Love TBH and anything that even remotely resembles it. TAHA along with its cousin By This Axe I Hack not only resemble TBH, they take the best aspects of the system and turn them up to 11 then somehow manage to make everything better the more familiar with them you become. These are my go to favorite games/systems to not only run and play, but introduce to people new to the hobby. I know this is a simple form-fillable character sheet, but it's the promise (in the description, which I read of course) of a new supplement for TAHA that has me typing this. Buy any of these games and you will not be disappointed. OSR players would be completely remiss as true diehard fans by not owning these gems. Thanks a million for all that you do LakeSide (especially TBH-like material) and keep up the great work!

This is a great addition to the Black Star Game. The base game leans heavily into a galaxy far, far away, but doesn't constrain a story there. This book really opens up the potential for running games in a number of other fan favorite settings, or your own.

What a fun game! It's pretty light on the rules, but not too light. There's a lot of room to play in a galaxy far, far away, but the tools provided can easily afford one to play in many space opera settings, hard or soft.

Running this game is a snap. NPCs are primarily tag-based, so it's easy to build and run them. Making characters is very quick, particularly if one person has done it before.

Do yourself a favor and pick up the companion book too. This provides a robust expansion to an already robust game.

TL:DR: Get this all-in-one rpg. I have been looking for a d20 rpg-lite system to run a Westmarch style homebrew campaign, but still close enough to re-skin some of the classic DnD modules. There And Hack Again (TAHA) is a fully fledged rpg that can be played right out of the box. Between the character Archtypes and the Boons, any sort of classic Tolkein character can be played, with options allowing GM-approved characters such as a Spellsword, or DEX-based Warriors, Champions or Rangers. Note there is no classic "Cleric" class in TAHA. The Druid class can heal in a pinch, but there are many other sources of healing that a party without a Druid would not be penalised. The absence of a "healbot" class allows for deeper roleplay and wider tactical considerations. The Faith, Dread and Despair mechanics are a highlight, as players must now consider their mental resilience when facing terrible foes, or dealing with the elements, such as snow storms. This system is simple enough for a one-shot, but also has the meat and potatoes for a fully-fledged campaign. I would encourage the author to consider a version 2 with a comprehensive example of play and a starting adventure, as this would make it more accessible to those with little or no knowledge of OSR-style games. I would personally appreciate the author's take on Character Origins. Publisher follow-up notification clicked for version 2 ;-)

This is a great rule-light system. It has become my go-to for sci-fi one-shots. Purchasing the companion is recommended. Using Resolve as health and action points is a feature I really like.

If you're looking for a fast and fun heroic space opera game, you found it. I would also strongly encourage you to go ahead and buy the Black Star Companion as the two together seem to feel more complete.

A very fun, easy to play RPG. The game does not pretend to be anything else than its seems. No surprise, you can use it to play in your favorite Space Opera setting or make your own Sci Fi universe ! The thing i like the most is the Resolve, both hero points AND health points ! Very clever.

The only criticism I'll make is that the companion is essential to have the best experience. Definitively the Beers & Bretzels RPG you're looking for.

An amazing game that has provided hours and hours of fun for me and my children. I can't recommend it enough for people that appreciate Star Wars and rules light systems. Full review at my blog https://lonelygm.blogspot.com/2023/10/augury-blast-star.html.

Black Star might just be my favourite RPG right now. It's tempting to underestimate the small-format rule-lite Core book, but don't be fooled - Black Star has depth and flexibility as well as being very, very playable.

The game mechanics make sense and work for various play situations, are satisfyingly complex while still being fast and fun and easy to play. It's adaptable to a massive range of campaign settings and is going to be my go-to for science fiction roleplaying in the future

I'm embarrassed that I didn't get round to writing this review sooner. Black Star is a fantastic little game which perfectly emulates a certain setting in a galaxy far, far way and any other type of space fantasy/space opera which your heart may desire. I've run the game in THAT setting already and it went very well. If you had told me that I would find a game that could supplant the D6 system for games in that style then I wouldn't have believed you, but here we are. I've found the system to be so versatile that i've already statted up characters from the British TV show Blakes 7 with ease, and i'm also going to use it to run a 1930's set pulp adventure game. So basically I can't recommend it highly enough.

I've always loved running games, it's great fun being able to tell a story with your pals. For a while though, I've found a lot of systems require a lot of prep work and a lot of book keeping to run properly and smoothly. There's been an itch I've wanted scratching for a while.

Along comes Black Star, which promises a rules light approach to roleplay, emphasising ease-of-use to tell a story, and a player-facing system to ensure they're the ones in the limelight. And on these promises, this game delivers. The 2d6 with bonus/penalty system is wonerfully elegant, and having the same target number to succeed removes a lot of the tedium with difficulty scores and enemy modifiers and such. There are a good number of skills, talents, and equipment listed in the book to choose from to really tailor make your character however you see fit, and creating additional options yourself with homebrew is wonderfully simple due to how straightfoward the system is. While the inspiration for its setting and presentation are obvious, you can just about use these rules for any science-fiction/cyberpunky setting you can think of.

Combat is wonderfully streamlined, making focusing on dramatic action and setpieces all the easier without the need to track things like actions, hit points, initiative, etc. A player has a turn, then an NPC has a turn, and this alternates until the round is complete. Attacking is as simple as making a roll and if you succeed then you shoot a guy. Being attacked is as simple as rolling a defense roll to not take damage. The core of this system also applies to space combat, which in a lot of other science fiction roleplaying games, usually becomes an entirely separate subsystem with its own tedium and several new moving parts to juggle and track.

Overall, Black Star is a great lightweight science-fiction RPG for those who don't like the granular, number-crunchiness of some other combat-focused RPGs, and who prefer a fast moving engine for storytelling and roleplaying. Its relatively small word and page count make it an especially excellent RPG for beginners or for veterans on-the-go looking for something to learn quickly and improvise with.

Hey, kid. The Black Star Companion is a blazing good add-on to the Black Star game. What? You hadn't picked up Black Star yet? At THAT price? C'mon. I can't do everything for you, not when I've got a load of Qortavian cabbages decomposing in the hold. Get Black Star, get the Companion (which gives you new options for races, archetypes, talents, some new rules modules, some new ships, advice on other play styles, and an inside look at common questions, oh, and is also an insane bargain for value), and get flying!

Great supplement to a fun game, it provides some great additional content that really helps round out the game. The sample aliens, the foes and the addition of the Psychic class are appreciated. If you like/have the core Black Star rules, you need to pick this up, it will make a fun game even better!

Not as clumsy or random as (insert licensed space opera game name here); an elegant system for a more civilized age.

Other reviewers have covered the system before (which provided the motivation to buy this game and the companion), so these are impressions gained from a thorough reading.

Player-only dice rolls make this easy to adapt for GM-less or solo games.

Simple rules for different enemy types and combat scaling allow for cinematic scenes that can also be adapted to other genres. E.g. a high fantasy game might treat a dragon as a Villain with multiple Hits that uses the vehicle scale.

Similarly the rules for Conflict and falling to Darkness can easily be adapted to other settings and genres. Think sorcerors becoming corrupted by summoning beings that humanity was not meant to know of, in a typical swords and sandals or Lovecraftian setting.

Some other systems dedicate an entire chapter to rules covering chases...Black Star uses one paragraph that manages to cover the essentials while allowing room for narration.

Ridiculously good value for both the core rules and companion.

This is an excellent little supplement for an already excellent game. It adds some great optional content to allow you to branch away a bit from the setting which inspired it, without detracting from the original game. The additions are neat and perfectly in line with the core rules. Fantastic value for money and I can't recommend it highly enough. A previous reviewer has summarised these additions perfectly so i'll just say buy it!! (Waves hand) "This is the book you're looking for..."