My first ever Role Playing Game (RPG 📖) was Star Frontiers. And while I’m at it happy 30th Anniversary by the way. While the bulk of my RPG experience is in fantasy settings, I continue to dabble with Sci-Fi.
And at present, the options are glorious.
- Diaspora – with a deep, and oh so tempting, discount on the hardcover over at Lulu
- Traveller 5th Edition – with a fully funded Kickstarter
- Star Frontiers – available electronically in all its glory
- Bulldogs! – A kickstarted Fate Core (Fate 📖)-based sci-fi that oozes scum like Mos Eisley
- Starblazer Adventures – another FATE-based sci-fi based on a popular British comic
- Stars without Number – an old-school renaissance sci-fi game built to be played in the sandbox [free at DrivethruRPG]
- Ashen Stars – a Gumshoe system sci-fi game that has you tromping around the galaxy undertaking all kinds of investigations.
- Burning Empires – a visually and cerebrally gorgeous RPG by Luke Crane
I’m sure there are plenty more – I’ve got several of the now out of print Alternity books on my gaming bookshelf.
So when a review at GameHead of “Stars without Number” stumbled through my Feedreader, I took notice. I had previously downloaded the free version of “Stars without Number” and was wondering if I should pull the trigger on purchasing the hard copy.
As a side note, I want my gaming material in hard-copy. As physical products I can pull them out, read them, legally lend them, and give them away.
The review, by Ian Williams, pointed out that “Stars without Number” is all about the sandbox style game. And there were several supplements available for other sandbox style games – namely a naval campaign and an intrigue and espionage campaign.
I was hooked on the idea of sandbox tools for running a naval campaign and an espionage campaign. So I purchased both “Skyward Steel” and “Darkness Visible”. I’ve already put an order in to my locally owned book store to get a pricing quote for a physical copy of “Stars without Number.”
Other Reviews
And now for some other endorsements
- Grognardia – “simple, flexible Science Fiction (Sci-Fi 📖) RPG that truly accommodates sandbox play like no other”
- John Harper’s micro-review – “quite possibly the best sandbox-gaming RPG ever made”