Thousand Suns (RGG1000) [Perfect Paperback]

James Maliszewski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2008

*Double shadows falling across alien ruins as twin suns shine down upon a team of interstellar archaeologists. *Squadrons of starfighters engaged in a desperate battle amidst a fleet of kilometer-long battleships. *A grav car flying through the spires of the world-girdling city that is the galactic capital. *A tense meeting with alien diplomats to resolve a border dispute. *Space marines pouring into the corridors of a pirate vessel after they've blasted their way through its hull. These are but a few images from the Thousand Suns, the volume of space humanity inhabits millennia from now. Comprising hundreds of inhabited worlds and dozens of alien species, it is ripe with possibilities for individuals bold enough to seize them. Strap on your blaster pistol, grab your space suit, and get ready to journey into the future as imagined by the greatest writers of the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Thousand Suns is a science fiction roleplaying game that includes all the rules needed to play. In addition, it describes the Thousand Suns setting, detailing its worlds, alien races, and conflicts. The setting provides not only lots of detail but plenty of options as well, allowing Game Masters to tailor it to suit their needs. Everything from world building to starship combat to alien species creation is here, so that nothing stands in way of creating the ultimate science fiction adventure.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Rogue Games, Inc. (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979636116
• ISBN-13: 978-0979636110
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #534,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Impeial Sci-Fi Game!, August 7, 2010

By 

Jason D. Smith "DnDorks.com" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Thousand Suns (Kindle Edition)

Other reviewers have said it better, but it's a solid system. I am not a huge fan of imperial science fiction, but this game hits all of the right notes.

The use of "hooks" to give PCs bonuses while at the same time adding depth to the character and setting is great. The skill system is appropriately flexible and combat is very fast and dangerous, which is awesome because it encourages non-violent solutions to problems. And they don't leave you hanging there, either, because there is a sytem in place to influence NPCs (and PCs) with your social skills that is more than just "one roll mind control".

On the other hand, those social rules could have used some more examples and support, and the organiztion and layout need some work.

That said, it still does a better job than most RPGs of the sort and the author obviously knows the genre.

If my friend ever convinces me to play an "Honor Harrington" RPG, this would be my first choice for a system.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Brilliant RPG Alternative to Traveller, September 5, 2008

By 

ROBERT W. SAINTJOHN "I am The Pumpkin King" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thousand Suns (RGG1000) (Perfect Paperback)

James Maliszewski's "Thousand Suns" RPG is a game for which I've been waiting a long time, and I didn't even realize it.

Some of my passions as a teenager were the novels of Isaac Asimov, H. Beam Piper and Pournelle/Niven, and; roleplaying games such as "Traveller" (for sci-fi) and Steve Jackson's "The Fantasy Trip" (a very accessible alternative at the time to D&D).

At the time, Traveller seemed like a good way to mix the RPG experience with the grand Imperial Space Navies of the books I loved, but for some reason it never completely clicked for me. Too much number crunching, and the atmosphere of the game didn't feel right unless you were playing in the Imperium setting. SPI's "Universe" could have been a contender, but it was a little too dry with virtually no atmosphere, and SPI died soon after in any case. For me, it seemed that nearly 30 years passed with no real hope of finding the right SF RPG.

"Thousand Suns" has changed all that. It's like they got into my head! The rules, using their own 12° game mechanics (as opposed to something like D20) are lightweight and very accessible. It's extremely easy to quickly create some characters with great depth and background. Where "Thousand Suns" really shines, though, is how it handles the setting of the game. In some ways it's very minimal, allowing the GM to superimpose nearly any "Imperial SF" style setting (established or their own) into the game. At the same time, it's not generic. Maliszewski gives the reader just enough structure and resources that the game is definitely geared toward establishing the atmosphere I was looking for. He does define a "Meta Setting" with its own history, organizations, aliens and so on (a good one at that, sort of a "Best of All Worlds" approach), but the reader won't feel compelled to use it word for word. It's simply a great set of resources.

As I said, Character Creation is fast and novel, gameplay is as well. The rules aren't exceptionally crunchy, definitely "role" as opposed to "roll". The only thing that feels a little too light are guidelines and rules for World Creation and Starship Construction. Admittedly, I bring my Traveller expectations to this game, so I was looking for a little more depth in these sections; at least on par with the detail and options made available for Characters. The good news is that some of this should be remedied very soon by Rogue Games' follow-up books, "Pilot's Guide to the Core Worlds" and "Fighting Ships of the Thousand Suns". They should flesh out the details a little deeper. Nevertheless, what's there now is enough, so I don't want to imply that "Thousand Suns" isn't a complete game.

A few small criticisms I must mention. The book really needed better reference sections. The Table of Contents is chapter titles only, and there is no Index. Also, the editing should have been a little tighter. Section and Topic headers are hard to distinguish, and there are a small number of typos and omissions that require an errata. Fortunately, Rogue Games seems to be doing a bang-up job building an online user community around the game, so these things are being addressed as well.

All in all, a great game with even greater potential. I've purchased both the book and an electronic copy, and I'm already hard at work building my own Meta Setting. Can't wait to see what comes next from these guys!