Before the Rise of the Empire era, a web article titled Before the Rise was authored by J.D. Wiker and made available on the Wizards of the Coast webpage on April 16, 2002. It was designed to serve as a scenario enhancement for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game.
The article provided information on the Galactic Senate, Jedi Order, Hutts, and Vena Isolationists. These were four political entities during the time frame just preceding the period of the Rise of the Empire era.