STaRS The Simple Tabletop Roleplaying System Created by Charles Cohen
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Copyright 2014 by Charles Cohen. Special thanks to all my guinea pigs, both in real life and online.
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Copyright 2014 by Charles Cohen. Special thanks to all my guinea pigs, both in real life and online.
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Contents Introduction Chapter 1: The Core Checks Modifiers Scale Abilities Abilities Traits Chapter 2: Conflict Structure Your Turn Your Enemy’s Turn Concluding Sample Round Chapter 3: Creating a Character Planning your Character Building your Character Weird Powers Sample Magic Systems Advancement Advancement Chapter 4: Creating Opposition Co-Stars Encounter Design Chapter 5: Creating a World The Easy Way The Hard Way Fractal World Building
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Introduction What's a Role-Playing Game? Remember playing make-believe as a kid? Seen through a child's eyes, a stick could become a magic sword or a laser rifle, a cardboard box a spaceship, and all you needed to be a superhero was a towel tied around your neck. You and your friends could have a hundred epic adventures in your backyard — fighting monsters, overthrowing evil sorcerers, and saving princesses. Now you've grown up— up — or at least gotten older — older — but that doesn't mean you have to put your imagination away. Role-playing games (RPGs for short) offer a way to channel that childhood enthusiasm into something at least a little bit more socially acceptable— acceptable — and the rules to settle endless "you hit me! Nuh-uh!" arguments" A role-playing role-playing game game is a flight flight of pure pure fancy. fancy. For a few hours at at a time, you and and your friends can pretend to be anyone you want, having any adventure you can imagine, telling any story you can think of. How Does it Work? Before you can start the game, you'll need to pick one player to be the D i r e c t o r . He or she will be the one in charge of the setting. The shape and mood of your your imaginary world, the foibles of physics and the actions of any characters not controlled by another player are all in the Director's Director's hands. They also serve as a sort of referee, making the final decision whenever there are questions about the rules. Everyone else gets to be a Star , controlling one Character , like an actor playing a role in a movie. As the name suggests, the Stars are the main main characters of whatever story you and your your friends are telling. If the Director sets the stage, it's up to the Stars to make it their own. Last, you’ll need one or m ore P r o d u c e r s . While playing the game, the Producer is just another Star, or, more more often, the Director. But when the dice aren’t on the table, they take over. Producers are the ones who recruit the group, organize the meetings, order the pizza, and so on. OK, but Why Play STaRS? It's a fair question. There are hundreds of RPGs RPGs out there, ranging from bignames like Dungeons and Dragons to obscure indie games from the far corners of the internet. Why use this one? More than anything else, STaRS strives for simplicity. If you can't be playing within thirty minutes of finishing this book, we've done done something wrong. The rules are simple as we could make them, so that you can play without constantly referencing these rules. They're written to enable rather than constrain you, so you can spend more time having fun and less time flipping through rulebooks. The game is easy on Directors as well as players. Creating non-player characters is a breeze — no need to spend hours crunching numbers and looking up abilities to create an enemy who'll only appear once.
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Not content with being fast and simple, the game aims to be as flexible as possible. Without any extra rules, you'll be able to model anything from horror movie protagonists to cosmic gods, and the game will be just as fast and fluid as ever. Less time with with your nose in a book. book. More time with a die in your hand. That's the promise and the power of STaRS. What Do You Need To Play? First off, you'll need a few friends — someone to be the Director, and a handful of Stars. (You can play the game with with just one Star, but it's a lot more fun when you've got more people). You'll also need a few ten-sided dice, or "d10s" as they're known in gaming parlance. Ideally, you'll need two dice per Star, but you can get by with fewer if you you need. You can also use any number of dice rolling programs on your computer or phone, if you prefer. You'll probably want to have a copy of these rules handy, at least until everyone gets comfortable with the system. Finally, everyone will need some paper and pencils to make character sheets, draw maps, and take notes.
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Chapter 1: The Core While role-playing games are about imagination, they can’t be entirely devoid of rules— otherwise, the only way to resolve things is who can argue the best. In this chapter, we’ll discuss the basic rules of the game: C h e c k s , Modifiers , Scale , Abilities and Traits . C h e c k s are how we tell when your character succeeds and when he fails.
Scale is how we tell what kind of things are possible for a character to do. M o d i f i e r s are how we tell how difficult a Check should be. A b i l i t i e s are how we represent your character’s basic attributes— strength, intelligence,
charisma, and so on. Traits are how we represent your character’s special skills and powers.
Checks Life would be dull if we always succeeded, and games doubly so. In a typical game of STaRS, characters frequently find themselves in tense situations, with no guarantee that they'll get everything right. When you want to know if your character manages to do… whatever he's trying to do… you roll a Check . To roll a check, pick the approp riate Ab ility and roll a ten-sided die (d10). If t h e n u m b e r o n t h e d i e i s eq u a l t o o r l o w e r t h an y o u r A b i l i t y , y o u s u c c e ed a t w h a t y o u w e r e tr y i n g t o d o .
Rolling a check using a specific Ability is usually shortened to " r o l l [ A b i l i t y ] " or an "[ A b i l i t y ] C h e c k "— you roll Physique, make a Presence Check, and so on. (We’ll talk a bit more about “Abilities” later on.”) When Do You Roll? While you could certainly argue that Stars need to make Checks any time their character tries to do anything, that would get silly fast. Some things are so easy as to be automatic— walking across the street doesn't require a Physique check, and checking your email doesn't require an Intellect Check. But things aren't always so clear-cut. Picking a lock is certainly complex enough to warrant a Dexterity check… but what does that failure mean? You wasted a few minutes? Who cares? You can just try again, and again and again until you succeed, right? Often that will be the case. 6
As a rule, Directors shouldn’t call for checks unless something interesting c a n h a p p e n o n a f a i lu r e . Under most circumstances, failing to pick that lock doesn't mean anything— the door will still be there, waiting patiently. But if you snuck past the guards, and you've only got minutes until the next patrol comes by? Then there's a consequence to a failure, and it's time to reach for your dice. How Well Did I Do? Sometimes, all you need to know is whether or not you succeeded. Did you jump across the pit or fall in? Did you crack the code or are you stumped? But other times, you want to know just how well you did. Sure, you hit the monster, but was it a glancing blow or did you take its head off? Is the engine you just fixed going to crap out a few days later, or is it totally repaired? The same question can apply to failures — you may not have opened the safe, but did you also set off the alarm? To tell, we look at how close your die roll was to your Ability. If you roll well, you might succeed with one or more F l o u r i s h e s , while if you roll poorly you might fail with one or more F u m b l e s . W h e n r o l l i n g a C h e c k , f o r e v er y t h r e e p o i n t s b y w h i c h t h e r e s u l t i s l es s t h a n y o u r A b i l i t y , y o u s u c c e e d w i t h a F l o u r i s h . F o r ev e r y t h r ee p o i n t s y o u r r o l l e x c e ed s y o u r A b i l i t y , y o u f a i l w i t h o n e F u m b l e . If you roll well enough (or badly
enough) you can achieve multiple Flourishes or Fumbles on a single roll. The more Flourishes you roll, the better your check turns out — whatever you were trying to do, you finish faster, more efficiently, more skillfully, or at the very least more stylishly. Fumbles have the opposite effect — not only do you fail, you do so in a way that may be harmful or embarrassing. If, for example, you're trying to climb a cliff, A success with a Flourish means you make it to the top exceptionally quickly. With two Flourishes, you might not even mess up your clothes in the process. A success without any Flourishes means you make it to the top without any real trouble. A failure without any Fumbles means that you couldn't make any progress, and remain on the ground. A failure with a Fumble means that you made it partway up before slipping and falling. With two Fumbles you might have been near the top when you fell!
Im p r o v i n g Y o u r G a m e — C a l c u l at i n g F l o u r i s h e s a n d F u m b l e s
You don't have to do the math every time you roll a die — instead, when you first make your character, write down what die rolls give you what results for each Ability. If your Physique score is 7, you could write it out as _1_/_4_/_ 7 _/_10_, or 7 (1, 4, 10), or any other way you can think of. If you roll a 10, that's a Fumble. If you roll a 4 or less, that's a Flourish, and a 1 gives you a whopping two Flourishes!
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Stars Roll All the Dice S t ar s a r e th e o n l y o n e s w h o e v e r h a v e t o t o u c h a d i e. All Checks are made
in relation to their characters. If you take an action, you roll for it. If someone else takes action against you— be it swinging a sword or throwing an insult — you roll to resist.
Scale As we touched on earlier, not every action needs to rolled for. Sometimes, a task is so easy it'd be completely nonsensical if you failed — try to imagine failing to tie your shoes. On the other hand, some things are just impossible — no matter how many times you try, you won't be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. But Superman can jump over that building with no problem at all, to say nothing of outrunning speeding bullets and overpowering locomotives. How do we deal with that? The answer is— as you might have guessed from the title of this section — the idea of Scale. T h e d i f f i c u l t y o f a n y a c t i o n c a n b e p l o t t e d o n a S c a le, ranging from actions which are impossible to fail to those that are impossible to complete. Points on the scale are known as Steps . Thus, you and Superman can have the same Physique score, but operate on different Steps — with the same amount of effort it takes you to lift a heavy box, the same Physique check, Superman could lift an aircraft carrier. How Does it Work? B y d e f au l t , c h a r ac t e r s a r e h u m a n , w i t h h u m a n s t r e n g t h s a n d w e ak n e s s e s .
This is known as the First Step , while the Step you currently operate on is your Current Step. When you want to do something, check to see where on the Scale it falls.
If the action is on you r Current Step, make a Check.
If t h e a c t i o n i s o n a l o w e r S t ep , y o u a u t o m a t i c al l y s u c c e e d .
If the action is on a higher Step, you au tom atically fail.
There are two ways to change the Step you operate on, a process we refer to as . Both Traits and Modifiers can result in your character S t ep p i n g u p or S t ep p i n g d o w n changing Steps. We’ll discuss how in the appropriate sections. Scale and Flourishes You may automatically succeed or fail at a task, but that doesn't mean you can't do better or worse at it. If it's just for show, it's not important, but there are plenty of Checks— attacking an enemy, for instance — where it's important to know how many Flourishes or Fumbles your roll would have earned. If it matters, roll the Check as if y o u h a d a s c o r e o f t e n ( if c o u n t i n g F l o u r i s h e s ) o r z er o ( i f c o u n t i n g F u m b l e s ).
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The Default Scale Steps
Reference
-2
Effortless
-1
Easy
First Step
Plausible
+1
Implausible
+2
Low Superhuman
+3
Moderate Superhuman
+4
High Superhuman
+5
Cosmic
Descriptor
The kind of thing that's almost impossible to fail The kind of thing a normal human can do without effort The kind of thing a normal human can do with effort The kind of thing that you see "human" characters do in action movies The kind of thing you'd see SpiderMan do The kind of thing you'd see the Thing do The kind of thing you'd see Superman do The kind of thing you'd see Galactus do
Physical Example Sit upright
Mental Example
Remember your name
Damage Example A gentle breeze
Climb a flight of stairs
Complete a simple arithmetic problem
Toy weapons
Withstand a punch without ill effect Leap a tenfoot fence
Hack a computer system with appropriate resources Develop an antidote to a new disease in a matter of hours
Nonlethal weapons
Run as fast as a car
Invent entirely new technologies on the fly Build a spaceship out of scrap metal
Anti-vehicle weapons
Predict the future though logic
Nuclear weapons
Predict the motion of molecules on the other side of the galaxy
A supernova
Lift a tank
Push an asteroid out of orbit Create a planet
Antipersonnel weapons
Artillery
Altering the Scale By limiting what Stars can and can't do, Scale can do a lot to establish mood. Merging the Plausible and Implausible Steps of the basic Scale can help establish a comic-book feel, where even normal humans can accomplish incredible feats. On the other hand, creating a new "Practical" Step ("things normal people can do with effort but no training, or training but little effort") as the First Step can make a game feel a lot more grounded. D i r ec t o r s s h o u l d f e el f r e e t o p l a y a r o u n d w i t h S c a l e t o b e t t er f i t the tone of their game.
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Modifiers You can attempt the same task a dozen times, but it won’t always be equally difficult. Imagine trying to sneak around at night instead of during the day, or to shoot someone standing behind cover instead of sitting out in the open. There are all sorts of things that can change how successful your actions are. For good and bad circumstances alike, the mechanical effect is known as a Modifier . If a Modifier helps you, we call it A d v a n t a g e . If it's bad for you, we call it D i s a d v a n t a g e . W h e n y o u m a k e a c h ec k w i t h A d v a n t a g e , r o l l t w i c e a n d t a k e t h e b e t t er r e s u l t . W h e n y o u m a k e a c h e c k w i t h D i s a d v a n t ag e , ro l l t w i c e a n d t a k e t h e worse result.
Where do They Come From? There are three main sources of Modifier: Type Action
Character
Environmental
Definition Modifiers created by the Aid and Complicate actions (see the Conflict chapter)
Modifiers granted by your Traits Ad-hoc modifiers based on ingame circumstances
Example After throwing sand in an enemy's eyes (creating a Complication), you'd have Advantage when trying to avoid his attacks. Your Skill in Computers gives you Advantage when trying to hack into a database. When trying to sneak past an enemy in the rain, you’d have Advantage.
Multiple Modifiers The first rule of Modifier stacking is that A d v a n t a g e a n d D i s ad v a n t a g e c a n c e l e ac h o t h e r o u t . If you have a Skill in Ranged Attacks (a Character Modifier granting you Advantage), but it's extremely windy outside (an Environmental Modifier granting you Disadvantage), your final roll would be made without any Modifiers. If you also had a spotter helping you pick out your target (using the Aid action create an Action Modifier granting you Advantage), you'd make the final roll at Advantage, with two sources of Advantage minus one source of Disadvantage leaving you with one source of Advantage. The second rule of Modifier stacking is that A c t i o n a n d E n v i r o n m e n t a l M o d i f i e r s c a n a p p l y o n c e t o a g i v e n c h e c k . If it's already dark (an Environmental Modifier granting you Disadvantage), high winds (another Environmental Modifier) aren't
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going to make it any harder to hit your target. Character Mod ifiers are the exceptio n t o t h i s r u l e . E x p l a i n i n g Y o u r G a m e— M o d i f i e r S t ac k i n g
Hang on, that doesn't make any sense. Of course it'll be harder to hit a target in the wind and the dark than in either one alone. Why are we just ignoring that? You're right. The limit does give us odd results sometimes. But it's there for a reason— without the rule, it becomes tempting to try to evaluate every single aspect of a situation for Modifiers. Especially when their characters are in danger, it's hard for even the best-behaved Star to resist trying to dig up every bonus he can. And even if the first rule of Modifier stacking can keep things approximately balanced, there's no way of telling when to stop. The game can grind to a halt as groups argue about smaller and smaller bonuses and penalties. So we say "enough." Better to accept the occasional illogical situation in the name of excitement than to turn every check into a prolonged debate. The third rule of Modifier stacking is that multiple applications of Modifiers affect Scale. T w o s o u r c e s o f A d v a n t a g e l e t y o u S t ep U p o n c e , a n d t w o s o u r c e s o f D i s ad v a n t a g e c a u s e y o u t o S t e p D o w n o n c e . In most cases, that translates to an automatic success or failure. Summary Three sources of Disadvantage Step Down once, and roll twice and take the worst result. Two sources of Disadvantage Step Down once One source of Disadvantage Roll twice and take the worst result No Modifiers Roll a normal Check One source of Advantage Roll twice and take the best result Two sources of Advantage Step Up once Three sources of Advantage Step Up once, and roll twice and take the best result.
Abilities At the core of every character lie their Abilities. They measure the most fundamental aspects of body and mind — how strong are you? How fast? How smart? E a c h c h a r a c t er h a s t e n A b i l i t i e s , ea c h w i t h a s c o r e b e t w e en o n e a n d t en . Higher abilities are better, meaning that your character is stronger, faster, or smarter. A score of ten represents sheer, inhuman perfection, while a score of one represents a character all but incapable of certain actions.
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Wait a Minute…
Mathematically-minded readers may already be noticing something worrying here. If you have to roll "equal to or less than" your Ability to succeed on a check, using a ten-sided die, and you have an Ability score of ten… won't you always succeed? Isn't that likely to be a problem? Yes. We use the ten-point scale primarily because it's the kin d of thing we’re used to in everyday life. It makes it easy to calculate odds, and has a nice symmetry with the ten-sided dice we use. And there are some rare games that lend themselves to characters who are, well, perfect at certain tasks. But as a general rule, n o S t ar s h o u l d h a v e an A b i l i t y l e s s t h a n t h r e e o r g r e at e r t h a n e i g h t . Traits can be used represent greater or lesser capabilities without messing up the game’s math. Rotes
STaRS runs on Ability checks — all other game mechanics either modify checks, or are modified by checks. That makes it especially important to know exactly what each Ability covers. To that end, we've listed a few R o t e s for each Ability, the most common checks it governs. Together, the list of Rotes should cover most things you need to do in a game. If not, it's a good starting point to figure out what Ability you should be rolling. When we talk about a specific Rote, we'll sometimes mention a Presence (Leadership) Check, or ask you to roll Smarts (Medicine). Now, you can argue your way into using most any Ability in most any situation, and some Directors might support this kind of cleverness. But in practice, we've found that Stars using their best score for everything gets kind of boring after a while. So w h e n e v er p o s s i b l e , w e r e c o m m e n d t h a t g r o u p s l e a v e Ro t e s a s t h e y a r e.
Categories Sometimes you'll see references to "mental" or "physical" Abilities. You can break the list of Abilities up along the following lines: Mental Abilities : Awareness, Intellect, Will, W its Physical Abilities : Agility, Dexterity, Physique, Speed Social Abilities : Manipulation, Presence
The Ten Abilities Agility Agility represents your general physical coordination and grace. A character with a high Agility score might move like a dancer, never seeming to be caught off-balance, while someone with a low Agility score might always be tripping over their own feet. Agility Rotes include: 12
Acrobatics— Flipping, diving, tumbling, and so on Balance— Staying on your feet or in your seat — Hitting things at close range. Note that this is different Melee Attack s from how hard you can hit them, which is a Physique Rote. — Avoiding people hitting you at close range. Melee Defens e Riding— Riding horses, camels, and more exotic mounts. Stealth— Hiding, moving silently, and generally sneaking around
Awareness Awareness represents your ability to observe the world around you — both your physical sensory ability, and how well you can interpret what you see and hear. A character with a high Awareness score always seems to know what's around him, and is almost never caught by surprise, while someone with a low Awareness score might wander around in an oblivious haze. Awareness Rotes include:
Perception— Noticing things about the world beyond you Reading People— Forming impressions of people and working out their motives. Searching— Actively seeking out fine detail— traps, evidence, and the like Tracking— Your ability to follow a physical trail
Dexterity Dexterity represents your hand-eye coordination. A character with a high Dexterity score might be known for their nimble fingers, while someone with low Dexterity might always be fumbling and dropping things. Dexterity Rotes include:
Catching— Catching a thrown or falling object Driving— Piloting a vehicle, be it a car, fighter jet, or anything in between
R an g e d A t t a c k s — Hitting things at a distance. Note that this is different
from how hard you can hit them, which is either a Physique Rote or a function of your weapon. Sleight of Hand — Minor feats of legerdemain, such as card tricks or picking pockets Thievery— Picking locks, bypassing security systems, disabling traps, and similarly nefarious tasks
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Intellect Intellect represents your "book" learning and logical reasoning skills. A character with high Intellect can might be good at trivia questions and logic puzzles, while someone with a low Intellect might have never received a formal education. Intellect Rotes include:
Computers— Hacking, programming, and the like Crafting— Building and fixing things Knowledge— Knowing about things, if not necessarily how to do them. Medicine— First aid, surgery, and medical knowledge Occult— Knowing about magic, as well as how to do ritual magic Science— Both academic knowledge and practical applications
Manipulation Manipulation represents your ability to choose the right words to make other people believe you. A character with high Manipulation might be able to talk you into anything, while someone with a low Manipulation might have trouble expressing themselves clearly. Manipulation Rotes include:
Deception— Lying or misleading another person Disguise— Disguising yourself as someone else Persuasion— Getting another person to do what you want through honeyed words Provocation— Provoking another to take an course of action you choose, such as attacking you
Physique Physique represents raw physical power. A character with high Physique is tough and athletic, while someone with a low Physique might be sickly or suffer from physical disabilities. Physique Rotes include:
Athletics— Climbing, swimming, long-distance running, and other forms of "pure" physical exertion. Exerting Force— Exercises of raw strength, such as lifting, pushing, and breaking things. Fortitude — How easily you can resist poison, disease, and other such afflictions P h y s i c a l D a m a g e— How hard you can hit someone with a physical attack, such as a punch, sword thrust, or thrown weapon. Note that this is separate from if you can hit them, which is an Agility Rote. 14
— How many physical attacks (anything from punches to Phys ical Health
fireballs) you can withstand before being killed or knocked unconscious Wrestling— Grappling with another character
Presence Presence represents your raw personal magnetism. A character with high Presence is likely to be the life of the party, capable of making friends without really trying, while someone with a low Presence might be more of a wallflower. Presence Rotes include:
Intimidation — Scaring people Leadership— Rallying and inspiring your allies Making Friends— Making good first impressions and getting people to like you Social Health — How many social attacks (threats, arguments, and so on) you can withstand before giving in.
E x p l a i n i n g Y o u r G a m e— M a n i p u l a t io n v s P r e s e n c e
What, exactly, is the difference between Presence and Manipulation? Ultimately, they're both used for the same thing — persuading people to do what you want. The difference is in approach. Presence makes people like you; Manipulation makes them obey you. A character with high Presence but low Manipulation is charismatic and likeably, but may not be very eloquent — think of a James Bond type, getting by with a wink and a smile. A character with low Presence but high Manipulation may not be very likable, but knows exactly how to push your buttons — think of a Richard III type, treating every conversation like a game of chess. Speed
Speed represents both general reaction time and physical movement. A character with high Speed might feel like the rest of the world is in slow motion, while someone with a low Speed might by inattentive or lethargic. Speed Rotes include:
Initiative— Do you act before or after your foes? — Avoiding people shooting at you from a range Ranged Defense Reflex— Avoiding exploding fireballs, falling rocks, and other things that make you leap for cover Quickness— How fast can you get things done? Can you finish before the deadline? Sprinting— Trying to get somewhere before someone else
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Will
Will represents your raw mental strength and toughness. A character with high Will is confident and secure in their own identity, while someone with a low Will might be easily persuaded or allow himself to be molded by his nearest companions. Will Rotes include:
Concentration— Maintaining your focus on a single task despite distractions Magic— The default of assumption of magic or psychic powers is that they are based on Will, although the details may vary by game. — How many mental attacks (trauma, telepathic assaults, Mental Health and the like) you can withstand before breaking down. — Keeping control of your own emotions and reactions Self-Control — Avoiding being bothered by mental attacks. Will Saves
Wits
Wits represents your experience and common sense. A character with high Wits is likely to be wise or down to earth, while someone with a low Wits might be flighty or sheltered. Wits Rotes include:
Contacts— Knowing the right man (or woman) at the right time Memory— Remembering past details and events
— Seeing through lies, honeyed words, and other R es i s t i n g M an i p u l a t io n
social manipulations Shortcuts— Physical shortcuts through a city, as well as metaphorical shortcuts through projects and bureaucracies. Wilderness Survival— Surviving on your own in the wild
E x p l a i n i n g Y o u r G a m e— T e n A b i l i t ie s ?
Why so many different Abilities? Ten seems like an awful lot to remember. Other games seem to make do with way fewer. Why does STaRS need so many? In a word, the answer is differentiation. Unlike a lot of other games, in STaRS, Abilities are one of only two ways to tell to characters apart, mechanically speaking. The more Abilities we have, the more thoroughly you can describe your character. If ten Abilities still seems like too much, you could combine Agility and Dexterity, Physique and Speed, Presence and Manipulation, and Intellect and Wits, leaving you with Agility, Awareness, Physique, Presence, Intellect, and Will. Heck, if you really wanted, you could reduce everything to three Abilities: Mental, Physical, and Social. If you do cut down on the number of Abilities, though, you should also reduce the number of Ability Points characters star t with and earn at checkpoints. It’s also worth being careful about Broad Boosts — combined Abilities cover a lot more ground, so Broad Boosts become comparatively more powerful. (See Chapter 3 for details) 16
Missing Abilities It's possible to have characters incapable of certain Rotes, or even lacking certain Abilities entirely— a creature with no legs might not be capable of making Speed (Sprinting) Checks, and one without a proper body might lack all Physical Abilities. To model this, represent Absent Abilities with a “—” and c o n s i d e r t h e ab s e n t R o t e o r A b i l i t y t o b e S t e p p e d D o w n t h r e e t im e s , rendering the character incapable of succeeding on even the easiest of checks without outside assistance . We’ll touch on this again in Chapter 3.
Traits Abilities represent the most basic aspect of your character, but people are more complicated than that. Beyond simple measures of strength or intelligence, everyone has things that make them special — special talents, special powers, special training, special equipment, and more. In STaRS, these special aspects are known as Traits . All Traits fall into one of five categories: Boosts B o o s t s represent special training, natural gifts, or supernatural powers that
make you better at a particular task or set of tasks. A B o o s t g r a n t s C h a ra c t e r A d v a n t a g e o n a p p r o p r i a t e Ch e c k s . Boosts come in two flavors, N ar r o w B o o s t s and Broad Bo osts.
N ar r o w B o o s t s a p p l y t o a s i n g l e R o t e.
B r o a d B o o s t s a p p l y t o all c h e c k s m a d e u s i n g a s i n g l e A b i l i t y . A c h a r ac t e r c a n h a v e m u l t i p l e B o o s t s t o t h e s a m e R o t e o r A b i l i t y . Because
multiple applications of Character Advantage stack, multiple Boosts allow characters to Step Up their Rotes or Abilities. Martial Boost We'd like to use normal Boosts for weapons and armor, but unfortunately things aren't quite that simple. If you’ve looked at Chapter 2, you may have noticed that there’s no such thing as a Damage Check— there isn't even a Rote for many types of ranged damage. And while there is such a thing as a Health Check, it doesn’t get made very often, and doesn't help you resist Damage. It’s weird— we admit it. So weird that we've made up a special type of Boost, just for this sort of situation: a M a r ti a l B o o s t . A M a r t i al B o o s t s S t e p s
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U p o n e t y p e o f D a m a g e o r D a m a g e Re s i s t an c e o n c e . Like normal Boosts, c h a r a c t er s c a n h a v e m u l t i p l e M ar t i a l B o o s t s o f t h e s a m e t y p e .
Martial Boosts to Damage are usually weapons of some sort, and, thus, apply to that specific weapon. Having a sword Steps Up your Damage when swinging that sword, but not when throwing a punch. Carrying a rifle won't make you any more lethal when chucking rocks. Martial Boosts to damage reduction are usually armor of one form of another. Each such Boost applies to one of the three damage types — Physical, Social, or Mental. Improving Your Game — Too Many Boosts? Characters can obtain one or more Boosts to any Rote imaginable… but that doesn't mean they should. If the Director thinks that too many Boosts might cause problems in his campaign— say, Boosts to Medicine in a game where a major goal is finding a cure to a zombie virus — he should feel free to place limits. This can be particularly apparent with Boosts to combat skills. Companions C o m p a n i o n s are independent entities who hang out with you for whatever
reason. They may or may not have minds of their own— a sidekick or animal companion certainly would, but a special vehicle would not. Thus, in STaRs, both Robin and the Batmobile would be represented as Companions. Companions are their own character, with their own set of Abilities and Traits. However, they neither start with nor earn experience for themselves. See the Character chapter for details. A Star generally controls his own Companions. That being said, your Companions are (usually) your friends, not your slaves — if they're sentient creatures, they'll behave as such, looking out for their own well-being rather than mindlessly following your commands. Not all Companions are capable of their own thoughts, though — vehicles are also are represented as Companions. N o n - s en t i e n t C o m p a n i o n s l a c k M e n t a l an d , although some may have Awareness, thanks to sensor arrays and the Social Abilities like. Vehicles generally have no Dexterity score. Most of all, n o n - s e n t i e n t Companions cannot act on their own— y o u m u s t d o n a te y o u r o w n a c t i o n s i n o r d e r f o r t h e m t o d o an y t h i n g .
Knacks K n a c k s are things you’re good at that other people usually struggle with. A K n a c k p r e v e n t s y o u f r o m b e i n g p e n a l iz ed b y c e r t ai n t y p e s o f E n v i r o n m e n t a l o r
, such as being able to use improvised tools without penalty Situation al Disadvantag e or function normally in darkness. 18
Powers P o w e r s are the most open-ended Trait, representing any special talent you
possess that other humans do not, such as seeing through walls, reading minds, or casting spells. What is or is not an acceptable Power varies widely, depending on what kind of game you're playing— telekinesis makes sense in a game where everyone's playing super-heroes, but it’d be completely out-of-place in a game about pirates. S t ar s a n d D i r e c t o r s n e e d t o w o r k t o g e t h e r t o d e t e r m i n e i f a Po w e r i s " O K " f o r a particular game.
Because of their sheer variety, it's impossible to provide concrete rules for how Powers work, but a few general rules can be made: P o w e r s r e q u i r e Ch e c k s t o u s e . Superman may be able to fly and see through walls, but he still needs to make an Awareness check to find the bomb in the next room, or a Speed check to catch up to the runaway airliner. P o w e r s o p e r at e o n y o u r C u r r en t S t e p . A character with the power of flight can't fly any faster than he can run, and a wizard using his magic to move an object couldn't exert more force than a normal man using his hands. Y o u m a y p u r c h a s e B o o s t s f o r y o u r P o w e r s , just like you may for Rotes. Powers are sorted based on their versatility. o A Trivial Power has little to no effect on gameplay. Example Trivial Powers include having warm fur or perfect pitch. A M i n o r P o w e r has a single effect, without much versatility to it — one o "spell," perhaps. Example Minor Powers include speaking all languages or firing bolts of energy. A Moderate Power has well-defined limits, but is versatile within those o limits. Example Moderate Powers include telepathy or control over electricity. o A Major Power has few limits, and can be used to accomplish virtually any task with sufficient imagination. Example Major Powers include "ritual magic" or "summoning spirits."
It may help to think of Powers in terms of distinct spells:
A Minor Power is a single spell. A Moderate Power is a set of related spells, such as "illusion spells" or "fire spells." A Major Power is an almost unlimited set of spells, such as "elemental magic."
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E x p l a i n i n g Y o u r G a m e— Powers and Versatility
We can talk about how versatile Powers "should" be until we're blue in the face. We can provide lists of example Powers (see Chapter 3). But for STaRS to be as simple and flexible as we'd like, we ultimately need to let you write your own Powers. Sometimes, that means having to guess. And that's OK! You can always change things later if a character seems to be getting too much or too little out of his investment. And while we're at it, remember that our suggestions are just that — suggestions. If your group thinks that a particular Power is more or less valuable than we've listed it, by all means, trust yourselves. Perhaps language barriers are an important part of your game, and "speaking all languages" is too powerful an ability for a Trivial Power. Or perhaps most beings in your setting are robots, and telepathy is too limited to be worth a Minor Power. Y o u r g r o u p i s t h e f i n a l a r b i t er o f w h e t h e r a P o w e r i s T r i v ia l , M i n o r , Moderate, or Major — not us. Quirks Q u i r k s are for characters who have different ways of doing things than everyone
else. A Q u i r k a l l o w s y o u t o t r a n s f e r a R o t e f ro m o n e A b i l i t y t o an o t h e r. For example, a barbarian warrior might have a Quirk moving the Melee Attack Rote from Agility to Physique, allowing him to make Physique checks to hit enemies with his axe.
Summary Trait Boost Companion Knack Power Quirk
Benefit Grants Advantage on relevant Checks Provides a sidekick or vehicle Removes Disadvantage on relevant Checks Grants exotic new abilities Moves a Rote to a different Ability
Flaws The flipside of special powers is special weakness, or Flaws . Flaws work exactly like Powers, but in the opposite direction. Flaws are denoted as A n t i - Traits, such as an Anti-Skill or Anti-Knack.
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Anti-Boosts A n t i - B o o s t s represent unusual ineptness, or possibly even supernatural
weakness, in a particular field. C h a r ac t e r s c a n h a v e a n A n t i - B o o s t i n a n y R o t e o f a n Ability , or sometimes even to all uses of the Ability. A n t i - B o o s t s i n f l i c t C h a ra c t e r D i s ad v a n t a g e o n a p p r o p r i a t e c h e c k s . Just like a normal Boost, characters can have multiple Anti-Boosts to a single Rote of an Ability, making them many times more vulnerable than normal. Anti-Knacks A n t i - K n a c k s represent an inability to take advantage of certain advantages,
either willfully or through your own ineptness. A n A n t i -K n a c k c a n p r e v en t s y o u f r o m b e n e f i t i n g f r o m c e r t a in t y p e s o f E n v i r o n m e n t a l A d v a n t a g e, such as a character who glows in the dark. Alternately, a n A n t i - K n a c k c a n g r a n t y o u E n v i r o n m e n t a l , such as a character who is dazzled by bright light. D i s ad v a n t a g e i n c e r t ai n s i t u a t i o n s Anti-Powers A n t i - P o w e r s represent the loss of an ability normally possessed by humans,
such as being unable to walk or speak. Just like Powers, Anti-Powers are based on their versatility. o A Trivial An ti-Power isn’t a weakness so much as an occasional quirk, such as being colorblind. A M i n o r A n t i -P o w e r is only rarely a weakness, such as a learning o disability. o A Moderate An ti-Power is useful, but has well-defined limits, such as a missing arm. A Major An ti-Power is a nearly crippling disability, such as being blind. o Anti-Weapon An A n t i - W e a p o n represents an exceptional inability to harm enemies, perhaps due to a psychological condition or a body particularly ill-suited to combat. A n A n t i - W e ap o n S t ep s o n e t y p e o f D am a g e d o w n o n c e. As with Boosts, a character can possess multiple Anti-Weapons of the same type.
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Chapter 2: Conflict Stories can't exist without conflict. Sooner or later, a fight of some sort will break out, be it fought with flashing swords or angry words. A C o n f l i c t is a back-and-forth struggle between two or more parties, The Two Kinds of Conflict
is two or more people trying to kill or injure each other. The Physical Conflict goal of a Physical conflict is to physically disable the other party. S o c i a l C o n f l i c t is two or more people having a verbal confrontation — arguments, negotiations, and so on. The goal of a Social conflict is to either humiliate the other party, or to force them to give you something you want.
Checks verses Conflict Why bother with complicated rules for Conflicts, when we can already handle these sorts of things with Checks? If you want to know if you killed the Stormtrooper, can't you just make a Dexterity Check to shoot him? If you want to win an argument, can't you just roll Manipulation? Well… you could do that. And sometimes you should. The choice of whether or not to use the Conflict rules is similar to the choice of whether or not to require a Check— either way is correct, but u s i n g t h e Co n f l i c t r u l e s m a k e s t h i n g s m o r e . A single Check takes less than a minute to resolve a situation, but making a dramatic scuffle into a full-blown Conflict draws it out, adding in a back-and-forth feel and giving the Stars much more influence over how it plays out. Using Conflict rules can also make things a bit more organized, especially when there are lots of characters all trying to act at once. On the other hand, if you're really not interested in how an argument plays out, or how a barfight goes, it's perfectly acceptable to resolve it in a single Check. The Conflict rules exist to turn a single Check into a prolong ed scene, one in w hich all Stars can easily particip ate — it's up to the Director to decide whether or not that
scene is interesting enough to play.
Structure During a Conflict, everything happens more-or-less at once. Characters are running around, yelling and fighting as fast as they can. To them, it makes sense. If you were watching it on TV, it would probably make sense. But to control the chaos, it has to be broken down a bit further.
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Rounds The basic unit of Conflict is the R o u n d , the amount of time it takes for all combatants to act— swinging swords, making arguments, firing missiles, whatever the situation calls for. A l l a c t i o n s d u r i n g a s i n g l e R o u n d t a k e p l a c e s i m u l t a n e o u s l y . The length of a Round can be converted to a real amount of time, but before you can do that, you have to think about what kind of Conflict is happening. In a bar fight, a Round might take seconds; in a dual between two great spacecraft, it could take hours for missiles to cross the distance between the two ships. As a rough guideline, though, i n a P h y s i c a l C o n f l i c t , a Ro u n d i s s i x s e c o n d s l o n g ; i n a S o c i a l o r M e n t al C o n f l i c t , a Ro u n d i s o n e m i n u t e .
Initiative All actions in a Round may be simultaneous, but you'd break your brain trying to resolve them all at once. Instead, we take turns. At th e start of the Conflict, all Stars make Speed (Initiative) chec ks. Tho se wh o suc ceed take their actio ns before their foes, and tho se who fail act afterwards .
Within those two groups, Stars act in order of Speed, high to low. In the event of a tie, whoever rolled more Flourishes on their Speed check acts first. If any characters have Stepped Up or Stepped Down their Initiative Rote, characters on higher Steps automatically act first. Within each Step, characters are separated by the method described above. Improving Your Game — Calculating Initiative Rolling for turn order can get tedious if you need to keep asking Stars for their Speed. To keep things moving quickly, Directors might want to make a notecard or something with the Speeds of all their Stars written on it. During Conflict, make a mark next to the names of anyone who succeeded on their Speed (Initiative) Check. That way, you can just scroll down the list, stopping first at all the marked names, then at the unmarked. Erase the marks when the last enemy is taken out and you're ready for next time. Actions Rounds and turn help you sort out when different characters get to act, but within a turn, a single character can only do so many things. "Actions" are divided into three categories: M a j o r A c t i o n s , M in o r A c t i o n s , and F r e e A c t i o n s . E a c h r o u n d , a c h a r a c t er g e t s o n e M aj o r A c t i o n , o n e M i n o r A c t i o n , a n d a s m a n y F r ee a c t i o n s a s t h e y ' d l i k e . You made take a second Minor action in place of a Major one, if you so
choose, and you may take your actions in any order you choose.
take both time and effort, such as shooting a gun or casting a M aj o r A c t i o n s spell-- generally, things for which you might have to make a check.
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M in o r A c t i o n s take either time but little effort, such as moving a short distance,
or effort but little time, such as kicking open a door. F r ee A c t i o n s take little time and little effort, such as talking or opening a door.
Your Turn Conflict has broken out, initiative has been rolled, and now it's your turn to act. So what can you do? You'll usually want to M o v e , as well as one of the three major combat actions: A t t a c k a foe, C o m p l i c a t e the situation, or A i d an ally. Move (Action Varies) They say there are two kinds of soldiers on the battlefield: the quick and the dead. Mobility is an essential part of any Physical Conflict, as characters run in every direction to engage their foes or dive for cover. There are two types of movement in a Conflict:
Walking : A s a M in o r A c t i o n , y o u c a n m o v e a p p r o x i m a t el y t w o y a r d s f o r e v er y p o i n t o f S p e e d . "Walking" usually takes the form of a jog or scuttle,
rather than an actual slow walk, and is relatively controlled form of movement.
S p r i n t i n g : A s a M a j o r A c t i o n , y o u c a n m o v e a p p r o x i m a t el y f i v e y a r d s f o r e v er y p o i n t o f S p e e d . "Sprinting" means putting your head down and charging
at top speed, leaving little time for other actions. Obviously, characters with Stepped Up Speed (Sprinting) can move farther than the distances described here. Attack a Single Foe (Major Action) An A t t a c k is any action intended to directly bring you victory in the Conflict. For a Physical Conflict, this means trying to kill or knock out your foes. For a Social Conflict, your weapons are words, rather than swords — logical arguments, cutting remarks, and more. To attack a foe, make an appro priate Ab ility Check. If you succeed, you hit and damage your target. A s u c c e s s f u l A t t a c k d e a l s o n e p o i n t o f D a m a g e , p l u s o n e a d d i t i o n a l p o i n t o f D a m a g e f o r e v er y F l o u r i s h .
There are three types of attack, corresponding to the three types of Damage:
hurt your body. When you make a Physical Attack, you're Physical Attacks trying to kill someone— or at the very least batter them into unconsciousness. Swords, lasers, and fireballs are all Physical Attacks. 24
hurt your resolve. When you make a Social Attack, you're trying Social Attacks
to manipulate someone into doing what they want. Persuasive arguments, intimidation, and flirtation are all Social Attacks. hurt your feelings. When you make a Mental Attack, you're trying Mental Attack s to emotionally destroy someone. Insults, humiliations, and telepathic assaults are all Mental Attacks.
Attacks and Scale Not every enemy is the same. Sometimes your attack will be much more powerful than your target’s ability to resist it. Other times, you might find yourself attacking a tank with a toothpick. The Scale of your attack matters.
If your attack is one or more Steps lower than your target’s abili t y t o resist, you d eal no Damage.
If your attack is one Step higher than the target’s ability to resist, deal d o u b l e Da m a g e— two Damage on a hit, plus two additional points for every Flourish. If your attack is two or more Steps higher than the target’s ability to resist, they’re instantly Taken Out.
Attacking Multiple Foes Sometimes you want to hit more than one target at a time. That might mean spraying bullets from a machine gun, casting a mighty fireball spell, or simply swinging a sword at everyone around you. Doing so is more difficult than attacking a single enemy, however.
mean making an number of individually-aimed attacks in Multiple Attacks quick succession. To make a Multiple Attack, make no rmal attacks at D i s ad v a n t a g e a g a i n s t m u l t i p l e f o e s — u p t o o n e t a r g e t f o r e v er y t w o poin ts of the Ability you're using to attack.
A r e a A t t a c k s strike everyone and everything in a given radius — friends,
foes, and scenery alike. To make an Area Att ack, make norm al attacks at D i s ad v a n t a g e a g a i n s t a l l t ar g e t s i n a r a d i u s o f o n e y a r d p e r r an k o f t h e A b i l i t y y o u ' r e u s i n g t o a t t ac k . Area attacks don't have to affect a perfect
sphere— a grenade might hit all targets within the radius, but a flamethrower might only affect a slice of the sphere, and a lightning bolt might only hit a narrow line. As a general rule, you can consider that the advantages of hitting a smaller area (it’s easier to avoid collateral damage) balance out the disadvantages (striking fewer potential targets).
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Complicate (Major Action) Sometimes you don't want to just hit someone — instead, you might want to hinder your enemies. Warriors wrestle their foes to the ground, throw sand in their eyes or knock the swords from their hands. Diplomats set verbal traps, discredit their rivals and use small lies to prepare the stage for bigger whoppers. These and more are known as attempts to C o m p l i c a t e the situation. T o C o m p l i c at e t h e s i t u a t i o n , m a k e a n a p p r o p r i at e A b i l i t y C h e c k . Because of the open-ended nature of the action, there's no set Ability — Stars and Directors have to choose whichever feels best — although A g i l i t y a n d P h y s i q u e a re c o m m o n l y u s e d f o r p h y s i c a l a tt e m p t s , w h i l e M an i p u l a t i o n i s a g e n e r al l y g o o d c h o i c e f o r S o c i a l a n d M e n t a l Co m p l i c a t i o n s . If t h e C h e c k s u c c e ed s , y o u i n f l i c t a Complication o n y o u r f o e , such as
"knocked down" or "blinded." W h e n t h e C o m p l i c a t i o n i s r e l ev a n t , y o u g a i n A c t i o n A d v a n t a g e ag a i n s t t h e f o e . You might have Advantage when making physical attacks or defense Checks against a blinded foe, but not when making a social attack. On the other hand, while you might have Advantage when lying to a foe with a "credulous" condition, but not when attacking them. A C o m p l i c a t io n l a s t s f o r o n e R o u n d , p l u s o n e r o u n d f o r ev e r y Fl o u r i s h o n t h e i n i t i a l A b i l i t y C h e c k . Rounds are counted at the end of your turn, with the turn you
use the maneuver being turn zero. Enemies may attempt to remove Complications on their turns, either from themselves or from their allies. W h e n a n e n e m y t r i es t o r e m o v e a C o m p l i c a t i o n , m a k e a A b i l i t y C h e c k o f t h e s am e s o r t y o u u s e d t o i n f l i c t th e C o m p l i c a t i o n . If
. This s u c c e e d , t h e Co m p l i c a t i o n r e m a i n s . If y o u f a il , th e C o m p l i c a t i o n i s r e m o v e d Check doesn't actually represent any actions on your part. Instead, it reflects how well your initial Complicate action worked. Aid (Major Action) The opposite of an attempt to Complicate the situation for a foe is an attempt to A i d an ally. P i c k a n a c t i o n y o u r a ll y a b o u t t o a t t e m p t a n d m a k e an A b i l i t y C h e c k, usually using the same Ability as you would if you were the one taking the action — a Smarts Check to help your buddy hack a computer, a Physique Check to help break down a door, and so on. If y o u s u c c e e d , y o u r a l ly g a i n s A c t i o n A d v a n t a g e o n t h e a c t i o n . Fo r e v e r y Fl o u r i s h o n y o u r C h e c k , h e r et a i n s t h i s A d v a n t a g e f o r o n e additional Check of th e same type. T h e b e n e f i ts o f a n A i d a c t i o n l a s t f o r a s l o n g a s y o u a r e t h e r e t o h e l p , an d f o r o n e m i n u t e t h e r e af t e r. If your ally hasn't made his Check or Checks by that time,
the benefit is lost. To provide longer-term assistance, y o u m a y m a k e y o u r C h e c k at
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D i s ad v a n t a g e . O n a s u c c e s s , t h e b e n e f i t s l as t f o r o n e h o u r i n s t e a d o f o n e minute. Y o u c a n u s e c e r t ai n A i d a c t i o n s o n y o u r s e l f . You and the Director need to
work out if the Aid you're proposing is legitimate — spending an action to aim more carefully at an enemy is pretty reasonable, but it's hard to imagine how you can help yourself pick a lock. Im p r o v i n g Y o u r G a m e — W h e n d o y o u A i d ?
Taking a moment to aim more carefully makes sense as an Aid action, but what about diving for cover? Melding into the shadows? When do you need to manufacture Advantage via Aid, and when can you just claim Environmental Advantage? The key word there is manufacture. If you need to do something to get the Advantage, you need to take the Aid action. If you’re taking advantage of something that was already there, you probably didn’t need to do anything but say so. It’s the difference between a Major Action (requiring time and effort) and a Minor one.
Your Enemy's Turn You've fought well, but now your turn is over, and there are still bad guys on the field. Don't put down your dice just yet — because Stars roll all the dice, you're going to have to keep making Checks as your enemies come for you. Enemy Actions
— one Major Action, one Minor Y o u r f o e s g e t t h e s a m e s et o f A c t i o n s a s y o u Action, and infinite Free Actions. It takes them the same Actions to do things like move or attack as it takes you — it's only the mechanics of those actions that are different. Defense Checks If an Attack is your attempt to bring you victory in the Conflict, a Defense Ch eck is an attempt to prevent your enemy from doing the same. W h e n a f o e a t t a c k s y o u , m a k e a n a p p r o p r i a t e A b i l i t y C h ec k . If y o u s u c c e e d , y o u a v o i d h i s a t t ac k . If y o u f a i l, y o u a r e h i t , an d m a y t a k e o n e p o i n t o f D a m a g e , p l u s o n e p o i n t o f D a m a g e f o r every Fumb le. The Ability you use depends on how you're being attacked:
Avoiding a melee attack is an Agility (Melee Defense) Check Avoiding a ranged attack is a Speed (Ranged Defense) Check Some Social attacks— especially those dependent on falsehoods — may be resisted with Wits (Resisting Manipulation). Most Social and Mental attacks are resisted by Will (Self-Control). 27
Damage
comes in the form of Ability penalties. F o r e v er y p o i n t o f D a m a g e t o Damage a n A b i l i t y , t r e at t h e A b i l i t y a s i t i f w a s o n e p o i n t l o w e r . For example, if you have a
Physique of seven, and you take two Damage, your Physique is effectively five until you can get treatment, and you have to roll a five or less to succeed on Physique Checks. Different types of Damag e inflic t penalties to different Abilities:
Physical damage inflicts penalties to Physique Social damage inflicts penalties to Presence Mental damage inflicts penalties to Will
Damage, and Scale Not all attacks are equally powerful, and not all defenses are equally strong. Advantage and Scale matter: Attacks from higher Steps are naturally much more dangerous, while Stepped Down attacks cannot possibly hurt you. How much Damage you take depends on the Scale of your Health Rote (Including Martial Boosts, if relevant).
If you’re hit by a an attack one or more Steps l o w e r t h a n y o u r C u r r en t S t e p , you take no Damage.
If you’re hit by a an attack one or more Steps h i g h e r t h an y o u r C u r r en t Step, take do ub le Damage.
If you’re hit by an attack two Steps higher, make a Health Check, using the same Ability that was just Damaged . If you fail, you’re Taken Out. If you succeed, you still take double Damage. If h i t b y an attack three or more Steps above your Current Step, you’re i n s t a n t l y T a k en O u t , with no Check to resist.
Resisting Complications Just as you can Complicate things for your enemies, they can do the same for you. Resisting a Complication is essentially the opposite of causing one: When an enemy attempts to Complicate the situation, r o l l an a p p r o p r i a t e A b i l i t y c h e c k . If y o u s u c c e e d , y o u a r e u n h i n d e r e d . If y o u f a i l , y o u s u f f e r f r o m a C o m p l i c a t i o n f o r o n e r o u n d , p l u s o n e r o u n d f o r e v e ry F u m b l e . Rounds are counted at the end of your
opponent's turn, with the turn they use the maneuver being turn zero. F o r a s l o n g a s y o u s u f f e r t h e C o m p l i c a t i o n , y o u a r e a t A c t i o n D i s ad v a n t a g e o n r e l ev a n t C h e c k s .
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You or your allies can attempt to remove the Complication as a Major Action. R em o v i n g a C o m p l i c a t i o n r e q u i r e s a n a p p r o p r i a te A b i l i t y C h e c k , as determined by the Director.
Ending the Fight Conflict ends when one side gives up. Sometimes, this means beating everyone into submission with Attacks. Other times, Stars or their enemies will cut and run when they see the fight turning against them. Taken Out Not every fight goes your way. Sometimes, despite everything you can do, you lose. If y o u r D a m a g e w o u l d e v er r e d u c e a n A b i l i t y t o z er o o r b e l o w , y o u a r e Taken Out— you lose the Conflict, and your fate is in your enemy's hands. W h o e v e r . They d e l i v e re d t h e A t t a c k w h i c h l e f t y o u T a k e n O u t d e c i d e s w h a t h a p p e n s t o y o u dictate the broad strokes of what happens to you, and you to fill in the fine details. They remain the final arbiter of what's an appropriate "death scene," however — you usually won't be allowed to turn events to your advantage.
If y o u ' r e T ak e n O u t b y P h y s i c a l D am a g e , y o u u s u a l ly w i n d u p u n c o n s c i o u s ,
, although a merciful opponent may leave you surrendered at his dead, or dying feet. Any which way, you're too battered to keep fighting.
If y o u ' r e Ta k en O u t b y S o c i a l D am a g e , y o u w i n d u p a g r ee i n g t o y o u r f o e 's r e q u e s t s , although it's up to you whether you accept defeat graciously or throw a
tantrum over it.
If y o u ' r e Ta k en O u t b y M en t a l D am a g e , y o u w i n d u p a n e m o t i o n a l w r e c k —
sulking, sobbing, or maybe even fainting, if the trauma is bad enough. Whatever the case, you're unlikely to be capable of even simple tasks for some time. Permanent Injury If you really don’t like your opponent’s decision about what will happen after you get Taken Out, you’re not quite out of luck. When you’re Taken Out, you may choose t o t a k e a Fl a w i n e x c h a n g e f o r n a r r at i n g y o u r o w n f a t e, although y ou’re still out of t h e f i g h t , one way or another, and your narration must reflect your loss. D i r ec t o r s c a n a n d s h o u l d r e j e c t i n a p p r o p r i a t e o r o u t - o f -c h a r a c t er d i c t a t i o n s . T h e f i rs t t i m e y o u u s e t h i s o p t i o n , y o u g a in a n Injury, a temp orary Flaw. The Injury must be related to the manner in which you were Taken Out. Perhaps a sword blow leaves you with a permanent limp, or a mental assault gives you PTSD. T h e f i r s t In j u r y t o t a k e i s o n l y w o r t h o n e T P, b u t e a c h s u b s e q u e n t I n j u r y m u s t b e
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TP the second time you take an Injury, three points the w o r t h o n e a d d i t i o n a l T P— two third time, and so on. For more detail on Flaws and Trait Points, see Chapter 3.
Recovery As long as you're not dead, being Damaged or Taken Out, isn't the end of the world. You can recover, given time and treatment. A n a p p r o p r i a t e A b i l i t y c h e c k removes all current Damage of on e type.
Treatment for Physical Damage is first aid — bandaging wounds, setting broken bones, and the like. It requires an Intellect (Medicine) check, as well as medical supplies, and usually takes ten minutes. Treatment for Social Damage is quiet time. A character must spend at least ten minutes alone doing something they enjoy, such as reading or painting. There is no check required. Treatment for Mental Damage is counseling. It requires either a Presence (Leadership) check made by another Star, or a Will (Mental Health) check if the counseling is provided by a Director-controlled ally. Counseling takes at least an hour. Without treatment, y o u n a t u r a l ly r e c o v e r o n e p o i n t o f D a m a g e p er h o u r .
Recovering from Injuries is harder. If your character receives appropriate treatment, you can remove one Trait Point’s worth of Inju ry at each Milesto ne you . If you have an Injury worth multiple TP, you may down-grade it to a lesser reach version. For example, a two-TP Injury (“Broken Leg,’ a Broad Anti -Boost to Speed) could become a one TP- Injury (“Weak Leg,” a single Anti -Boost to Speed (Sprinting). R ec o v e r y m u s t b e p l a u s i b l e , given the limits of your setting’s technology. If you’re playing in a sci -fi setting, you might be able to regenerate a lost limb, but that’s unlikely in a more modern setting — instead, “recovery” would be about learning to use a prosthetic.
Sample Rounds Physical Conflict While out on patrol, US Marshal John Wild has come across a pair of cattle rustlers prowling around old man Jenkin's corral. He calls on them to surrender, but they draw guns instead. Conflict has begun!
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John makes his Speed (Initiative) Check and succeeds — he'll act before the cattle rustlers. He uses his Minor Action to move to cover behind a handy rock, and his Major Action to attack! Because he's using a revolver, he makes a Dexterity (Ranged Attack) Check, succeeding with a Flourish. Two Damage is enough to Take Out his target— John declares that the man suffers a nasty shoulder wound, and the Director describes him dropping his gun and sinking to the ground, clutching the injury. But there's still one more foe, who uses his Major Action to fire back. John makes a Speed (Ranged Defense) Check to duck, and the Director declares that the rock grants him Situational Advantage to avoid the shot. Unfortunately, he still fails the Check, and the bullet grazes his cheek. Since a gunshot is one Step higher than John's ability to resist Damage, he takes two points of Damage to his Physique. Now it's John's turn again, and the fight continues… Social Conflict Another day, John Wild is facing down a bandit leader in a saloon filled with his men. The bandits have kidnapped a young heiress, and John needs to know where she is. Outnumbered, he can't use force. The bandit leader, for his part, doesn't want to kill a US Marshal if he can avoid it — that's likely to cause problems down the line. The Director wants this scene to be more exciting, so he declares that a Social Conflict has begun. John makes his Speed (Initiative) Check, but fails — the bandit leader gets to go first. The man leans back in his chair and points out how many men he has, telling John that he best be moving along if he doesn't want to get hurt. That's a Social Attack, and a direct one, at that, so John makes a Will (Self-Control) Check to ignore the attack. He succeeds, and brushes off the threat. Now it's John's turn, and he decides to try to Complicate things. He claims that he has an entire posse waiting just outside of town, with orders to sweep in if he doesn't return soon. That's a lie, so he makes a Manipulation (Deception) Check. He succeeds with a Flourish, sticking the bandit leader with a "Cautious" Condition. For the next two Rounds, John will have Advantage when delivering or resisting threats. Now it's the bandits' turn again, and the argument continues…
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Chapter 3: Creating a Character You know the rules. You've assembled some friends to play with. Now it's time to sit down and create your character. Who will you become, and how? Part 1: Planning your Character
Before you can write down any numbers, you need to know who you want to play. A grumpy archer? An outgoing pilot? A nerdy psychic? You have a lot of choice in STaRS— you're not picking characters, or even classes from a discrete list. While you don't need to know every detail of a character's life and personality to make a character sheet, you won't get anywhere without some idea of who they are. To help you out, we've come up with five questions for you to think about. As you try to answer them, bear in mind that t h e q u e s t i o n s a r e j u s t a s t a r t in g p o i n t . You don't need to answer every one. And they're certainly not the only things to think about when designing a character. And remember… no matter how much or little you come up with now, you never really know a character until you play him. And over time, some of the answers will change. That's not just OK, but a good sign — it means that your character is growing and maturing. What Do You Do? What's your character good at doing? Are you swordsman? A sniper? An animal tamer? Are you good at talking to people? Maybe you're tough as nails, or seem to know everything. You don't need to know where all of your points are going to go, but you should pick a focus — ideally one that doesn't overlap too much with those of your fellow Stars. Why Do You Do It? Characters in RPGs tend to be pretty extraordinary people, risking life and limb on a regular basis. Even in the most mundane game, you'll be doing more than the usual nine-to-five daily grind. What drives you? What are you fighting for ? Wealth? Revenge? God? What is it about your character that separates him from the herd, that leads to him getting caught up in the sort of dangerous insanity of a typical STaRS game? How Do You Do It? You know what drives you, but how does it drive you? What kind of methods do you use? What are your ethics like? Do you strive for virtue, or believe that the ends
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justify the means? Do you prefer to tackle your goals head-on or in a roundabout manner? Do lies stick in your craw, or spill from your mouth like a fountain? Where Did You Come From? What's your past like? What sort of people and events made you the way you are today? Do you have any mentors? Old rivals? Lost loves? You don't need to chronicle every year of your character's history, but everyone has at a few big formative events. Whenever possible, share the answers with your Director — it'll help him flesh out the world you'll be playing in. And who knows? Maybe some of the things you come up with here will turn up in the game! Where Are You Going? What's your character's goal? What does he want to accomplish? Does he want to become wildly famous? To punish his brother's killer? What's his quest? Fitting In There's one last point to consider when designing your character — How does he fit into the campaign as a whole? Not every character idea will work in every setting or every game— imagine trying to play a traumatized ex-soldier in a game focused on cartoonish heroics, or a bumbling comedian in a serious spy game. You r character s h o u l d f i t t h e g e n e r al t h e m e o f t h e g a m e .
It's also important that he fit in with the other Stars. If everyone else is playing wholesome heroes, you don't want to be the one playing a brooding antihero. That's not to say that your character can't have disagreements with others, but e v e r y o n e n e e d s t o b e a b l e to w o r k t o g e t h e r w h e n t h e c h i p s a r e d o w n .
Part 2: Building your Character
Now that you've got an idea of who you want to play, it's time to translate that into game mechanics. This section may be a lot longer, but that doesn't mean it's more important. A personality with no numbers may not be playable, but a character with numbers but no personality is just as useless. Abilities The first step is to arrange your Abilities. Characters start with a sco re of 5 in all Abilities . Characters also begin with a certain number of A b i l i t y P o i n t s ( A P ), a currency which may be spent to modify your Abilities. example, B y s p e n d i n g o n e A P , y o u m a y r ai s e o n e A b i l i t y s c o r e b y o n e— for increasing your Physique from five to six. Conversely, y o u m a y g ai n o n e A P b y l o w e r i n g o n e A b i l i t y s c o r e b y o n e . At the time of character creation, y o u m a y n o t r a i s e a n y A b i l i t y s c o r e a b o v e s e v e n , o r l o w e r o n e b e l o w t h r e e.
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The exact number of AP characters begin with varies by game — more Ability points make for more powerful characters. M o s t g a m e s s h o u l d b e g i n w i t h t h r ee A P, although games focusing on "normal" characters might start with as few as zero AP, and those with an emphasis on extremely competent heroes might start with five or more. Traits
Traits are purchased using their own currency, Trait Points (TP) . Similar to Ability Points, t h e n u m b e r o f T P c h a r ac t e r s b e g i n w i t h v a r y b y c a m p a i g n , although again, t h r e e TP i s t h e r e c o m m e n d e d s t a r t i n g v a l u e. The cost of various Traits is: Trait Boost, Narrow Boost, Broad Boost, Martial Companion, Sentient Companion, Vehicle Knack Power, Trivial Power, Minor Power, Moderate Power, Major Quirk Variable Trait
Cost
1 Point 2 Points 1 Point 3 Points, plus any Points spent on the Companion's Traits 1 Point, plus any Points spent on the Companion's Traits 1 Point Free 1 Point 2 Points 4 Points 1 Point 2 Points
Im p r o v i n g Y o u r G a m e — Trivial Powers
Trivial Powers are more for flavor than anything else — that’s why they’re free. But that’s not meant to be an invitation to go crazy! They might not be powerful individually, but if you collect enough of ‘em, you might have an unfair advantage over your fellow Stars. Not to mention that it’ll be hard to keep track of so many little bonuses. So be modest with your Trivial Powers. More than three is a lot, and more than five is worrying. If things get bad, you can always add a cost back in — perhaps one TP for every third Trivial Power. Boosts N o n - Ma r t ia l B o o s t s b e g i n a s a N ar r o w B o o s t — one application of
Character Advantage to one Rote. From there, Boosts may be improved in one of two ways:
Y o u m a y s p e n d o n e a d d i t i o n a l TP t o m a k e a Na r r o w B o o s t i n t o a Broad Boost
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Y o u m a y b u y a d d i t i o n a l B o o s t s t o t h e s a m e Ro t e , ea c h f o r o n e T P. If
you want multiple Broad Boosts to the same Ability, you must first buy the Narrow Boost, then make it into a Broad Boost.
Companions C o m p a n i o n s a r e c r ea t ed a n d a d v a n c e d j u s t l i k e c h a ra c t er s . T h e y h a v e t h e ir o w n A P a n d T P p o o l s , ea c h e q u a l t o h a l f y o u r p o o l ( r o u n d e d d o w n ) . If a Star starts with 3 AP and 3 TP, his Companion would begin with one
AP and one TP. Every other time you are awarded a TP, your Companion gains one as well. Discounts Traits can get expensive in a hurry. You may want a Boost or a Power but be unable to afford it. If that's the case, you can get a D i s c o u n t by accepting certain limits. E a c h D i s c o u n t r e d u c e s t h e p r i c e o f t h e T r ai t b y o n e T P . You can apply multiple Discounts to a single Trait, but the final c o s t o f a T ra i t c an n o t b e r e d u c e d t o b e l o w o n e T P . In addition, a d d u p a ll B o o s t s t o t h e s a m e Ro t e o r A b i l i t y b e f o r e ap p l y i n g t h e Di s c o u n t . For example, the final cost of a Double Broad Boost to Physique, Limited to use at Night, Restricted to five Checks per hour, would be 2 TP: 4 (Boosts) -1 (Limited) -1 (Restricted).
Drawback: A T r a i t w i t h a D r a w b a c k h a s a h a r m f u l e f f ec t w h e n u s e d , such as
causing you Damage or attracting enemies. T h e p o w e r o f t h e D r aw b a c k s h o u l d b e a b o u t t h e s am e a s t h a t o f t h e T r ai t b e i n g m o d i f i e d. E q u i p m e n t : Traits can be external, rather than internal — in other words, they come from fancy gear. Equipment functions normally, but as a separate item, Equipm ent can be lo st, stolen, broken, left behind, or otherwise
. Lost equipment can be replaced with time, money, or at least a unavailable visit to a stockpile somewhere. You can’t apply this discount to a C o m p a n i o n .
: A L i m i t e d T r ai t c a n o n l y b e u s e d i n c e r t ai n c i r c u m s t a n c e s — Limited super-
strength that only functions in the dark, damage resistance that only works for fire, and so on. A L i m i t e d T r ai t s h o u l d l o s e a b o u t h a l f i t s u s e f u l n e s s . If a Trait seems like it should be Limited it multiple ways — say, a Boost that only applies to jumping, and only in bright light— y o u m a y ap p l y m u l t i p l e L i m i t s t o , so long as each new limit continues to rob the Trait of half its the same Trait effectiveness. : A R e s t r i c t ed T r a i t c a n o n l y b e u s e d a f e w t i m e s i n a g i v e n s p a n Restricted o f t i m e— once per hour, five times per day, or something similar. Stars and D i r ec t o r s m u s t a g r e e o n w h a t 's a r e a s o n a b l e r e s t r i c t io n , bearing in mind how 35
often you're likely to want to use the power — Once per hour might be a good Restriction on a Damaging ability, but would hardly matter for a long-distance travel power. C o m m o n T r a it s
Some Traits are so widely available that it doesn’t make sense to have to pay for them. Think of a cell phone— STaRS would model it as a Trivial Power and Equipment, coming in at one Trait Point, but we’d bet everyone you know has one. Comm on Traits are wid ely available in a given Setting . They’re either easy and relatively inexpensive to purchase, such as a phone, or else are common in the population as a whole, such as a game where everyone has minor psychic powers. W h e n a p p l y i n g D i s c o u n t s t o a C o m m o n T r a i t , y o u m a y r ed u c e t h e c o s t t o z er o TP, rather than on e .
Variable Traits The Trait system is pretty flexible, especially Powers. But sometimes you need more versatility than we gave you. Maybe you're a skilled shapeshifter, or you mimic the powers of your enemies. Maybe you wake each morning with completely different abilities. When that's the case, we turn to Variable Traits. Every Variable Trait g r a n t s y o u o n e T P , w h i c h m a y b e r e - as s i g n e d a t a n y p o i n t a s a Ma j o r A c t i o n .
That sounds pretty powerful, and it is. D i r ec t o r s t h i n k c a r ef u l l y b e f o r e a l l o w i n g . Stars should be careful too— the worst thing you Stars to pu rchase Variable Traits can do with a Variable Trait is to slow the game down while you re-assign it. If you're afraid that might happen, consider a different set of Traits. In addition, V ar i a b l e T r ai t s m u s t h a v e s o m e s o r t o f l i m i t i n g d e s c r i p t i o n . If you're a shapeshifter, the new Traits must stem from physical changes to your body. If you're a mad scientist, the Variable Traits might have to be Equipment, and require an Intellect (Craft) Check to redistribute. These limits are all that keep Variable Traits in check, so be careful that they are limits. Flaws
Since Flaws are essentially Anti-Traits, they are "anti-purchased" — each Flaw y o u t a k e g i v e s y o u T P as i f y o u h a d t a k e n a c o r r e s p o n d i n g T r ai t . If you take an Anti-Boost to computer use, you'd gain one Trait Point to spend on something else. If you take an Anti-Boost to memory, you'd gain two Trait Points, and so on. Directors — be sure that they s h o u l d b e w a r y o f a l lo w i n g S t ar s t o t a k e t o o m a n y F l aw s represent major character weaknesses. If things get too bad, g r o u p s m a y w i s h t o e s t ab l i s h a l i m i t o n h o w m a n y T r ai t P o i n t s m a y b e ea r n ed b y t a k i n g F l a w s , such as "no more than one-third the starting value."
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Weird Powers While we like to think that Traits are fairly straightforward, we admit that there are some concepts that are a bit trickier to work with. How would you go about making a summoner? What sort of Traits can be used for someone who copies other peoples’ abilities? We’ll try to cover some of the most common issues here. Crafting Crafting is a pretty simple process when it comes to making mundane items — anything that doesn't cost Trait Points to obtain. Crafting itself is an Intellect Rote; you might use a Boost to Speed (Quickness), Limited to Crafting to make that process go faster. If you w ant anyth ing fanc ier, you 'll need Variable Traits , probably Restricted in how quickly they can be re-distributed. Healing
. T h e e as i e s t w a y t o t h i n k o f s u p e r n at u r a l h e a l i n g i s a s accelerated healing For self-healing, Boosts to Speed (Quickness), Limited to Recovery, Limited to [Damage Type] ought to work. To heal others, you could use a similar effect: Boosts to Speed (Quickness), Limited to Treatment, Limited to [Damage Type]. Figure that e a c h S t ep i n c r e as e s y o u r h e a l in g t i m e b y a f a c t o r o f t e n— one Step Up would allow Treatment to take one minute, or natural healing to recover 1 Damage per minute. A second Step could improve those times to one round, and a third Step might allow for complete recovery every round. Immunities and Resistances There are plenty of characters in fiction who are incredibly resistant to — even immune to— certain effects. What kind of self-respecting fire elemental can be burned? What sort of ghost can be touched? T h e b e s t w a y t o m o d e l i m m u n i t i e s i n S T aR S is t h r o u g h B o o s t s , especially Martial Boosts. A handful of Martial Boosts to Physical Damage Resistance, Limited to [Effect] would quickly make you invulnerable to most attacks. Shapeshifting Shapeshifting is a common feature of fiction, but is often surprisingly hard to represent in roleplaying games like STaRS. Not only are such powers dangerously versatile, but their expected effect on characters can be complicated. How are your abilities different as a dog? Should changing into a bird grant you the ability to fly? Here's how we'd handle it: 37
A M i n o r P o w e r w o u l d a l l o w y o u t o l o o k l i k e a n y o n e o f a w e ll - d e f in e d g r o u p o f f o r m s , b u t n o t b e d i f f er e n t . You could take the form of other humans, or
have five different monster forms, or something similar, but your Abilities and Traits would remain the same. A M o d e r a t e P o w e r w o u l d a l lo w y o u t o l o o k l i k e anything y o u c a n i m a g i n e , although you'd be the same underneath the appearance — your Abilities and Traits would remain unchanged. A different Moderate Power might work like the Minor Power, in that you can only take a limited number of forms, but allow you to r e -d i s t r i b u t e y o u r P h y s i c a l A b i l i t i e s w h e n i n d i f f e r en t b o d i e s . You could be stronger but slower as a gorilla, more agile but weaker as a cat, and so on. A M a j o r P o w e r c o u l d w o r k l i k e t h e a b o v e M o d e r at e P o w e r , b u t w i t h o u t t h e l i m i t o n h o w m a n y d i f f er e n t f o r m s y o u c o u l d a s s u m e .
Whichever form you take, you'll probably also want one or more Boosts to Manipulation (Disguise), to make your changes more convincing. You might make use of Variable Traits (see below) to assume new Traits in your different forms. Summoning Summoning is a fairly straightforward case of addition. Take one Companion, add one Power, shake vigorously, and apply directly to the character sheet. (In other words, buy both a Companion Trait and a Power such as the ones described below)
A s a M in o r P o w e r , y o u c o u l d s u m m o n a s i n g l e Co m p a n i o n .
A s a Mo d e r a t e P o w e r , y o u c o u l d s u m m o n m u l t i p l e C o m p a n i o n s — either a
small set with redistributed Abilities, or a broad set with identical Abilities.
A s a M aj o r P o w e r , y o u c o u l d s u m m o n a b r o a d s et o f C o m p a n i o n s w i t h r e d i s t r ib u t e d A b i l i t i e s .
For even more versatile summoning, make your Companion a Variable Trait. If you do, a Minor Power would grant you access to a limited set of Companions with redistributed Abilities and Traits, while a Moderate Power would let you summon any Companion you could imagine.
Sample Magic Systems Powers are probably the trickiest aspect of STaRS. Figuring out the differences between Minor, Moderate, and Major Powers can be almost an art at times — especially when it comes to capital-m Magic. What's a sufficiently limited set of spells? How do you divide up the potentially-limitless "magic" in a meaningful way? Here are a few ideas: 38
Elemental Magic The classical elements are an easy way to handle things. A M o d e r at e P o w e r w o u l d g r a n t y o u a c c e s s t o m a g i c r e l at i n g t o o n e el e m e n t ; a Ma j o r P o w e r w o u l d grant you access to two , preferably complementary elements. (Fire and Earth, for
example, but not Fire and Water). The exact set of elements is up to you. Air, Earth, Fire, and Water are the classics, with Aether often appearing as a fifth, spiritual element. The Chinese used a different set of five: Earth, Fire, Metal, Water, and Wood. One could take the four Western elements and add Metal and Wood, for a total of six. The important thing is consistency, not the exact distribution of elements. Schools of Magic Many fantasy RPGs divide magic somehow. If your group is already familiar with one, such as Dungeons and Dragons' eight schools, it provides a familiar framework. Or you can make up your own. A c c e s s t o e ac h s c h o o l s h o u l d b e a Mo d e r a t e P o w e r , o r a Ma j o r P o w e r i f y o u h a v e a p a r t i c u l a rl y s m a l l n u m b e r o f s c h o o l s . Here's one example:
Energy— Creating and controlling forces such as heat, gravity, and electromagnetism. Matter — Creating, manipulating, and transforming physical objects. Mind— Manipulating and controlling the minds of living beings. Soul— Creating and controlling life and death. Space— Manipulating spatial connections to teleport, scry on distant places, and so on. Time— Manipulating the flow of time.
The Magic of Words The power of names is a common theme in fantasy. Speaking some sort of primordial, "true" language can change the world. To simulate such a thing, you might allow a Mo d e r a t e P o w e r t o g r a n t k n o w l e d g e o f a n u m b e r o f w o r d s e q u a l t o o n e - , rounded up . E ac h B o o s t t o In t e l l ec t ( O c c u l t ) m i g h t g r a n t half you r Intellect — probably the same number again. knowledge of more words In o r d e r t o d o s o m e t h i n g w i t h m a g i c , y o u n e e d t o k n o w a r el a t ed w o r d . Directors might impose Disadvantage for attempting to use a tenuously-related word, or grant Advantage when using the exact word for the circumstance.
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Advancement A good campaign can last for months, even years, giving you hours upon hours of playtime with your favorite character. No matter how good the story, things would get pretty stale if you never changed, never learned new abilities. Good characters change over time, as learning and evolving as they go. Milestones Character advancement is marked by Milestones , markers of how much time and how many events have elapsed in your life since the game began. There are three levels of Milestone, representing increasingly significant points in time:
M i n o r M i l es t o n e s represent simple passing of time. Characters reach a Mino r M i l es t o n e a t t h e e n d o f e v e r y g a m i n g s e s s i o n , a n d a t an y p o i n t d u r i n g t h e s e s s i o n w h e r e t h e y h a v e a p r o l o n g e d p e r i o d o f d o w n t i m e— anywhere from
a few days to a few months where nothing interesting is happening, and the group fast-forwards through the intervening time. Moderate Mileston es represent concrete accomplishment. Characters reach a Moderate Mileston e after achieving a major g oal , such as rescuing the princess or solving the mystery of Smuggler's Cove. It should take a few gaming sessions to reach a Moderate Milestone. Major Mileston es are similar to Moderate Milestones, but more momentous. C h a r ac t e r s r e a c h a M a jo r M i l e s t o n e a f t er c o n c l u d i n g a l o n g - te r m s t o r y a r c, such as ending a war or bringing down a Mafia family. It should take quite a few gaming sessions to reach a Major Milestone, with several Moderate Milestones in between. A t e v e r y M i l e s t o n e , y o u m a y r e -a s s i g n o n e T P . This lets you change out
Equipment, train a different Skill, and so on. You may also spend any unspent Trait Points you may possess. In addition, you may recover from one TP’s worth of , as described in Chapter 2. Injury In addition to the above benefits, greater Milestones grant additional bonuses:
At a Moderate Mileston e, you gain on e TP. You may spend both your new
and your re-assigned Trait Points on a single, more expensive Trait. Y o u d o n ' t n e e d t o s p e n d y o u r n e w T r ai t P o i n t i m m e d i a t e ly — you may save it to spend at a future Trivial Milestone. A t a M a j o r M i l es t o n e , y o u g a i n o n e A P and o ne TP. The new AP must immediately be spent to upgrade one of your Abilities, potentially to rank 8. The new TP follows the normal rules for a Moderate Milestone. 40
Chapter 4: Creating Opposition Stars are great people, but it wouldn't be much of a story if they didn’t have anyone to interact with— and it wouldn't be much of a game if they never had anyone to fight with. Any character in the game world not directly controlled by the Stars is a Co - Star.
Co-Stars What is a Co-Star? In many role-playing games, creating a Co-Star (or the local equivalent) is easy, since they follow the same basic rules as the Stars. They're build using the same pieces, and interact with the world in the same way. But this is STaRs, where the Stars roll all the dice. How does that work? Put simply, Co-Stars aren't really characters. Instead, Co-Stars are piles of M o d i f i e r s , ap p l y i n g w h e n e v er S t a r s i n t e r a c t w i t h t h e m . A master swordsman doesn't have a good Agility (Melee Combat) Rote — instead, he imposes a few cases of Disadvantage on anyone who tries to duel him. What Do We Need to Know? You could list all of a Co-Star's Abilities and Rotes and determine how good he is at each one. But that would take a long time, and most of the information would be irrelevant. It probably doesn't matter how good a soldier is at making friends, or how well a judge can wrestle. W h e n c r e a t i n g a C o - S ta r , y o u o n l y n e ed t o t h i n k a b o u t t h i n g s t h a t a r e l i k e ly t o c o m e u p i n - g a m e. More than that, y o u o n l y n e ed t o t h i n k , things that the Co-Star is particularly good or bad at. For a b o u t exceptional aspects everything else, the Stars already know what they need to roll to succeed. Traits
When creating a Co-Star, the first order of business is to pick their Traits. Co-Stars have Kn acks , Pow ers, just like Stars , although picking them is a bit simpler. However, Co-Stars don't have Talent Poin ts . Instead, they can have as many or as few Traits as you want. That means you don't have to worry about whether or not a Power is Major or Minor, or how many Discounts it has. All that matters is that you know what they do. Boosts C o -S t ar s a l s o h a v e B o o s t s a n d A n t i - B o o s t s , although they function differently. A C o - S t ar ' s B o o s t i m p o s e s C h a r a c t e r Di s a d v a n t ag e o n S t ar s m a k i n g r e le v an t c h e c k s , while Anti-Boosts grant Character Advantage. It's a
bit of doublethink, we admit, but it's unavoidable. Think of it like this — when your opponent is more skilled, it's harder for you to succeed. M u l t i p l e B o o s t s s t i l l , as they do a Star's. Step Up a Co-Star's abilities Luckily, the fact that we're not counting TP makes this a bit easier. You don't have to think about Boosts to specific Rotes or Abilities if you don't want to. 41
Instead, y o u c a n B o o s t b r o a d s e t s o f R o t e s at o n c e , such as a super-broad Boost to "melee combat" or "social conflict." You don't need to define these sets in advance if you don't want to, although you do need to be consistent when the Co-Star is in play. Whatever process you use, y o u ' l l w a n t t o p a y p a r t i c u l a r at t e n t i o n t o M a rt i a l B o o s t s , since Conflict is the main way Stars and Co-Stars interact. And don't go crazy here— since you don't have to count points, it's easy to accidentally create something too strong for the Stars. B o o s t i n g a n as p e c t m o r e t h a n o n e S t ep b e y o n d y o u r S t ar s ' A v e r a g e S t ep i s d a n g e r o u s , often rendering a foe immune to their best efforts. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but certainly something to watch out for. Simplifying Boosts: Extras and Rivals There's a simple way to adjust the power of a Co-Star, without having to mess around with large numbers of Modifiers: Designate them as an Extra or Rival. While not as precise as a long list of skills and weaknesses, it's a convenient shorthand that works well enough for most purposes. Extras are parts of the faceless masses. They're the Stormtroopers, the Redcoats, the generic goblins. Extras aren't anywhere near a match for the Stars, even in large numbers. Most Co-Stars without any sort of name or distinction are Extras. W h e n i n t e r ac t i n g w i t h Extras, Stars have Character Ad vantage on all check s. are major characters. They have names— or at least Rivals
dramatic titles— and personalities, and are important parts of any scene they appear in. They're frequently either reoccurring characters or important "boss monsters." Wh en interacting w ith Extras, Stars have Character Disadv antage on all checks.
Health The final step is to determine how long you want your Co-Star to stick around when the Stars try to get rid of it. Co-Stars don't have Abilities, so they can't take Damage in quite the same way. Instead, you have to arbitrarily p i c k h o w m u c h D am a g e t h e y c an t a k e of each of the three types. You can think of those numbers as the Co-Star's Health Rote. Again, restraint is important here, since the longer a fight goes on, the more Damage Stars will take. H o w m u c h i s t o o m u c h d e p en d s o n h o w y o u plan to u se the Co-Star . Five Health is a lot for a single soldier, but not nearly enough if he's the only one your Stars are fighting. Twenty Health might last a long time against a group of four Stars, but not if he's fighting eight at once. Summary
1. Define Knacks and Powers 2. Assign Boosts and Anti-Boosts 3. Decide on Health. 42
For Example Let's create William the Black, a legendary duelist and all-around ruthless guy.
As a legendary duelist, we'll assign two Boosts to "melee combat," Stepping Up his ability there. For now, we can assume that covers melee attacks, damage, and defense. We'll also give him a sword, a single Martial Boost. Finally, a Boost to intimidation (and resisting being intimidated in turn) plays into his reputation for ruthlessness. Our boy is pretty tough— we'll give him seven Physical Health. We'll leave his Social and Mental Health at five, enough that he won't roll over easily. And there we have it! One mighty swordsman, ready to go.
Unusual Co-Stars The basic rules for Co-Stars work well enough, but there are times when they start to… not break down, but to bend, perhaps, or become unwieldy. We'll discuss a few examples below. Hordes Heroes bravely fighting against superior numbers is a common trope, but surprisingly difficult to pull off in a game, even one as simple as STaRS. It might not take long to resolve one attack, but what about ten? A hundred? A thousand? To speed things up, t r y r e p r e s e n t i n g l a r g e g r o u p s a s s i n g l e C o - St a r s. Instead of trying to deal with a thousand individual goblins, divide them up into five goblin companies. That way, you can play through the scene without having to roll a thousand Defense checks a round. The principle also works for crewed vehicles, or mounts and their riders. If t w o o r m o r e C o - St a r s ar e g o i n g t o b e f i g h t i n g t o g e t h e r at a l l t i m e s , y o u m a y as well treat them as the sam e creature.
Giants On the other hand, sometimes you want to fight something big . While it's easy enough to represent a giant as a single Co-Star, doing so can make things feel… normal. Less epic. Instead, t r y r e p r e s en t i n g g i a n t e n e m i e s a s multiple Co-Stars . If you're fighting Godzilla, give each limb a separate turn and separate Health. Let the Stars trap his tail in rubble to slow him down, or scale his chest to reach the head. At the very least, giant enemies c an target Star's Sp eed (Reflex)Rotes, instead of Ag ility (Melee Defense) or Sp eed (Ranged Defense). After all, let's see you try to parry a fist bigger than you!
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Environments A conflict isn't always a clear-cut case of red-verses-blue. Sometimes, the theme is "man verses wild." When Stars struggle against floods, fire, or collapsing buildings, s o m e t i m e s i t 's u s e f u l t o p r e s e n t t h e en v i r o n m e n t a s a Co-Star . What that means can sometimes be a bit strange.
Encounter Design How Powerful is my Co-Star? There's no hard and fast way to tell how powerful a Co-Star is. We can count how many Boosts he has in comparison to the average Star. We can look at how much health he has. Those aren't bad estimates— a Co-Star is app roxim ately equal to a S t ar w i t h o n e l e s s B o o s t a n d a n e q u a l a m o u n t o f h e a l t h. Decrease their Health, and they'll be dangerous but short-lived; increase it and they'll continue damaging the Stars for much longer. Decrease their Boosts, and they'll be less threatening but longer-lasting; add more and they'll be almost unstoppable without clever play. But they're still just estimates — there are many factors that feed into how dangerous a fight will be. B e s u r e t o t h i n k a b o u t all a s p e c t s o f a n e n c o u n t e r w h e n p l a n n i n g i t . Otherwise, a fight you thought was fair might be unwinnable, and one you thought challenging might be unexpectedly simple. Action Economy "Action economy" is a term that gets thrown around a lot in RPG circles. Roughly speaking, it refers to how many turns various characters or groups of characters have access to each round. If the Stars greatly outnumber their enemy, they'll get many more actions than him. W h e n o u t n u m b e r ed b a d l y e n o u g h , ev e n t h e t o u g h e s t f o e c an b e t a k e n d o w n e a s i ly. On the other hand, if the Stars are badly outnumbered, even weak foes can bring them down. (Though in both cases, that only applies if they're potentially vulnerable— if you're outright immune to enemy attacks, you're, well, immune.) Constraints Sometimes, circumstances prevent one side from taking advantage of its greatest powers. High winds or cramped quarters can nullify an archer. Nobles might not listen to a low-born thief, no matter how silver his tongue. When planning an encounter, w a t c h o u t f o r an y t h i n g p a r t s t h a t w o u l d s i g n i f i c a n t l y . weaken Stars or Co -Stars Synergy Archers can be dangerous. Spearmen can be tricky to handle as well. But if you combine the two, use a band of spearmen to defend a squad of archers, suddenly the group becomes much more efficient. Sometimes, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. W h e n C o -S t ar s w o r k t o g e t h e r w e l l , b e s u r e t o f a c t o r t h a t te am w o r k i n t o y o u r p l a n n i n g .
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Tactics Good tactics can greatly change the odds. Clever use of t raps, terrain, a n d s o o n c a n w i n a f i g h t i n a n R P G a s e as i l y a s t h e y c a n i n t h e r e al w o r l d . A monster who sits in one place and attacks whoever's closest is much less of a threat than one who strikes and retreats, hindering powerful fighters and preying on vulnerable ones. This is especially noticeable when one side — the Director or the Stars— is much more tactically minded than the other. Terrain Particularly when paired with good tactics, terrain can offer one side of a fight a tremendous advantage. A band of archers aren't much threat in a small room, they'd be more dangerous in a long hallway, and absolutely deadly on the other side of a rocky field. A dragon may be able to crush a knight in a fair fight, but it'd have trouble coping in a narrow cave. T er r a in c a n o f t e n f u n c t i o n a s a Constraint, or provide opp ortunity for ov erpowering tactics.
Keeping Things Fresh A good group of friends and an engaging story and keep a game going for a time, but nothing kills the fun like repetitive fights. No-one wants to encounter the same enemies in the same featureless rooms over and over again. Creating interesting encounters is one of the Director's most important duties. To do so, vary the th ree T's — Traits, Terrain, and Tactics . Changing your Co-Stars' Traits is an obvious solution. Fighting an archer is different than fighting a swordsman, and a fight with a harpy will play out completely differently than a fight with a giant. P o w e r s t e n d t o b e t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t t h i n g t o — shuffling Boosts around might make certain tactics easier or harder, but vary here exotic Powers can introduce completely new dimensions to the fight. We already talked about how terrain can make a fight easier or harder, but it can also make one more interesting. After all, which is more memorable: dueling on the street, or dueling on the edge of a volcano? T h a t 's d o u b l y t r u e w h e n t h e t e r r ai n i s d a n g e r o u s , giving characters the opportunity to throw each off cliffs or into dangerous machinery. Finally, u s i n g d i f f e r en t t a c t i c s c a n m a k e en c o u n t e r s p l a y o u t d i f f e re n t l y , e v en w h e n f i g h t i n g s i m i l a r f o es . Imagine two groups of swordsmen, one fighting in disciplined ranks and one making kamikaze charges. Even if the individual fighters have the same Traits, the battles would feel very different. Different tactic s are best , as the two are somewhat related. paired with d ifferent terrain When Things Go Wrong Not every encounter goes the way you expect it to. In fact, most of them won't. That's ok— part of the fun of Directing is watching your Stars foul up your plans. Sometimes they'll use clever tactics and render a tough fight easy; other times, they'll make bone-headed mistakes and get themselves into trouble. At other times, you'll be the one making mistakes and presenting fights that are too easy or too lethal. If y o u r S t a rs m a k e t h i n g s e a s y , i t 's b e s t n o t t o t a k e t h at a w a y f r o m t h e m .
They just did something clever — you want to encourage that sort of behavior. Just 45
make a note of what happened so you can keep the same thing from happening again. If they made things harder for themselves… well, usually it's best th at the Stars face . But sometimes you're the one who messed up. If t h e c o n s e q u e n c e s o f t h e i r ac t i o n s that happens, i t ' s b e s t n o t t o m a k e t h e St a r s s u f f e r b e c a u s e o f your m i s t a k e . On the other hand, you don't want to strain credibility by having enemies suddenly become stronger or weaker. What do you do? Making Things Harder T h e e as i e s t w a y t o m a k e an e a s y e n c o u n t e r h a r d e r i s t o b r i n g i n r e i n f o r c e m e n t s . As long as it's plausible that another squad was called in, or
the evil wizard could summon some demons, it's a graceful way to bring in more cannon fodder. Y o u c a n a l s o t r y t o s t e p u p y o u r o w n u s e o f t a c t i c s . Be subtle about it— angry bears aren't about to become tactical geniuses — but if one just happens to go after the socialite instead of the warrior, things just got more interesting. Finally, you can just accept that the fight you thought was a threat is now a breeze. Let the Stars enjoy their victory, while you concentrate on making sure it doesn't happen again. Making Things Easier Making things easier is a bit harder. Foes can have attacks of overconfidence, sending off groups to deal with threats "elsewhere" while a few men stay behind to "mop up." They might conveniently forget to block escape routes, or mysterious fail to take advantage of perceived weaknesses. B a s i c a ll y , p l a y d u m b e r .
But often times, you'll be forced to accept that the encounter just isn't going to end well for the Stars. That's when you need to think about… When Things Go Really Wrong A l w a y s h a v e a p l a n f o r w h a t h a p p e n s w h e n a n en c o u n t e r g o e s w r o n g , and
the Stars are defeated. Sometimes, yes, that means they all die, and the game is over. But that shouldn't always be the case. If you generally like how things are going, it can be sincerely upsetting when bad luck brings your campaign to a crashing halt. Instead, take a page from countless evil masterminds and throw your Stars into prison, or a conveniently-escapable death trap. Heck, leave 'em for dead in the streets. R em e m b e r : j u s t b e c a u s e i t w o u l d b e t h e smart t h i n g f o r a v i l l ai n t o k i l l t h e h e r o e s , i t m a y n o t b e th e interesting t h i n g . We're here to tell a story, after all, not to simulate real life. But be careful if you do decide to rescue the Stars from certain death. You don't want them to think that they're invincible — the game's a lot less interesting without the chance of failure. M a k e s u r e t h a t t h e i r d e f e at c o m e s w i t h a c o s t , and don't get in a habit of saving their lives.
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World Building Stars are talented people, but they can't act in a vacuum. As a group, one of your most important jobs is to create a s e t t i n g , an imaginary world for your Stars to adventure in.
The Easy Way You don't have to be J.R.R. Tolkein to plan or run a game of STaRS. The e as i e s t w a y t o " c r e a t e " a s e t t i n g i s t o s t e al — sorry, borrow o n e t h a t s o m e o n e e l s e h a s a l r ea d y m a d e . There are thousands of talented storytellers and worldbuilders out there. All you have to do is pick your favorite book, movie, video game, comic, or even a real time and place and set your game there. You can even borrow settings written for other roleplaying games. Sure, the rules probably won't translate, but the rest of the information will. Not only can you save a lot of time by using a pre-made setting, it can also make things easier for your Stars. Picking a world that everyone already knows means that, well, everyone already knows it. You don't have to take as much time to explain things, and you’ll be able to enter the campaign with a clear image of what's to come. Good settings also tend to be chock-full of interesting people, places, and mysteries. With an especially popular setting, your Stars may come up with plans before you ever sit them down at the table! Words of Warning The big downside to using an established setting is that it is established. It’s easy to feel constrained by years of other people's world-building, afraid that anything you do will violate "canon." This is doubly true in well-developed worlds like the Star Wars universe. Worse, you might have a Star who feels the same way, complaining whenever you "make a mistake" and contradict something already established. If you find yourself doubting your commitment to "canon," stop. Don't be afraid t o p u t y o u r o w n s t a m p o n t h e w o r l d . That might mean picking an unusual place or time period within the setting, or designating your game as an "elseworlds" story. The i m p o r t a n t t h i n g i s g i v e y o u r s e l f a n d y o u r S t ar s f r e ed o m t o o p e r at e— never let your group be trapped by what someone else has already written. You might also feel an obligation to become an expert on the setting before you can run a game there. If you’ll enjoy such a pursuit, feel free… but y o u s h o u l d n ' t le t a l a c k o f in - d e p t h k n o w l e d g e s t o p y o u f r o m u s i n g a w o r l d . Still, be careful, especially if you're only a casual fan and some of your Stars are "experts."
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One last concern, particularly worrying in established settings, is "super-NPCs." While it can be fun to meet your favorite characters from the fiction, as a Director you should b e e x t r a c a r ef u l t h a t e s t a b l i s h e d c h a r ac t e r s d o n ' t s t e a l t h e s t o p l i g h t f r o m y o u r S t a rs . The purpose of the game is to tell their stories, not to repeat the original work of fiction. Be particularly wary of protagonists, who were created specifically to be a narrative focus— this is your story, not theirs. The Hard Way
The alternative to using an established world is to create your own. If y o u d o n ' t think yo u'd enjoy the process, you m ight w ant to stick to using existing settings — world building takes work. But when done right, it can result in an incredibly
rewarding experience for the entire group. SOE What? Throughout the world-building process, there are three key principles to keep in mind. T h e s et t i n g y o u c r e a t e s h o u l d b e s i m p l e , o p e n a n d e v o c a t i v e— SOE for short.
Simple— You and your Stars are only human. T o o m u c h d e t a i l, a n d y o u w o n ' t r e m e m b e r an y o f it . Even if you can keep track of a binder full of intricate
history and alien names, your friends probably can't — and no, they're not going to read that ten-page document of setting information you sent them. A setting can't truly come alive unless you can hold it in your mind, and that won't happen unless things are simple. Open — In the section on using pre-existing settings, we talked about feeling hemmed in by canon. While that's a lot less likely to happen in a homemade setting, it's still a possibility. When designing things, r e m e m b e r t o l e av e r o o m — a setting where everything's nailed down f o r n e w a d v e n t u r e s a n d m y s t e r i es and explained is boring. E v o c a t i v e— Too many details can keep your Stars out of the world you're trying to build, but too few can have the same effect. If your setting is bland and generic, why bother paying attention to it? The world fades into a cardboard cutout, making it difficult to care about anything. The trick is to c o m e u p w i t h a . few vivid , mem orable ideas, and m ake tho se a feature of the setting
Starting Out: What Kind of World? Before you can draw maps and design cities, you need to figure out what kind of world you're going to be working on. Nothing in-depth yet, nothing detailed, not yet. For now, all you need is a short description, something to grab your interest and flesh out later. If you've put any thought into the process so far, you've probably already finished this step, but if not, there are a few steps you can work through: T h e f i rs t t h i n g t o t h i n k a b o u t i s g e n r e . It's not enough to just say "fantasy" or "sci-fi"— you should try to be a bit more specific than that. If you said science fiction, are you thinking about an urban dystopia, like Blade Runner? Something on the border 48
of a freshly-colonized planet? Are we talking about transhumanist themes, or fleets of battleships? Bladerunner, Star Trek, and Flash Gordan are all science fiction settings, but apart from the odd laser beam they've got little in common. T r y t o n a i l d o w n a s u b - . genre as well as a more general one Closely related to genre is mood — w h a t ' s t h e g e n e r al " f e e l " y o u r s e t t i n g i s m e a n t o e v o k e? To continue the previous example, Star Wars and Star Trek can both be described as "space opera," but they feel very different. The Star Wars universe is rougher, more broken-down and lived in, the sort of place where violence is usually a go-to solution. On the other hand, Star Trek is slicker, more optimistic and utopian, where the comm-screen gets more than the photon torpedoes. While it's true that these are generalizations, and you can certainly run any type of game in any type of setting, t h i n g s w o r k b e s t w h e n t h e m o o d o f t h e w o r l d an d t h e m o o d o f t h e c a m p a ig n match.
Feel isn't something you can pin down. Rather, it's something to keep in mind throughout the world-building process. If you want a gritty, morally ambiguous feel to your world, remember to invent plenty of slums, criminal underworlds, and corrupt officials. On the other hand, if you want a more heroic, good-verses-evil campaign, maybe leave those in the background. The final element of this initial brainstorming is a shtick. Y o u r s e t t i n g n e ed s a , something to distinguish it from similar settings, something you can rattle off gimmick when trying to recruit new players. It doesn't need to be an original gimmick, mind you, but it's hard for most players to get excited about generic fantasy world #327. But a fantasy world where the "world" is a living, breathing titan, and all the Stars and Extras are tiny parasites living inside him? That's something to catch a jaded player's interest. The Skeleton Now that you have a good idea about what you want your world to be, what it should look and feel like, it's time to start filling things in. The background we'll come up with in this section serves as a kind of framework for your setting, on which you can easily hang further details. Technology It's always important to know what sort of technology is available in your setting. Is the setting modern? Futuristic? Medieval? Steampunk? Perhaps some types of technology are common, but others are underdeveloped. The exact level of technology will vary from place to place within the world, but you should t h i n k a b o u t t h e a v er a g e . l e v el , as w e l l a s w h a t " h i g h t e c h " m e an s Magic
The fantasy counterpart to technology, "magic" here serves as a shorthand for any sort of paranormal powers that your setting might focus — anything from summoning demons to superpowers. T h i n k a b o u t w h a t 's o u t t h e r e , h o w r a re i t i s , a n d h o w m u c h i m p a c t i t h as o n t h e re s t o f t h e s e tt i n g . Is magic the exclusive domain of half-crazed hermits out in the wild, or is it ubiquitous to the point that every house is lit by magical lights? Be careful on this one — Stars tend to be pretty sharp folks, and they'll often notice major mismatches between capability and impact. ("If a 49
novice wizard can send a message across the world, why is the king sending messages via ship?") Races
Nonhuman races are a major fixture of fantasy and science fiction, and chances are good that you'll eventually want to invent a few. There are two sides of race creation, mechanical and cultural. M e c h a n i c al l y , a r a c e is n o t h i n g m o r e t h a n a p a c k a g e o f T r a i t s t h a t m u s t a l l b e p u r c h a s e d a t t h e t i m e o f c h a r a c t er c r e a t i o n . Whenever possible, you should try
to balance positive Traits and Flaws such that the total package comes out to zero points. At the very least, be aware of how many Trait Points characters will be starting with. If you m ake a race too expens ive, Stars will have troub le making th eir c h a r a c t er s d i s t i n c t f r o m o t h e r m e m b e r s o f t h e r ac e , if it's playable at all. B e c a r ef u l t h a t y o u ' r e n o t j u s t i n c l u d i n g r a c es f o r t h e s a k e o f h a v i n g d w a r v es o r e l v e s . If you can't think of anything particularly interesting to do with
them… there's nothing wrong with having a human -only setting. Cultures Academics have been struggling to define "culture" for centuries, but most of us can recognize it when we see it, "it" being everything from how we eat to how we make friends. Different races and regions in the real world can have dramatically different cultures, and your setting should be no exceptions. That said, coming up with interesting cultures is hard work, probably the hardest part of world building. Luckily, there are a few shortcuts.
"Like us, but…" — This is the easiest and most common method. Start with a f a m i l i ar c u l t u r e a n d g i v e i t a n e w c o a t o f p a i n t . Change a few easily-noticed
traditions, surround it with some exotic scenery, and presto! You've got a different culture. This tends to be easy to deal with, since the culture will be fundamentally familiar, but you may find some unexpected contradictions cropping up. The Research Method —You don't have to start with a familiar culture. There are thousands of unique cultures right here in the real world, many of them as alien as anything you'll find in a fantasy world. Head to a library or Wikipedia and s t a r t r ea d i n g u p o n a n c i e n t c i v i l i za t io n s a n d i s o l a t ed t r i b e s — you'll find plenty of cool stuff in inspire you. Doing so takes time, and can be a lot harder to keep track of, but when done right, you can create much richer, more detailed worlds this way. Improving Your Game — On Names Be really careful when making up names. The more fantastical the name, the less likely Stars are to remember it — and the more likely they are to start making fun of it. Even with a well-behaved group, it's hard to be immersed when you can't remember anyone's name, much less pronounce it.
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History If those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it, then those who forget to invent a past are doomed to muddle along in a daze. You don't need much—your Stars certainly won't remember it — but y o u s h o u l d h a v e at l e a s t a g e n er a l i d e a o f w h e r e d i f f e r en t c u l t u r e s an d n a t io n s a r e c o m i n g f r o m . Mystery Finally, n o w o r l d i s c o m p l e t e w i t h o u t a f e w g o o d m y s t e r i es . Your Stars may or may not be able to find the answers. You may or may not know the answers. But leaving a few open questions can keep your setting from feeling too stagnant. Conflict Similarly, no world is a utopia. Certainly not any world that's interesting to explore. Conflicts can be found at all levels of a setting, from racial tensions within a neighborhood to all-out intergalactic wars. The tension they create helps bring a setting alive, makes it dynamic, capable of sustaining itself even when the Stars' backs are turned. Draw a Map You don't have to be a cartographer or an artist. You don't have to ever show it to your Stars. You don't even have to be incredibly consistent. But it's a good idea to m a k e a r o u g h s k e t c h o f h o w y o u r w o r l d i s l ai d o u t a n d w h a t ex i s t s w h e r e. An easy way to get started is to take a map of some real-world region and rotate it. Doing so creates unfamiliar yet plausible terrain that you can subsequently populate with cities and nations. Other real-but-obscure maps are also good starting points — medieval maps, images of other planets, and so on. Or, if you're feeling a bit more ambitious, draw your own. Start by sketching out the edges of land and ocean. Add some mountains, then rives connecting mountains to oceans. Spice up the terrain with deserts, forests, and islands, then place cities and borders. Don’t worry too much about the science — if you don't know why deserts form where they do, your Stars probably won't either.
Fractal World Building In math, a fractal is an infinitely-repeating pattern, creating by applying a simple rule to a simple shape many times in a row. You can build worlds the same way, getting just as much complexity from just as simple a procedure. The techniques we're about to go cover can be applied to every level of setting creation, from universespanning empires to the contents of a single house. Step 1: Premise To start, you've got to identify the area you’re filling in. What is it? What’s the gimmick? What makes it unique? “It” can be anything from a theocratic trade city to an
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abusive household, but you can’t come up with interesting details until you have a framework to attach them to, and a central idea to give them unity. Step 2: Plot The next step of world-building is come up with overarching plot elements, things that will cause conflicts and provoke stories. Your plots might be physical threats, such as an impending alien invasion or a resurrected Dark Lord. Or they may be something more nebulous, such as "the King has no heir" or even "the city is sliding into corruption." P l o t s s h o u l d b e s c a l e d a p p r o p r i at e l y f o r w h a t ev e r l ev e l o f t h e w o r l d y o u ' r e b u i l d i n g — an alien invasion is a mighty big threat for a single city, but an unruly ghost is probably too small. Not every plot will wind up as the focus of a campaign, or even a single session, but they should all have the potential to be. And even if the game go es a different , influencing the rest of the world. d i r e c t i o n , th e p l o t s h o u l d s t i l l b e m o v i n g f o r w a r d s You don't need to come up with too much detail. You should certainly have some idea of what's going on and who's involved, but that's about it — nothing needs to be really fleshed out unless the Stars are actively interacting with it. For a good, dynamic setting, t r y t o c o m e u p w i t h a t l e as t t h r e e p l o t s f o r e a c h l e v el o f t h e w o r l d y o u f l e s h o u t . Step 3: Place F o r e v e ry p l o t , y o u ' l l w a n t t o c o m e u p w i t h a t l ea s t t h r e e p l a c es t h a t a r e
. these places may be critical to the plot's progression, or they may just exist involved to show its effects. If your plot is "restless orc tribes," your three places may be an orcish war camp, a human border fort, and a village which had recently been subject to a raid. Again, you don't need too much information at this stage — a name, a rough idea of where it is in relation to other places, and perhaps a one-sentence description. Step 4: People Finally, for every place, try to po pu late it with at least three peop le . The leaders of that place— mayors, generals, merchant princes — are certainly good candidates to flesh out at this point, but they shouldn’t be the only people you come up with. T h e g o a l o f t h i s s t e p i s t o h a v e c h a r a c t e r s f o r t h e S t a rs t o i n t e r ac t w i t h , if and when they visit the place. So for a military fort, you might note the commanding officer, a captain who deals with civilian mercenaries like the Stars, and a friendly trooper who always seems to know what's going on. As with everything else in the process, you shouldn’t need more than a name and a one- or two-sentence description of their role and personality — just enough that you can portray that character on short notice. 52
