Chapter 1: Basics

A Preview of Thousand Suns, Second Edition

Gully Foyle is my name

And Terra is my nation.

Deep space is my dwelling place,

The stars my destination.

—Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination (1956)

Every age has its myths and many of the 20th century’s took the form of science fiction. Science promised to unlock the secrets of the universe, and technology offered the means to harness them — a powerful mix that sparked the imagination and gave rise to a new genre. From the scientific romances of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells to the pulp adventures of Kimball Kinnison and Buck Rogers, science fiction captured both wonder at the future and hope for a better world.

These themes laid the groundwork for the more sophisticated tales that followed in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. Writers during this time transformed “space opera” into something deeper and more ambitious. Thousand Suns draws proudly from this tradition.

The Game

Thousand Suns is a science fiction roleplaying game set in a future where humanity has spread across the stars, colonizing worlds, meeting alien species, and founding interstellar empires. It takes inspiration from the classic “imperial” science fiction of the mid-20th century, stories of mighty galactic civilizations often echoing the themes of 19th-century imperialism.

Writers like Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, H. Beam Piper, Larry Niven, Gordon Dickson, and A.E. van Vogt shaped this subgenre and their influence is felt throughout Thousand Suns. More recent authors, such as Iain M. Banks, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Walter Jon Williams, have brought new perspectives to these stories and the game draws from them as well.

Characters in Thousand Suns come from countless worlds and cultures: human, alien, or genetically engineered. They might be naval officers, explorers, merchants, or anything in between. Their adventures could take them to ancient alien ruins, lost colonies, or bustling world-cities; they might trade goods, fight pirates, or uncover galactic secrets. The goal isn’t to recreate old stories but to use their ideas as fuel for new ones, where players become both authors and heroes.

Though inspired by classic tales, Thousand Suns is very much a game for the present. Older science fiction can seem dated, tied to the anxieties of its time, but it also carried a sense of wonder and mythic weight that’s often missing in today’s more cynical or overly idealistic visions. Thousand Suns aims to bridge that gap, combining the best of past and present to offer bold, imaginative space opera adventures.

Imperial science fiction spans vast reaches — hundreds, even thousands, of worlds — allowing for adventures of every scale and kind. That breadth makes it easy for Game Masters to shape the kind of campaign they want, while still tying it all back to the grand themes of humanity’s destiny among the stars.

The rules of Thousand Suns reflect this scope. They’re straightforward, modular, and built to support big ideas rather than scientific realism. They’re designed for action, imagination, and the sense of awe that defines classic SF.

Whether building star systems or running adventures, Thousand Suns gives GMs the tools to create a galaxy where humanity has left Earth far behind to explore the Great Unknown and it does so in a way that’s as fun to run as it is to play.

So strap on a blaster, suit up, and prepare to explore a future unlike any seen in a generation.

The Meta-Setting

“The Thousand Suns” is what poet Johano Coelho (–29—112) called that part of the Milky Way galaxy accessible by the jumplines of the Dane-Ohlmhorst Map. The Map, an artifact of the Travelers discovered on Mars (Terra/Hejmo) in –1783, actually provided the coordinates for vastly more than a thousand solar systems, but Coelho's turn of phrase — "a future brighter than a thousand suns" — has stuck, even long after explorers have nearly tripled the number of worlds accessible to D-drive vessels.

—Encyclopedia Galactica, 15th edition (494)

The rules of Thousand Suns cover everything you need to run a science fiction adventure — character creation, personal and starship combat, alien worlds, species, creatures, and more. It’s a flexible toolkit designed for creating a wide range of settings in the imperial SF tradition.

Not everyone wants to build a setting from scratch, though, so Thousand Suns also includes a ready-to-use meta-setting.

What’s a Meta-Setting?

Think of it as a lightly sketched canvas: broad outlines are in place, but the details, like colors, shading, and textures are left to you. The Thousand Suns meta-setting covers a vast region of space, home to thousands of star systems and dozens of intelligent species. A handful are described, but most are left for the GM to define or ignore as needed.

This approach isn’t meant to impose an “official” setting; it’s meant to inspire your own. Examples from the meta-setting appear throughout the book, especially in Chapters 14 and 15, and GMs are free to use, modify, or disregard them entirely. The best setting is the one you create for your own campaign.

Getting Started

All the rules you need to play Thousand Suns are in this book. They’re simple, modular, and designed for fast, evocative play in the spirit of classic space opera. They’re not about hard science or gritty realism. They’re about plausibility, excitement, and drama.

In addition, you’ll need:

• Two twelve-sided dice (2d12)

• A character sheet or blank paper and pencil

• An idea for your character

Core Mechanic: 12°

The game uses a simple system called 12°. Any time your character attempts something — firing a blaster, piloting a ship, talking down a hostile alien — you roll 2d12 and try to roll equal to or under your target number (TN).

Types of Tests

All actions are called tests and there are three kinds:

Ability Tests rely on one of your ability scores and are used in moments of danger or strain. The TN is twice the relevant ability.

Example: You’re hiding underwater from pursuers. The GM calls for a Body test (Body 8 = TN 16). You roll 17. You fail, meaning you’re out of breath and start to drown.

Skill Tests are the most common. Add your skill rank and the related ability score to get your TN.

Example: You’re piloting through a debris field. Piloting 7 + Agility 6 = TN 13. A –4 penalty makes the final TN 9.

Opposed Tests are used when characters compete. Everyone rolls and the highest degree of success wins.

Example: You sneak into a camp (Stealth TN 12, roll 4 = 8 degrees of success). The guard rolls Observe TN 9, rolls 8 = 1 degree of success. You win easily.

Success, Failure, and Degrees

If you roll equal to or under your TN, you succeed. Rolling higher means failure.

Dramatic Success: A roll of 2 means you succeed spectacularly. In combat, this deals maximum damage. In other tests, the GM decides what extra benefit you gain.

Dramatic Failure: A roll of 24 means something goes very wrong. Maybe your weapon jams or your mistake makes things worse for the group.

Degrees of Success: The difference between your TN and your roll matters. If your TN is 14 and you roll 11, you have 3 degrees of success. In combat, this multiplies your weapon’s base damage (e.g. 9 × 3 = 27 damage). In other cases, the GM may use it as a guide to determine how well you did.

Bonuses and Penalties

Bonuses and penalties adjust your TN, not your dice roll.

Example: Firing a blaster from a speeding grav-car might impose a –2 penalty, lowering your TN accordingly.

A list of suggested modifiers appears in Chapter 5, but GMs are encouraged to use common sense over strictly following charts.

Hooks and Action Points

Hooks are short phrases that define something about your character, like background, personality, or connections, like “AWOL from the Naval Infantry” or “Strong as a Megathere.” Hooks help the GM tie your character into the campaign.

They also earn you action points, a special resource you can spend on:

• Bonus to a TN

• Re-rolling a failed test

• Other situational benefits

You can have up to 10 action points, though most characters start with fewer. You regain them by acting on your hooks in ways that make the game more exciting. More on hooks and action points can be found in Chapters 4 and 5.

Science Fiction Adventure

Thousand Suns is a game of classic science fiction adventure. Its rules are light but robust, designed to support, not dominate, your imagination. Future supplements will expand on the system but will always stay true to that core principle.

The rules are here to help, but they’re not sacred. Feel free to tweak, ignore, or rewrite anything that gets in the way of fun.

This is your game now. Make it your own.