Goa'uld Scout Team

Goa'uld Scout Teams were the primary method by which the Goa'uld explored new worlds and were similar to the Tau'ri SG team. These scout teams were charged with locating new worlds in the Stargate system and reported their findings back to the System Lords. This was a necessary task as, even after millennia of using the gate system, the sheer number of unexplored worlds was high and took time to discover. However, due to inter-Goa'uld Empire politics, more emphasis was placed on finding worlds with viable resources or threats to their lord.

In its composition, Goa'uld scout teams consisted primarily of several Jaffa and, on occasion, a Goa'uld underlord who led them. The group was not heavily armed and carried nothing more than Staff weapons along with the necessary survival equipment. The underlord, however, would make use of a Zat'nik'tel or some other piece of technology though the Goa'uld tended not to use more advanced equipment in fear that it may be captured by hostile natives on the world they explored. As such, the teams were trained to operate on the bare minimum to survive and support their operations for extended periods of times on worlds without ever returning to their System Lords domain for supplies.

Furthermore, the scout teams would have little time to pose as gods or as agents of their god and instead wore chain shirts as well as armour plates used by the standard Jaffa warriors. Though some, such as Ra's scout teams, would not even do this and wear simple lightweight clothing that permitted rapid movement and easily camouflage. In order to allow easy infiltration for the scout teams, the System Lords did not brand their symbol on the warriors locating in the scout teams. This allowed them to simply blend in with the population of the world and prevented them from being identified by rival Goa'uld. (RPG: "Fantastic Frontiers: Stargate Season One")