Learning Starforged: Getting Started

I've played Starforged once and enjoyed it, but only recently picked up a copy myself. Chapter 2 -  Basics - seemed pretty complicated on a first read, but I remember that playing it felt pretty smooth. So clearly the way to go on this is to play a solo game and see how it goes. I'm going to work through this in blog form. So on to Chapter 2: launching your campaign.

First up is defining your campaign setting. This is a fairly large section with fourteen categories to define aspects of the setting. After a quick browse through these I've concluded this would be a lot more fun to do with a group. For my solo game I'm going to base things on a tried and tested setting that I've used in multiple game systems and always enjoy playing with: the Firefly Verse.

Character Creation

Now to make a character. I've got the asset cards ready, so I need to choose two paths. There's a table with some inspiration, and rather than roll, I've let my eyes be drawn to something that looks interesting. Fugutive hunter. That gets me the assets Armoured and Bounty Hunter.

Well I guess I'm playing the Mandalorian. That's cool.

Next is a backstory. Again there's a table of prompts. Rather than roll I've had a read, and several of them have sort of mashed together in my head. My character's family ran a successful business. I initially thought restaurant, but let's go upscale a bit and make it a casino. Then organised crime got involved, in the shape of Niska, and when her family refused to pay protection money, there was an attack. She escaped, but her family were killed and Niska now runs the casino. Her hatred of criminals lead her down the road of fugitive hunting.

And that leads me nicely onto the next step of writing her background vow. It's her primary motivation. I'll keep it simple. Destroy Niska.

Now I need a spaceship. I need a history for it, and one option in the table is stealing it from a notorious crime boss. So that was one of her early attacks on Niska's organisation, more a minor snub than actual harm, but it gives her satisfaction to know she's taken something from him. There's another table to give it some unique features, and this time I will roll. 39. It looks defenseless, but exterior panels open to reveal weapons. Perfect. Another roll. 16. Gravity generator is notoriously fickle. Yes, those weapons are an after-market add-on and whoever fitted them did a shoddy job with the wiring, meaning they keep pulling power from the gravity generator. A roll on the starship name generator gives me a name for it: Manta.

Now I need one more asset, and I'm going to go for a support vehicle so she can get around planetside. The hoverbike seems like a good choice for a solo bounty hunter.

Stats are next, and by now I think I know what sort of person she is, so here goes:

• Edge 2
• Heart 1
• Iron 2
• Shadow 1
• Wits 3

Just a few more details to add now. She's female but androgenous looking with short cropped hair, not that most people can tell that as she keeps her armour on most of the time. She acts aloof but that's got more to do with a fear of getting close to people in case they get hurt - or she has to hurt them. Rolling on the name generator gives me Yelena Pearson, callsign Spider. She prefers to use the callsign at all times, as her regular name reminds her too much of her past.

And finally, equipment. I don't have to go shopping! Wonderful. Yelena has all the normal weapons and stuff a bounty hunter would carry, and a small toolkit for hoverbike repairs. She needs an item for swearing iron vows upon, and obviously that has to be a poker chip with the name of her parents' casino.

Starting Sector

The book says this part can be skipped for a more freeform galaxy, but I want to engage with this a bit. I'm keeping it simple for now and just creating one settlement on a planet whose details I've made up myself. I'm going for a mix of rolling dice and picking interesting options.

Paxton is a small settlement engaged in agriculture and hunting. It would look like a rustic idyll, were it not for its defenses - the pallisade wall and watchtower are an intimidating sight as you approach the town. The town mayor keeps a firm grip on everything that goes on in town. Paxton is between two larger settlements that are constantly feuding, and is often caught in the crossfire. With that in mind, the defenses make more sense.

Now Spider needs a local connection. Leader is an option for their role, so let's make it the mayor. Vesper Frost is easy to underestimate at first sight, but she rules Paxton with an iron fist and is as ice cold as her name suggests. She's got enough power to make her dangerous.

Finally, a roll on the sector trouble table gives me a raider clan emerging as a dominant threat under a new leader.

Begin The Adventure

And so it's time to choose an inciting incident and set out on a sworn quest. I have something in mind now, based on what I've got so far. Paxton has once again found itself caught in the crossfire, but this time someone's been taken. Vesper has reached out to Spider for help bringing them back. But for this to be worth swearing an iron vow, it needs to be personal. The missing person is Vesper's daughter Kaisa. She's a spacer and hasn't been back to Paxton in years. Spider was the one who persuaded her she should visit her mother.

And with that, I'm ready to begin.