Stars Without Number: any tips?

[Necrozius]

This February my group will be moving onto a Sci-fi campaign. Through group choice, we've settled on Stars Without Number.

The campaign concept (so far) will be a rag-tag group of scientists exploring the cosmos. Light-hearted, focused on exploration and discovery.

Any general tips based on your own experiences with the game? Anything about the rules I should be wary of? How are Alien and Robot PCs? Spaceships?

Many thanks,

 

[redlemonginger]

Fantastic game. The main thing I would tell you to be wary of is how deadly the game is. This isn't just OSR deadly, this is on another level. NPCs can easily deal a ton of damage at first level depending on the tech level of the planet they're on, and when you have PCs with under 10 health it can get pretty grim.

I had a PC die to a cannibal psychic who was not trained in the weapon they used, and most of my games in the system ended with TPKs.

I feel like the game might push back on you with the light hearted tone, but it'll be an asset for exploration and discovery.

You could easily hack the game so that at 0 players are just "taken out of combat" unless it's a main villain who shot them.

 

[Séadna]

This isn't just OSR deadly, this is on another level. NPCs can easily deal a ton of damage at first level depending on the tech level of the planet they're on, and when you have PCs with under 10 health it can get pretty grim.

Is this extra deadliness just a function of situations where two groups mismatched in Tech Level or equipment meet, like Traveller, or is it something deeper in the rules?

 

[Baulderstone]

The game is deadly, but it has a lot of options. You can use the Heroic PC rules on p. 274, which give you more epic PCs. That might be at odds with playing a team of scientists though.

As the system started as a B/X variant, you can always use the old D&D trick of starting characters at 3rd-level to make them a little tougher.

As the theme is adventure and discovery, you can always design a campaign that doesn't revolve around regular combat, focusing on diplomacy and solving the mysteries of space anomalies.

 

[Necrozius]

Great advice so far folks, thanks.

The players definitely want action, but more in the vein of thrilling chases, dangerous hazards, avoiding monstrous aliens.

 

[redlemonginger]

Is this extra deadliness just a function of situations where two groups mismatched in Tech Level or equipment meet, like Traveller, or is it something deeper in the rules?

It's a mixture of both, I'd say. You can, for example, buy a rifle that deals 2d8+2 very early on (which means it's totally normal for an NPC to have the same weapon). A psychic starts with 1d6 HP that is rolled. It can be a lot if you're not hacking the game. The heroic rules are a good option too!

 

[Sosthenes]

I was experiencing the same, so if I want a more Traveller-esque game, I'd just start at level 3 and let the players narrate those as "career" phases.

 

[zcthu3]

When we played, the GM gave us max hit points for the first few levels and then had us start rolling above third or so. Levelling is also really fast to begin with, so as long as your first few adventures aren’t too dangerous your hit points can get to a reasonable level, but where combat is still dangerous, pretty quick.

 

[opaopajr]

Do the extra work at the "towards the end of the book" chapters to flesh out a sector. It helps give you multiple star systems, a hegemon, and competing polities to really get the world moving. Throw in a few anomalies that can render old maps invalid and thus give impulse to discovering new routes, and you have a fleshed out yet not static world.

You can easily get lost in the world building, but it is mercifully a more game-focused exercise than other space-faring games. I also believe there has been a few SWN randomizers already made and on the 'net, though it's been awhile.

 

[Ben Adams]

It's a mixture of both, I'd say. You can, for example, buy a rifle that deals 2d8+2 very early on (which means it's totally normal for an NPC to have the same weapon). A psychic starts with 1d6 HP that is rolled. It can be a lot if you're not hacking the game. The heroic rules are a good option too!

Sacrilege thought: Would you consider three strains of HP (say hurt, wound, mortal) and each start w/full HP from hit dice (so say a warrior starts with 8 + Con mod) in each section and then you gain 1 per section per level. So a warrior w/+1 Con mod starts at 27 HP but would only have 57 HP at level 10.
This way you start w/good HP at level one but higher level HP doesn't get out of hand.
I know it's a bit more record keeping but the rules are pretty simple as it.

 

[FreeGamer]

I'm someone also interested in SWN lately. How much less lethan would you say the heroic character rules makes things? I prefer for deaths to be possible, but rare, and important when they do happen.

 

[Baulderstone]

Do the extra work at the "towards the end of the book" chapters to flesh out a sector. It helps give you multiple star systems, a hegemon, and competing polities to really get the world moving. Throw in a few anomalies that can render old maps invalid and thus give impulse to discovering new routes, and you have a fleshed out yet not static world.

You can easily get lost in the world building, but it is mercifully a more game-focused exercise than other space-faring games. I also believe there has been a few SWN randomizers already made and on the 'net, though it's been awhile.

I'm torn when it comes to the randomizers. It's great to have a whole sector done in seconds, but on the other hand, I get a lot more inspiration going through the process manually, and I have a deep familiarity with it.

 

[opaopajr]

Found it! I liked this one.

SWN Sector Generator | emichron.com

I'm torn when it comes to the randomizers. It's great to have a whole sector done in seconds, but on the other hand, I get a lot more inspiration going through the process manually, and I have a deep familiarity with it.

True, there is a tactile personalization to it.

That said, it can be a lot of generation for some. I give the above link to help. You can move the stars around on that one, and like usual can pick & choose & edit what you ended up with.

Random often inspires takes I would never have made. The difference is whether we prefer to rationalize its logical narrative as we go along or piece together a new coherence all at once. I will say the latter is harder, like looking up at the stars above and say "Now make a new Zodiac and its stories!"

Going through sector creation chapter by chapter at the end is a worthwhile experience, not just busywork. Easier to grok the process and warm up the creative juices in smaller bites.

 

[SirFrog]

PCs are really squishy at first level. After that, they are fine as long as they are careful. I’ve run a game for 9 months now, and we’ve had maybe 5 combats. The game only becomes deadly if you treat it like latter editions of D&D with and endless stream of combat encounters.

it’s a phenomenal system that lends itself very well to sandbox style of play.

 

[redlemonginger]

Sacrilege thought: Would you consider three strains of HP (say hurt, wound, mortal) and each start w/full HP from hit dice (so say a warrior starts with 8 + Con mod) in each section and then you gain 1 per section per level. So a warrior w/+1 Con mod starts at 27 HP but would only have 57 HP at level 10.
This way you start w/good HP at level one but higher level HP doesn't get out of hand.
I know it's a bit more record keeping but the rules are pretty simple as it.

If you wanted to make it more simple you could just do CON score + max hit dice for first level. I'm a little bias though, I hate multiple health tracks.

 

[TristramEvans]

Stars Without Number: any tips?​

Maybe use letters instead?

 

[Baulderstone]

Found it! I liked this one.

SWN Sector Generator | emichron.com

True, there is a tactile personalization to it.

That said, it can be a lot of generation for some. I give the above link to help. You can move the stars around on that one, and like usual can pick & choose & edit what you ended up with.

Oh, yeah. It is a lot of work to do it all manually, so the online generators have a lot of value. Next time I create a setting for SWN, I am thinking that I will roll up one the central sector by hand, then generate all the surrounding sectors automatically. I won't spend much prep time on those surrounding sectors during prep, but I'll look them over just to have a vague sense of what outside the starting area of the campaign.

Random often inspires takes I would never have made.

Randomness also gets you past starting at blank page. Even if I hate a random result, it gives me something I can modify and turn into something I like.

 

[Necrozius]

Maybe use letters instead?

???

I don’t get it. Was my initial post unclear? Did I do something wrong?

 

[Baulderstone]

???

I don’t get it. Was my initial post unclear? Did I do something wrong?

No. Tristram was just making a joke that if your stars don't have numbers, you could try using letters.

 

[Nobby-W]

Is this extra deadliness just a function of situations where two groups mismatched in Tech Level or equipment meet, like Traveller, or is it something deeper in the rules?

Fun fact: the most deadly small arm in the CT rules is the TL6 light machine gun, by quite a big margin. Gauss Rifles are pretty OP in most versions of Traveller, but the Book 4 LMG is in a league of its own, and surprisingly effective even against battle dress. For even more fun, try reversing the ACR slug ammunition rules and consider a TL10 version firing DS or HE ammunition using the ACR's armour modifiers (which is implied in places, but not stated by the Book 4 technology discussions).

 

[TristramEvans]

???

I don’t get it. Was my initial post unclear? Did I do something wrong?

lol, just a dad joke

 

[Necrozius]

So anyway, any experiences with the spaceship rules? I’m wondering how it handles chases. Odds are good that the PC’s science vessel will not be equipped with tactical weaponry or advanced combat shields, but will attract trouble by space pirates and privateers from rival research corps…