The Gungans
Jar Jar Binks, flanked by two Gungan warriors
Beneath the waters of the planet Naboo lies a totally different civilization: that of the amphibious Gungans. Venturing to the surface only when resources are needed, either via trade with the Naboo (which is completely denied on all levels of government) or Gungan industry, or to visit their ancient land-based sacred groves, the Gungans prefer to remain in the murky depths behind the force field domes of their striking underwater cities.
The Gungan cities, while totally different than those of the Naboo, are every bit as striking. The capital city of Otoh Gunga looks like a massive collection of glassine bubbles, lit from within and framed in delicate metalwork. Here, the Gungans practice their odd social customs and distinctively unique industries, all while peacefully co-existing with their complex environment. Gungan society is ruled by the "Bosses", a council of leaders that is chaired at this time by one Boss Nass. Interestingly, Boss Nass is of a separate breed; whereas the average Gungan is lanky and orange-hued with eyes sticking up on short stalks above the Gungan's skull, Nass is heavier-set, green, has a less-pronounced "bill" structures, and has hooded eyes set into his head. Evolutionary diversion is not at all uncommon within a single species of amphibian, but it is unusual in an amphibian species so highly evolved...generally, after the thousands of years it takes for a species to evolve to sentience, a certain degree of homogenization sets in, but, as humans exemplify, variation within a species is still not unheard of. Boss Nass is descended from the Ankura lieage, which evolved in an isolated Gungan village and later allied with the Otolla Gungans to found the great city of Otoh Gunga.
Gungan society can be harsh, although not mailiciously so. The Gungans are very dependent on their force field technology for their very survival in the waters of Naboo, and as such, troublemakers who jeopardize the safe operation of that technology, willing or not, are at least exiled and sometimes executed (depending on the inherent maliciousness of the act...Jar Jar was merely clumsy, and wasn't given a death sentence...yes, it was a death sentence, read the book or the original script...until he dared return to Otoh Gunga). But beyond that, Gungan life is generally very easy-going. Day to day work and industry appears to be done in a collective fashion, with everyone working for everyone else's benefit.
The Gungans maintain a sizeable standing army. While not in fear of aggression from the Naboo, the Gungans are in fear of the giant oceanic predators lurking in the deeps, and maintain this army not just for internal law enforcement, but for those rare occasions when the massive sea killers stray too close to the cities. Their military technology is very different from that of a surface civilization, however...blasters just don't work well underwater! The cornerstone of Gungan military technology is the energy sphere, coupled with the personal force field, but we'll cover that in another section, and explain how such technology must have developed.
Very few of the Gungans fully speak their own language anymore, but speak a confusing dialect of Basic that incorporates some of their original language, and what seems to be poorly-constructed slang terms. Players and GMs alike should pay close attention to the Gungan dialect if using them in the game...otherwise, where's the Star Wars flavor?
Playing a Gungan
Unlike many of the new alien races we see in Episode I, the Gungans are quite playable, as we know plenty about them, and they don't appear to be terribly limited in how well they can interract with the galaxy as a whole. Players may wish to play Ankura Gungans as opposed to Otolla Gungans...just give Ankura Gungan characters another Strength die, and one less Dexterity die. Other that that, their game stats are the same.
I have drafted up a template for immediate use, should a player wish to jump right in and start playing a Gungan.