Hey guys. I know this is a long shot, but I wonder if anyone is interested in playing the Stars Without Number system? It's an old-school-revival sci-fi system with its own (fairly simply premised) setting, its own basic rules and it's available for free online as a pdf. It's designed for sandbox space exploration, and has a really robust set of random generators for planets, star systems, alien ruins, encounters, and a really cool custom-monster creator.
Please take a look through it (it's worth a download even if you don't want to use it right now!) and let me know what you think. I'm really into old-school games and dying to see where the random generation of this game might bring us.
Some questions :
What level were you thinking of starting everyone off at? Level 1 is hideously dangerous to survive, it's very very old school D&D 1st edition dangerous.
Are you thinking of allowing non-human PCs?
Are you thinking of allowing AI PCs?
Are you thinking all the PC's need to start out with the same faction/planet/sector, or are you thinking more along the lines of a group of misfits assembled by a faction/benefactor?
I'd probably want to start level 3. Yes, non-human or AI PCs. People wouldn't need to be from the same planet or even the same sector, but we need to start in the same planet.
Whether that be coincidence or hiring, that's up for later.
Sandbox space exploration? Sign me up! I’ll download the PDF and read through it later today.
Awesome. For AI PC's, can the AI 'download' into the ship while on the ship to act as the ship's AI, then download into an armiture to leave the ship? I think I'd like to do an AI ala Romey from Andromeda Rising if possible.
Sure, mdt - although in the interest of avoiding immortality I'd want to state that "downloading" into a ship involves the installation of a physical part which is destroyed upon the armature's "death"... so you can't just have infinite robot bodies.
I would be very interested. I have the rules, mostly just for the charts. But I would like to play.
Uhm, Leinathan? You did read the AI rules right?
The core rules say if your armiture is destroyed, your AI core rebuilds from a Phylactery. It's to balance out the fact that AI's can't heal themselves, can't heal naturally over time, and can't be healed by psionics.
So per the core rules, an AI whose armiture is destroyed restores itself in 1d6 weeks (or months, can't remember now).
Oh! You're right, that's my bad.
I have a friend who absolutely raves about this system so I'm definitely intrigued. I'll look over the rules for now.
I thought I'd randomly roll a world that y'all have to meet on, and see where it takes us.
World Generation
Well, there's the base description. Anyone have any thoughts?
What jumps out to me is that a totalitarian state uses Maltech to keep the population in check, and the Agency went rogue and donated its cache of confiscated maltech in order to support the regime.
Adventure hook... you're outworlders that were arrested for (real or imagined) suspicion of rebellion of some kind, and you break out of prison and escape the planet together?
Not applying. Just a question: isn’t Stars Without Number just Traveller without the setting?
I don't think I'd know that for certain. I haven't read the Traveller book.
It's got the same sort of 'collapsed empire' feel, but it's not the same system, and not the same details. There's a lot of fiction about the idea of a collapsed empire. So it's similar, but not the same, as Traveller New Era.
@Leinathan - I think an unbraked AI ship would be something in the vault that the PC's escape on, perhaps even with some surupticious help from the AI? It seems to fit your randomly built starting world.
To do the Romey/Andromeda idea, I was looking through the books (I actually have a few!), per The Dust, AI's with a warehouse computer core behind them can control armies of drones. I was thinking that the ship could have a bunch of cheap drones on it for self repair (Basically 'scrap' armatures with Metatool's added), and one 'Echo' class armiture? The AI could have been an experimental model from before the fall, that was being tested in this system. When the fall occurred, the Perimeter seized it, for 'safety' reasons, and mothballed the ship and turned off the AI.
The AI recently self-reactivated per some core code, and had gone rogue (as far as the Perimeter Agency is concerned) without their knowledge? Could explain how the PC's are able to escape custody?
The ship wouldn't necessarily be the cutting edge of the old tech, using an AI on a ship was the experiment, so they probably didn't want to give it the most advanced equipment. (Alternately, the AI and Ship were captured before they were activated by an inventor from way before the fall, and just woke up).
Just throwing out ideas...
How much money would we start with for equipment?
Equipment I think should start at 1,000 + (2d6 x 100) credits.
This looks interesting. Is it just me or is it vaguely or not so vaguely reminiscent of, say, AD&D with things that look like lower is better for AC and saves and stuff like that?
Yes! It's called "Old School Revival", so its heavily based on mechanics from 70s games.
Including, (I believe it's called) THAC0.
To hit armor class 0. Ah, the memories...
This seems interesting! I'll read over the pdf.
Is there still room? I've been very interested in playing this
dot
this seems neat. I'd be interested in making an expert (with soldier & pilot skillz) xD
Can we be a team of freedom fighters on the police state planet? :3
I am still around, looking at this thread. If there are people interested in playing, I may run a game, indeed.
Yay xD