White Star Companion by James M. Spahn is a role playing game supplement published by Barrel Rider Games and is a companion for White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying, a science fiction game based on the Swords & Wizardry White Box system by Matt J. Finch and published by Mythmere Games. White Box is based on the original 1974 version of Dungeons & Dragons, and this supplement is therefore covered by the Open Game License, resulting in some of it being classed as Open Game Content. It provides additional, and optional, rules and content for the White Star game.
The supplement is available as a watermarked PDF and as print on demand softcover and hardcover black and white books from RPGNow. The version purchased was the PDF, which is now available as a Pay What You Want supplement but was purchased at $5.25. It is also available in softcover and hardcover print on demand formats; these are also available as Pay What You Want but there will be a minimum price for materials. The PDF has 103 pages, of which two pages are the full colour front and rear covers, one page is blank, two pages are the front matter, two pages the Contents, one page the Introduction, one page a black and white version of the cover image, there are three pages of ads and one page is the Open Game License. The Introduction gives a brief overview as to what this supplement is for.
The first chapter, Classes, provides seven new classes for the system, on top of the seven from the Core Rulebook. These are described as being more focused in what they do. Continuing with the theme of the original game, three of these classes are actually races. Optional rules on multi-classing are also provided.
Chapter Two, Starships and Vehicles, gives rules on vehicle combat, as well as buying, modifying and repairing them. Some sample vehicles are also detailed. There are also some new starships, and some new starship modifications.
Skills and Serials introduces simple rules for eight new skills that characters can have. The second part of the chapter, the Serials System, is a set of seven elements that can be used to create the background for a character, and these can have actual game effects.
Equipment introduces new pieces of equipment, armour, melee, missile and ranged weapons.
Aliens and Creatures is essentially a bestiary providing a number of new aliens and creatures.
Chapter Six, Random Encounters, has tables for randomly generating stellar sectors, including planets, as well as planetary and stellar random encounters.
The final chapter, Sterling Sector, details a new sector, as was done in the Core Rulebook, complete with a map and details of various locations in it.
White Star Companion in Review
The PDF is well bookmarked, and the Contents are also quite complete although, rather oddly, the actual Contents are not in the PDF’s bookmarks. The PDF maintains a single column of text throughout, and it’s got a nice, clean design to it, matching that of the Core Rulebook. The formatting also results in what is probably less text than might be expected. There are a number of black and white illustrations throughout, some definitely related to the associated text, others being less so. These illustrations are generally half a page or less in size.
The primary influences for this supplement seem to be Star Trek and Star Wars, but there are others. Many references can be easily traced back to their original origins. The classes include what are clearly Ewoks, Transformers, Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager and what looks to be Flash Gordon. The aliens and creatures may not be as easy to assign, but there are Orions from Star Trek and Howard the Duck. The new starships include what is definitely a Death Star (no price given), as it has a planetary laser capable of destroying an entire planet in one shot.
The description of the Sterling Sector appears to be heavily influenced by Star Wars – Supreme Lord Adlar, the ruler of the Galactic Consortium, would appear to be the Emperor from Star Wars. Even his rise to power has similarities. There is also less of an influence of hard science; this “sector” would appear to be a rather odd solar system, rather than a sector as defined in many settings.
With this being a companion supplement, it is less coherent than the Core Rulebook, containing a lot of new rules and material that have simply been placed together. This is simply the nature of this type of book; consider the original AD&D Unearthed Arcana as opposed to the Dungeon Master’s Guide. Quite a substantial portion of the supplement, given its size, is taken up by material that is not actually content. The White Star Companion expands the original options in the White Star system, and adds some new material, and is worth getting for this.
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