Stars Without Number
| Stars Without Number | ||
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| RPG published by Sine Nomine |
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| Rule System | D&D Retroclone | |
| Authors | Kevin Crawford | |
| First Publication | 2010 (Original Edition) 2017 (Revised Editon) |
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Stars Without Number is a Science Fiction based retroclone of B/X to Advanced Dungeons And Dragons, created by Kevin Crawford. It's currently in it's second edition, which revamps the game with a few more modern touches.
How Does It Play?
If you've played D&D, you know. D20 dice rolls for combat resolution, with 1e using Descending AC and 2e using Ascending. Characters have skills like 3rd Edition D&D, which are resolved on rolls of 2d6.
There are threefour classes: Warrior (fight stuff, turn failed attack or dodge rolls into successes), Experts (double skill points, turn failed skill rolls into successes), Psychics (use psychic powers), and Adventurers (pick two of the above, dip into their skillset). Combat is highly lethal, thanks to low HP upgrades and high powered weapons. This is backed by one change from the classic formula: Shock Damage, which evens the odds for melee characters by making sure that even on a "miss" they inflict damage if the enemy isn't wearing sufficient armor. This means a swarm of mutant hicks with sharp sticks is just as deadly as a bounty hunter with a plasma repeater if you let them close in.
Beyond that, the game's simple. Crawford wants you to be able to translate your B/X stuff into this and replace the orcs with space pigs, liches with crazy AIs, et cetera.
What's the Story?
The year is 3200. Humanity used to rule the stars, but then the Scream happened and all interstellar travel got wiped. But it's back now, and the universe needs Rogue TradersFree Merchants to travel places, search for pre-tech, connect with lost worlds and exploit them, and anything else.
The setting is intentionally big and vague to act as a sandbox for players who want to live out there Han Solo/Malcolm Reynolds/John Crichton fantasies.
Free Version vs Paid Version
The paid version of the game adds a number of modifiers for GMs to play with, including but not limited to
- Transhumanist campaigns, wherein player characters can easily change "shells", including dealing with the alienation that comes from being in a body that isn't your own.
- Magic, including three new classes (or rather, three classes that act as stand-ins for magic-users from other systems). The Arcanist is a generalist. The Magister is a specialist. The Adept is a framework for importing specialized classes like the Cleric, Paladin, or Elf into the game.
- Heroic Campaigns, which changes the gritty combat into something more akin to Crawford's Godbound. PCs take less damage, while NPCs drop like flies.
- The True AI class, for all your players who want to play the equivalent of a lich
- Mechs, for when you want to have access to 20 tons of awesome