willing to retcon the last session. he calms down, no one loses their characters. win win.

I really hope I never have to deal with that. But, given the tone of this RPG - and the most fun being had when all PCs are really embracing the role of puckish rogues rather than homicidal NPC-hunters - that's probably the best way to go about it.

I hate the idea of not being able to work in just about *any* character or style of play, but this system has very defined penalties for incurring too much Obligation, and very set rules about how you get that obligation.

Maybe if you explained to him that you don't get XP awarded for every single kill...