Welcome back heroes, long time no see!

As many of you probably already know, we’re currently writing a new TTRPG: Against the Starmaster.

Think of it as a sort of Against the Darkmaster but in spaaaace! It’s got everything you need to play epic starfaring adventures across the galaxy: heroes, scoundrels, starships, laser guns, extreme planets, and, of course, a Starmaster pulling strings from the shadows…

The playtest is going strong. We’re further streamlining the Open00 system and ironing out a lot of smaller and bigger issues we find while testing stuff out. Oh, and we’ve just added vehicle rules in the latest open playtest package. Go over to our website and grab it if you haven’t already done so.

But today we want to talk about skills: we cut three skills from the list present in the open playtest rules and added three new ones. Here’s why.

What We Cut

When we first wrote the skill list, we tried to cover what characters in a space opera actually do. Things like fight, fly starships, fast-talk, survive, tinker, and so on. We mapped all these actions into a skill list and called it a day. Then we playtested it. A lot.

Hunter went first. Tracking, ambushing, living off alien wilderness… sounds useful, except Survival already covered all of it. In practice, playtesters either forgot the Hunter Skill even existed or couldn’t figure out which Skill applied in a given situation. So we decided it had to go.

Security had a similar problem: too much overlap with other skills such as Trickery, Stealth, and, in come cases, Computers. Bypassing a lock, cutting an alarm, sneaking past a guard post, hacking into a system… we often found ourselves arguing about which skill covered it. GMs had to make arbitrary calls. In the end, we decided the game needed something much clearer.

Trickery felt a bit weak and, in some cases, vague. Not as big as a problem as the other two, though, so it kinda survived, but not unchanged, as we’ll see in a moment.

What We Added

Roguery is Trickery’s replacement. We’ve kept its core concept (sleight of hand, pickpocket, general misdirection) but expanded the scope. Roguery covers the full width of criminal activities. Things like picking pockets, cracking locks, pulling off a convincing disguise, running a con, and so on.

Explosives was an embarrassing gap. PCs in this game love to blow things up. They raid Starmaster bases, blow open cargo holds, and occasionally destroy an entire facility as a distraction. We had no Skill for it. Playtesters were improvising with Skills like Mehcanics or Artillery and it simply didn’t feel right. Fixed.

Underworld is Roguery’s social side. Finding a reliable pilot in a wretched hive of scum and villainy, working out who actually runs a lawless station before you knock on the wrong door. This cameup constantly in playtesting and we kept having to hand-wave it. Not anymore.

What Now

Other rules are probably going to change a bit as the playtest continues and we keep working at the system. That’s what this phase is for, after all. We’ll try and keep you people updated on our progress here on this blog and on our Discord.

Speaking of Discord. If you’ve run the introductory adventure, or you’ve been tinkering with Against the Starmaster and have thoughts or questions, come find us on Discord.We’ll be happy to hear your thoughts!