RPGNow

Monday, May 27, 2013

Games From the Basement - Dragonstar (D20)


Dragonstar - Starfarer's Handbook initially seemed like a quasi-science version of Spelljammer, but my God this book spoke to me. I so badly wanted to play it or run it or do anything with it. Hell, I bought every accessory I could find and even joined it's Yahoo Group.

It was just that cool.

Yes, I had a gamer's crush on Dragonstar during the early days of 3e, when I had no group and even less time to find one.

From what I recall, the advent of 3.5e killed Dragonstar, which is a shame, as it has a nice, dark side to everything.

As I put together the Stars Without Number / Spacement & Spaceships hack for the drop in / drop out campaign this summer, I can't help thinking about hacking some Dragonstar into it at some point.

Who the hell am I kidding? I'd love to see this hacked into Swords & Wizardry. Not sure if I have the time or the skill, but it would be damn sweet to see :)

8 comments:

  1. i had a similar thing with this game. i actually ran a session or two of it. i was thinking of hacking it into s&w and welding parts of x-plorers onto it. hmmmmm...if i start now maybe it could be done by next year's s&w appreciation day.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If I'm not mistaken, Stars Without Number has Labyrinth Lord underpinnings. At least, most of Sine Nomine's other stuff does.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i dont believe SWN is OGL

      Delete
    2. While SWN isn't OGL, strictly speaking, there's really nothing there but the IP itself that can't already be ripped from existing docs. If someone wanted to lift its mechanics wholesale and just write their own text and setting specifics for each bit, I'd consider them to be entirely within their moral and legal rights.

      As for underpinnings, SWN isn't OGL, but the Red Tide series of items are LL-licensed just to make clear that they're de facto B/X supplements. I don't see any point in writing my own fantasy OSR game until I can coherently say something that hasn't already been thrashed out thoroughly by someone else.

      Delete
  3. I loved Dragonstar. When it came out, we started a campaign that lasted about two years and is still remembered fondly. We just started a SWN game last week, and a number of my NPCs were clearly "alternate universe" versions of some of my old Dragonstar NPCs, much to the delight of my players.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This was on the settings I missed when I was away from the hobby. I think I may pick up a PDF to page through at RPGNOW.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This would be fun to adapt to S&W.
    Of course if you cut out the feats the main focus would be on the flavor and the background. I don't think it would be that difficult.
    But I have been wrong before.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I was really taken with the idea of the Dragonstar universe and bought a couple of the books. But I really struggled to come up with adventure ideas to run. I think I'll dig my books out and read through them again.

    ReplyDelete

Tenkar's Tavern is supported by various affiliate programs, including Amazon, RPGNow,
and Humble Bundle as well as Patreon. Your patronage is appreciated and helps keep the
lights on and the taps flowing. Your Humble Bartender, Tenkar

Blogs of Inspiration & Erudition