The Earth exploded along with the rest of the solar system long ago, but before it died, the Earthers had time to send out huge fusion slowboats packed with colonists out to the stars. The fastest ship took 1200 years to get to the Cluster. Now, 500 years later, the slowest one hasn't yet arrived. Humans flourished in the Cluster, their technology eventually exceeding that of old Earth. Now they have built up a web of commerce and association based on the Jump Drive. There are highly advanced aliens in the Cluster, and relatives - like humans, descendents of Homo Erectus who were kidnapped by aliens, along with chunks of Earth biota, a million years ago. A very high tech, but not post scarcity, setting.
Notes on This Edition
StarCluster 2 is twice the size of StarCluster 1, 144 pages to 288. Chargen is both random and determined, though still using a lifepath system. Each profession has its own mini skill table, unlike the huge central table in StarCluster 1. There is considerably more setting information, particularly political, and the system has been streamlined, with trading of points between initiative, chance, and quality being a central mechanic. The ship-to-ship combat changed to a player character-centric system, and the information on the Book of Jalan setting was moved into it's own book. The task resolution system is extremely unitary, with the same procedure and dice used for all tasks.
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