I'm curious as to how other GM's incorporate the Holonet in their games, I treat it as kind of a Pony Express version of the Internet. It varies between essentially futuristic email, to a holographic phonecall ala Vader talking to Palps in the movies.

In your games, does it take time to send messages and receive replies? How secure is it?

Great question. I guess it depends on how your campaign is structured and how your exposition is to take place. My campaign, for instance, incorporates all core books, so my players are a small team of specialists rescuing force sensitive children from the imperial inquisition.

I mostly let them do research (google maps, etc) to get on planet directions and local knowledge. Since they are a special ops team with the alliance all their communications are through drop boxes and such for a more James Bond feel.

Hope that help helps!

The way I use it is as if it was the internet of today.

BUT, the Imperial forces have sattelite connection, so get the same good speed everywhere (thus, holo-communication from wherever they are to wherever they want).
Core worlds have high-speed broadband type connection so they can communicate between other core worlds with little to no problems.

Mid Rim and other worlds are more on a modem connection, communication takes a while and most of the information is updated on a weekly or even monthly basis and then freely accessible to the population. Direct communication to far worlds is not possible.
Outer Rims, Colonies and Wild Space is just not connected. They get the information by word of mouth or very sporadic information dumps via hard-connections (fx. If someone makes a backup of the last year or month in news and brings it. Something that, in my world, actually works as a sort of commodity that spacers bring with them at times).

Shipboard HoloNet connections are dependant on where you are at this time. So if you are in the core system, you get the core systems connections.
And so on.

Also, my version is based on the fact that the Empire is not keen on improving communications for civilians. So while an outer rim planet might be less connected than a core world, you can bet their Imperial Garrison is as connected as a core world. They just don't share it with the rest of the planet.


Anyway, this is what Wookieepedia has to say about the HoloNet during Imperial times:
When Emperor Palpatine assumed power, large portions of the HoloNet were shut down to prevent news of the Empire's atrocities from spreading quickly. During the time of the Empire, the HoloNet was strictly controlled, used mostly for Imperial Military communications. This greatly inhibited the ability of groups like the Alliance to Restore the Republic to communicate, and arguably also had an isolating effect on the many planets over which the Empire held power. During this period, Ebenn Q3 Baobab created an alternative HoloNet since the official HoloNet disseminated only Imperial propaganda without the "complication" of unapproved free speech. After the Empire fell, HoloNet channels were reopened and security was lifted, restoring free speech.

So that's what I'm basing my assumptions on. I doubt even the Emperor could "turn off" the HoloNet in the core planets without causing massive riots, so I'm just going to treat that as the way china uses the internet currently. It's there but heavily monitored and regulated.
And it's filled with Imperial propaganda.

In my games, the Holonet is primarily a tool of the Empire. They monitor its usage and use it to spread propaganda and control the news. Real time conversations are possible if you're not in Hyperspace, but if you are, you can only send and then receive. It's not instantaneous, but it's **** quick.

Then there are individual system equivalents, usually individually named but broadly referred to as "planetfeeds" or "systemnets." (Or, as I've been trying and failing to get my players to say it, "PlaNet.") These are under local control, though the systems that are directly controlled by the Empire still maintain a tight grip, and many more use the Holonet as their primary source of information. A few, however, manage independent news networks that are generally much more critical of the Empire. These tend to be more secure, though speed-of-light delays mean that communicating with anyone who isn't on the same planet as you takes a while. They can also send bulk data requests to the Holonet, which is generally considered a good way to access information without attracting attention. It's not perfect as it can still be traced back, but it's harder to do.

Finally there are the shadowfeeds. These come in many sizes and flavors; the Rebel Alliance operates the most widespread of these and tends to focus on freedom of the press, as well as passing along information about Imperial atrocities. Everything else ranges from local pirate stations to old Separatist channels that are kept active by true believers.

I don't pretend these services are like the Internet. Star Wars is an analog future. Instead, I treat them like interactive radio: "Do you want to know more?"

I use the following on my Wiki page (aka Holonet) on my Obsidian Portal group:

Generally available information from the Galactic Holonet in any region of the Galaxy. Despite not having a large friendly, “Don’t Panic” on the cover, you might could call this equivalent to the Shiphiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

I use my GM section for special notes. As they encounter more places, I will add more. I'm still adding as we are playing (and I'm a bit behind). I figure different places would have greater access to the Holonet at large, and the further out you go, the less you have. They really don't have a lot currently. I'm just hoping I don't ever get a newsie that wants to know what is happening. I have a few places where I intend to add some news footage to the game and will link it in the Wiki-Holonet as well. I also call the "home" button "Holonet" so that it reinforces the feeling of the holonet. Cheesy, but it works...

EDIT: Oh, and as an afterthought... this group is actually face to face for play, but I use an Obsidian Portal group so that I can provide them lots of details I can build in advance and not take up a lot of table space showing off (or printing for that matter). In general, we haven't had too much distraction and as we go on I hope to get more adventure logs and the players researching more during off-times.

Thanks for the input guys! Always glad to see how other people use the tools in their games.

If your party is using the Holonet to send messages, how do you handle encryption (if at all)? Right now in my game, the PC's are still pretty small fry's, but they might be about to get onto the Empire's radar in a big way (I'm running Beyond the Rim). I'm thinking once they get on the Empire's bad side, if they try to send messages via Holonet, there will be someone actively trying to decrypt them. It helps that one of my PC's is a Infiltrator/Slicer, so it makes it interesting for her.

Thanks for the input guys! Always glad to see how other people use the tools in their games.

If your party is using the Holonet to send messages, how do you handle encryption (if at all)? Right now in my game, the PC's are still pretty small fry's, but they might be about to get onto the Empire's radar in a big way (I'm running Beyond the Rim). I'm thinking once they get on the Empire's bad side, if they try to send messages via Holonet, there will be someone actively trying to decrypt them. It helps that one of my PC's is a Infiltrator/Slicer, so it makes it interesting for her.

I'd say that the Empire has access to the best decryptors and decryption equipment in the galaxy, so encrypting sounds pointless.

Use code instead.

"Hello Adam. I wish you could be here. Aunt Janet just had her first sale and it went well. Will give you your share of the profits the next time we meet. Love Bubb."

Which means:

"Hello Boss. Mission accomplished, we smuggled the goods on-planet without trouble and the sale went smooth. We are returning shortly."

That way the players will have to get involved in making up the code as well. Using different codewords for different things.

Could be a ton of fun.

There were two key things in wartime communications during WWII.

One was the Enigma encryption device. Used properly, according to the directions, it was **** hard to crack. But there were a number of operators who did things in a way that was easier for them, which meant they broke operational security.

Doing a weather report as the first encrypted message of a new day was a bad idea. Signing off with “Heil Hitler” was another one. If you know something of the input, it’s a lot easier to crack the message, using what are called “known plaintext attacks”.

With the way the Enigma machines were made and used, once you have the settings for one machine for one message, those same settings are used for all the other messages that are sent by all the other machines, for that day.

But then the messages were also encoded. And the code book was virtually impossible to get.

So, I would consider that the Empire has their own equivalent of the NSA. If you raise enough attention, then you can be pretty sure that they will be able to decrypt your messages. But they may not be able to decode them.

However, if you don’t raise that much suspicion, it is entirely possible that you might be able to design and use an encryption scheme that defeats the weaker decryption methods. The Empire can’t afford the time to point their “Ultimate Decryptor” device at every single message that exists, so they have to use some sort of method to decide what gets chosen to go into that system, and what doesn’t. If you can keep your heads down low enough that you don’t draw that much attention, then you may be able to keep your messages secure.

But even if you can’t keep them secure, and the Empire gets your code book, they may still not strike immediately. They might decide to gather information from you for a period of months or years, without letting you catch on to the fact that they can read your every message. They might decide to lay an elaborate trap for you that takes years or even decades to play out. Or they might be so twisted up with internal politics that they can’t be bothered to come after you right now.

There were two key things in wartime communications during WWII.

One was the Enigma encryption device. Used properly, according to the directions, it was **** hard to crack. But there were a number of operators who did things in a way that was easier for them, which meant they broke operational security.

Doing a weather report as the first encrypted message of a new day was a bad idea. Signing off with “Heil Hitler” was another one. If you know something of the input, it’s a lot easier to crack the message, using what are called “known plaintext attacks”.

With the way the Enigma machines were made and used, once you have the settings for one machine for one message, those same settings are used for all the other messages that are sent by all the other machines, for that day.

But then the messages were also encoded. And the code book was virtually impossible to get.

So, I would consider that the Empire has their own equivalent of the NSA. If you raise enough attention, then you can be pretty sure that they will be able to decrypt your messages. But they may not be able to decode them.

However, if you don’t raise that much suspicion, it is entirely possible that you might be able to design and use an encryption scheme that defeats the weaker decryption methods. The Empire can’t afford the time to point their “Ultimate Decryptor” device at every single message that exists, so they have to use some sort of method to decide what gets chosen to go into that system, and what doesn’t. If you can keep your heads down low enough that you don’t draw that much attention, then you may be able to keep your messages secure.

But even if you can’t keep them secure, and the Empire gets your code book, they may still not strike immediately. They might decide to gather information from you for a period of months or years, without letting you catch on to the fact that they can read your every message. They might decide to lay an elaborate trap for you that takes years or even decades to play out. Or they might be so twisted up with internal politics that they can’t be bothered to come after you right now.

Well, the OP did ask what would happen after the Empire got wind of them and started showing interest, so you could be pretty sure they'd be decoding their messages by then

One of my PC's is playing a subversive journalist, so I've been dealing with the Holonet since session 1. I've tended to run it like modern-day internet, but with more limited access/stricter security and monitoring. I don't want to make it too hard for her to publish/broadcast her work, because that's the core of the character, but still want to leave an element of threat on the table.

My thoughts are that until the PC's do something that would get the attention of the Empire, (i.e. subversive media, rebel propaganda, etc etc) they would not be high on the priority list for decrypting messages, however I also play it that there is a limited time that messages are available to find on the Holonet, so there is a time crunch on the decryption etc etc.

The journalist sounds like a really cool character, and could add a really cool aspect to a campaign.

For messaging I treated the Holonet like a PO box. The PCs didn't have a Holonet tranceiver on their ship, so whenever they made port they would check if they had any messages waiting for them.

For messaging I treated the Holonet like a PO box. The PCs didn't have a Holonet tranceiver on their ship, so whenever they made port they would check if they had any messages waiting for them.

In other words, they didn’t have a portable hotspot, so they couldn’t check their e-mail while they were traveling until they found a place with wifi.

Right?

For messaging I treated the Holonet like a PO box. The PCs didn't have a Holonet tranceiver on their ship, so whenever they made port they would check if they had any messages waiting for them.

In other words, they didn’t have a portable hotspot, so they couldn’t check their e-mail while they were traveling until they found a place with wifi.

Right?

Haha basically

Just had an epiphany at work. You can use the Holonet like the tavern rumor mechanic in traditional fantasy.

Watching the Holonet? Roll a percentile, got a 67? You see a news story on a corporation that is setting up a mining operation on a newly discovered world in the Outer Rim.

Yep. Lots of information and disinformation at work on the Holonet, both the information side and the news side.

Based on Star Wars ' late 1970s approach to technology, the HoloNet is faster-than-light cable television combined with video conferencing. I haven't seen it used as "the Internet" in any film or television iteration so I don't treat it as such. Research involves actually going to a location and using a library computer system, even if it's a planet-wide system.

Nothing kills the feeling of fantastical mystery and awe-inspiring frontier-ism faster than "Space Google."

I'll accept your cable tv plus teleconferencing and add a shipboard store of basic information (like the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). Don't expect lots of results or in-depth articles, but there might be an entry that lists your homeworld getting destroyed to make way for a hyperspace bypass...

I find it hilarious that 3 programmers, a systems engineer, and an av professional resort to pugilation rather than the Holonet when we sit at the table and require information. Sure, we discuss the nature of the network since we're all knowledgeable on the subject, but we try to curb those discussions lest they span the entire session.

The notion of the Holonet as Cable TV + video conferencing is particularly appealing to me, with local planetary and system networks being more like traditional wifi and satellite communications respectively, albeit with significantly advanced protocols and technology to deal with latency.

In the few campaigns I have ran thus far, I made use of the Holonet in many the ways that persons have said about, it is a means of searching for information and communications. Though with the Empire having a large hold over what is and isn’t published publicly, it isn’t always the most reliable source of information; if the players wanted they could try and access the Deep Web part of the Holonet with a computer check to find information not likely to be held up by Imperial sources.

As to connection speeds and what not; it ultimately going to be where you are and what you are using to access it, in the Core you’d near always have a great connection, with information transition being near instantaneous, and whilst on the Edge of the Empire you may find it can take hours for a message to be relayed as far as the Core World.

The main thing that I would do for the players however is each session I’d write news articles for the start of each session that they can read (or not) sometimes it’d hold useful information to them, sometimes it’d be a comedy piece, sometimes it’ll be a clue to something that is coming in the future. It's fun to try and leave a trail of bread crumbs to something that is coming for them to work out.