A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…
It is the height of the galactic civil war and a dark time for the galaxy. The tension between the Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance continues to escalate into the year. The Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the death star are critical successes for the rebellion. A new hope is born. Infuriated by the defeat, Emperor Palpatine viciously lashes out against many of the Outer Rim worlds thought to be harboring people loyal to the rebel cause. The dusty desert planet of Tatooine is no exception. In the city of Mos Eisley, celebration erupts in the streets as news of the rebel victory at Yavin leaks out, but Imperial Storm Troopers open fire on the raucous crowd, inciting a riot that gets out of control and spreads throughout the whole city.
An Imperial police crackdown falls into effect immediately, but the Storm Troopers are highly outnumbered despite the presence of a fully staffed garrison base in the center of the spaceport. The chaos in the city creates for an opportunity rebel militia and criminal elements in the area. The local gangs and mercenary houses use the confusion of the riot to strike at each other, spurred by various feuds and grievances. At the same time, local rebel forces begin to skirmish with the imperial occupancy while recruiting more and more disgruntled people to the cause. It‟s a turbulent time in Mos Eisley and the power players are making their moves, so look sharp, keep your blaster close, and never strike a deal with a Hutt.
Oh, and may the force be with you.
This is my latest project. It’s a quick-play hack set in the Star Wars universe during the peak of the galactic civil war, just after the destruction of the first Death Star. It is directly influenced by Michael Wight’s Streets of Marienburg Playset which is a reskin for John Harper’s World of Dungeons, which is a distilled version of Dungeon World by Sage LaTorra and Adam Koebel. Ultimately, it’s all based on Apocalypse World by Vincent Baker. The art has been shamelessly borrowed from Wookiepedia.
Click here to download v2.1 (Now with more droids!)
Sentient Games 
artikid
December 30, 2012 at 1:44 pm
Hi, nice little game.
However my impression is that the ability names are not very intuitive, I’d go back to playset 1 and classic names.
Btw how do descriptors for vehicles affect the game (thinking about dangerous under speederbike)?
artikid
December 30, 2012 at 1:57 pm
… And what about Droids or a Techie class?
Zack Wolf
December 31, 2012 at 3:30 am
Thanks for the feedback! I’m working on adding droids in now. As for a techie class, I kinda decided to split the tech-based Abilities(particularly slicer, gearhead, and bush pilot) between Outlanders and Scoundrels. So you can still be a techie – just which kind are you, a hacker, an ace pilot, or a mechanic?
The tags are just fictional keywords that should be incorporated into the fiction when using that item. Whenever you’re operating a speederbike, instill the inherent danger of the vehicle into the fiction.
You can read the discussion thread here. We talk about the stat label changes a bit. I understand people more familiar with tradition games might be more comfortable with old-school labels, so I might release both versions just cause it’s a pretty simple change.
Zack Wolf
December 31, 2012 at 4:53 pm
Version 2.1 is now up with the Droid “Species” and Class combo. Beta version or whatever. Thanks to Keith Stetson for the inspiration!
artikid
January 1, 2013 at 3:15 pm
Thank you!
I may be a nitpicker:
Should droids be forbidden access to Force powers (I’m not a Star Wars expert)?
Maybe you’d want to add a page on DW basics (like the fact that the game is player-facing and the Gm never rolls a die) taken from the DW Beginner’s Guide. It would help newbies a lot and make the game really complete.
Happy New Year!
Zack Wolf
February 7, 2013 at 10:19 pm
Thanks for the feedback Artikid! That’s a good idea. I’m working on a new Streets of… right now and I plan to include a “how to” section that I can graft onto Mos Eisley once I’m done. I’ll have another update in a month or so.
Chugosh = Mike H
March 4, 2013 at 2:02 am
I’m going to run this on Saturday, and I’m just going to have to wing the rules. I have very little idea what the game is supposed to be played like, but I love the feel of the document.
rob-jr
March 26, 2013 at 2:19 am
I read and read and yet I cannot find anything that have to do with experience point. Other than that this is a very good game! Good work!
Zack Wolf
March 26, 2013 at 5:10 pm
@rob-jr
Check out the Hero Points section. It explains how to earn Hero Points. When you spend a Hero Point, you gain an Experience Point.
Luke Heinen
November 9, 2013 at 8:14 am
I just discovered your site, and I gotta say I love it. I’m in the middle of hacking some systems myself right now, but I love what you have done for Star Wars… I now want to run a starwars campaign using Star Worlds.
The other hacks are all great as well, though I haven’t fully read them. I plan to add some more info, such as images of the Races, and more Worlds to be visited. When I’m done would it be cool if I showed it to U?
Also StarWorlds would be easily hacked into Firefly. Remove Aliens and Droids, and Jedi. Then I would only have to add a couple classes. The Noble class already fits perfectly.
Zack Wolf
December 10, 2013 at 7:32 pm
I would love to see what you end up with, especially if you’re looking at doing a Firefly hack!
mjorkk
December 9, 2013 at 5:56 am
So it has plenty of deets on damage, armor, and weapons, but how does one actually attack an enemy in this system? Any particular stat used? Any particular skill? Or does damage just happen every round like a FF game? WHat’s more, are there turns?
Zack Wolf
December 10, 2013 at 7:34 pm
Simple question, but pretty long answer. The game is derived from Apocalypse World by Vincent Baker, so if you really want to learn how to play, that’s where to start. I wrote a pretty long winded explanation a while back – I’ll post for you soon.
Chico Martellini
April 28, 2014 at 12:58 pm
Hi!
I’m a brazilian blogger and really like your hack. In Brazil and Portugal, we have some similar games, made by João Mariano from Portugal, based on the World of Dungeons (i even made a sci-fi version, called Distant Stars, for the RPGenesis last year, still in development).
This week, i will post the first article from my new blog especialized in science fiction role-playing games, and for the future, really like to translate your game to the portuguese. Is this possible (and if the answer is yes, i would appreciate if you could send the indesign files or the specifications from the diagramming)?
Allons-y!
Zack Wolf
April 30, 2014 at 9:48 pm
Yes sir! You’re free to do as you please with it. I have the file in Word and a half-finished InDesign version. This was the last project I did outside of InDesign and never finished the InDesign version. I’ll post the source files here shortly.
Chico
May 1, 2014 at 12:55 am
Thank you! I’ll start the translation and I’ll be waiting you post the source files. When I finish, I’ll post the link for the translation here in the comments.
Zack Wolf
May 6, 2014 at 1:17 pm
I’ll send them to you directly. Shoot me an email at sentientgames at gmail dot com and I’ll reply with the files attached.
Alisson Vitório
May 8, 2014 at 7:29 pm
Wow! What a nice coincidence! I’m brazilian too! I’ve just started the translation and I came here just to give a look if you posted some updates.
It was a nice surprise when I found my comrade Chico asking you for files. I’m doing a colaborative translation and I invited the members of Dungeon World group on facebook to help me, they’re really excited.
Is there any update since the 2.1 version?
I have another question, when do you forgo a skill to get access to a multiclass ability, you get an ability on that level (trading off) or you just get the access and choose them on the next level?
Zack Wolf
May 13, 2014 at 7:31 pm
Glad you guys are excited about the project! There haven’t been any updates since 2.1 – I’ve been fruitlessly working on other projects.
I believe the idea of forgoing a Skill was just to gain access to the class’s talents, so that you can pick a talent from that class next level.
Alisson Vitório
May 14, 2014 at 12:39 am
Thanks for the explanation Zack, one more doubt to go:
On the Character Creation section:
“Choose a Species from the list on the next page, gaining whatever benefits are described for that Species. Note that some species have different maximums for particular Attributes to represent how they skew from the human norm. If one of your Attributes is above the species maximum, you cannot pick that species. Choose a name from those available or make up a fitting one. Pick a species skill and choose any other one skill, so you should start with two skills total. Some species have specialized skills unique to the biology or culture of that species. The GM will help with these. Note that the droid “species” must always be paired with the Droid class.
Next, choose a Class. You can be a Jedi, a Soldier, an Outlander, a Scoundrel, a Noble, or a Droid. From your chosen class, select two Abilities from those listed, except for Jedi who start with a light saber and select one Ability from their list”.
Ok, the player should start with two skills total, but some classes offer one aditional skill…
Besides that, some classes offer just one Ability and one Skill, when you said “select two Abilities from those listed”, would the player take two Abilities plus what’s described on his class?
For example:
I want to play with The Soldier on the beggining of my campaign, should I choose 3 Abilities (2 as described on Character Creation plus 1 as instructed on the class page) and 3 skills? (1 from Species, 1 for free as described on Character Creation plus 1 as instructed on the class page)
It’s a bit confusing…
Zack Wolf
May 19, 2014 at 1:23 pm
Hey Alisson!
Sorry for the delayed response. I’ve been logged into another account and was not getting the email notifications for some reason… I must have changed something without remembering.
Anyhow, looking back at the game – you’re right! Totally didn’t realize all that confusing crap is in there.
So, this is how it should be:
SKILLS: You get one from your species, and you get to pick one on your own. No class descriptions should give you a skill.
ABILITIES: Everyone should get to pick two abilities, except for the Jedi that picks one ability and gets a lightsaber. None of the class descriptions should contradict that.
Looks like some old, defunct instructions were left in there. I hope this clarification helps! I need to stop being lazy and fix the problems in the original doc…
Alisson Vitório
June 25, 2014 at 6:29 pm
One more question mr. Zack: Would the player choose 2 skills when creating a Droid? Or he’d choose just one and getting the Automaton as instructed?
Zack Wolf
June 27, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Man, I really need to go back and fix all that stuff. It’s embarrassing…
Anyway, as written it looks to me like you get a Skill from your Race, a Skill of your choice (so you get those two regardless of your class). Then, some classes get an extra Skill, like the Soldier gets Athletics. So if you were a wookie soldier, you could start with Survival (Wookie), Athletics (Soldier), and one more of your choice, like Treatment.
But you could totally remove the bonus class skills. You get a Skill from your race and then one of your choice and that’s it. It’s not really a game balance thing – it’s up to you how you’d want to go about it. I think two skills is probably fine to start with, though bonus class skills could be a nice way to make non-jedi characters more capable.
What do you think?
EDIT: Oh, to answer your question, the droid should get two skills: Any one skill for being a droid, and another skill of your choice.
John V.
January 22, 2015 at 10:35 pm
Hey, this is really cool! I’m getting ready to run this in a few days, and I’m not sure if you check back on comments here often enough to see this in time, but I’m wondering about “speed.” Did I miss something in the instructions for determining a speed score? There appear to be two weights of armor, so I was thinking maybe they could be -1 and -2. Speed would start out at 0, with a penalty for armor and then adding your Daring modifier.
Zack Wolf
January 23, 2015 at 1:57 pm
Hey John! Speed is actually covered on page 13 under “Speed and Armor”. The type of armor you have determines your Speed. If you’re not wearing any armor, your speed is Sprint. In light armor your speed is Run. In heavy armor, your speed is Jog. They’re not numerically important and don’t need mechanics to back them, rather they’re just comparative ideas. Is your character Sprinting while I can only Jog? No need to roll, you’re faster than me. Do we have the same speed? Roll Daring to see who can push harder!
Make sense?
John V.
January 23, 2015 at 2:10 pm
Wow, thanks so much for the response! I was looking at that same page where you wrote “Whenever a question of ‘who goes first’ […] comes into play, refer to the speed of the characters first, and then a Daring roll if it’s a tie.” If it’s not about running, but more like a D&D “initiative” situation, I suppose one could still use Sprint-Run-Jog, but I think I might like using a 3-2-1 designator instead. Same effect, but feels simpler to me. (Importantly, Speed doesn’t change the fact that Han shoots first. Greedo isn’t doesn’t even see it coming.) Thanks again for responding, Zack, and again, cool game!
Zack Wolf
January 23, 2015 at 2:31 pm
No problem! Hack it up! The philosophy behind this game is that there is no initiative – though players often find themselves asking “which one of these two characters is faster than the other”, which should usually come down to established facts about the characters or the world. If they’re almost the same level of fastness, then decide who is the “aggressor” and who is the “defender” in whatever capacity, and let the aggressor roll against the defender.
Thiago
February 22, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Hi Zack, do you have the basic move list, like “last breath”, “hack and slash”, and others? were they adapted to the new attributes???
Zack Wolf
May 1, 2015 at 12:33 pm
Sorry! I don’t – but I may come up with something…
Cássio
May 7, 2015 at 3:04 pm
Hi, this hack it’s awesome. But there’re not more class? I have a group in Brasil and the number of players excede the number of classes.
Zack Wolf
May 7, 2015 at 3:42 pm
You can have more than one class in the game – no big deal! Working on Version 3 now – may add another class. Also, not sure if you know but there is a Brazilian version that can be found here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/3wrbv8rr3onip8o/Star+Worlds+%28Revisado%29.pdf