It was a busy day on outer rim, near a local Imperial administrative center where the brain trust of the Galactic Empire plotted its next heinous act. It was a place like this that the Empire would issue orders to capture, enslave, and even kill local indigenous populations. Just as had happened on Kashyyk, Baratok’s homeworld.
I’m going to make them pay for that, thought Baratok, as he set the timer on his thermal detonator.
He then planted the device at the base of the skyscraper, jumped on his swoop, and sped like a bat out of hell towards his ship. That blast will likely bring down the entire building and destroy most of the surrounding area. One day he would set off such a blast on Coruscant, the headquarters of the Galactic Empire, but for now he would settle for this dusty outpost.
As the swoop reached the shipyards, a huge explosion could be heard coming from the city center.
“That will show them”, Baratok laughed.
“Dude, you just killed like a thousand people”, the GM yelled at Baratok. “There will be Imperial troops everywhere looking for you. Good luck getting out of the city.”
Baratok would, indeed, find his way out of the city and into the hearts of the more radical elements of the Rebellion. However, his GM was not nearly as happy about the turn of events.
“You are supposed to be a hero of the Rebellion, and instead you are blowing up cities”, he yelled.
This is a problem you generally don’t see in your typical D&D game. Sure, your players might go murder hobo, but the damage will be limited to whatever poor souls happen to be in the area. But when you command ships that fly through space and have weapons that can destroy entire city blocks, it becomes much more of a problem.
On the other hand, a radical fighting against a numerically superior force could use such tactics, and the plotline makes more sense that say, a 10th level fighter slaughtering a village and stealing their chickens because they are bored.
Besides, sometimes, you just want to blow stuff up, and the Galactic Empire is an easy excuse.