WHAT IS UNCHARTED WORLDS?
Uncharted Worlds is a space opera of discovery and adventure, which explores a universe full of deadly beauty, hostile frontiers, rapacious organisations, and crippling debt. It’s a story-building game where dramatic encounters drive the narrative ever onward, building a solid, memorable universe that’s unique to each group. If you want to pilot your ship across the reaches of space, be the first human to make landfall on alien shores, bring back hard-won exotic cargo, deal with galactic corporations, go toe-to-toe corrupt empires and rebel scum, face down ruthless pirates (or perhaps engage in a bit of interstellar piracy yourself)... then strap yourself in, disengage your mooring clamps and prepare for one hell of a Wild Jump.
Gameplay revolves around cooperative fiction- and narrative- building, with a conversational gameplay flow. This may be a bit unfamiliar to players more used to the stricter mechanical, number-driven, turn-based systems of more structured games. Here, the Game Master (“GM”) and the players are co-creators of the universe, driving the story forward, rather than oppositional forces. While there are certainly mechanics such as rolling dice and stat bonuses, these are used lightly, to resolve key events and shape the flow of the narrative. Those who are versed in the other games powered by the Apocalypse Engine (the excellent Apocalypse World, Monstehearts, Dungeon World, et al) will find many mechanics and methods in this book quite familiar.
Uncharted Worlds has a number of inspirations, various popular space operas and other sci-fi epics such as Mass Effect, Farscape, Firefly, 5th Element, and Star Trek, with bits of Starcraft, Warhammer 40k and Galaxy Trucker thrown in for good measure. Special mentions go to Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan series, and to Mongoose’s Traveller, the game that inspired me to make Uncharted Worlds in the first place.
GET STARTED
STEP ONE: Buy the core rulebook!
Core Rule book
Far Beyond Humanity Expansion
STEP TWO: Determine the setting!
The Game Master (or GM) and the players determine the general setting for the campaign. Will they start in a small ship, on the run from faction they're in debt to? Or maybe the characters are the sole inhabitants of a remote research station - or so they think.
STEP THREE: Character creation!
In Uncharted Worlds, character creation is streamilined and story-driven. Where other role playing games tie a character to rigid classes, Uncharted Worlds gives you more flexibility through Archetypes. Chose two of ten careers and one of 10 origins to create a unique roll for your character. A character with a Brutal Origin, who has chosen a combination of Military Career and Commercial Career would be a ‘Brutal Commercial Military’. The short-hand for ‘Brutal Commercial Military’ character could be described as “Space Pirate” or “Mercenary”, depending on the player’s preference and the way they want to portray the character. A ‘Regimented Clandestine Academic’ could easily be called an “Investigator”, “Inquisitor” or “Torturer”, etc.
We've provided a few character sheets to get you started in our downloads section!
STEP FOUR: Fill the universe!
The GM and the players decide the power structure of their section of the universe through creating Factions and the player's starting equipment, workstations, and starship.
STEP FIVE: Explore Together!
The flow of gameplay in Uncharted Worlds is simple. First, the GM describes the current situation and posits a simple question: "What do you do?" The players respond, explaining their thoughts and their intended actions. The GM interperets these answers, comparing them against the moves available to their player's character based on their Archetype. The GM updates the situation, prompting once again - "What do you do?"
Through this circle, the GM and the players come together as comrades in story telling, weaving a narrative naturally one situation to the next. Where other games require extensive planning from the GM, or arduous record keeping from the players, Uncharted Worlds trims away the excess work to focus on what's important. You now have all that you need to start! Gather your crew and grab your gear, and get ready to depart on your adventure!
