Starscape

Starscape is the found-family story of a crew traveling through space. It focuses on a group of core personalities and how their trust in one another changes over the course of their adventures. You create your crew, a ship, a bit of shared history, and then play to find out if you come together when it matters most, or fracture when faced with the challenges of an unpredictable universe.

Starscape is inspired by Star Trek, Farscape, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, and A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Game sessions focus on a core set of characters who unite and work together for a shared purpose, even as their personalities, desires, intergalactic politics, or the dangers of space threaten to drive them apart.

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  • 1 - 8 Players

  • 60 - 90 Minutes

  • Fast, Engaging Ship Combat

  • Collaborative Worldbuilding

    • Kimi Hughes - Designer

      she/her

    • Bora Haxhirai - Layout

      she/her

    • Bryan Vectorartist - Book Art

      he/him

    • Carlos Eulefi - Character Design

      he/him

    • Jaye - Editing

      they/them

    • Leona Maple - Sensitivity Consultant

      she/her

    Starscape is built on a Powered by the Apocalypse foundation, but with many enhancements that tailor it to found-family space stories. Ten different playbooks, based on familiar archetypes, are used to create characters that are made unique by customized Backgrounds and Specialties. These can give characters an edge when making moves of all kinds, in addition to adding depth that feeds into character relationships.

    Players choose a playbook from ten of the common character archetypes found in sci-fi stories, each with a unique set of moves and specialties. Together, you collaboratively create your ship and other important details about your universe. Starscape can work in all different types of science fiction settings, so feel free to pull from your favorite sources, mix and match, or create something completely original to explore.

    Playbooks

    ✦ The Civilian: a smooth talker with something to gain
    ▕ Quark, Lwaxana Troi, Kai Winn (Star Trek), Inara (Firefly), Rygel (Farscape), Londo Mollari (Babylon 5)

    ✦ The Explorer: a scientific expert in search of discovery
    ▕ Picard or Janeway (Star Trek), Daniel Jackson (Stargate), Pilot (Farscape) Stephen Franklin (Babylon 5)

    ✦ The Gifted: someone with superhuman abilities who is tuned into their crewmates
    ▕ Deanna Troi (Star Trek), River Tam (Firefly), Zhaan (Farscape), Lyta (Babylon 5)

    ✦ The Greenhorn: a fresh-faced crewmember who is way out of their depth
    ▕ Ensign Kim (Star Trek), Simon (Firefly), early series John Crichton (Farscape)

    ✦ The Hot Shot: a pilot who will get the job done, no matter what it takes
    ▕ Kirk, Riker, or Paris (Star Trek), Wash (Firefly), Starbuck (Battlestar Galactica)

    ✦ The Normal: a crewmate who is totally unextraordinary. Don't wear a red shirt.
    ▕ Miles O'Brian, Barclay (Star Trek), Vir Cotto (Babylon 5), Guy (Galaxy Quest)

    ✦ The Outsider: a character with a dubious past who has something to hide
    ▕ Garak (Star Trek), Jayne (Firefly), Aeryn Sun (Farscape)

    ✦ The Rebel: an ex-freedom fighter who has a problem with authority
    ▕ Kira Nerys, B'Elanna Torres (Star Trek), Mal Reynolds (Firefly), Chiana (Farscape)

    ✦ The Unfamiliar: a unique being who is learning to relate to others
    ▕ Original Spock, Data, Odo, or Seven of Nine (Star Trek), Kosh (Babylon 5)

    ✦ The Warrior: a crewmember with battle in their blood and a violent past
    ▕ Worf, Martok (Star Trek), Ka D'Argo (Farscape), Zoe (Firefly), (Babylon 5)