About two weeks ago (or less) I finally got my Lulu-issued copy of White Star Galaxy Edition in the mail. It's a thick monster of a book for a game with such humble origins, clocking in at a 9X5 format over 332 pages. The new format is cleaner and easier to read for old grognard eyes; I don't know about you, but my copies of the original rulebook, while nice looking, had a faded "grayscale" quality to the printing which made it a bit hard to read at times. This new version does not have that problem, at all.
As you may know, this edition of the game combines the original rules with the Companion, and adds some extra content in as well. It's notable features include:
--a lifepath/background generator (it creates your "serial")
--25 classes (of which only 5 are core, and the rest are optional!) plus a skill system
--metric ass-tons (yes, ass-tons) of equipment, weapons, armor, vehicles, starships, mecha, mystical traditions, aliens and monsters to build your crazy White Star universe with
--cybernetic and "etchings"
--world generation, two sample star sectors, and lots of fluffy stuff
So yeah, a lot.
After finishing our test drive on SWN, my group spent a bit of time agreeing that we might prefer to spend more time with White Star. Indeed, we left off our last White Star campaign (season one) with a cliffhanger and the promise of a season two to come! Perhaps it is at last time to visit the sequel to the Dark Stars Netherspace Campaign.....
Nice post. Have you considered doing similar write-ups of Frontier Space or WOIN (NEW)? I appreciate your analysis and comparison of the different Sci Fi RPG's.
ReplyDeleteI've had a hard time getting in to FrontierSpace, it's surprisingly thick and detailed for a game that started with Barebones Fantasy.. I have actually come away from it deciding Traveller is the so.lmer choice, believe it or not. WOIN is an interesting design though, I really should write more about it at some point.
DeleteSol.mer = simpler thanks phone keypad!
DeleteI see your point regarding FS, it does have some nuances to it that surprised me given its roots.
DeleteAs for WOIN, I've not had the chance to play it so was curious to hear others thoughts/experiences.
Think you will revisit/play more White Star anytime soon?
ReplyDeleteI have it on the shelf, waiting for the opportunity. If I had the time, I'd take the graphics of Starfinder, slap in the text from White Star, and then start a game up with my son and his 8-11 year old buddies, who are all enamored with Starfinder (but teaching that system to kids hurts my brain).
DeleteThese days though I seem to have really narrowed focus due to time constraints....Pathfinder 2E, mixed with occasional Cypher System or guest games for the odd night with partial groups. I dream of a day when I have time to really enjoy things more....sigh....
I understand. The Starfinder visuals are excellent,but it isn't quite the setting I am looking for at this time.
DeleteMuch the issue I have. I think, very much so, that there is a market for OSR-style games in terms of mechanics, paired with graphic visuals of big budget titles.
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