Interest Check: Stars Without Number

Hello everyone! New here to roll20, but I've been using Google Hangouts to RP for the past year or so. Stars Without Number is a sci-fi sandbox RPG reminiscent of OD&D, and is my favorite RPG by far. I've played dozens of one-shots with it, and am running a PBP solo campaign, but I really want to run a 'live' campaign with it. I should mention that it's FREE (*crowd cheering*). You can pick it up at RPGnow/DriveThruRPG if you want to give it a look-through.

Sounds interesting. What do you mean by "sandbox"? Is that what I think it means where the players direct the plot with their choices a lot more than a traditional "campaign"? A very un-campaigny style of play?

Basically. The role of the GM is to set up the universe (or sector if you will) using the tools given, then the players have free reign over how everything goes down. Basically, since you (the GM) has a basic understanding of what's going on at each planet, you can whip something up when Player X decides to hop a freighter to Planet Y. Player choice is the biggest factor. Combat is pretty brutal (you can start with 1 HP), because the GM isn't scaling the world to you, but creating the universe itself, so retreating to fight another day is a sound tactic. Of course, I'd probably have a starting adventure so everyone can get a feel for the rules and the game itself. After that, the galaxy is your oyster.

I should also note there's a lot of different supplements to have campaigns set up differently (to date: Naval Warfare, Espionage, Cyberpunk). There's also SWN's post-apoc companion Other Dust, of which there's a wealth of things to pull from. Also, owning the supplements is not necessary. I got 'em all anyways ;)

Sounds like an interesting concept. I'll have to give it a look-through as you said.

Do you have a time/day/schedule in mind for the game? I remember a year or so ago looking at SWN when I was running a PBP game. I went another direction, but I liked the rules.

At this time, I'm thinking weekly sessions on Wednesdays, 8-10(11?)PM EST. Reason for the short time is because I myself am a college student, and most of the other people I've played with/GM'd for have jobs and such that require, y'know, some sleep. But I am perfectly fine for boosting it to 11PM, giving us 3 hours. However, I got a buddy who's in a RL campaign of D&D at the same time, so I might move it so he can join in. But for now, that's my base. Note: When I said 'naval' above, I meant like, 'space' navy. Not that there's anything stopping you from trying to field a 'water' navy. Just might not be as successful.

I am interested (I've thought about running SWN myself), but scheduling might be an issue--I'm one of those people with a job and kids. Wednesdays are out for me. 8 PM is too close to my kids' bedtime to commit to it comfortably, but I could do 9-11 EST. Also, biweekly would probably be better for me, too, but I could probably do weekly. I wish I could commit whole-heartedly, but--you know--real life. :)

Hey, I understand. I talked with two other buddies who'd be interested, and I think Friday might be a better day. I can switch the hours to 9-11PM, no problem there. I'd be fine with bi-weekly myself. One of my buddies who is interested is an RA, so sometimes he's on duty at his building. But if we can plan the 'bi-weekly' right, we should be able to skirt that problem. So far I've got two people who I know are interested, and a couple hopefuls here. I'm looking for about 5-6 people, so first come, first serve!

I was going to start work generating the sector that'll host our adventures. I'd like to know what people want however, so I've worked it into this little system to determine what everyone likes. Theme: This is the general 'feel' to the campaign, split into 3 branches. "Star Wars"-This theme has a lot of aliens, with galaxy-spanning empires and charming smugglers. Space is large but is relatively explored. "Mass Effect"-This theme has a handful of aliens, and each race has its own agendas and political nuances. The galaxy is heavily populated in some areas, but more frontier-like in the outer reaches. "Firefly"-This theme has no aliens (sentient at least), and all of space is the Wild West. Space is relatively mysterious, large and unexplored. The only way to live is by the gun, be it projectile or laser. Basically, what kind of theme do you want to get out of the campaign?

I think I'll put in a vote for a Mass Effect type theme, although any would be okay.

Mass Effect is my first choice, with Firefly a close second and Star Wars a distant third. I hate to be "that guy," but it looks like Fridays aren't going to work for me after all (at least in November). Saturday, Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday (in order of preference) would probably all work. But if Friday is what's best for everyone else, I'll just have to deal with it. Sorry for being a douche. :(

Hey, no sweat. I still don't know if EVERYONE is set with Fridays, but if it is,I completely understand. Everyone has their priorities. But hey, if you can't do November, I won't hesitate to 'keep the seat warm' for ya.

Cool. I'll keep an eye on this thread to see how it all shakes down. Hopefully everything will work out.

Good to hear. On that note, what is the general standing on Fridays? I've talked with my two other players and it works for them. Saturday night will be a good back-up if that's easier for everyone. Like a rain-date....for the internet?

Alright, so the 'Mass Effect' theme is coming along. Another question raises it's head however. Since I'm getting you new people into this, I was wondering how everyone plays with roll20. I've played with chat-only using AIM, using Skype for audio, and Google Hangouts for video chat. So the question is:how do we want to play the campaign? I'm fine with either way. Some people are uncomfortable with video, I'm fine with that. Some people like do do voice chat, etc etc. What does everyone think? All this technical stuff is popping up as I think about it at random moments.

I haven't played a game on roll20 yet (just created a game to see how the mechanics work). I've used skype and ventrilo for audio in the past. Of the two I prefer Skype. Google Hangouts seem pretty good, but I've heard people complain about lost screen space. Roll20 has a built in video as well. I've heard differing opinions on how well that is currently working, but the trend seems to be that it is getting better. I'd probably go with the chat tools in Roll20 first, but have Skype ready to go in a pinch. Video is one of those things that if it works, great, but if not, I wouldn't miss it. I prefer voice with text chat for side comments (private messages to/from the GM) Communicating to player outside of the game seems to be an issue for some games. You may want to gather email address so you can stay in contact with the players. Also, when you start the session as a GM, you then need to let all of the players know the address to connect to. I don't know if this is a static URL or if it changes with each game session.

Once they get the email they'll be fine, and by video I did mean the 'in-house' video, should've clarified. We actually just switched the Microlite20 campaign that I'm in over to roll20, and are using the video/audio. So far everything is working out fine. I'm totally fine using Skype. Had some problems getting audio to work but just fixed it last night! :D EDIT: Before I totally forget, roll20 has audio too. All you have to do is set the Send/Recieve to just voices, and you'll be golden. Don't know how reliable that is over Skype, but I can find out next Monday (the aforementioned M20 campaign).

Do you have room for one more?

Well, since things seem to be leaning towards Fridays, there is room! (Phil, this by no means means you can't jump in whenever it becomes suitable for you!)

Do you have skype?

I do, but I think we'll try the in-house stuff with roll20 first. If that fails...

I meant, can I talk to you on skype about this campaign. I would like to know more about the system and I have some questions about scheduling and stuff.

Mostly questions about races and classes since this is a "mass effect" setting campaign.

Gotcha. It's not a true Mass Effect game. I'm using the 'theme' of Mass Effect (Humans co-existing with ~6+ sentient alien races, each race having political holdings and such. Space is slowly being colonized, with large areas heavily urbanized) I'm using SWN to create the alien species. The classes are the same ones that go with the SWN rules, no change there.

What if we wanted to play a race other than human? Do we get bonuses/cons like in normal RPGs? What classes is everyone planning on playing?

Playing an alien is totally available using the system. The races will have pros and cons. Humans are gonna be the 'jack of trades' they always seem to be in this kind of mediums. I should note that some aliens races will not be able to be psychics. Since I'm not done writing up the races, I'll divulge that at chargen time.

I mentioned this with Keith before, but not to everyone. The first session (I'm shooting for the 2nd of November) will be a one-shot using pre-generated characters. It will take place in an event that shapes the history of the sector, so you get to play a part. It will also allow everyone to learn how the systems work, and give them a sense of maybe how they want to set-up a character. Depending on the time, chargen will take place after that, or next session if there's no time left.

I'm really interested in trying this game out at least once but I probably couldn't make Fridays every week... Let me know if you ever need another player or decide to play on Sundays or Wednesdays again.

I can play Friday evenings. Preferably every other week.

The schedule is currently bi-weekly, that seemed to work for everyone the best. I will keep you in mind Wyatt!

EDIT: Check current post for new update.

Why aren't they mass effect species? Like volus, turian, asari, krogan, etc etc

It's not a literal Mass Effect game. It's using the themes of Mass Effect. Basically, humans and aliens coexist. There are a handful of aliens (listed above), that interact with the general society.

Any room for this? I own the game and love it.

I hesitate to say yes. I'd love to have as many people as I could, but the current number oh 'hopefuls' is about six,which is the max I've set for myself. However, if the consensus comes in on who is available to play for real (hint hint), I can judge on how many players I have. For now, you're 'on the bench'. If there's room, you're in.

I am definitely able to play every other Friday starting on November 2nd.

So we got the one? Anyone else? Bi-weekly Fridays, 9-11PM EST. Starting Friday the 2nd.

I would be interested but the time is not good for me. :( Sounds interesting and very promising campaign! (And I love pre-made characters).

I'm good with Friday 9 to 11.

So that's two here, and I got two from off-site. Four is a solid core to start, so things should start off really well.

Is there a way we can talk as a group before the game day?

Hey everyone, I have something that I just kicked up today. It's another side-option for the campaign that I'm throwing out there. I got the idea while studying for my Western Civ mid-term, the subject being feudalism. It struck me that having a campaign I called 'Future Feudalism' would be interesting. The PCs would all be the Knights, or Lords, of the fiefdom, the Champions of the land. You would be given the free reign to what you do (SWN is sandbox, and you ARE nobility). I'd arrange for some major and minor problems and such against your fiefdom, with which you can do whatever in. But the real kicker to all this is that the technology (almost) stays the same. Since you are the all-powerful knights of the realm, you get the best pick of the gear left behind by 'the Precursors'. So, powered armor and laser guns for you, as well as TL1 (medieval) technologies. So it's a schizo-tech mix of medieval living with high-fantasy elements. The pros of this set-up are: Easier for me to develop and flesh out a whole planet instead of ~30+, so you can become famous world travelers across the planet I can map out. Having you all play the Lords of the Realm let me tailor things towards helping grow and defend your kingdom. Knights fighting with laser guns? How is that not awesome? The cons, of course, are: Space travel would be limited. It'd be there, but just like the normal SWN setting, it is very rare and expensive. You are trapped in a quasi-medieval world. Of course, you could devout all your man-power and wealth to getting a spike drive going, and get off-planet. The aliens would all become 'Barbaric Races' in the same vein as Orcs and Elves of normal fantasy claim. Whew, that was a lot. Of course, I am simply throwing it out there, so you can decide whether to take this at face value. If you think it's a great idea, I can roll with it. If you think it's terrible, we'll continue on as planned! Now since I wasted a bunch of time on that, I should get back to studying :P

I kind of like the original mass effect idea...With space travel and stuff.

No problemo. Of course, space travel is still hard to come by in the standard SWN setting. It's very expensive to run a spaceship. You'll have to Captain Mal/Han Solo your way around the galaxy!

I recently read a book (the title escapes me) which was basically the same idea, but it was a western (sort of a spin off on the gun fight at the OK corral). It was a great story. I think the knight's in space thing could be like that, and I wouldn't be opposed to it, but my first preference is the original Mass Effect related theme. So, my vote is not to change, but I'll go along with the majority on this one.

See latest post for update!

Same as above.

How many SWN games have you run?

Are you still open for another player? I'm free most evenings, especially week days.

Jonathan: I've been running a PBP campaign for about ~6 months. I've also run multiple one-shots using Google Hangouts and face-to-face. Ariel: I actually think we do! Our first session is November 2nd, from 9-11PM EST. It's gonna be a one-shot to help teach the rules. The next session will be character creation. The plan is currently to run bi-weekly.