Pick #58: Stars Without Number is indeed Rather Good

What happens when you mix and match two of the most classic and earliest role playing games? If it's Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller, then you might end up with Stars Without Number. And it's not a bad mix at all. In fact, if you missed the buzz, you missed something good.

Science Fiction Role Playing with D&D like rules. Sci Fi with hit points. Endless world profiles. Adventure seeds by the hundreds. A universe to discover. Actually to discover - because it's not set. You just get a lot of tools to build your own. And you can actually use these tools in any system.

Designer Kevin Crawford somehow managed to capture the feel of both games, and preserve the better parts. And then add some more. Stars Without Number somehow invites to play. That's something most newer Traveller editions failed, compared to the first version. So I consider that a feat.

One gripe? Personally I would not have chosen to mix Traveller with D&D. Because I think D&D does not work well below 3^rd level characters or above 8^th – that's for beginning games and advanced games. Even if it works well enough in between. But SWN did it with flair, and makes me wonder – could it work? Download it for free, or buy a print (may well be worth the dollars) and decide. Or try it too.

Update 1: Just got mine in the mail, and am not sorry at all. Looks worth the money for the inspiration alone already. Good.

Update 2: Kevin is working on the Mongoose edition of SWN, with 40 extra pages, only to be printed in hardback, this september, for about $40.