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Stars Without Number
The year is 3200 and mankind's empire lies in ashes.
The Jump Gates fell six hundred years ago, severing the links between the myriad worlds of the human diaspora.
Now, the long isolation of the Silence falls away as men and women return to the skies above their scattered worlds.
Will you be among them once more?
Stars Without Number: Revised Edition is an old-school-inspired game of sci-fi adventure, one built from the ground up to encourage sandbox play and simplify a GM's job in providing it. Familiar mechanics are employed to forge new worlds and explore new possibilities, guidelines built on long experience used to help a group venture in wholly new directions.
The Jump Gates fell six hundred years ago, severing the links between the myriad worlds of the human diaspora.
Now, the long isolation of the Silence falls away as men and women return to the skies above their scattered worlds.
Will you be among them once more?
Stars Without Number: Revised Edition is an old-school-inspired game of sci-fi adventure, one built from the ground up to encourage sandbox play and simplify a GM's job in providing it. Familiar mechanics are employed to forge new worlds and explore new possibilities, guidelines built on long experience used to help a group venture in wholly new directions.
252 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
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January 16, 2018Revised Edition is a vast improvement over the first edition - better assets in art and design, and laid out in (for me) an easier-to-understand way. If I end up running a space game anytime soon I'll definitely be using SWN.
February 21, 2014
A great toolbox for science fiction sandbox gaming. There are 12 pages of core rules based on old school concepts familar to anyone who has played pre-3rd edition D&D. Most of the rest consists of systems for developing setting and adventures.
I have yet to bring this one to the table, but have spent a great deal of time tinkering around with the various parts while building a setting I hope to one day bring to the table.
I have yet to bring this one to the table, but have spent a great deal of time tinkering around with the various parts while building a setting I hope to one day bring to the table.
June 16, 2015
Stars Without Number is perhaps the best modern sci-fi RPG you can get for free!
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/8...
This edition is the hardbound or Print on Demand copy you can nab from Drivethrurpg. But if you just want the basic rules you can go nab the free edition.
So why do I like it? First it's d20 based sorta. It's a retroclone that uses the OGL to craft an easy to use simple class based system that allows for wonderful sandbox adventures.
It features:
* Random system generation rules.
* Deadly combat.
* 3 core classes that focus on combat, technical skills, and psionics.
* A wide array of society building tools to make each world you visit unique.
* Easy to port guidelines so you can nab any OGL monster and 'race' it up as a critter in the cosmos.
* And room to allow for rules from other d20 system to be nestled in for fun unique adventures.
It's basically a sci-fi tool kit. Written to be flexible and friendly to new GMs. The core setting is a 'after the fall' of a galactic civilization where the PCs are a new generation of explorers and freebooters out and about looking for riches, glory, whatever.
It's one of those games that is roll up characters and go in 30 mins or less. Just understand that low level characters are VERY crunch and might need a med kit or 3 to stay alive.
Other than that? It's pure awesome.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/8...
This edition is the hardbound or Print on Demand copy you can nab from Drivethrurpg. But if you just want the basic rules you can go nab the free edition.
So why do I like it? First it's d20 based sorta. It's a retroclone that uses the OGL to craft an easy to use simple class based system that allows for wonderful sandbox adventures.
It features:
* Random system generation rules.
* Deadly combat.
* 3 core classes that focus on combat, technical skills, and psionics.
* A wide array of society building tools to make each world you visit unique.
* Easy to port guidelines so you can nab any OGL monster and 'race' it up as a critter in the cosmos.
* And room to allow for rules from other d20 system to be nestled in for fun unique adventures.
It's basically a sci-fi tool kit. Written to be flexible and friendly to new GMs. The core setting is a 'after the fall' of a galactic civilization where the PCs are a new generation of explorers and freebooters out and about looking for riches, glory, whatever.
It's one of those games that is roll up characters and go in 30 mins or less. Just understand that low level characters are VERY crunch and might need a med kit or 3 to stay alive.
Other than that? It's pure awesome.
June 28, 2021
This is a very well-designed "OSR" style roleplaying game from Kevin Crawford, a prolific old-school style game designer. One caveat I have with this review is that I have not played the game - only read the rules. So I can comment on the rules as written, but I cannot comment on whether this game is fun to play or enjoyable to run as an RPG.
As a rulebook, the writing is clear and easy to follow. The artwork is fantastic. And the publication quality (purchased from Drive-through RPG, standard color print) is excellent.
Overall, there is a lot to like in this book. The book assumes a standard group of human mercs a thousand years in the future, in a human-dominated space sector, but there are tons of options for non-human characters, including AI characters, "trans human" characters (human consciousness transferred into some sort of a bot-body), alien characters, and the like. There are options for psionics, as well as for legit "space magic" if that is your preference. And there are tons of random generation tables to help the GM build worlds, sectors, races, societies, and NPCs.
If I had one quibble, it is just with the size of the thing. More than half of it would be of no use to players, and frankly some of it is material players should not have access to directly (they amount to "spoilers"). I think this book would benefit from being split into a player book, and a GM book, with the player book only having the parts players need to know to make up characters, and the GM book having all of the reference material about space history, how to build societies, and the like. I wouldn't argue that this book could not continue to be one option, but it would be nice if there were GM-only and player-only options as well. Other than this, I have no issues with this book and I think that it is an excellent RPG manual.
As a rulebook, the writing is clear and easy to follow. The artwork is fantastic. And the publication quality (purchased from Drive-through RPG, standard color print) is excellent.
Overall, there is a lot to like in this book. The book assumes a standard group of human mercs a thousand years in the future, in a human-dominated space sector, but there are tons of options for non-human characters, including AI characters, "trans human" characters (human consciousness transferred into some sort of a bot-body), alien characters, and the like. There are options for psionics, as well as for legit "space magic" if that is your preference. And there are tons of random generation tables to help the GM build worlds, sectors, races, societies, and NPCs.
If I had one quibble, it is just with the size of the thing. More than half of it would be of no use to players, and frankly some of it is material players should not have access to directly (they amount to "spoilers"). I think this book would benefit from being split into a player book, and a GM book, with the player book only having the parts players need to know to make up characters, and the GM book having all of the reference material about space history, how to build societies, and the like. I wouldn't argue that this book could not continue to be one option, but it would be nice if there were GM-only and player-only options as well. Other than this, I have no issues with this book and I think that it is an excellent RPG manual.
December 31, 2022
This system uses the same 2D6 system that newest Traveller uses, so if you are after a more small scale game, this might be it.
You roll 2d6 + add Skill and Attribute modifier together to determine the result against the set difficulty.
I'll be honest, my feelings and thoughts tied to this system are influenced a lot by a game of this i was a player in. And it did not leave much of a favorable impression. But even while taking all of that in mind, ill try to keep it fair.
Setting of the game is less than Traveller, which is as much a pro as it is a con, as it might be less intimidating for newer players, as well as offer less building blocks for new and old players.
System is fairly simple. Navigating the book is equally simple. Character generation is pretty straight forward and fast.
Now, if i were to judge by my feelings on this game, id give it 1 star. But ill go with the ease of navigation of the book, the writing and contents instead. And for that it deserves a decent 3.
It is a decent game for Sci-Fi, but would recommend Traveller 2022 update over this. Easily.
You roll 2d6 + add Skill and Attribute modifier together to determine the result against the set difficulty.
I'll be honest, my feelings and thoughts tied to this system are influenced a lot by a game of this i was a player in. And it did not leave much of a favorable impression. But even while taking all of that in mind, ill try to keep it fair.
Setting of the game is less than Traveller, which is as much a pro as it is a con, as it might be less intimidating for newer players, as well as offer less building blocks for new and old players.
System is fairly simple. Navigating the book is equally simple. Character generation is pretty straight forward and fast.
Now, if i were to judge by my feelings on this game, id give it 1 star. But ill go with the ease of navigation of the book, the writing and contents instead. And for that it deserves a decent 3.
It is a decent game for Sci-Fi, but would recommend Traveller 2022 update over this. Easily.
April 20, 2018
There’s so much good material here. You could run almost any sci-fi game you can think of. Want to play out Voltron? There’s a whole chapter on mechs. Want to pilot a ship and trade goods? Totally doable. How about Starship Troopers? You can make it happen. I have so many ideas I want to run after finishing this book and Kevin Crawford gives you all the tools to come up with even more ideas by generating sectors, planets, societies, missions, NPCs, patrons, and more.
March 11, 2018
Kevin Crawford demuestra aquí una ambicion y un conocimiento por el antiguo sistema de D&D básico brutales. La nueva edición de SWN es, en mi opinión, la herramienta definitiva para crear campañas y partidas de ciencia ficción. Hay de todo aquí: space opera, cyberpunk, mechas, post-apocalipsis... y todo unido por una económica pero interesante ambientación. Indispensable. Reseña en audio, aquí http://www.ivoox.com/24325650
April 6, 2019
Seems a fine if somewhat simple sci-fi system. The real jewel in this book is the sector creation, with lots of tables for rolling up a series of planets for your players to live and explore in, with lots of varieties of physical and cultural aspects. Seems great for creating some unique places for each campaign.
March 15, 2021
I made several oneshot games to try it out and I really liked the way the book handles NPC generation and world Generation. It really is a good tool for open-world style RPGs.
It is not convoluted with multiple systems that can bog down the experience, I found it to be quite easy to pick up and play overrall.
It is not convoluted with multiple systems that can bog down the experience, I found it to be quite easy to pick up and play overrall.
September 16, 2024
Very good rulebook for a sci-fi setting. The setting itself isn't worked out with too much detail, but the tools in the book for creating sectors, planets and societies are top notch. These can also easily be used in any other sci-fi RPG system.
July 13, 2017
Не знаю, насколько хороша система в игре, но инструменты для мастера просто отличные. Создание планет вполне может сойти за отдельную мини-игру.
May 16, 2019
Revised edition is very good, I'm going to start running it next week and will update this review if I remember based on how the actual play goes.
August 1, 2021
Such a fun system with so many great GM tools.
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February 6, 2023Read to begin campaign with Cam as the GM!
August 20, 2023
The only problem I actively have in with this book is that there’s no such thing as a “stellar penumbra” to harvest starship fuel from - the writer probably meant “stellar corona”.
January 17, 2024
Simple spacefaring fun.
September 8, 2025
I liked it. Ran it as Mass Effect for friends. It was great. Sadly the group didn't work out, but then again, such is life.
December 28, 2025
A brilliant set of rules, great editing and a very creative world-building. Probably the best TTRPG rule book I have ever read and a great setting to book.
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January 10, 2022Stars Without Numbers is a Bundle of Holding purchase that includes Kevin Crawford’s OSR-inflected sandbox space game, and of all those qualifiers, the ones that drew me to this were Kevin Crawford and sandbox, though those are really capturing the same thing:
This dude loves random tables to pick and/or inspire the creation of very playable scenarios.
So, this being OSR-inspired, there’s classes and stats and lots of combat rules over, say, social combat rules. This also being the deluxe version of the core rule book, there’s rules for just about everything, and then accessories to add on other rules/ideas. So here’s rules for starship combat, psychics (if you want), AI (with notes for even how to create AI PCs), mechs, etc. Want magic? Heroic characters? Playable aliens? There’s add-ons and dials to twist to get the sandbox game you want.
Now, there is a loose idea for space setting, but it’s pretty generic on purpose: there was human expansion, then some great disaster (the Scream), and now people are recontacting lost colonies, etc. (If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s very similar to the Alternity Star*Drive setting.)
What makes Stars Without Number really exciting to me is Crawford’s use of random tables — and how many there are. Crawford’s random tables are also great at inspiring, and he does a good job of adding in examples of how a DM would use them — and occasionally discard or pre-pick a roll — to fill out the world and what the PCs need.
That’s what really makes these random tables pop for me and what I noticed in Crawford’s fantasy sandbox setting, Red Tide: a real focus on making things game-able almost straight out of the box. So when designing a world, there are random tables full of descriptive tags — feral world, heavy industry, alien ruins — and each tag includes information on what possible enemies, allies, locations, situations, etc., you might run into there.
But then there’s also tables for rolling up people, societies, adventure seeds — or even a quick one page for rolling up a planetary financial crisis (in the merchant book) or a lost civilization (in that book).
The other thing that Crawford does that I would love to see in more books is give some rules for designing different factions that might be in an area, and thinking about what they might be doing in the background as the PCs are off on an adventure. There’s a real potential danger here of the DM just making up huge amounts of backstory that will never be gamed — which Crawford addresses as it seems so antithetical to his major design principle — but if played right, it would add the feeling of living universe, which seems like something that might be missing from some definitions of “sandbox play.”
This bundle included
* Stars Without Number Revised Deluxe
* Polychrome — a cyberpunk world, heavy on the poisoned atmosphere and rapacious mega-corps (with new cyberpunk rules and an adventure)
* Skyward Steel — naval campaign accessory (how navies are organized, new rules for large-scale space combat)
* Suns of Gold — a merchant campaign (special commendation for noting the disruption of large amounts of scarce/new materials), including new world tags, equipment, random trade/trouble tables, and rules for founding a new colony
* Dead Names — lost civilizations (entirely gone or with some remnants), including a lot of charts for creating the people and their history (and downfall), their ruins and artifacts for exploration and adventure. (I wonder if it would be possible to roll up some stuff at the table and improv your way through an adventure that would be meaningful, i.e., not just a dungeon crawl, but something with a theme or story.)
* Starvation Cheap — military and mercenary campaigns, including army organization, equipment, and lots of tables for rolling up random wars and missions.
* Sixteen Stars — 16 common adventure sites — places like prison colony, slum, derelict orbital — along with, what else, a lot of random tables to spark ideas for what enemies, friends, and problems the PCs will meet there
This dude loves random tables to pick and/or inspire the creation of very playable scenarios.
So, this being OSR-inspired, there’s classes and stats and lots of combat rules over, say, social combat rules. This also being the deluxe version of the core rule book, there’s rules for just about everything, and then accessories to add on other rules/ideas. So here’s rules for starship combat, psychics (if you want), AI (with notes for even how to create AI PCs), mechs, etc. Want magic? Heroic characters? Playable aliens? There’s add-ons and dials to twist to get the sandbox game you want.
Now, there is a loose idea for space setting, but it’s pretty generic on purpose: there was human expansion, then some great disaster (the Scream), and now people are recontacting lost colonies, etc. (If that sounds familiar, it’s because it’s very similar to the Alternity Star*Drive setting.)
What makes Stars Without Number really exciting to me is Crawford’s use of random tables — and how many there are. Crawford’s random tables are also great at inspiring, and he does a good job of adding in examples of how a DM would use them — and occasionally discard or pre-pick a roll — to fill out the world and what the PCs need.
That’s what really makes these random tables pop for me and what I noticed in Crawford’s fantasy sandbox setting, Red Tide: a real focus on making things game-able almost straight out of the box. So when designing a world, there are random tables full of descriptive tags — feral world, heavy industry, alien ruins — and each tag includes information on what possible enemies, allies, locations, situations, etc., you might run into there.
But then there’s also tables for rolling up people, societies, adventure seeds — or even a quick one page for rolling up a planetary financial crisis (in the merchant book) or a lost civilization (in that book).
The other thing that Crawford does that I would love to see in more books is give some rules for designing different factions that might be in an area, and thinking about what they might be doing in the background as the PCs are off on an adventure. There’s a real potential danger here of the DM just making up huge amounts of backstory that will never be gamed — which Crawford addresses as it seems so antithetical to his major design principle — but if played right, it would add the feeling of living universe, which seems like something that might be missing from some definitions of “sandbox play.”
This bundle included
* Stars Without Number Revised Deluxe
* Polychrome — a cyberpunk world, heavy on the poisoned atmosphere and rapacious mega-corps (with new cyberpunk rules and an adventure)
* Skyward Steel — naval campaign accessory (how navies are organized, new rules for large-scale space combat)
* Suns of Gold — a merchant campaign (special commendation for noting the disruption of large amounts of scarce/new materials), including new world tags, equipment, random trade/trouble tables, and rules for founding a new colony
* Dead Names — lost civilizations (entirely gone or with some remnants), including a lot of charts for creating the people and their history (and downfall), their ruins and artifacts for exploration and adventure. (I wonder if it would be possible to roll up some stuff at the table and improv your way through an adventure that would be meaningful, i.e., not just a dungeon crawl, but something with a theme or story.)
* Starvation Cheap — military and mercenary campaigns, including army organization, equipment, and lots of tables for rolling up random wars and missions.
* Sixteen Stars — 16 common adventure sites — places like prison colony, slum, derelict orbital — along with, what else, a lot of random tables to spark ideas for what enemies, friends, and problems the PCs will meet there
March 17, 2018
Very interesting game. The system itself isn't really to my liking. The similarity to old-school D&D is supposed to be a selling point because of its familiarity, but since I didn't grow up playing D&D I find the mechanics a little odd and unnecessarily complex. If you are familiar with and enjoy D&D, though, you'll probably feel right at home here.
System aside, the setting is great. Stars Without Number outlines a future history of humanity that provides plenty of material for a science fiction game. The tools for generating sectors, worlds, and adventures are fantastic, and I bet they could easily be ported to other game systems if you wanted. There are lots of tools to make the GM's job of running a sandbox campaign as easy as possible.
I had the opportunity to play a one-shot of this game at a con recently. Although it turned mainly into a "kill enemies and take their stuff" situation that traditional RPGs all too often fall into, it was still enjoyable, and I could see the game going in lots of directions, not all centered on violence.
And how cool is it that the bulk of the game is given out for free? The paid edition has more material, obviously, but the free edition gives you plenty to run a full-fledged game with. Very cool.
System aside, the setting is great. Stars Without Number outlines a future history of humanity that provides plenty of material for a science fiction game. The tools for generating sectors, worlds, and adventures are fantastic, and I bet they could easily be ported to other game systems if you wanted. There are lots of tools to make the GM's job of running a sandbox campaign as easy as possible.
I had the opportunity to play a one-shot of this game at a con recently. Although it turned mainly into a "kill enemies and take their stuff" situation that traditional RPGs all too often fall into, it was still enjoyable, and I could see the game going in lots of directions, not all centered on violence.
And how cool is it that the bulk of the game is given out for free? The paid edition has more material, obviously, but the free edition gives you plenty to run a full-fledged game with. Very cool.
August 6, 2022
I ran a whole, wonderful over-year-long campaign in this system, and definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a simple, straightforward sci-fi system that is more "classic TTRPG" than narrative games (like Scum and Villainy) but less overwhelmingly crunchy than other options like Starfinder. And the GM tools are incredible, and worth the cost of the book (also available free) on their own. Ideas and tables for building a whole sector full of solar systems and planets that feel diverse and rich and fun and open to customization.
That said, it was still not quite crunchy enough for my tastes. Player options are still fairly limited mechanically, at least in the base book. The NPC stats make all adversaries end up feeling a little same-y. That said, if you want to spice it up it's easy to hack in other things, for example I put some Mothership adventures in towards the end.
Still, I own and treasure the book and might run another campaign in this system, barring finding my perfect sci-fi sweet spot system (which I'm still looking for), especially now that I've found the Codex of the Black Sun, to add a little science fantasy and some more player options.
That said, it was still not quite crunchy enough for my tastes. Player options are still fairly limited mechanically, at least in the base book. The NPC stats make all adversaries end up feeling a little same-y. That said, if you want to spice it up it's easy to hack in other things, for example I put some Mothership adventures in towards the end.
Still, I own and treasure the book and might run another campaign in this system, barring finding my perfect sci-fi sweet spot system (which I'm still looking for), especially now that I've found the Codex of the Black Sun, to add a little science fantasy and some more player options.
November 17, 2015
Not too shabby. The system is deliberately retro, harkening back to AD&D1e or so, which isn't necessarily what I look for in a game, but the setting is intriguing enough. There's also really useful data in the back of the book for creating entire sectors of space from well-fleshed-out random charts, plus 100 adventure seeds that can get you rolling within that sector. So, a useful resource for anyone looking to run a game devoted to outer rim space shenanigans (i.e. Firefly, Edge of the Empire).
July 9, 2017
The mechanics are awful (high crunch, very D&D-like), the overall gameplay idea is similar to Traveler, but with a do-it-yourself universe. The random content generators are very nice however and will fit into many other RPG games also.
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