A new Stars Without Number (SWN) supplement dropped five days ago, and I missed it!
How could I? It’s not like any important event happened this past weekend around February 14th, or that I’ve been sick since last week… okay, maybe I have excuses. But honestly? I feel like I should turn in my fan card.
If you’ve followed me here on the blog, on social media, or if you read Part 1 of my recent posts about my current favorite TTRPGs, you know that (quoting myself from somewhere online), “I worship at the altar of Kevin Crawford.”
I am a huge fan of his corpus. There are a few TTRPG authors whose works I support in crowdfunding or buy sight unseen as soon as they are out. Kevin Crawford of Sine Nomine Publishing is one of them.
(Bruce Heard is another such creator, by the way, and he recently announced his next project for the World of Calidar. I’ll be sure to share more information on that as it becomes available. But I digress.)
The new supplement for SWN is titled Proteus Sector: A Gazetteer for Stars Without Number.
This gazetteer and rule expansion was created as part of Mr. Crawford’s latest Kickstarter campaign for a reprint of the offset edition of Stars Without Number: Revised. His Kickstarters are a masterclass in running an effective campaign: he never overpromises, communicates clearly, and is always on time—if not early.
I’ve backed 12 of his 14 Kickstarter projects. I only missed Spears of Dawn (his first, which I eventually got!) and this latest one.
Here is why I missed it: When I read that the rewards would include the Proteus Sector, I was tempted. But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I already own two offset copies of SWN, plus a POD copy I got for table use. Not to mention a POD copy of the original edition. I think I own every supplement Crawford has published in print or PDF.
I couldn’t justify buying a new core book just to get the PDF of the supplement. I contacted Mr. Crawford to see if there was a reward level for the Proteus Sector alone, and he told me the book would be available as a PDF and POD on DriveThruRPG later.
True to his word, the book is available now by clicking this link. It’s an 83-page PDF for $14.99 and a softcover POD for $24.99 (which includes the PDF).
Is it worth it? Oh yeah.
A Short, Spoiler-Free Review
The book is part gazetteer, part rule expansion, and another winning entry in the Stars Without Number line.
The layout follows the classic Sine Nomine style we know and love. This book feels denser with illustrations than the core book, and the interior art is excellent and fits the tone perfectly. It includes a detailed description of a very interesting sector of space, including government structures, and every planet described gets its own image.
Kevin Crawford is all about making books usable. He provides tools to make a GM’s life easier, and this is no exception. Besides an excellent setting that continues to flesh out the default SWN universe, it includes a one-page player’s guide to the sector, plus tools and ideas on how to connect this sector to your existing campaigns. Planets include all sorts of details, adventure hooks, and NPCs. It empowers the GM rather than constraining them.
The Mechanics (The Good Stuff)
While I love the content as a source of ideas, I am a homebrewer at heart. What I really want are the rules.
Crawford’s work is renowned as a toolbox that can technically be used for any system, but I really love his version of the classic D&D B/X engine. Proteus Sector adds some great new levers to pull:
- Smuggling & Trade: It includes a simple smuggling and trade system—much simpler than the one presented in Suns of Gold. This is likely the one I would use at the table going forward.
- Augmentations: There are very interesting rules for augmenting characters and abilities that feel a lot like proto-ideas for a superhero game. (We can hope for Capes Without Number someday, can’t we?)
- Genetics: There are rules for genetically modified beings. This might finally be the tool I need to make that Buck Rogers XXVc conversion I’ve been thinking about for almost 10 years now. (Gennies Without Number, anyone?)
- Cybernetics: There are new, more powerful, almost mythical cybernetic rules. The book discusses how these differ from the main rules and how to adapt the cybernetics from Ashes Without Number for use in SWN.
- Combat: New opponents appropriate for the sector, as well as new starship systems, weapons, and rules to accommodate them within the existing starship combat framework.
One Caveat
I will admit that the cover and title design for Proteus Sector seemed off at first. I wasn’t a fan at first glance, but after reading the book, I understood the choice. It is a very evocative, certainly OSR-looking cover, but it’s my least favorite of the SWN books’ covers.
Final Verdict
I said it before, but I’ll say it again: this book is worth your time and your money.
If you are a fan of Stars Without Number, you’ll find something to use. If you want a sector to drop into your game—even if it’s not SWN—you’ll find something you can use here. I know I certainly will get a lot of mileage out of it.
I wholeheartedly recommend it.
