Stars Without Number

Stars Without Number is a Sci-Fi RPG, with a D&D/OSR-like (d20-roll based) engine and its own setting.

Character Class system is kept very basic.


 * After the End: The setting is at the era of slow recovery after a Terminally Dependent Society lost its cornerstone and was mostly ruined. "The Scream" killed or drove insane everyone with psychic powers worth a damn, which was quite common in humanity (and other major spacefaring species), and as such also turned all psionic dependent devices (most high-tech machinery and information storage) into useless souvenirs and disabled interstellar travel. New generations of psychics emerged, but without correct training they tend to die or go insane before becoming useful. Which led to dark age of "the Silence". Even after this issue is mostly solved, there are fewer of them (one of the main reasons for large number of psychic talents being interstellar travel), not anywhere as well-trained (due to lost knowledge), and nobody considers such abilities reliable after being burned once, so everything that required a psychic user has to be converted to less arcane interfaces if at all possible — once someone figures out how it works at all.
 * Damage Reduction: Armor, used for vehicles and spaceships.
 * Background Based System: A general Background Package per origin, then class adds a Training Package. Together they define starting skills.
 * Character Class: Wide general classes Fighter, Mage, Thief
 * Cybernetics Eat Your Soul: Downplayed version. All cyberware inflicts permanent System Strain, and some also temporary on activation. So the more augmentation, the less a character can use biopsionic healing or pretech healing and stimulant drugs, since those also inflict System Strain, and upon overload one cannot benefit from either.
 * FTL Travel: There are psionic jump gates and spike drive for jumping drilling. Ironically, ships with spike drives were used more by the planets that couldn't afford jump gates and crowds of strong psychic operators for them, which became yet another reason why frontier worlds were less crippled by the Silence.
 * Hit Points
 * Lost Technology: Called "Pretech" (pre-Scream) — covering non-trivial psitech and all the stuff with lost manuals.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Psitech
 * Schizo-Tech: Due to all places regressed below Golden Age levels, but to different degree.
 * The Six Stats: D&D style.
 * Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: Common hulls come in 9 basic types of 4 size classes.
 * Fighters: Fighter, Shuttle. — Generally in-system FTL vessels, since their little spike drives are too slow to be practical for interstellar travel with their tiny cabins and limited lifesupport. Destroyed with all hands at 0 hit points unless the attackers actively try to disable it without blowing up. Swatted by Cloud class weapons, suffers more from Flak weapons, hard to hit with Clumsy weapons.
 * Frigates: Free Merchant, Patrol Boat, Frigate. — Still can land. May carry cargo lighters, drop pods, lifeboats. May have most "proper ship" equipment.
 * Cruisers: Bulk Freighter, Cruiser. — Cannot land, thus need to carry at least cargo lighters to reach planet surface. May carry Fighters. May have hydroponic bays.
 * Capital ships: Battleship, Carrier . May carry Frigates.
 * Small craft considered equipment rather than separate vessels includes cargo lighters (surface-to-orbit shuttles), drop pods (like cargo lighters, but with armor, countermeasures and better engines), lifeboats (single use shuttles with anabiosis equipment, etc).
 * There are many custom ones, including battlecruisers. Scavengers alone have Far Scout (Frigate size), Colony Ship (cruiser sized cargo ships turned into mobile habitats) and Factory Ship types.
 * Tech Levels: Rather generic. 0 is Stone age level. In the sample area (Hydra Sector) with 25 named planets and stations, there are two rated "4+", so good luck finding full 5.
 * Medieval technology.
 * Low industrial, XIX century technology.
 * XX century technology — lack of fusion power is not quite ruin, and fun toys like Grappling Hook Pistols and monochrome Night Vision Goggles are here. Some colonies dropped to this level via misfortunes much less serious than the Scream.
 * Baseline postech (early interstellar age, or somewhat backward for Golden Age) — with cyberware, antigrav cars, Powered Armour, laser pistols, etc.
 * Pretech (pre-Silence: moderately advanced for Golden Age, now the best of non-unique capabilities). Personal Deflector Shields, psitech, etc.


 * Turn-Based Strategy: SWN has an awesome system of faction strategy, which can be used as dynamic backdrop or involve player input — PCs can donate funds or assets, can be part of assets if they work for someone, or start a new faction (e.g. if you colonized a planet not in the name of an existing faction, you already have a faction with [Colonists] primary tag, one automatic [Planetary Government] tag).
 * Cloak and Dagger/Spy-Versus-Spy: Cunning based (i.e. intelligence) attacks, [Stealthed] Special Forces assets smuggled in… Two types of factions are made for this: Machiavellian gives bonus to one Cunning attack per turn, Secretive purchases all assets [Stealthed] (i.e. it can be just another legitimate or underworld enterprise, only happens to be owned by a cell of some secret society — they can indeed buy a Wealth facility or Party Machine for extra income, and if it got unmasked, sell before attacked) rather than only Special Forces and as an upgrade for extra price, and easier to expand, since Base of Influence doesn't start so vulnerable; of course, a planetary government can still veto formation or movement of most military units in the first place, knowing who really stands behind them is not necessary.
 * Corrupt Politician/Double Agent/Honey Trap/etc: A lot of Cunning assets represent subversion and turncoats, and most can be [Stealthed] until they are used to attack or defend (and then again, if they survive).
 * Deep-Cover Agent: Few things can unmask Stealthed assets without wasting an Action. Being used for attack or defence unmasks, but not other actions. So a Demagogue, Lobbyists or Lawyers need to show their true colours to be useful, but Surveyors help to create Base of Influence and move on, a friendly Commodities Broker just sits there and reduces costs of all new assets, while Pretech Researchers allow to buy non-military assets of too high TL for the planet…
 * Secret War: A faction with high Cunning and/or advantage in using it (and good income) can take over a world with Cunning and Wealth attacks only, nothing as blatant as sending fleets of dropships. Against attempts to purge exposed assets by direct force, guerillas jump in the way, moles get underfoot or Seditionists paralyse the whole military units via divided loyalties.
 * Of course, some factions have equal advantage in defence, and Imperialists or Warlike factions can try to «catch up with the opposition and return the favor… physically.»
 * Eagle Squadron: A faction can buy assets anywhere it got a Base of Influence and move anywhere in range of logistic facilities. And the local government may veto military units, but doesn't have to, so many shenanigans are possible, including formation of an unit on allied territory and then moving it to one's own (this wastes an action to move, but can be meaningful even without alliance mechanics: effective TL and cost vary per planet, and enemy may have less opportunities to sabotage it).
 * Hired Guns: Mercenaries are a Wealth asset attacking with Wealth vs. Force, i.e. it's one unit that doesn't care about how strong your military infrastructure is, if your faction's strong side is economy, you can buy better forces, that's it — though they have extra upkeep cost.
 * NGO Superpower: Technically, the only intrinsic difference between the factions are tags. Anyone can become [Planetary Government] for some or other planet, but its only mechanical effect is rights to allow or veto raising at the planet (or move in) most military units . And possibly one-time growth if the faction had Goal to seize that planet and now accomplished it, but possibly becomes the target of others willing to seize it in turn. It can be much more useful to have a separate allied faction as a government (more actions and different strengths).
 * Privateer: blockade fleets.