RPGPundit Reviews: Starcluster 3e

This is a review of Starcluster 3e, written by Clash Bowley, Albert Bailey, Klaxon Bowley and John Snead.  The book being reviewed is a softcover print book, 427 pages long plus character sheets. I should note for the record that the publisher, Flying Mice games, is also the publisher of two products I wrote, the "Forward... to Adventure!" RPG, and the "Forward... to Adventure! Gamemaster's Notebook!" (or "FtA!GN!") sourcebook.  It is my position that this has not affected the quality or fairness of my review, but I am making note of it for the sake of transparency.

As I have reviewed Starcluster 2e already, I am first going to refer you to my review of that product.

How does Starcluster 3e differ? Well, for starters there is a book called "In Harm's Way: Starcluster" (which I also reviewed), that details the military side of the Stacluster universe.  Starcluster 3e details the civilian side.   Starcluster 2e was 268 pages long, and covered both. So what was previously a single-book 268 page game is now a dual book game where both books are over 400 pages long.  That's a huge shift.  Note that you are in no way required to own both books; they are each a separate RPG with their own system material, so there is also quite a bit of repetition in the books (they use the same rules-system) but even so, what you're getting in 3e is a ton of additional material.

I gave a generally positive review to Starcluster 2e, finding it to be just right in terms of setting and material for setting, though I found the rules a bit clunky. But I likewise quite enjoyed IHW: Starcluster, whose military focus permitted a great deal of material uniquely important to the military campaign. But does Starcluster 3e have enough to make it worthwhile for a non-military campaign? Or, on the flip-side, does it have too much?

First, the exterior: I had commented that IHW: Starcluster has one of the worst covers I'd ever seen in an RPG. Plain white with a wavy-red streak that made me think that I was looking at some kind of a Soap Opera RPG (Young And The Restless: The RPG) rather than a military sci-fi game.  Starcluster 3e is basically just as bad. Its a plain white cover with a wavy-green streak instead.  The interior is all black and white, with a few images in the by now classic Flying Mice style, somewhat blurry realistic-art that looks like it could be a photograph taken in-setting. As typical for Flying Mice, the interior art is pretty consistent in terms of style, variable in terms of appeal, but quite good in general at capturing the emulation of the setting.

The basic concept of the game is that it is the year 4158 AD, and about 1500 years since the solar system was destroyed by a terrible space disaster. Humanity had detected the danger before hand, and had sent out colony ships deep into space, sleeper ships of different kinds, with the goal of surviving the destruction.  They ended up in the Starcluster, an area of closely-packed stars.  There they resettled, interacting at the same time with races and cultures that were native to the area.  The Starcluster is a vast setting, so vast it would basically be impossible to cover the whole of it in detail, leaving lots of room for GMs to create their own worlds or entire areas.  That's a good thing.

Earth had a great deal of time to prepare for the disaster, and as a result when they fled the earliest vessels to leave earth left on the slowest ships.  As technology improved, faster escape ships were designed.  As a result, the last ships to leave became the first to arrive at the starcluster.  Many ships developed their own cultures on-board, often based on a culture from some part of earth in different time periods; as a result the worlds they colonized in the Starcluster will often have these particular cultures.  A ship that was mainly full of Scotsmen would likely end up colonizing a world with a generally Scottish culture.  But there are some unusual ones too, emulating particular historical cultures, meaning that you could theoretically have a colony world where everyone acts like they were ancient Romans, or somesuch thing.

For as long as I've been reviewing Clash Bowley's games, there has been an emphasis on possible "troupe" play, the idea being that a single player may play a number of secondary PCs aside from his main PC, to facilitate complex game play (in the 19th century naval RPG "In Harm's Way", the example would be that if the ship's doctor wasn't likely to leave the ship on a mission, the PC who plays him could play one of the ship's marines instead).  In Starcluster 3e, this idea is expanded upon.  First of all, there are rules for the creation of a "company", basically a group that represents the overall raison d'etre for your gaming group.  Examples include bounty hunters, smugglers, spies, explorers,  a courier service, a theatrical troupe, a research company, or curiously an Insurance agency.  Rules are provided to explain how the company is composed, and the type of resources it has.  These rules are quite good at creating coherent gaming groups for a campaign, with a variety of different orientations and scales of operation.

For convenience's sake, I would refer you to the Starcluster 2e review and the IHW: Starcluster review for details about the particulars of the game system; in Starcluster 3e there hasn't been real changes to the fundamental mechanics of the game, only changes to some details.  Character creation begins with choosing an overall concept and then a race, the race providing basic default attribute levels.  For each attribute you then roll on a table to see how the baseline is modified for your PC.  A non-random method of varying attribute scores is also provided.

The basic nonhuman species for PCs are Sastras and Tagris as well as their half-human variants, but you can also play uplifted animals, androids or bioroids, robots, or generate your own alien species for the game using a decent random system for alien creation that can nevertheless make some pretty weird results. Several examples are provided for "uplifts", including uplifted cats and dogs and whatnot, but also things like shark-men.  Rules for the creations of androids and robots are equally thorough.

Characters with sufficient family background can also have received genetic augmentation pre-birth, which increases their attributes and can sometimes give them special qualities or abilities.

As with previous games from Clash, you choose skills based on initial backgrounds, providing childhood skills, then based on career choices in a system reminiscent of the Traveller RPG.  There are also some basic career templates provided if you want a shortcut.  There's a fairly huge list of careers provided (88 careers in all, if I've counted right), and I should note that although this is the "civilian" Starcluster game, those careers include Navy, Army, Gunner, Mercenary and such.  So its not that this is a zero-military game, its just that IHW: Starcluster is the game oriented to a purely military-style campaign, while Starcluster 3e is the general game; military classes included but not in the same level of detail.   Classes have pre-requisites to get into, possible waivers, and a list of skills. I'll note that there's still an insane amount of skills in the system, not quite as many as full-bore Palladium perhaps, but close.  And there are Psionics, which are handled with the same skill system essentially.

As with most of Clash's games lately, one curiousity is that the book actually provides multiple resolution mechanics, all of which use the same stats, but resolve the mechanic in different ways.  There's StarPerc, which uses a percentile roll-under system, StarKarma which is diceless (using a skill+effort in a beancounter system), StarNova which uses a D6 pool system, and StarRisk  which uses a D10 roll-over system. I mean, that's all very interesting, but sometimes I wonder if you really need to include 4 different resolution systems for a game like this.

Like in previous Starcluster or IHW games, there a very good set of random tables for NPC design.

The equipment section has equipment categorized with Tech Levels, a concept made famous by Traveller but now used in several RPGs; and includes a "weapon design guide" allowing you to personalize otherwise relatively generic weapons. Equipment includes conventional stuff as well as things like implants, and covers about 55 pages of the book. The book also includes extensive details on starships and starship operations, including space travel, with full rules for ship design and construction.  Nothing super unique about it, but quite detailed even by Sci-fi RPG standards. Rules for vehicles are also provided, and the ship plus vehicle rules cover about 90 pages of the book.

A great system is also provided for "designing the cluster", making your own set of worlds for the campaign.  In these rules, as well as the vehicle, starship, and equipment rules, copious examples and templates are provided.

A chapter is dedicated to the major religions of the starcluster, including "Grand Catholicism", "Cyberlegal Islam", "Taiping Mormonism", "Transhuman Theonarcissism", "Amida Christianity", the "Clear sight" movement, "Metadox Judaism", "polytheocrasic Monism", "Providencialism", "Neo-Adamite Christianity", the "Penitents" movement, the "Mystical Union", "Ecumenic Fundamentalism", and "Old Order Atheism", as well as the various alien religions. 15 pages are dedicated to this chapter in all, and a handy table is provided at the chapter's end for quick reference.  Some of these belief systems are a bit goofy, but on the whole this is probably one of the most creative chapters in the book, and excellent setting fodder.  Maybe not entirely realistic from the point of view of a religious academic, but a definite A-for-effort as far as starting from modern-day religious concepts and groups and extrapolating to what the effects of thousands of years of  time and distance would lead them to in a sci-fi world.

Also interesting though less so (in my opinion at least) is the chapter on politics.  The emphasis in this chapter is on larger inter-planetary alliances, like the awkwardly-named SaVaHuTu alliance, an alliance of Sastras, Vantor, Humans and Tagris.  They are basically the big fish running the show.  Some very broad and basic details are given as to how they function, their administration and courts.  There is also the smaller "Diasporan Community" who are less cosmopolitan, the Thieves worlds and independent or rogue worlds. Unlike many sci-fi settings, there is no default "big bad" force, neither an alien race or "evil government" out to conquer or destroy the galaxy (or in this case, the Starcluster).  Instead, the emphasis is in internal and localized problems: potential military coups, criminal worlds, conflicts between member-states, etc.  If you want Big Bads in Starcluster, you'd have to make them yourself.

Ultimately, Starcluster 3e is not very different from Starcluster 2e; only bigger.  It has more, rather than different.  Its certainly the better product of the two, and retains the emphasis on individual campaign design: you can make your own aliens, make your own organizations, make your own systems, make your own NPCs, etc.  It maintains that same "Traveller" spirit of both hard sci-fi and personalization that is excellent in this kind of game.  The rules are not really any worse, one could theoretically argue that they are better for the variety of resolution systems provided; though I'm not sure I'd make that argument.  Character creation is a fascinating process, though just a little less fun than in Traveller. Troupe play is a definite advantage in a game like this, and this game goes about it the right way, in a way very much in keeping with traditional RPG play.  On the whole, though, the system doesn't blow my mind; at the same time it doesn't warp my mind into a pretzel due to awfulness or incomprehensibility either, though.  So I'd say its average.  What the new edition specifically adds, or rather, what it doesn't add, is very important, however.  The author resisted the urge that further editions of a single setting sometimes do, which is to start filling in a ton of gaps about the setting, closing up its "openness".  Instead, what is added here is more fodder for personal design that at the same time provides a great deal of "unspoken" insight into what the setting is like.  It adds to the general tone, rather than to specific contents, and that to me feels more useful.

If you want a very good hard sci-fi game in the spirit of Traveller, Starcluster can be a good choice (particularly if you like the feel of Traveller but not its particular execution).  If you were already planning to get Starcluster, this is the edition to get.  If you already have Starcluster, there is a lot that is new here; though I think you'd have to think hard about just how much you love Starcluster before deciding to get 3e, as 2e is already a great product.  Hopefully, this review will help you make the choice in that regard.

RPGPundit

Currently Smoking: Masonic Meerschaum + C&D's Star of the East

As always, an excellent, thorough review, Pundit! No factual errors at all. I win my bet that you would hate the cover, too!

As for the multiple resolution systems, you are very correct - I didn't need to put in four. I chose to put in four because people have different tastes. There are three more up on the site for free download that weren't included. Some folks are very picky over the resolution method, and I'm not. Also, the different resolution systems each give a different flavor to play. The differences between 2e and 3e are all in the direction of increasing the flexibility and capacity for personalization of the game. Pushing things down to the Group level that are usually left at the Designer level. This is one more aspect of the same thing.

Also - since you reviewed the print version, you may not know this - I'd note that there are three different pdf editions of the game. The Developer Edition contains an additional appendix with lots of discourse and advice on the design of setting and system, as well as a Commercial Development License. The Standard Edition is the same as the print edition you have, and the Light Edition just covers the basics for players - chargen, skills, equipment, and the like.

Thank you for another excellent review!

-clash

Very interesting ,and thank you for that additional info!

I would say that really, the difference is not that you have four different systems, but just four different resolution mechanics.  So in one you're rolling percentage, in another a d20 but its basically resolving the same.
Now, if you included a conversion to Traveller in it; I bet you'd double your sales.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;434205Very interesting ,and thank you for that additional info!

I would say that really, the difference is not that you have four different systems, but just four different resolution mechanics.  So in one you're rolling percentage, in another a d20 but its basically resolving the same.

I never claimed they were different systems, just different resolution sub systems. If you ask most gamers about a system, though, they would talk about the resolution method. They are not correct - there are many things which make up a system - but they are widely perceived as correct. The different resolution systems do change the feel of the game quite a lot. The odds are different, the ratios of skills and attributes in affecting the results are different, and in some cases how they are used is different - StarRisk in particular, where you can achieve a low grade success without rolling, or chance failure to achieve a greater success. A d20 and a d% are essentially the same, except that the d20 has less resolution. A d6 additive roll-over exploding pool and a d% roll under are not easily mappable to each other.

QuoteNow, if you included a conversion to Traveller in it; I bet you'd double your sales.

RPGPundit

Probably. If writing settings for Traveller were something I was even vaguely interested in doing, I would certainly do so. On the other hand, if I were particularly famished for money, I wouldn't be designing TRPGs, would I?

In any case, I have never attempted to go after the Traveller crowd. Traveller grognards live in the most perfect of worlds, whichever particular world (Classic, New Era, Mongoose, Whatever) that is, and not only have no interest in emigrating, but would happily nuke your world from orbit for daring to try to change anything. I leave them alone and count myself blessed.

-clash

That's probably wise of you.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;434674That's probably wise of you.

RPGPundit

I see you know the Trav grogs as well as I do...

-clash

See what happens when you try?

-clash

Haha!  But that cover (sans bullets, or maybe with) only makes me want it even more.

RPGPundit

Funny enough, me too Pundit. Me too.

Then someone with the Developers Edition license - and a license from Mongoose, of course! - should write it. Nothing is stopping them.

-clash