Strange Stars W,X, and Y

Over at the Fate SF blog, John Till (author of Strange Stars Fate) is in the final lap of his "Strange Stars A-Z." This week, he's covered:

W for "Woon Academies"
X for the nongendered pronouns "Xe-Xem-Xir"
and Y for a "Yantran Holiday"

Check these out--and the older entries!

At Last! Strange Stars Fate Softcover Available

After a couple of proofs and some corrections (included in the updated pdf) Strange Stars Fate by John Till is finally available at rpgnow/drivethrurpg. Reserve your copy today!

SWN World Tags in Strange Stars

Stars Without Number has an interesting way of presenting world information by use of  "tags." Many of these takes are familiar science fiction tropes/elements and work fine in Strange Stars, but some are more specific to the Stars Without Number setting and are based on different assumptions. Here's a list of those that don't really work with Strange Stars and in some cases how they can be tweaked to fit:

Alien Ruins: These could be alien, but are just likely to be ancient ruins from the time of the Archaic Oikumene or before.

Altered Humanity: Much less notable in Strange Stars than in the standard standard SWN, but it is still usable for more extreme cases.

Eugenic Cults: The rough equivalent of these can be found in the Strange Stars, but given the commonness of genetic modification, the “eugenics” element is less important than the “cult” part.

Exchange Consult: This organization doesn’t really have an equivalent.

Forbidden Tech: Much of the technology considered forbidden in the standard setting of SWN is common in the Strange Stars, so the use of this tag would be limited.

Perimeter Agency: In Strange Stars, the equivalent of this group might be Luddite or anti-technology fanatics/cultists.

Preceptor Archive: These would be replaced with troves of data or technology from earlier time periods, mostly the Archaic Oikumene, but possibly the Radiant Polity. The Library of Atoz-Theln would have the suitably modified version of this tag.

Pretech Cultists: Like the eugenic cultists above, the focus should be on the odd use of a technology rather than its mere existence.

Primitive Aliens: Probably just “primitives” of a nonbaseline or exotic biotype, rather than actual xenosophonts.

Unbraked AI: This would instead be a “Tyranny” that just happened to have an infosophont tyrant.

Xenophiles/Xenophobes: Again, read “alien” simply as an “exotic clade.”

John Till's Strange Stars

There's a proof copy of Strange Stars Fate. There are a few things we want to fix, so it's not ready for release yet, but it's getting close.

Friday on the Hydra Collective blog we'll feature an interview I did with John "Fate SF" Till, author of the Fate implementation of Strange Stars (available now in pdf). John had a lot of interesting things to say. Here's an excerpt:

You write a blog with SF in the title! What are some works/authors that you like?
I read a lot of SF on my own, and I am also part of the Second Foundation, a SF reading group in the Twin Cities that has been meeting for decades! This is an SF-rich community, with two world-class SF book stores just a few miles from my house. We read a lot in Minnesota, because of the long winters.

As a kid, my first SF books were:

• Robert A. Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky (my lifelong love of generation ships started here!)
• James Blish’s Spock Must Die. You can’t get any more Strange Stars than the sea of coffee produced by insane Organians!
• Samuel R. Delaney’s great space operas, Babel-17 and Nova. 
• John Christopher’s Tripods trilogy.
• The Ace Books translations of the Perry Rhodan space opera series. In fact, the first space empires that my friends and I created in the years right before roleplaying games were inspired by Rhodan. I am the very proud owner of TWO German books full of Perry Rhodan ship blueprints!

My big SF influences these days include Alastair Reynolds, the Culture novels of Iain M. Banks, and the classic space opera of Cordwainer Smith. And of course, Eleanor Arnason, Minnesota’s best SF writer. Space opera fans should make a point of reading her Ring of Swords; fans of Niven’s Known Space stories should read her Tomb of the Fathers. I read ALL of Cordwainer Smith’s Instrumentality short stories and Norstrilia last year. I (re)read six Delaney novels over the summer!

Like I said, we read a lot in Minnesota.

Strange Stars Fate A-Z

Just in case you missed it last week, the Strange Stars Fate rule book pdf is available. The softcover files are with OBS and hopefully will be approved for printing soon.

While you wait, check out the "Strange Stars A-Z" series John Till, the author of the Fate rule book, has been doing on his blog.

Strange Stars Fate Released

The wait is over--at least for you Fate fans. The Strange Stars Fate Rulebook written by John Till edited by myself and featuring art by David Lewis Johnson, Adam Moore and Reno Maniquis and layout and design by Lester B. Portly is here!

For those of you of more old school tastes, you are not forgotten. The OSR rulebook is in the works. Stay tuned.

It's Full of Stars

Strange Stars, Weird Adventures, and products by my Hydra Co-op partners Slumbering Ursine Dunes and Fever-Dreaming Marlinko are in a Bundle of Holding--along with Gnomes of Levnec, Owl Hoot Trail, Beyond the Wall, and Red & Pleasant Land! Check it out and get some good stuff.

Speaking of Strange Stars, here's a sequel to my post on random adventure idea generation for the setting:

The Hunt: The PCs search for [A] [B] but must contend with [C]
A: 1 A Eden Seeker terrorist cell  2 A bioengineered horror from the surface of Phobetor  3 Convicted megacorp executive 4 A thief with a stolen bioweapon 5 A Wanderer Avatar
B: 1 across the deserts of Deshret  2 in Smaragdoz City  3 through the forests of Woon  4 on the planet Rune  5 during a party in a domed city on Aygo  6 under the ice on Boreas
C: 1 the Pharesmid Syndicate  2 the hellhounds  3 Talosian Moravec supremacists  4 a squad of Thrax  4 a djagga bounty hunter  5 Instrumentality agents  6 a Circean witch

The Challenge: The PCs (or one of them) participates in [A] on [B].
A: 1 A martial arts competition  2 A high-stakes gambling tournament  3 A race  4 A hunt for an exotic animal  5 A deadly game  6 A battle of the bands
B: 1 A vessel circling a hyperspace anomaly  2 a domed area of an asteroid  3 Interzone  4 the wilderness of Smaragdoz  5 Gogmagog  6 the diamond planet Solitaire (Fortuna I)

Your Pain is Their Pleasure

Here's another excerpt from Strange Stars OSR: an Algosian as written up by Robert Parker.

ALGOSIAN
No. Appearing: 1-3
Hit Dice: 2
AC: 6
Saving Throw: 14+
Attack Bonus: +2
Damage: 1d8+1 monoblade or 1d8 stun baton, 1d6 + special (Via Dolorosa Agonizer)
Skill Bonus: +2
Move: 30'
Morale: 9
Algosians are humanoid torture cultists in the Zuran Expanse. They are thought to be the bioroid creations and former servitors of the Faceless Ones, an ancient sadist cabal. The Algosians learned a lot from their masters and now apply that knowledge to those that fall into their hands.

Algosians rely on kidnappings to get most of their victims. To this end, they operate clubs or brothels in some spaceports, though their involvement is usually secret.

In combat, Algosians relish the use of their Via Dolorosa, devices inherited from the Faceless Ones and passed through the generations. Each is unique in design particulars, but all are wand-like devices that deliver a concentrated burst of microwaves to exposed or lightly covered (normal clothing) skin, causing excruciating pain. A hit with the Via Dolorosa does 1d6 points of nonlethal damage and calls for a Physical Effects save to avoid being utterly incapacitated by pain for 1d4 rounds.

Algosians are resistant to pain (Savings Throw 9 vs pain-related effects) and their natural recovery of hit points is at twice the normal rate, though medical care or Biopsionics effect them the same as baseline humanoids..

It's Not Easy Being Green: 2 Strange Stars Clades for SWN

Here's another excerpt from the Strange Stars OSR rulebook, currently in the works: two clades without much in common other than their green skins:

SMARAGDINE
Physical Characteristics: Biologic humanoids with skins in various shades of green.
Psychological Characteristics: Smaragdines see themselves as heirs to the technology and sophistication of the Archaic Oikumene and view psi abilities as the way of the future. They are the visionaries of the Alliance, but often viewed as a bit arrogant by its other members.
Names: Smaragdines have a personal and gens name. The personal names are frequently chosen from Old Earth mythology or literature. Smaragdines often retain the gender association of the source name out of respect, but not always. The gens name is a copyrighted reference to a specific registered genetic lineage; it is typically that of one or more of an individual’s parents, but not necessarily. Gens are from similar sources as personal names, but tend to be derived from ancient mythological or literary wizards or monsters. Samples:
Personal Names: Accolon, Belphoebe, Dindraine, Finn, Gloriana, Phaon, Rinaldo, Sedna, Tsais, Thalna.
Gens Names: Euryale, Glatisant, Hydra, Mazirian, Prospero, Simurgh, Typhon.
Backgrounds: Any, though Adventurer, Hacker, Noble, Politician, Researcher, and Soldier are most fitting.
Classes: Any.
Attributes: Standard.
Special:
Psi-Society: Smaragdine society is based on psi-use. All citizens of Smaragdoz have the equivalent of the discipline Mental Link.
High Tech: Smaragdine is tech level 5 society, though much of their technology is not exportable.

VIRID

Physical Characteristics: Biologic sophonts blending plant and animal characteristics. Skins of various shades green (due to presence of symbiotic cyanobacteria) and foliage-like hair. Local groups vary a great deal in height and build. All virid are linked by nanotechnology to the world consciousness of their homeworld, but this obviously does not extend over interplanetary (or greater) distances.

Psychological Characteristics: Virid are gregarious and pleasure-loving. Coming from an idyllic garden world, they are closely attuned to nature, but naive regarding the hazardous of other, less pleasant worlds--and of civilization.

Names: Virids use “translated” plant or nature-themed names with other sophonts. 

Backgrounds: Tribesman, Adventurer.

Classes: Any but Psychic.

Attributes: Most virids have ability scores in the same range as humans, though larger or smaller tribes will vary. 

Special: 

Photosynthetic Symbiotes: Living nanotech supplements virid metabolism and causes faster healing when they are under visible light sources with spectra similar to their native yellow sun. Every day spent in direct sunlight allows them to heal 1 additional hit point, and every day resting in direct sunlight allows a virid to recovery 2 additional hit points. They also lose System Strain at a rate of 2 points a day in the sun. 

Phytoxin Resistance: Virids get a +1 to Physical Effect saving throws against plant-derived toxins.

For more Strange Stars stuff, check out John Till's ongoing A to Z here.

Strange Stars OSR NPCs & Adversaries

I completed a chapter on the Strange Stars old school rule book this weekend--the second completely done, though a few others are close. This chapter provides Stars Without Number stats for a number of monsters, encounters, and potential adversaries from the setting. Here's a contents list:

Algosian Torture Cultist
Caliban
Boma
Eratoan Assassin
Hannibal T. Early
Hellhound
Ksaa Cold Egg
Kuath
Minga
Necromancer
Quickling
Runic Dragon
Scavenger
Slaver
Ssraad (Blue, Green, Red)
Skulker of Tenebrae
Telosian
Thrax
Voidglider
Vokun Lord
Wanderer Avatar
Xann
Zao Pirate
Zhmun Lord

Strange Stars Setting Assumptions

Art by John Berkley

There are a set of underlying premises to the Strange Stars setting which might affect the play of the game. My assumptions don’t have hold true in your version of Strange Stars, but it is probably helpful to consider how the pieces might interact before rejecting things.

Post-Apocalyptic. The technology level of civilization in the past was higher than today. This provides the rationale for some “sufficiently advanced” Clark level technology, the “points of light” nature of civilization, and also for lost world exploration and space scavenging.

Big But Bounded, and Subdivided. Strange Stars exists within one galaxy--and only a relatively small part of that one, but still there’s plenty of room for new clades, cultures, even minor empires to be introduced without much disruption. The use of hyperspace means that there are “clusters” that can serve as smaller sandboxes if the whole area is too daunting. The game can be as focused as a single world or station.

Harder than Average. While Strange Stars is in no sense a “hard science fiction setting,” there are a number of details I tried to keep “semi-hard” and realistic. Earthlike worlds are most often the result of engineering and there are seldom multiple earth-like planets in a system. Most people will live in orbital habitats. FTL exists but works in such a way that it couldn’t violate causality. There are very few “single biome” planets, and those there are tend to have an explanation for why they exist. The aliens aren't very alien, but that’s because they’re most likely the descendants of humans or human creations.

Intersystem, Fast. Intrasystem, Slow. Related to the last point is the way FTL works. Hyperspace nodes tend to go to one place in a system (and may well dump out somewhere other than directly at the planet of interest). In system travel is most likely non-FTL and takes a while. This allows both zipping around the galaxy (at least a part of it) and “realistic” distribution of clades, but with a hard science fiction scale to a solar system, allowing the full array of grizzled asteroid prospectors, fringe religious communities on gas giant moons, or isolated research bases. The planets highlighted in the setting book are just the “major feature” of their respective systems, not the whole story. Of course, the way space travel works also has implications for how and where space battles are fought.

A Post-Internet Conception. Most classic space opera doesn’t take into account the internet in general, much less ubiquitous social media, but these things are present in Strange Stars. As a rule of thumb, imagining “how would that work in the Strange Stars?” involves more extrapolation from the present that looking back to how it was done in Star Wars or Star Trek.

There’s Always Belief. The future doesn’t mean belief systems go away. The best of space opera (Dune, for instance) deals with this, but it was something I didn’t want to leave out or to portray one-dimensionally. From the arbitrary taboos of the Kosmoniks to the realpolitik theocracy of the Instrumentality, it’s an important part of what makes cultures in the setting distinct.

Fate SF Strange Stars A-D

As a sort of lead up to the release of Strange Stars Fate (soon now!), it's author, John Till has been doing some Strange Stars related posts on his blog. Even if Fate isn't your system of choice, there is some good and gameable stuff, here!

A: Attendants--a moravec clade who provide topnotch service to the wealthiest clients.
B: Bomoth on Boreas!
C: Clades and how you use them.
D: Adding the Deaders from Last Parsec to Strange Stars.

Probably Not in Strange Stars

I've talked a lot about finding inspiration in older sci-fi,  but their are some vintage TV aliens, I just couldn't fit in:

No two headed clades. Not even on Mars like in the Twilight Zone.

The Saticons from Lost in Space know how to accessorize, but well...

The Lobster Man from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea has no opposable thumbs.

Like Talislanta, Strange Stars has no elves, so these guys from the Lost in Space episode "Space Vikings" are out.

The zarbi and the menoptera from Doctor Who. What is there to say really?

Hyehoon: Another Strange Stars SWN Excerpt

This is pretty much the format the clades for player character use will be in in the Strange Stars Old School book, currently in the works:

HYEHOON
Physical Characteristics: Biologic humanoids with some avian characteristics. They have lighter frames than baseline humans, but are strong for their weight. Head and brow hair is replaced by light, downy feathers.
Psychological Characteristics: Hyehoon are dynamic and inquisitive. They get along well with other clades.
Names: While there is variation based on subculture, most hyehoon have a personal name, a clutch name (immediate family), and a clan name (larger kinship group). Their typical ordering convention is clan name, personal name, clutch name. Samples:
Female Personal Names: Ahwi, Hyana, Oona, Wheta, Yaren, Yrari
Male Personal Names: Apata, Hamoon, Helo, Olo, Tuvo, Ydris
Clutch Names: use personal names from either gender
Clan Names: Ahmat, Aroi, Milonga, Ro, Sokha, Yooloo, Waroi
Backgrounds: Any; Adventurer, Astrogator’s Mate, Biotech Crew, Comm Crew, Politician, Researcher, and Technician are typical.
Classes: Any.
Attributes: standard.

Another Strange Stars Fate Tease

The Strange Star Fate Rule Book draws ever closer. Here are two sample pages. The title page featuring art by Adam Moore:

And the character record sheet:

New SWN Backgrounds for Strange Stars

Work continues on the Stars Without Number/Old School Sci-Fi Game of your choice compatible version of Strange Stars (release date update, when I have good data to give you!) and heres an outtake: new character backgrounds.

Bureaucrat
Despite the ubiquity of nonsophont minds, there are still plenty of sophont middle managers, datapushers, administrators, and salarymen, in the ranks of government and corporations. Some of them get tired of jockeying a desk for substandard pay and give it up for something more exciting.
Skills: Bureaucracy, Culture/World, either Culture/Corporate or Profession/Legal, Steward

Businessperson
Small time entrepreneurs and up and coming junior executives exist on every civilized world. Sometimes they chafe against bureaucracy or make some bad decisions and decide to look for better markets.
Skills: Business, Culture/Any, Persuade, Steward

Data Prospector
There's a lot of valuable information buried in the depths of a planetary or system noospheres. Data prospectors mine the infospace for value. Sometimes they find things that make them decide to have a look at what's beyond their world for themselves.
Skills: Computer, Culture/Any, Perception, either Bureaucracy or Tech/Any

Entertainer
On every world, in every time, sophonts have wanted to be entertained. Many musicians, thespians, or courtesans, decide to become itinerants, seeing the galaxy as they make their living.
Skills: Art/Any Performing Art, Culture/Artist Subculture, Persuade, one other skill

Hacker
Everyone uses computers without even thinking about it, but hackers know the very soul of the networks. Some of them are criminals, some of them work to stop criminals. Either way, it can be easy to get on the wrong side of the wrong people and find it expedient to get out of the local jurisdiction.
Skills: Computer, either Bureaucracy, Culture/Corporate or Culture/Criminal, Persuade, Tech/Any but Astronautic, Maltech, or Medical

Journalist
News is everywhere and journalists are there to sift through the data and bring connection and context to their audience. Some get the idea to go gonzo and get in the stories themselves, while some others make enemies in places of power. Both sorts can be encountered among the Strange Stars.
Skills: Culture/Any, Perception, Persuade, and one other skill.

Law Enforcement
Beat cop, port authority security contractor, or corporate investigator, the law enforcer does a tough job, often for little reward. Is it any wonder some of them look for a way to put their skills to more lucrative use?
Skills: Combat/Any, Culture/World, Perception, Security

Medtech
Most actual medicine is before by expert systems and bots, but sophont beings usually like a friendly, sophont face on their healthcare. The medtech provides that. Occasionally, though they have an itch to really put their skills to use in situations where they can't rely on bots to do the real work.
Skills: Profession/Medical, Culture/World, Science, Tech/Medical

Psychtech
In an age of nanopsychotherapy to deal with serious mental illness, the "sophont touch" is still prized--particularly by the wealthy. An understanding of sophont psychology is a skill that has a lot of uses, though.
Skills: Culture/World,  Persuade, Profession/Mental Health, either Perception or Tech/Medical

Strange Stars Art Inspiration: Not All Retro

I wrote a post a few weeks ago for the Hydra Co-op Blog about the aesthetics of the Strange Stars. It led some one to ask if there were any more recent design stuff (post-80s) that influenced the look of the Strange Stars. There certainly are. Here are just a few:

Tron Legacy represents what I call the sort of  "iPod futurism" (clean lines, curves, white, chrome, etc.) that takes older ideas of futurism and gives them a consumerist sheen. This look definitely influences the Phantasists, but also creeps in elsewhere.

Art by Giorgio Baroni

Modern concept art design ideas for mecha, robots, and exoskeletons definitely play a part, though I didn't really dwell on gear in the setting book. Droid designs from the Clone Wars animated series figure in there, too.

Clothing isn't all retro, either. I particularly like modern takes space opera classics and the continued advances in the "lived-in future" aesthetic of Star Wars and Alien--particular in its more global/multi-cultural version. Travis Charest, Simon Roy in the comic Prophet. and films like Pitch Black, The Fifth Element. and Dredd do this in different ways.

What I Did (and Didn't Do) on My Vacation

Very little rpg-related, is the short answer, but I'm back and ready to resume my usual blogging schedule. I figure the best place to start is with a product update.

On the Strange Stars front: the good news first. Work on the old school gamebook is going to accelerate, thanks to the Fate book being (mostly) put to bed, vacation behind me, and Robert "Savage World of Krul" Parker's help.

Now the bad news. I had hoped to be announcing this week that the Fate book would be released in a another few days to a week, but alas, that is not to be. A file crash (which I'm told is a known issue with large InDesign files) caused us to lose the most of the last edits. B. Portly is having to put those back in a second time. My hope is that that won't take too long, but I can't give a specific timeframe.

Beyond Strange Stars, I've been planning to devote my energies next to doing a couple of adventures. In Doom's Wake is a piratical thing that I've already talked about the first playtest of here. The other is set in the Land of Azurth, my current 5e game world, and will be called The Cloud Castle of Azurth. You'll be heairng more about these on the blog, but Strange Stars will be done before either of these sees the light of day.

Strange Stars Without Number: Ibglibdishpan

Here's the ibglibdishpan presented in the general format that I'm using in the Strange Stars OSR gamebook:

Physical Characteristics: Biologic humanoid with little sexual dimorphism. Tall with gracile build. Skulls are somewhat ovoid vertically, though this appearance is accentuated by a shield-shaped "mask" of osteoderm.
Psychological Characteristics: Restrained in emotional responses and lacking in empathy in comparison to other humanoids. Viewed by others as pedantic and over-precise. Most are adverse to violence. They consider discussion of gender or sex as rude.
Names: Names of the ibglibdishpan are composed on two, monosyllabic elements that end in a vowel, n, ng, m, l, r, sh or more rarely b. Among themselves they employ numerical family designation that is placed before the personal name, but they rarely use these when dealing day to day with other cultures, except in formal situations. Examples: Chun Ri, Gan Yul, Ro Nar, Ang Tu, Tan Em, Ib Kan, Li Pan.
Backgrounds: Adventurer, Astrogator's Mate, Researcher, Scholar
Classes: Expert is the most likely class for an ibglibdishpan. Warriors would be rare and Psychics nonexistent.
Attributes: Intelligence of at least 14. Charisma and Strength no higher than 10.
Special Abilities:
Humanoid Computer: Ibglibdishpan gain an additional +1 to Skill checks based on Intelligence. They also have the power of Hypercognition; Once per session, the PC can ask the GM for a useful conclusion regarding a topic, and the GM will tell them what he or she considers the most useful fact the character could have concluded from analysis of the available data.

Mental Breakdown: Ibglibdishpan mental structure always has a chance of a cognitive glitch or breakdown. Any time an ibgliddishpan has to make an Intelligence related skill check of difficult of 11 or 13, fails an Intelligence related check of any difficulty, or uses the Hypercognition ability, a save vs. Mental Effects must be made. On a failed roll, a  negative effect occurs. The following table offers some examples:
1 Catatonic state, repeating the last statement made for d100 minutes. Hypercognition ability (if unused) is not available the rest of the session.
2 Screams for d100 seconds, then returns to previous activity as if nothing happened. Intelligence-related skill checks are at -1 for 24 hours.
3 Develops a severe phobia which lasts for 2d12 weeks. Every week, the character may make another Mental Effects save. 3 successful saves in a row means the phobia abates early.
4 Develops a reaction akin to Stendhal Syndrome (dizziness, confusion, possible fainting) for d4/2 hours. -2 to Dexterity, Intelligence, and Wisdom for the duration.
5 Suffers a seizure lasting 1d4 min. -1 to all rolls until a period of rest of at least 8 hours.
6 Lose 1-2 points of intelligence for 2d10 days. Every 2 days, another Mental Effects save can be attempted. 3 successes means the return of the lost points early. Each failure adds an extra day.

More Strange Stars Art--And A Question

Here's another piece of art by the guy who has done more than anyone to define the look of the Strange Stars universe, David Lewis Johnson. We see Zao Pirates pursue a vessel, but finding that their prey-to-be has friends.

In other news, I've been thinking about doing some collections of back posts (like Jack did with his Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque books) and make them available as pdf and maybe POD. While they're all here on the blog, people seem to like compilations quite a bit and in fairness, with 1440 posts, finding things or reading a series of posts isn't always convenient.

So if you have any thoughts on that, let me know.