LouGoncey
Level 4 Theurgist
"Lather. Rinse. Repeat. That's my philosophy."
Posts: 108
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Post by LouGoncey on May 2, 2015 23:12:32 GMT -6
WHITE STAR is coming out in PDF on 5/4. It is a SF version of S&W: WHITEBOX by James Spahn of Barrel Rider Games.
Just posting as a general FYI. Will post more after I have read it.
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Post by Finarvyn on May 3, 2015 5:40:47 GMT -6
First I've heard of it but it could be interesting. Any good links you can point us to, or do I have to google?
I wonder how it will differ from STARS WITHOUT NUMBER and the other OD&D-like scifi creations.
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LouGoncey
Level 4 Theurgist
"Lather. Rinse. Repeat. That's my philosophy."
Posts: 108
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Post by LouGoncey on May 4, 2015 17:06:50 GMT -6
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LouGoncey
Level 4 Theurgist
"Lather. Rinse. Repeat. That's my philosophy."
Posts: 108
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Post by LouGoncey on May 4, 2015 17:16:41 GMT -6
WHITE STAR is S&W: WHITEBOX set in space. It states that it is a sandbox toolkit. The classes are Aristocrat, Pilot, Mercenary, Star Knight, Alien Beastie and Alien Mystic. Generically, it leans towards being a Star Wars "clone" It has the Meditations for Star Knights and the Gifts for the Alien Mystics -- both use the spell fire and forget mechanic. Starships are just like personal combat with the addition of shields -- easy peasy.
Small section on cybernetics.
campaign chapter gives advice on several subgenres like Empire versus Rebellion. exploring and alien invasion.
No skill system like SWN.
Looks like a fun game.
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Post by MilkManX on May 11, 2015 12:38:46 GMT -6
I am in love with this.
All I wanted was an OSR-type game with Star Wars like setting.
THIS IS IT!!
As a huge fan of Swords and Wizardry its really well done and even direct cross compatible with WHITEBOX! Awesome.
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Koren n'Rhys
Level 6 Magician
Got your mirrorshades?
Posts: 355
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Post by Koren n'Rhys on May 12, 2015 10:03:43 GMT -6
WS has exploded on G+, so I'm a bit surprised there isn't more chatter here about it. Being based on WB, it falls pretty squarely with the OD&D/LBB love here.
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Post by Lorgalis on May 12, 2015 12:02:15 GMT -6
It is a fine clone. Nothing really new, but professional and with an open license so folks want to publish for it.
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Post by Finarvyn on May 12, 2015 12:40:31 GMT -6
It's really well done and even direct cross compatible with WHITEBOX! A shame that the author didn't offer to give me a comp copy since it's based off of my WB rules. Oh, well... I guess it's only $10 in PDF format. |
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LouGoncey
Level 4 Theurgist
"Lather. Rinse. Repeat. That's my philosophy."
Posts: 108
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Post by LouGoncey on May 12, 2015 20:50:20 GMT -6
The first supplement that is pretty much must buy is called OUTER SPACE RAIDERS: VOLUME ONE CLASSES by MEDIA PIG GAMES.
It has more details for alien species as well as a SCOUNDRELS class aka Han Solo.
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Post by Vile Traveller on May 13, 2015 7:03:58 GMT -6
It's really well done and even direct cross compatible with WHITEBOX! A shame that the author didn't offer to give me a comp copy since it's based off of my WB rules. Oh, well... I guess it's only $10 in PDF format. Go and bother him about it. You know these OSR publishers, can't wait to give away their stuff ...  |
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Post by MilkManX on May 18, 2015 13:12:15 GMT -6
It's really well done and even direct cross compatible with WHITEBOX! A shame that the author didn't offer to give me a comp copy since it's based off of my WB rules. Oh, well... I guess it's only $10 in PDF format. Did you ask him? He probably would. I am working on stuff for my campaign for it right now. Love this edition of our favorite game. |
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Post by Mike on Nov 29, 2015 1:05:20 GMT -6
Given that WB is generic Swords & Sorcery I'm really disappointed that the author of White Star has used the rules as a vehicle to foist his Star Wars clone on us. I was hoping for a generic sci-fi game.
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Post by Porphyre on Nov 29, 2015 16:08:41 GMT -6
Given that WB is generic Swords & Sorcery I'm really disappointed that the author of White Star has used the rules as a vehicle to foist his Star Wars clone on us. I was hoping for a generic sci-fi game. I half-heartedly concur. I recently acquired both Xplorers and White Star: despite its ambitions, the latter seems to much of a rehearsal of the "Star Wars universe" archetypes. It sures tries to be more inclusive , mostly by using monsters and aliens from others franchises (daleks and klingons with the serial numbers filed off), but the choice of classes and the "vancian" "spells-as-psionic powers" wouldn't fit with a campaign more in tune with Sar Trek or Dune, for instance Imho, Tales of the Space Princess makes a better job in adapting the tropes of "classic" Space Opera |
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Post by cadriel on Nov 29, 2015 17:43:25 GMT -6
This is my non-review of White Star: Talking White Star Blues. It has good stuff (I mean, come on, it has Space Monkeys) but it's S&W White Box In Space, with a Star Wars type skin. If that's not what you want, then White Star isn't for you. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 30, 2015 4:56:52 GMT -6
I guess the name "White Star" is a tip-off. Sort of a blend of "White Box" and "Star Wars", I guess.
Still haven't seen it, so can't judge it.
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Post by keith418 on Dec 1, 2015 18:07:32 GMT -6
I have studied it, but it's too "Star Wars" for me. I liked Traveller because it wasn't so dependent on the Star Wars mythology. Has anyone compared "White Star" to "Terminal Space"? app.box.com/shared/yep4cxa8aj |
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Post by Mike on Dec 2, 2015 1:35:05 GMT -6
Terminal Space is a supplement, White Star is a stand-alone game so tricky to compare. Traveller pre-dates Star Wars (or came out in the same year). There is definitely room for a generic OSR sci-fi game, White Star looks slick but it isn't that game. Space Ryft is rather nice link but the skill system makes for dangerously incompetent low-level heroes: "Can you set the ship down near that crater?" "23% of the time yes, the rest of the time, I make another crater..." |
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premmy
Level 5 Thaumaturgist
Posts: 295
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Post by premmy on Dec 2, 2015 12:01:33 GMT -6
Given that WB is generic Swords & Sorcery I'm really disappointed that the author of White Star has used the rules as a vehicle to foist his Star Wars clone on us. I was hoping for a generic sci-fi game. To be fair, I don't think there can be such a thing as a "generic sci-fi game". You could make a generic Space Opera game for faux-Buck Rogers and faux-Star Wars, but it won't do Dune or Starship Troopers well. You could make a generic Cyberpunk game, but it won't do Space Opera well. You could make a generic Transhumanist Sci-fi game, but it won't do Firefly. The themes and styles of science fiction are scattered over too large an area for any one thing to cover it all decently - unless it has a very large number of movable and modifiable bits like Stars Without Number, but then you no longer have the minimalism of ODnD-style games. Of course, for that matter, there's no such thing as "generic fantasy", either. DnD and all its derivatives are very patently anything but. |
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Post by Porphyre on Dec 2, 2015 16:15:23 GMT -6
"Can you set the ship down near that crater?" "23% of the time yes, the rest of the time, I make another crater..."  |
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Post by Mike on Dec 2, 2015 23:18:59 GMT -6
Given that WB is generic Swords & Sorcery I'm really disappointed that the author of White Star has used the rules as a vehicle to foist his Star Wars clone on us. I was hoping for a generic sci-fi game. To be fair, I don't think there can be such a thing as a "generic sci-fi game". You could make a generic Space Opera game for faux-Buck Rogers and faux-Star Wars, but it won't do Dune or Starship Troopers well. You could make a generic Cyberpunk game, but it won't do Space Opera well. You could make a generic Transhumanist Sci-fi game, but it won't do Firefly. The themes and styles of science fiction are scattered over too large an area for any one thing to cover it all decently - unless it has a very large number of movable and modifiable bits like Stars Without Number, but then you no longer have the minimalism of ODnD-style games. Of course, for that matter, there's no such thing as "generic fantasy", either. DnD and all its derivatives are very patently anything but. Allow me to re-phrase my comment then: Given that WB is generic Swords & Sorcery I'm really disappointed that the author of White Star has used the rules as a vehicle to foist his Star Wars clone on us. I was hoping for a sci-fi game as generic as WB was generic fantasy. Bit clunky but I'm sure you get my drift. WS isn't the sci-fi version of WB, it's the Star Wars version of WB. |
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2015 0:42:00 GMT -6
Even though it has laser swords and mystic powers, the WS experience system sucks the Star Wars out of actual play, unless you envisage saving Leia as purely loot and scoot with the resulting medals worth xp.
I reskinned Whitestar as a fantasy Pirate game for my kids and that works - nobles, demihuman mystics and brutes, easy ship-to-ship combat.
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Post by cadriel on Dec 3, 2015 4:58:16 GMT -6
Even though it has laser swords and mystic powers, the WS experience system sucks the Star Wars out of actual play, unless you envisage saving Leia as purely loot and scoot with the resulting medals worth xp. I reskinned Whitestar as a fantasy Pirate game for my kids and that works - nobles, demihuman mystics and brutes, easy ship-to-ship combat. Yeah, my "Talking White Star Blues" post is basically about the fact that it has some really neat material (and good support) but never stops being D&D with a Star Wars theme. Star swords are 2-handed swords, blasters are crossbows, XP is for treasure, there's even what amounts to a space dungeon in the rulebook as a sample adventure. You could hack it but I'd want to throw out too much (replace Star Knight powers with psionics, for a start) to make it worth doing. The one idea I'd like to do in White Star is to use it to run a game like Poul Anderson's The High Crusade: have Swords & Wizardry Whitebox PCs who run into an alien ship. Then they take it over and go exploring the galaxy. I think this would work best with a party around level 5, so the magic-users have Fireball. |
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Post by Porphyre on Dec 3, 2015 11:18:35 GMT -6
You remind me of the very first strip of teh Darth & Droids webcomic . www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0001.html"Obi-Wan: I have a bad feeling about this... Qui-Gon: What? I'm still looking at the equipment list. Obi-Wan: How many gold pieces— GM: Republic credits. Obi-Wan: Whatever. How many do we have? GM: Uh... 120 each. Qui-Gon: Hmmm. We can't even afford blasters. Obi-Wan: Oh man! Qui-Gon: Let's see. Electro-axe. Energy mace. "Plasma bow"?? You just took a D&D equipment list and stuck techy words in front, right? GM: Don't be stupid. Qui-Gon: Ten foot laser pole..."
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Post by battlebrotherbob on Dec 3, 2015 15:52:56 GMT -6
Actually I'm thinking of doing a Killjoys campaign with
White Star. Use White Lies as a second ingredient and add a dash of White Box as a Librarians chaser.
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Post by Finarvyn on Feb 26, 2016 5:18:59 GMT -6
I saw on DriveThruRPG that there is something called Whitestar Companion which has just been released. The advertisement said: I can't say much about the product, as I've yet to even see the original White Star RPG or any of its supplements, but I knew that there were some fans so I thought I'd spread the word. And if it's based on WB it must be good, right?  |
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Post by Mike on Feb 29, 2016 2:20:53 GMT -6
The White Box bits of it are awesome! |
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