Stars Without Number

Revision as of 08:43, 25 January 2019 by TBeholder (talk | contribs)

A d20 based RPG engine with default setting. Something like Sci-Fi OSR.

Class Prime Attributes Hit Dice Special Ability Class Skills Description
Warrior Strength or Dexterity d8 Once per fight, can automatically evade an incoming attack (negate a successful attack roll). Athletics, Combat/Any, Exosuit, Leadership, Perception, Profession/Any, Stealth, Survival, Tactics Assassins, security guards, mercenaries, crusaders, space marines, etc.
Psychic Wisdom or Constitution d4 Can learn psionic powers. Combat/Psitech, Culture/Any, History, Perception, Profession/Any, Religion, Tech/Medical, Tech/Psitech Shamans on primitive worlds, healers, telepathic spies, psychic researchers[1], etc.
Expert Intelligence or Charisma d6 Once per hour, can reroll a failed skill check. All except for Combat skills, Tactics, and Tech/Psitech. Everyone else: technicians, scholars, criminals, pilots, scientists, medics, archaeologists, etc.
Tropes used in Stars Without Number include:
  • 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. Even after this issue is solved, there are fewer of them, not anywhere as well-trained due to lost knowledge, and after being burned once, nobody considers such abilities reliable any more, 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.
  • 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 much like Alternity.
  • Hit Points
  • Lost Technology: "Pretech" — non-trivial psitech and all the stuff with lost manuals.
  • Psychic Powers
  • Standard Sci-Fi Fleet: Hulls come in 9 basic types of 4 size classes.
    1. Fighters: Fighter[2], Shuttle.
    2. Frigates: Free Merchant, Patrol Boat, Frigate. — Already the "proper ships", but still can land. May carry cargo lighters[3], drop pods[4], lifeboats. May have good sensor array and nav computer, dedicated medbay, armory, repair facilities, fuel scoops, cryo pods, boarding equipment, precognitive navigation chamber.
    3. Cruisers: Bulk Freighter[5], Cruiser. — Cannot land, thus need to carry at least cargo lighters to reach planet surface. May carry Fighters. May have hydroponics.
    4. Capital ships: Battleship, Carrier[6]. May carry Frigates.


  1. there are countless lost secrets and shiploads of psitech waiting to be rediscovered
  2. shuttle with better armor, reactor and drive, and just enough of space left for cockpit
  3. surface-to-orbit shuttle
  4. surface-to-orbit shuttle with armor, countermeasures and better engines than cargo lighter
  5. cargo volumes making it useful are still rare
  6. covers huge hulls built for specialized equipment rather than power and reinforcement, not just "stuffed with fighter launch bays" variant