I Just Shook James Spahn Down for Some Insider Knowledge on Upcoming White Star Releases

Assuming you've been reading The Tavern or any one of a dozen or so other OSR blogs, you've heard about the amazing release of White Star, the Swords &Wizardry White Box powered scifi RPG. It made Copper on RPGNow in less than 10 hours and made Silver in less than a day. As I write this it is comfortably sitting in the number one sales spot at RPGNow.

There has been lots of talk about what's next in the White Star line. By talk, I'm referring to the new found fans of the game discussing what they want to see. So I asked +James Spahn directly - "What's coming up next with White Star?" Surprisingly enough, he answered.

There are a couple of things planned out in different stages at the moment, not the least of which is a new setting book (by new, I mean separate from the setting in the core White Star book.) I've been sworn to secrecy, so I can say no more, but what James has told me has me chomping at the bit.

Folks want encounter charts / tables. The community has spoken and it shall be so. It will be one of the earlier releases.

For those that want a peek before buying in completely, James is working on a Quickstart / Fastplay edition of the White Star rules. Perfect for the GM that wants to keep some parts of the core book away from players' prying eyes during the game session.

What else? Vehicles. There are some forthcoming. All I know. I know nuthink! ;)

Discount code is still active as I post this. Grab White Star for 20% off.

Some Thoughts on "Encounter Tables" for White Star

Something I've seen mentioned a couple of times in different places is a desire for "Encounter Tables" for the White Star RPG.

Questions to those that are requesting such:

Are you looking for "Encounter Tables" or "Event Tables?" I ask, because in my mind, events are more likely in the depths of space than encounters, although an event table would by necessity include encounters.

Would you expect your Encounter / Event tables to be setting / region specific? I would, and the default setting is by deign fairly sparse. Would the setting need to be detailed further before tables could be designed?

Encounter tables by worlds I would expect to be specific to that world. Again, would that not require a fleshing out of the relevant worlds? Or would it be enough to design tables by relative tech level?

If someone were to design a specific setting for use with White Star, would you expect encounter / event tables, and if so, how in depth would you want them?

Just some thoughts in the hopes of getting feedback. I know of 2 or 3 publishers already working on settings for White Star and the answers to these questions would be helpful to all.

What Supplements Do You Want to See First for White Star?

We all know +James Spahn is the White Box Work Horse, so I'm looking for ideas to get him and others working on some White Star supplements.

I could (and probably should) put up a poll with this. Maybe later today, after we get some initial feedback.

Anyhow, ideas include:

Starships

New Classes

New Creatures (something I'm working on at The Tavern)

Setting / Campaign seeds

Encounter seeds

Tech Manual

more stuff not listed

Remember, anyone can play in the White Star sandbox. It's ripe for other publishers to expand upon and take in their own directions.

Give us some feedback.

If you haven't grabbed your copy of White Star yes, you can get a discounted copy of White Star at this link.

White Star Goes "Silver" at RPGNow in Less Than 24 Hours!

Quick and dirty.

White Star, the SciFi reimagining of Swords and Wizardry White Box by +James Spahn , Mr White Box himself, has hit Silver at RPGNow in less than 24 hours.

If that's not a record, I don't know what is.

If you haven't grabbed your copy yes, you can grab it at a discounted price in PDF at this link. Dead tree copies should be available in a few weeks from what I understand.

James, I salute you (and The Badger too ;)

Cyctile - New Monster for White Star and Swords & Wizardry White Box

Now isn't this an inspirational cover?

For use with White Star (discount link) and Swords and Wizardry White Box (free download link)

CYCTILES

ARMOR CLASS   2 [17]
HIT DICE   6+3
TOTAL HIT BONUS   +6 / +4 when throwing
ATTACKS   Fists (2d6) or Thrown (2d6)
SAVING THROW 13
SPECIAL Ranged Attack (as above) / 1/2 Damage from blunt weapons / Regenerate 1 HP per round until dead
MOVEMENT 12
HDE/XP 7/1,100

Cyctiles are one eyed gigantic humanoid reptiles. They stand between 12 and 20 feet tall and are usually found as a single specimen except during mating season, when two may be found together.

Cyctiles live to destroy technology and will attack vehicles before other being if given a choice. They attack with their fists or with a held item, such as a bolder or steel beam. Cyctiles have been known to throw large object at their targets but they do not get their full to hit adjustment when doing so, as their single eye prevents them from properly judging distance.

Cyctiles have a thick, leathery skin that is highly resistant to blunt trauma. They also have an accelerated healing factor. They will rarely fight to the death as they know a simple rest will heal them fully, whereas death is permanent. Their intellect is marginally higher than that of a beast.

White Star is NOW! Get it at a Discounted Price here at The Tavern!

Why have I been writing so much about White Star? Because it's the scifi RPG that I wouldn't just play in but I'd also run with as much enthusiasm as you've seen from my postings.

With it, I can easily run a Star Wars themed game or a Firefly themed game or a Classic Traveller universe game or Star Trek-ish or Babylon 5 or that space opera setting you always wanted to run but never wanted to get bogged down in all the rules... you get the idea. It's made to be flexible.

White Star is an OSR scifi toolbox.

White Star is a scifi sandbox.

White Star is here. Now. Today.

Did I mention it's written by the White Box Workhorse, +James Spahn  and builds off the work of Mr. Swords & Wizardry himself, +Matt Finch ?

Normally priced at $9.99 for the PDF, you can get White Star from this very link for $7.99. Yes, a Tavern Special. Spread the word and share the link, as you won't find it elsewhere. Well, unless it's shared. Then you might find it at the fringes of the galaxy. That would be awesome!

Ghostmen - New Creatures for the White Star RPG

Yes, I know that White Star hasn't technically released yet. No worries. It should in a few hours. Hey! First White Star support material ;)

Ghostmen
ARMOR CLASS   7 [12]
HIT DICE   2
TOTAL HIT BONUS   +2
ATTACKS   Slap (1d6 - 2)
SAVING THROW 14
SPECIAL Sleep, Confuse, Stealth
MOVEMENT 9
HDE/XP 4/185

Ghostmen are usually found in groups of 1 to 6.

Ghostmen are drawn to areas of conflict. No one know how they know where to go or how they get there, as there are no known Ghostman starships. Still, they find their way.

Ghostmen appear to draw nourishment from the conflicts of others and when found they are usually wandering a recent battlefield, meandering amongst the recent dead.

They are had to spot, even when in the open. Roll a d6 - on a 1-5, they will only be spotted if the party comes within 20" of them.

As a race, Ghostmen are mostly non-violent and will only fight to defend themselves. Their favorite tactic is to use an innate power to cause sleep. Once per day a Ghostman can cause 1d3 targets to make a saving throw or fall into a magical sleep for 2d6 rounds. This is often used to facilitate escape.

On occasions, Ghostmen have been known to use their other innate power - Confusion (as per the Level 4 Star Knight Meditation.) This has been used to stimulate small scale fights and battles where there was none before. What benefits Ghostmen gain from such conflict is currently unknown.

I've Seen the Complete White Star RPG, and it Oozes with Goodness!

No, I'm not saying this to get folks jealous, I'm letting you know because I am just that excited about White Star. How excited?

I'm going to be tweaking one of my Patreon Milestones to reflect my excitement.

Starting with this month, the month of May, I'll be posting at least 4 encounters, creatures, locations or some combination of the above plus one mini-module per month right here on the blog. They will draw inspiration from the public domain comic art I've been digging through, and at least half of the encounters, creatures or locations with be for use with White Star. Every other mini-module will be for White Star. The rest of the content will be for Swords & Wizardry, Far Away Land and / or Tunnels & Trolls. Patrons will get this all wrapped up in a PDF once a month.

I may work on my first White Star piece tonight.

Oh, talking about tonight, I should have a special post going up 15 minutes after midnight. If you want to grab White Star at a discounted price, it is a post you should look for.

K, dinner time then back to work ;)

The Prince of Mars Returns - More Public Domain Art for White Star Inspiration

+James Spahn has inadvertantly put a lot on my plate. Curse you James!

Heh.

I'm finding lots of inspiring covers from the public domain comics and pulp mags from the 50's and earlier.

Questions:

What kind of device is the woman in green holding?

Did she somehow summon the spider beast?

What the hell are those things by the spider beast's mouth?

If he's a "prince", does that make him an Aristocrat in the White Star rules?

More Inspiration for White Star - I'm Loving Public Domain Comic Art

There is so much going on in this piece. There is the structure, the blast, the alien choking the life out of one "PC" and the other "PC getting blasted.

Oh boy. +James Spahn , you've helped create a montster ;)

Space Busters vs Amazons - Future Inspiration for a White Star Adventure?

I'm thinking of mining some public domain comics for inspiration as I think of writing some short White Star adventures.

Hey, at least I'll have free cover art ;)

The First 56 - Peeking Into the White Star RPG - You'll Burn Your Eyes Out! (Part I of II)

As I mentioned in last night's post, +James Spahn (writer) and +Jason Paul McCartan (layout / editing) gave me a sneak peek at the first 56 pages of the soon to be released White Star RPG. It's pretty much the first six chapters.

Chapter One is the introduction and the basic attributes. The six ability scores you've known and loved since 1974. Bonuses for high abilities go up to + 2. I like that James bakes an assortment of "House Rule" options right in. The assumption is that GMs are going to tweak the shit out of White Star to make a system that fits the campaign they envision - James just gives some examples.

Chapter Two is all about character classes and races. The four default classes are Aristocrat, Mercenary, Pilot and Star Knight.

     Aristocrats are leaders. You want a class that gets a bodyguard and hanger-ons at a later level? This is the one.

     Mercenaries are your brute force. Heavy armor. Heavy weaponry

     Pilots are... pilots. I love the Jury-Rig skill. It's like temporary HP for a starship. If you don't get things fixed before them temp HP are gone, you could real'y be screwed.

     Star Knights are the lightly armored Paladins of White Star. Their way is simply The Way. They get some mystic power, but those aren't detailed until Chapter 7 :(

     Alien Brutes are your Chewbacca's and Igoo's (Herculoids Cartoon.) A Mercenary in fur ;)

     Alien Mystic - Be not. Act not. Do not. Roll Nat 20 You Do.

     Robots - We all know what robots are. Danger Erik Tenkar! Danger!

Chapter 6 is where the starships reside. Yes, we are talking starship combat (we'll come back to chapters 3, 4 and 5 tonight or  tomorrow morning.)

Starship combat is much like ranged combat between characters. To hit rolls, AC, max range and even hit points. It will feel very familiar even if there are some significant tweaks (Shield Strength comes to mind.) There are 9 ships included in the core rules. My God, what a ripe niche to expand upon.

You can modify your starship with tractor beams, proton missiles, Faster-Than-Light drives and a whole lot more.

White Star is very much a toolbox. Perfectly fine to run as is but so easy to modify and tweak for your own vision.

Chapter Three covers equipment, Four covers playing the game and Five covers personal combat.

Tavern Closed for the Night - Reading the First 59 Pages of White Star (S&W WhiteBox SciFi RPG)

Just got sent the first 59 pages of +James Spahn 's White Star RPG. STOP

Installing to tablet. STOP

Falling in love for the first time all over again. STOP

Will update in morning after torrid sex reading in bed. DON'T STOP ;)

(I'll yammer in the morning)

edit: even the preview I have is bookmarked! woozah!

White Star - White Box SciFi Roleplaying - Coming Soon to a Game Table Near You

+James Spahn 's White Star RPG is coming soon. Can you tell I'm excited?

James has been nice enough to share some peeks on his G+ feed and I'm sharing them here.

I'm hoping to shake James down for a copy to give away to The Tavern's readers ;)

James has a very thorough post at his blog Halfling's Luck

White Star is based off of Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox:

How does White Star relate to Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox?

White Star is based on the Open Gaming License material found in Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox and uses the same mechanics in play. All classes have d6 hit dice, gain levels, earn experience points, can use descending or ascending armor class and have a single saving throw. In short, White Star is 100% compatible with Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox, with no conversion necessary. A fighter from WhiteBox could blast off in a star cruiser, taking your campaign from the dungeon to the stars in an instant.

Charity Bundle - Game for Nepal - (OSR Oriental Adventures Compilation)

Game for Nepal is an OSR Bundle where the proceeds go to CareNepal.

Here's the skinny:

GAME FOR NEPAL

The most comprehensive OSR Oriental Adventures compilation ever with about everything the OSR has created for Asian-themed games so far.

EVERYTHING ASIAN FROM THE OSR

All the profits of this charity bundle, save a 5% maintenance fee that will go to the distributor, will go to CARE Nepal, which is raising funds to help alleviate the sufferings of the Nepalese.

Includes:

Arrows of Indra

Crypts, Tombs & Catacombs Cut-Up Sections

Mad Monks of Kwantoom

Qelong

Red Tide: Campaign Sourcebook and Sandbox Toolkit

Ruins & Ronin

VA1 Valley of the Five Fires

All for just 15 bucks. I have all but one of these or else I've be over it like a fly to honey...

Follow Up to Last Night's Congested Conjecturing - Should Adventures Have a "Power Slider?"

So, last night I pondered Commercial Adventures - Should They Be Level-less? Tonight, based on some excellent and insightful comments, I'm going to refine the question.

Should adventures have a "power slider?"

What I mean by "power slider" is should the adventure should be written with a certain level spread primarily in mind but include suggestions and options to decrease or increase the challenges presented within?

Basically, ways to beef up or tone down the traps, adversaries and even rewards depending on the DM's actual campaign and the party of PCs it will be used with. If nothing else, these would be examples for the end user to refer to as they make their own tweaks.

And yes, still have congestion from hell...

Tavern Chat TONIGHT - 830 Eastern

Yep, another week has passed and it's time for the Wednesday Night Tavern Chat held right here using the char box to the right side of this page. It's always a fun time and you never know who may drop in.

On a side note, my seasonal allergies from hell are quickly transitioning into a cold from the Ninth Level of Hell. I'm glad I did the writing I needed to get done over the weekend - if I waited till now, I'd have been screwed.

Consider yourself warned ;)

Commercial Adventures - Should They Be Level-less?

This thought occurred to me as I was finishing up my piece for +Michael Desing 's Saga of the Splinter Realm megadungeon Vault of the Goblin - do adventures need creatures with levels? Should they even have creatures with levels? Should it all be dependent upon what the DM needs for his campaign?

When I sent Mike my completed piece, I told him to stat out the creatures at the level needed to suit where he was plugging it in to the larger adventure. I told him how to balance "A" in regards to "B", but little more.

Which got me thinking? Would adventures be more useful if they indicated relative power level to the PCs instead of being written for a specific range of levels?

Of course, this could be the decongestants speaking...

Kickstarter - Guidebook to the Duchy of Valnwall - Third Stretch Goal Hit and it is Short (Tim Shorts ;)

Look at the above list.

+James Spahn ? Check

+Jason Paul McCartan ? Check

+Tim Shorts ? Check

Now, admittedly, I am six stretch goals deep at his point, but +Taskboy Games and +Timothy Brannan are within immediate reach.

I have to say, the list of creators that +Pete Spahn put together is damn impressive.

Wayward Kickstarters - Far West - To Release in May 201?

Gareth just made a May prediction for Far West's much delayed release. Wisely, he failed to mention which year ;)

I know it says "backers only", but I figure the $150 I plunked down on this nearly 3 1/2 year late Kickstarter gives me some room to play.