Stars Without Number - Revised Edition: OSR DnD Book Review
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- Опубликовано: 3 мар 2018
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A review of the DnD in space RPG, Stars Without Number Revised Edition. Written by Kevin Crawford and Published by Sine Nomine. Similar to the Traveller RPG and compatible with most OSR systems. Perfect if you want to do DnD in Space, especially if you're looking for a sandbox campaign.
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SWN is a masterpiece. Did not hesitate a second when I saw a physical copy in the exchange bin of an expo AT FULL PRICE.
Kevin Crawfords layout is really second to none.
I wish some of the big publishers would learn from him.
btw why do I watch a review of a book I already own?
anyway good job.
Sometimes other people have insight on a product you might not have considered, other times, the affirmations releases those feel good brain chemicals.
@@twistedturns65 i usually watch this guys reviews before reading a game because it gives a nice overview that shows me the basics and gets me excited to read it
Why am I attempting to like a comment that I have already liked years ago? 😆
Looks like a OSR/D20 version of Traveller - which is totally cool.
I'm into a 3rd year of a SWN game. I love this system and so does my group. The new rules are a nice adjustment. Can't recommend this system enough.
I must've been half asleep the first time I watched this. This system could be used for Battletech, Cyberpunk, Star Wars, Traveller... Brilliant. I seriously have to look into getting this.
I backed the Kickstarter. This is a gorgeous book. The GM screen is great too!
I made a scenario to run at Gary Con. I think I'm the only one running it. I know I am the first one to submit a game for this system, because they had to add it to the drop-down for me.
Another OSR SF system is White Star. It is very system neutral, but has a SW flavor with its star knights. It had a big flurry of mods for every genre of SF, like Star Trek, etc. A very cool third party game Graveyard at Lus is stand alone, but in the White Star vein. It lets you generate the aftermath of a space battle, or has simplified rules to play it out.
There is a GM screen?
@@hangarflying Yes, it is available on DriveThruRPG: drivethrurpg.com/product/231342/Stars-Without-Number-Revised-GM-Screen?affiliate_id=203222
The information density in these books (Kevin Crawford's) is huge, and all the tools and advice is top notch. I do wish he were less verbose; I think that would make the books a little more readable.
It looks like Crawford re-invented the Gold Standard for Science Fiction RPGs. Wrt your question, I've not been able to find a single sci-fi RPG that uses OSR other than this one. Just after the invention of D&D, the Traveller RPG deviated immediately from the D&D rules, even TSR did the same with Star Frontiers, going for % dice & the metric system.
Some interesting sci-fi RPG stuff that I've found so far has been with the Fate Core system. I had googled on how to create a Mass Effect: Andromeda like RPG & found that two Fate Core systems had the details already there: Andromeda and Ghost Planets, good ideas in them for stimulating that ME: Andromeda feel (without having to be ME if you don't want it).
Another one I found was Diaspora, which practically disappeared from the public eye. A 250-page, no-art tome, but it has some interesting mechanics on "sector" design (not really a sector but more like wormholes that connect systems that could be anywhere in the universe), as well as a section on Platoon combat (like Aliens), something I've not heard of for this type of RPG.
My goto hard-rules Sci-fi RPG has always been GURPS Space along with its tomes for Ultra-Tech, Bio-Tech, Spaceships, & the GURPS Traveller Interstellar Wars (IW). GURPS Space has one of the best star system & alien creation systems I've ever seen (with the alien creation "lifted" from the old GURPS Uplift sourcebook). Ultra-Tech is like the cheatsheet for anyone who would call themselves a Futurist for technology. Bio-Tech could cover the transhuman-style tech.
Another one that is quite awesome is Mongoose's 2300AD. I got the hardback & just love that setting to death. They kept the star maps to the 60s GLIESE(sp) mapping & used aliens as "things" for the most part that aren't understood. The other Mongoose RPG books are great as well. I like their Imperium alien books & I read the basic core book cover to cover.
I could go on & on, so I'll stop here. :-)
White Star? Legendary Adventure is always my goto system for any genre but it's neat to see how someone can simplify what other games make way too complicated.
Thanks for the video, great as always. I love everything Kevin Crawford does.
Just a small clarification : as far as I know, Kevin Crawford does not have a free version for games other than Stars Without Number and Godbound. Other Dust, Silent Legion, Spears of the Dawn and Scarlet Heroes are paid-only product.
Thanks for pointing that out.
The idea of playing a party of uploaded human consciousnesses, that put themselves into fleshy or robotic "shells" and go out adventuring in them sounds really interesting. Death stops being this huge problem, because the PCs just get new bodies. They can even customize what sort of shells they inhabit, suited towards different environments you might find in the universe.
The biggest hurdle with this kind of game would be dying and leaving all your loot behind when your shell dies. A TPK becomes a moment for the party to mount a second expedition to reclaim their previous bodies and the stuff they had on them.
Good flip-through, Ben!
Stars Without Number is a great sci-fi system and builds a pretty cool "default setting."
I've survived two sessions of SWN with 5 HP and AC 13... But I also stayed on the ship for our first gunfight and hid behind the bar in a space-club for our second.
Very informative video, I love how you flip each pages! Thank you.
I'm just getting into Coriolis and I bet this could be helpful for that as well. I'm also a fan of worlds without Number.
wow, great video and I really love, how passionate you are about this work. Was looking for a sci-fi RPG and what I really do love about Kevin's work is that it is (more or less) solo playable from scratch. I purchased Scarlet Heroes and it is simply amazing, same seems to be the case here.
I think one would need the "Mandata Archive: Stellar Heroes" add on for playing solo, but this is also freely available from Kevin.
To the space, we must travel... :)
Traveler fits the old school sci-fi bill pretty well.
Also, great review. Keep up the good work. Thanks for recommending a book that isn't going to make me poorer. Seriously, you have a rather negative impact on my bank account.
So... SWN is a NEW school sci fi rpg?
I’m simultaneously thanking you and cursing you for these reviews. I’m itching for some extra cash to pick this up.
Tim Deschene The base game (pdf) is free. Though, I loved it so much that I bought the dead tree version.
Love your reviews. Thank you.
Love this, makes creating a setting a lot easier, the only "problem" (at least for the players) is that character creation is a tad more complicated than other OSR, not really a flaw but It took a while for my players to make their characters.
This is a really great and informative review. This book looks fuckin great, i might pick it up for my group. Im glad theres such a well designed and concise RPG that can fit so easily into a range of settings.
Great video, very thorough
These books would be perfect if they weren't glue bound. His work is so high quality I don't understand why he skimps on the bindings
Sector generation feels very much like the best of the original Traveler we used to pay in the early 80s
Thank you! Great overview - so much of this could be useful even if using another game system.
Nice review! I can't wait to see your review of Worlds Without Number, which is on Kickstarter right now! :P
Great video, thanks! Looks like a great game!
This reminds me of Starsector. Which is an amazing sandbox game. It sounds like some of his systems and lore are similar to what comes from starsector
The art with the trio that includes the female standing the purple hair I have seen before in other RPG books. Same with the ship art around 11:40 mark
Just learned about this ... I hope I can find a copy of this
Link is in the description!
Been after the POD of this for a while looking forward to getting this next month.
At some point I must get Dark Legions would love to hack that into SWN
When does Worlds Without Number come out again? Would love to hear your review on that
Kickstarter ended and my copy has shipped so hopefully he will do a review soon.
Great work. Impressive really.
Have you tried Alternity? How would you say this compares to?
I don't play sci-fi games, but this looks like a great model for those who like to design their own game systems.
This looks to be a must have for me, I plan to run several different Sci-fi games, and the info in this will make those games much easier, i.e. Star Trek Adventures, and Mechwarrior.
Yeah, it's great just as a toolbox for other games.
Anything is better than that Time of War Battletech RPG ;)
Good video as always! Keep up the good work!
I'm sold
Great sir
Do you have your own books, worlds or campaign settings you have made?
Absolutely, you can see them here: www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/10312/Questing-Beast-Games?affiliate_id=379088
Cool looking game. Has a Terran Trade Authority feel to it in my opinion, which for me is cool! :)
hello, is it the premium color or standard color book? Thank you
How much would you say is cut out between the free and deluxe versions? I know you mentioned it cuts out some of the extra stuff but how much of it is cut out? Awsome review of the book by the way!
The last six chapters (Transhuman Campaigns onward) are deluxe-only: about the last quarter by page-count but strictly non-essentials.
cool book.
I have owned more RPGs than is responsible. SWN is one of the best RPG products I have ever owned.
How well do you think this ruleset would work for an X-Com game?
Seems like a lot of this book would be useful even if you were running something in a different sci-fi system
Ya know, I start to wonder if 3rd edition should count as OSR now? 4th and now 5th edition are a HUGE deviation from 3rd edition, and 3rd edition and 3.5e materials now have collector prices. Though then again, 3rd edition is also vastly different from classical OSR materials.
This game is awsome, wow, this is a really good gaming author. I bought this game because of your game review. I was looking for an old school game to transfer Rifts into and this is the game I would do it with. I have not bought God Bound, can you transfer things from Godbound
into this game.
I'd love to know if you translated Rifts into this system and if so, how did that work for you?
Was this the Standard Premium or Heavy Premium version of the book? I have Premium DTRPG books, but am no longer sure if the 30% increase in price is worth it... I could just spend that $20 to buy another book lol.
Looks premium, those standard often are printed on a thin paper and pale colors.
Does anyone know how this compares to Hulks and Horrors?
Hi, what do you guys think is the better game and why? The Stars without number OR Starfinder?
They are different. Starfinder is Pathfinder in space within mostly several planets. SWN is sandbox OSR in space which trives on exploration.
How would you say this compares to traveller?
Haven't actually had a chance to play Traveller, but I understand they have pretty similar goals.
@@QuestingBeast Any chance you would do a review of Traveller? I'm super curious about the Classic version of this game.
is this good for making world for GURPS SF game?
Just...wow. What a system.
Hey Questing hope you're well.
Would be really great if you could do a review of 'Tales from the Loop'.
I know its not exactly OCR, but it's both very innovative in terms of gameplay and has a great idea of 'setting', ie the world is great and original, plus concepts like the kids cant die or ask for help from adults, and different levels of antagonist (bullies they have to deal with plus evilrobots).
I don't actually like the adventure in the book (it's ok), but overall the product is just so endearing, and can really help people with their RPGing.
Just an idea.
Best
Thanks for the suggestion! I don't know if I'll do that one, but I probably will do Forbidden Lands when it comes out. It uses the same system as TftL but is focused on old-school adventuring.
Cool cool. If you're looking for smaller quicker things to look could be worth checking out some of the other best known LoftP adventures, namely Tower of the Stargazer, the God that Crawls, Monolith from time and Space.
They're not as well packaged as Death Frost Doom but still worth a look - here are some quite fun visulations of the adventures! -
imgur.com/gallery/bSnW0Or
Oh yeah, James Raggi sent me some of those a little while ago. I'll definitely be doing Tower of the Stargazer at some point in the future, and maybe some others as well.
Has Kevin stated why he releases the PDF's for free? I was shocked to hear it.
To get exposure. He sells a full version on the back end. That said, the free version is everything you need to play
Responding 8 months later, but he also explained that he found that something being "actually free" made people more inclined to both download the free version AND pay for it later, compared to "pay what you want", where someone might both feel "guilty" about paying nothing, and not really know what the book is "worth" if they want to pay.
I think the way drivethrurpg handles PWYW kinda makes this worse also, like you even have to input a price to add it to your wishlist for example. itch.io is doing some cool stuff with this, like having the option for "community copies" where there's a pool of free copies, that's meant for people who can't afford the full thing, and whenever someone buys a copy they add to that pool
Nice review, maybe a little too long but thorough.
I'm here to steal OSR settings and using the info in 5e ;)
Are you running a spacefaring 5e game?
You can also try dark matter for 5e
Please review 'Red Tide' and 'An Echo, Resounding' by Kevin for fantasy sandbox gaming!
A great game. Very, very, well written. However, the psionics is very horrible. It allows "magic" into a sci-fi game. What even worse is that it provides god-like powers: healing within a 10 meters (30' feet) of the target, transforming targets into any other humanoid form within 50% of their own mass, if the psychic dies it doesn't actually die...largest bit of skin can slowly grow and the pc will recover. I only allow psychic powers below Level-2. Other than that, its really great a game.
Another thought...at least the Traveller rpg provides the possibility of having a starship (which SWN doesn't).
I think you've confused "very horrible" with "not perfectly suited to my personal preferences."
You waited for the end to say it was free...
My copy is totaly not the same
So this can work with dnd characters too? Kinda thrown off by the title
It's semi-DnD compatible. It has the six stats rated 3-18, hit points, d20 attack rolls, etc
The font is too small in his books. I had to throw scarlet heroes hard cover book in the trash and just use the pdf on my laptop.
Looks pretty cool, but I wish he had more of a fleshed out bestiary
Please stop calling them 'wizards' or 'wizard characters'. It drives me crazy. They are called 'Psionicists' or at least 'Psions'.
As for 'space magic', NOT a fan. I think the whole reason for playing a game like SWN is to get away from 'what's normal' and step out of your comfort zone.
On a more positive note, great review. I will definitely be picking this one up!
It's a space wizard tho
Anything that is D20 is a failure in game design.