For Small Creatures Such As We

FSCSAW is a 256 page solo/co-op RPG about being a human captain in charge of an alien crew. It is a game about exploration not just of the wider galaxy but of the aliens you share your ship with. To get started you generate your Captain and your Crew, choose their skills, and customise your ship to better suit the type of Missions that you want to undertake. Whether that be as a passenger transport, cargo delivery, bounty hunter, diplomat, explorer of uncharted worlds, asteroid miner, derelict salvager, shuttle racer, criminal, or researcher.

As you play, you will use a deck of playing cards to generate story Events that prompt you with scenes that build a narrative with your alien crewmates. After generating the basics of your alien crewmates, the rest of the game gives you ways to learn about their biologies, their cultures, their personalities, and their pasts naturally though gameplay. Share a laugh about some ancient sci-fi films and learn about how their species depicted aliens before they met them. See their best side as they push themselves to help during a difficult spacewalk. Learn why your pacifist monk pilot took their vow. There are endless possibilities for how your crewmates will shape up!

For Small Creatures Such As We is built to create a narrative while still having enough mechanical depth to make it a fun game. As you play, you'll have to keep your ship fueled up and your Crewmate's Healthy and Happy. Manage your Food supplies, plot your course on the galactic map, juggle Missions, and face off against the many threats the galaxy can pose or play it safe and stick to secure space at the cost of time.

The beauty of the emergent narrative focused systems in FSCSAW is that you can never predict where your story is going to go. A simple cargo mission could see your ship badly damaged by a micro-asteroid cloud and with no money left after repairs for Food, you find yourself having to perform a Heist just to make ends meet. Your bounty hunting crew might capture their target only to discover that they are this universe's equivalent of Luke Skywalker and you're inadvertantly working for a malicious superpower. Or maybe you'll get stuck in an alien multi-level marketing scheme and are desperately trying to sell dodgy diet bars before you get hit with the hidden fees. The possibilites are endless.

All you need to play is a Deck of Cards, a six sided die, and something to record your adventures in.

🪐 Influences 🪐

A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet
Star Trek
Star Wars - specifically the prequels
Firefly
Farscape
Mass Effect - yes, you can romance your crewmates!