This now Part 5 of my series on things I made for my now-completed Stars Without Number campaign. If you want to see everything from all the posts at once, there’s a large google doc with it all.
Stars Without Number as-is doesn’t really support structured missions or significant mech focus, but it is also a game that wants you to hack it. So here is how I tweaked my campaign to better align with my intent.
There will be an entire separate post in the future with the Rep, Tier, and Crew Turn system, for managing a sub faction within a larger faction.
Extreme Mission Rewards
Mechs are expensive in SWN, so mission rewards had to pay enough not just to maintain and repair said mechs, but also to upgrade and customize them and eventually buy bigger frames. Therefore missions had to pay a lot, starting around 70k Credits per player but eventually increasing to over 100k.
Narratively, this was justified by placing the PCs as members of the sector’s best merc company. This group in the sector travelled around in a carrier ship and had a small fleet of shuttles to deploy teams across the sector. They have contracts with several different planet governments. In short, they could afford to charge through the nose for their services.
This also meant that the PCs who weren’t in mechs (2 out of 4 for me) had too much money and not enough to spend it on. Adding the new spending options below helped with that a bit, especially Cyberware, Drones, and Skillplugs.
Downtime Actions
Every PC gets two downtime actions between missions, and they also decide their collective Crew Turn action (coming in a future post).
Example Actions
Gather Intel – This could be about a mission, a character, a location, a faction or crew, or anything else feasible. Ask the GM one question about it. If the answer is readily discoverable they tell you the answer. Otherwise they will tell you what you need to learn first and you can ask that or a different question.
Train NPC – Training an NPC takes a number of downtime actions equal to the new skill level, represented by a clock. When training to skill level 0, you can train two NPCs in one skill or one NPC on two skills for one downtime action. You must have the skills to train. An NPC can only be trained once per downtime.
R&R – Spend the vast majority of your time relaxing, reducing your current System Strain by 5, to a minimum of 0. What does it look like when you do that?
Hire Help – This temporary specialist, pilot, contact, or service provider is willing to help you for one mission. If you mutually impress each other then perhaps there is an opportunity for long-term work. Make a Connect roll. On a 10 or higher they are notably skilled, useful, or cheaper than average. On a 6-9 their skill, usefulness, and price are standard. On a 5- you still find someone but there is an extra cost or twist that you will learn about now or later.
Find Deal – Spend significant time hunting down a specific item for a good price. Name your item and make a Trade skill roll. On a 5- you don’t find it for a lower than standard price. On a 6-9 you find it for 10% off. On a 10+ you find it for 20% off.
Recruit – Choose an NPC type (page 195 in the book) and make a Connect skill roll. Difficulty is equal to the type’s HD + Morale -2, so a Veteran Fighter’s HD would be 2+9-2=9. On a failure, you recruit 1 NPC. If you succeed you recruit a number of NPCs equal to your crew’s Tier+1. If you succeed by 2 or more you recruit Tier+3 NPCs. Any NPCs can create a new squad or be added to a squad of the same NPC type.
Find Opportunities – Roll a Notice/INT skill check. On a 5- specify one mission parameter, on a 6-9 specify two, and on a 10+ specify three. The GM will create provide you with a mission that fits those specified parameters. This mission is not at risk of being undertaken by another crew for 1 Crew Turn. Example parameters include:
- From this specific client
- Pays at least X credits
- Has you primarily operate outdoors
- Takes place on this planet
- Can be done while we also do X