When you are done with the stale and over-exposed Star Wars, tired of the endlessly morphing Star Trek, out of steam with Traveller, not finding excitement for Starfinder, and done with science fiction as a genre, there is only one game left.
Stars Without Number.
And it even has a nearly complete free version. Like Shadowdark, having a free version is key to getting others to try the game.
Stars Without Number is this generation's Space Opera. It is complete enough to cover everything you would ever want, and if you wished to have "IP flavor," then all you need to do is rename the starship and personal weapons.
The cruiser-class "Spinal Beam Cannon?" Star Wars: Ion Cannon. Star Trek: Phaser Bank. Star Frontiers: Disruptor Cannon.
Spike drive? Star Wars: Hyperspace Drive. Star Trek: Warp Drive. Star Frontiers: Jump Drive.
We're done. You can now play whatever IP you want.
You don't need to spend money on licensed games or get ripped off when the IP moves to another company, or they release a new version far too quickly.
And this game could use every Starfinder pawn you have if you bought into those. It can also mix "magic and science fiction" with rules for importing spells from other OSR games and having spellcasting classes. They have a generalist "Arcanist" and a single-school "Magister" framework for these caster classes, and you can also use the magic systems from Worlds Without Number if you want.
The game includes a sample spell list but requires you to import ones from other OSR games or the other Without Number games. Importing magic from other games, monsters, treasures, and other OSR content is trivially easy.
Alien PCs are easy, too. You can pick two foci and combine them or create your own. Any alien species is easy to make. Games with many aliens, such as Space Opera, Starfinder, or Star Wars, are straightforward to support. The dralasite of Star Frontiers? Shapeshifter plus a custom "lie detection" ability.
Done.
Playing Star Frontiers with this game gives you a better experience and lets you focus more on the story, worlds, factions, and exploring strange planets than the original game. The random tables will fill out every unexplained planet on the game's included map, and every planet beyond.
This game makes it easy to port in any science fiction universe, videogame, movie, TV show, or idea.
This kills Traveller and Starfinder from my most-played shelves, and everything is in one book. I still like this game, but SWN replaces the need to have two shelves of books out with this many options. SWN does more than Traveller; it is faster in any universe, has familiar mechanics, and has a small investment.
The random tables and space combat are also better than both of those games. They use a straightforward B/X-style combat system that supports starship crew actions (with command points) so everyone can be involved. There is a ship design system, and it is easy.
Like Shadowdark, this game is so easy that I could explain and play it with anyone in minutes. The game has a more expansive free edition than Shadowdark, so anyone could play a nearly complete game for free. The tables and generation systems fill out universes. The game is easy for a player and game master. By default, this game will win in the most important "playing with others" category every time.
This is another "stealth game" that I keep trying to ignore, but how easy it is to support anything and play with anyone will win out in the end.
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