I took a look at White Star some time back, and found it very much to
my liking, it’s not that it’s anything particularly ground-breaking, it’s just
a harkening back to the days of old, when rules were things that you had to
figure out for yourself rather than having them all put forwards for you. That said, I’m a great fan of the science
fiction of old, the books I grew up with, and so when I found a game that
combined the two, well…
It had to be investigated…
Disclaimer, Luca gave me a copy of this while I was off duty at Expo
for review purposes.
Dare the Stars is a new book from Wild Boar Games, using the spirit of
the White Star rules and expanding on it to make their own universe. There are a variety of new equipment,
vehicles, starships, and character classes, and it can be used as a stand-alone
book without having to make reference to the White Star MRB.
While it is a full book in its own right, there isn’t much to
differentiate it from the White Star Main rules. There are a few new things, new ships, new
weapons, new creatures, but not enough of a universe to show the creators
vision of the future. The artwork is basic, and very reminiscent of the days of
old (which is always good), which works very well for conveying the feel of the
world as it is, but there’s not sufficient of it to convey as much of the
universe you want to know about.
That said, I do know something of this book and its history, and I know
that Luca had to rush the game to get it out in time for Expo, and that it
doesn’t contain his full vision, so while this is an excellent start, I’m
holding my full review for when I hold the final product in my hands.
Meantime, this is good stuff, well worth the low price to get into OSR
space gaming…
