New Kickstarter - Starset the Great Dimming - GrimDark SciFi

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJt6sfuolo8&ab_channel=EternityTTRPG


Transcription


Civilization cut off. The solar system dimming. You’re not a hero—you’re just a soul, caught in the aftermath.


Hey everyone! Today we’re unpacking Starset: The Great Dimming—the new 2nd‑edition tabletop RPG by Josiah Mork. It's a gritty, hope‑tinged sci‑fi RPG where ordinary lives shape the story.


If you haven’t ever tried out TTRPGs besides D&D, this video is for you. I personally love finding the gems out there, especially from people who have fresh ideas in the RPG space.


So, let’s dive into what makes this game truly unique.


1. Life‑Path Character Creation – “Your Story Shapes Your Stats”


In most tabletop RPGs, you start by picking numbers—your strength, intelligence, gear, etc. Starset flips that completely.


Here, you start with a life path: five origin stories to choose from—Combat, Common, Exploration, Mercenary, or Slave. These aren’t classes. They’re your character’s past. Were they a soldier in a forgotten war? A wanderer searching for hope? A prisoner stripped of identity?


Once you’ve chosen, you roll dice to simulate major events in that character’s life. Each result gives you a moral choice, like “Did you steal the food to survive… or go hungry and keep your honor?” Your decision directly affects what skills, alliances, and scars your character carries—and even how old they are by the time the game begins.


And yes, it’s possible to die before session one. That's how real and brutal the world of Starset is.


You also collect keywords—these are mechanical tags that represent things like trauma, friendships, or defining traits. Some make you stronger. Others are burdens that shape how you grow. Either way, they evolve with you, like emotional milestones that actually change your abilities over time.


In short: You don’t make a character—you live them.


As creator Josiah Mork put it, this is “backstory on mega-steroids.”


2. Simultaneous Action Resolution – “It’s Not Your Turn—It’s Everyone’s Turn”


In most tabletop RPGs, combat goes in turns: “You go, then I go, then the monster goes.”


Starset changes the entire flow. Here’s how it works:


Whenever someone targets you—say, with an attack or a persuasion attempt—that action is delayed until the end of your next turn. That delay is called a Floating Action. It gives you and your allies time to do something about it.


Maybe you dodge out of the way. Maybe you talk them down. Maybe your teammate steps in with an assist, giving you a boost. These responses turn every round into a mini strategy session.


So instead of sitting there waiting for your next turn, the idea is that you’re constantly engaged. Helping allies. Blocking threats. Choosing whether to defend, or risk it all.


Your dice pool—which you use for actions—is also your health. Take a hit, and you lose dice. That means fewer options and more vulnerability next turn.


The result? Combat is less “hit and wait” and more like chess with story beats—tactical, interactive, and team-driven. Even the quiet players at the table get a reason to act and shine.


3. Rich, Thought‑Provoking Worldbuilding – “Loneliness Is the Real Enemy”


Starset isn’t just dark because it looks cool—it’s dark because it wants to say something.


The game is set after a cosmic event collapses the Oort Cloud... did I pronounce that right?


The Oort Cloud collapses, cutting off Earth from the rest of humanity. Civilization falls into chaos. Survivors are left scattered, alone, and desperate for connection.


Every faction in the game is built around a different solution to loneliness:

  • One turns to faith.
  • Another to techno-utopia.
  • One seeks control through power.
  • Others build tight-knit communities.


Each choice has promise… and danger. No side is “right”—they just reflect real human struggles.


To support this, the game includes the 8 Edicts of Man, a set of philosophical rules that shape society post-collapse. The setting spans 1,000 years of history, giving Game Masters tons of material—from colony ships in deep space to dying cities on Earth.


At the end of every game session, players earn experience not for killing monsters, but by sharing how their character helped others or fought against isolation.


It’s a system that rewards empathy, as much as power.


So yes, Starset is bleak—but it’s also hopeful. It’s a game about surviving the dark… by reaching for the light.


Who Should Play Starset… and Why?


So who is this game really for?


Starset is for story lovers:


If you're the kind of player who enjoys deep, emotional character arcs—where your decisions carry weight and shape your story—Starset was made for you. Every character is a layered person with a past, not just a collection of stats.


Starset is for strategic thinkers:


Starset rewards thoughtful play. Combat and problem-solving aren't just about rolling high—they're about making smart, team-based decisions. And because you’re always involved—even during someone else’s turn—there’s no dead time at the table.


Starset is for sci-fi fans with a philosophical streak:


Starset tackles big questions: How do we find connection in a broken world? What do we believe in when everything falls apart? If you love sci-fi that makes you think, you’ll feel right at home.


And finally, Starset is for game masters who crave worldbuilding fuel:


The game’s setting is rich with lore—factions, history, philosophy, politics. It's all there to spark story hooks, conversations, and custom adventures. Whether you’re building a gritty survival tale or a cosmic morality play, Starset gives you tools to explore both.


To summarize, here’s Why Starset Stands Out

  • You don’t just create a character—you live their backstory through interactive choices before the game even begins.
  • The simultaneous action system keeps players engaged and reactive, almost all the time. Which is a fresh change to many D&D battles, if we’re being honest.
  • The world of Starset is dark, yes—but it’s also filled with glimmers of hope, and it challenges you to explore themes like empathy, survival, and belief.
  • And finally, every rule and system is designed to reward meaningful interaction—with the world and each other.


The Bottom line?


Starset doesn’t ask, “How do you win?” Instead, it asks, “What kind of person will you be when everything falls apart?”


Intrigued? You can back it now on Kickstarter or check out the rulebook when it’s available.



And lastly, let me know what you think of new game coverage like this, in the comments below. Eternity TTRPG is still feeling out who we are as a channel, so your insight helps me connect you with the content you want most. Until next time!

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Jacob Tegtman Eternity TTRPG Creator

Author - Jacob Tegtman

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed this article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.


I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.


If you love the site, please share it with others! I have lots of gaming-related material for you to peruse and use in your own gaming sessions. If you have any questions about the site or want to contribute, just send me a message using the "Contact" page, which you can find in the site's footer.

Soldier aims weapon in war-torn city street. Buildings burning, smoke rising; other soldiers advance in rubble-filled road.

Battlefield 6 - Complete Guide to Career Rank, Weapons, Tactics and Tips for Correct Gameplay

By Jacob Tegtman • September 9, 2025
Battlefield 6 beta test left players absolutely delighted due to the classic action, unique destruction system, and career ranks.
A woman in a witch's hat holds a torch and axe, with text: Crooked Moon Classes: Fighter, Monk, Paladin, & Rogue.

Crooked Moon Subclasses – Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Rogue

By Jacob Tegtman • September 8, 2025
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PBi0mbbG04&ab_channel=EternityTTRPG Transcription In our last video, we met alchemical berserkers, ghost-whistling bards, and druids who turn into walking forests. But we’ve only scratched the surface of what Crooked Moon has to offer with its monstrous classes. Today, Crooked Moon takes us deeper into grave-bound fighters, plague monks, fire-and-brimstone paladins, and rogues who gamble with fate itself. Let’s dig in. Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG—your go-to source for all things D&D. This is Part 2 of our look at Crooked Moon’s subclasses. If you missed Part 1, definitely check it out—we covered everything from the barbarian and bard, to the cleric and druid subclasses. Today, things get darker and even cooler. 1. Fighter: Barrow Guard Barrow Guards are warriors bound to the grave. They carry within them fragments of lingering souls, represented by something called Draugr Dice. Think of them like necrotic fuel cells you can spend to summon a ghostly steed, reduce incoming damage, or literally choke enemies with spectral hands from the beyond. As you level up, your deathly powers expand—your phantom charger can teleport through walls, enemies take psychic damage just for hurting you, and eventually, you become an eternal crypt lord – something like a lich – who doesn’t age, doesn’t need to eat or sleep, and commands the dead like it’s second nature. It’s a knightly subclass with a strong touch of gothic horror. 2. Monk: Warrior of the Pestilent Haze If you’ve ever wanted to play the personification of a plague (I think of the D&D 3.5e Blackguard Prestige Class), this is it. Pestilent Haze monks cultivate disease inside themselves, unleashing it through claws, cursed strikes, and clouds of choking miasma. You can infect enemies with your plague, communicate with vermin like rats and insects, and later your contagion grows so virulent it even bypasses resistances. At the peak, your plague ignores immunity and spreads like wildfire—turning you into a walking epidemic. It’s part folklore pestilence demon, part grim reaper’s shadow, and absolutely terrifying to imagine at the table. 3. Paladin: Oath of Castigation These paladins are divine inquisitors – like witch hunters – sworn to root out evil and burn it away. Their oath spells and Channel Divinity let them clap enemies in fiery chains, sniff out lies, and strike fear into the corrupt. As their power grows, they radiate an aura that lets their allies burn through fire and radiant resistances, and eventually, they literally embody cleansing flame. The paladin’s capstone, Fire and Brimstone, makes them immune to fire, extends their reach with lashes of divine flame, and punishes any enemy foolish enough to step into range. Think Judge Dredd by way of holy fire—relentless, terrifying, and impossible to escape. 4 . Ranger: Grim Harbinger This ranger comes with a chilling companion: the Grim, a spectral omen of death—often a ghostly black dog—that fights alongside you. You seal a creature’s fate with your Omen of Doom, causing it to take extra necrotic damage, and your grim manifests to harry them with bites and baleful howls. As you level, your doom powers get stronger: necrotic damage cuts through resistances, your grim becomes tougher, and you can even curse enemies with vulnerability to yours and your grim’s attacks. It’s part folkloric death omen, part monster-hunting ranger, and it oozes grimdark style. 5. Rogue: Sinner Sinners are rogues steeped in vice—gamblers, cheats, and scoundrels who cut deals with malefic powers. Their signature ability, Hex Slinger, lets them twist their Sneak Attack dice into curses, hexes, and bursts of bad luck for enemies. They carry a magical jinx weapon—maybe a pistol, maybe enchanted playing cards or dice—that channels their luck-bending power. As they grow stronger, they can steal inspiration, double down on curses, and even call on their infernal ‘friends in low places’ to reroll attacks or turn hits against them into misses. If you’ve ever wanted your rogue to feel like a cursed gambler or a devil’s dealmaker, the Sinner has that flavor. And that’s Part 2 of our dive into Crooked Moon. Grave-bound knights, plague monks, fire-fueled paladins, spectral rangers, and sinful rogues—you can really feel the book leaning into the Halloween, darkness vibe here.  Next time, we’ll wrap things up with the final five subclasses, so stick around for Part 3. But I want to hear from you—if you had to pick between these five, which would you bring to your table? Drop your thoughts in the comments, and don’t forget to like and subscribe so you don’t miss the finale. to this series.
A tree-like monster in a swamp holding a staff. The text says

Crooked Moon Subclasses: Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, and Druid

By Jacob Tegtman • September 2, 2025
Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6i50hO1-bI&ab_channel=EternityTTRPG Transcription Today we’re diving into Crooked Moon, a D&D supplement that takes classic classes and twists them into something darker, stranger, and sometimes—downright horrifying. We’ve got barbarians pumped full of alchemical serums, bards who summon up ghosts, and clerics who wield the cycles of life and death like a farmer’s scythe. Let’s get into it.  Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG—your go-to source for all things D&D. This week, we’re kicking off a three-part look at the subclasses from Crooked Moon. There are 15 of them in total, so I’m splitting things up to give each one the spotlight it deserves. If this video gets a good response, I’ll keep rolling with parts two and three. So, let’s check out the first five subclasses. 1. Barbarian: Path of the Experiment Take your standard barbarian rage—and add mad science. The Path of the Experiment plugs copper tubes, glass syringes, and volatile chemicals into your veins. When you rage, you inject yourself with serums that can either make you monstrously huge, give you berserk cleaving attacks, or even force your wounds to stitch themselves back together mid-battle. Later on, you can ooze corrosive acid, shrug off conditions like blindness or poison, and eventually combine multiple serums at once for absolutely brutal effects. This subclass reminds me of the “alchemist” class in Warcraft 3, and fits perfectly for a barbarian. 2. Bard: College of Whistles You’ve heard the superstition about whistling at night calling spirits? These bards crank that concept up to eleven. The College of Whistles lets you summon spectral companions called haints whenever you use Bardic Inspiration—spirits that can intimidate enemies, shield allies, or boost movement speed. And it doesn’t stop there. You can whistle a ghost train that literally teleports you and your party across the battlefield—or even across the map with a phantom locomotive. At high levels, your whistle becomes a death knell that curses enemies with psychic fear. It’s part folk horror, part hobo folklore, and honestly one of the coolest spins on bard magic I’ve seen in quite a while. If you know me, you know that I’m not the biggest fan of bard classes, to be honest. But this one feels unique, and helps pull you into Crooked Moon’s grim mystique. 3. Cleric: Harvest Domain Harvest Domain clerics embody the endless cycle of sowing, growing, and reaping. You choose which phase of the harvest you’re channeling: planting brings protection, growth offers guidance and boosts, and reaping is straight-up necrotic damage. You can conjure magical cornucopias that heal allies during rests, spread divine inspiration like grain, and eventually grant full-on regeneration or resistances depending on your chosen aspect. Flavor-wise, it feels like a rural priest who can bless the crops one day and swing the scythe of death the next. It’s a brilliant mix of pastoral peace and grim inevitability. 4. Druid: Circle of the Old Ways This druid taps into the ancient, primeval spirits of the forest. These are the kind of druids who don’t hug trees – they actually become them. Casting shillelagh makes a living shield grow right out of your arm, and you can enter a state called the Wood Wose, where bark covers your body and sap makes enemies hesitate to attack anyone else. As you grow in power, you strike harder, shrug off blows, and eventually transform into a towering ancient protector—Large-sized, thorn-covered, and punishing anyone who dares cut into your sacred grove. It’s like playing a walking forest guardian ripped straight from folklore. Perhaps, this is even the precursor to what later became Ents, in the Lord of the Rings. 5. Druid: Circle of Wicker Crooked Moon offers two subclasses for certain classes, and the druid is one of them. So,we leave off on Druid for today. Where the Circle of the Old Ways druids draw power from nature itself, the Circle of Wicker druids work through effigies—that is, twig dolls, charms, and crude figures that carry powerful magic. You are like a witch in old fairy tales, or a mysterious wizard of the dark woods. You can plant an effigy that radiates an aura—healing allies, warding them, or punishing attackers with bursts of fire. Later, your wicker creations can shield allies from conditions, curse enemies with necrotic damage, and at the peak, become flexible enough to swap auras mid-battle. If you like the vibe of creepy folk rituals, protective charms, and just a dash of voodoo doll flavor, this subclass is dripping with atmosphere for you. And that’s the first batch of subclasses from Crooked Moon: the experimental barbarian, the ghost-whistling bard, the cycle-of-life cleric, and two very different but equally eerie druid circles. Next time, we’ll be covering the Barrow Guard Fighter and beyond, so make sure to subscribe if you don’t want to miss it. But before we wrap it up, now it’s your turn—tell me in the comments: which of these subclasses would you roll up first? Or, if you haven’t heard yet from the subclass you’re most interested, tell me which one you can’t wait to hear more about!
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