History TableTopGame / StarFrontiers

** They were also later recycled for ''TabletopGame/Alternity'' in ''Magazine/{{Dragon}} Annual 3'' and for Modern d20 in the Future d20 sourcebook.

* DungeonCrawling: This style of gaming was prominent in the printed adventures. The intro adventure in the main rulebook involves exploring a crashed starship with local animal life serving as "monsters", and the intro module that came with the basic rules, [=SF0=] ''Crash on Volturnus'', features a long journey through an extensive cave system, again full of alien animals that will try to kill the party.

* DunegeonCrawling: This style of gaming was prominent in the printed adventures. The intro adventure in the main rulebook involves exploring a crashed starship with local animal life serving as "monsters", and the intro module that came with the basic rules, [=SF0=] ''Crash on Volturnus'', features a long journey through an extensive cave system, again full of alien animals that will try to kill the party.

* MegaCorp: The Pan Galactic Corporation and several others — all relatively benevolent, though there have been corporate wars and the module [=SF4=]: ''Mission to Alcazzar'' puts the characters between the secretive Cassidine Development Corporation and the aggressive Streel Corporation.

The basic rules set was called ''Alpha Dawn''. It was released as a boxed set that included a fold-out poster map of a futuristic city on one side and various sections of alien terrain on the other, a bunch of die-cut counters, the introductory module ''[=SF0:=]Crash on Volturnis'', and a pair of 10-sided dice[[note]]And a white crayon to color in the numbers on the dice. This was before dice were commonly manufactured with pre-painted numbers.[[/note]].

Another boxed set called ''Knight Hawks'' presented a starship combat system and starship-related skills and rules for the regular rpg. It also included a fold-out poster map with empty space on one side and a space station and ship deckplan on the other, along with another set of spacecraft counters, ''[=SFKH0:=]Warriors of White Light'', and another pair of 10-sided dice[[note]]And another white crayon to fill in the numbers on the dice[[/note]].

** One exception is the module [=SF5=]: "Bugs in the System" which featured the Belnafaer system where most of the action occurred in the atmosphere of the gas giant Venturi on the Jetsom extraction platform.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The cover of [=SF3=] shows an alien called a Heliope shooting at a group of adventurers with a pistol held in humanoid hands, but the descriptions of the Heliopes in the module say they have pincers, not hands.

* DyingRace: The Eorna of Volturnis are dying out. At least until the end of [=SF2=].

* GhostShip: Present in ''Warriors of White Light''.

* IntrepidMerchant: One of the careers described in ''Knight Hawks''. Also what the players become in ''Drammune Run''.

* MegaCorp: The Pan Galactic Corporation and several others — all relatively benevolent, though there have been corporate wars and the module SF 4: "Mission to Alcazzar" puts the characters between the secretive Cassidine Development Corporation and the aggressive Streel Corporation.

* {{Precursors}}: Several vanished older races with advanced technology used to live in the Frontier sector. ''Sundown on Starmist'' centers on a Precursor hovertank.

The basic rules set was called ''Alpha Dawn''. It was released as a boxed set that included a fold-out poster map of a futuristic city on one side and various sections of alien terrain on the other, a bunch of die-cut counters, the introductory modules ''[=SF0:=]Crash on Volturnis'', and a pair of 10-sided dice.

Another boxed set called ''Knight Hawks'' presented a starship combat system and starship-related skills and rules for the regular rpg. It also included a fold-out poster map with empty space on one side and a space station and ship deckplan on the other, along with another set of spacecraft counters, ''[=SFKH0:=]Warriors of White Light'', and another pair of 10-sided dice.

* BFG: Laser rifles can dial their damage up to 20d10 - equal to the heavy laser and sonic devastator heavy weapons. At that level you only get 1 shot out of a standard clip, but it will kill most anything you hit with it.

* ArtificialGravity: Averted. Ships have to accelerate constantly in order to provide gravity and have a verticle deck plan (with the back of the ship being "down").
* AsteroidMiners: One of the possible spaceship careers covered in the 'Knight Hawks' set.

* BFG: Laser Rifles can dial their damage up to 20d10 - equal to the heavy laser and sonic deveastator heavy weapons. At that level you only get 1 shot out of a standard clip, but it will kill most anything you hit with it.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The Cover of [=SF3=] shows an alien called a Heliope shooting at a group of adventurers with a pistol held in humanoid hands, but the descriptions of the Heliopes in the module say they have pincers, not hands.

* [[RecycledInSpace Recycled In Space Of A Different Sort]]:
** The alien races of ''Star Frontiers'' were later recycled for the ''{{Spelljammer}}'' ''DungeonsAndDragons'' setting under different names: The Dralasites became Plasmoids, the Sathar became Syllix, the Vrusk became Rastipedes, and the Yazirians became Hadozee.
** The were also later recycled for Alternity in Dragon Annual 3 and for Modern d20 in the Future d20 sourcebook.

* SpaceOpera: Verging on ''Dungeons & Dragons'' - InSpace!!

** Another minor exception is [=SFKH2=] "Mutiny on the Eleanor Moreas", which took place on the planet Mahg Maar, a planet with a slightly toxic atmosphere that required the use of filter masks. It was still fairly earthlike, though.

** The Sathar, apparently. The other races in the setting could be on either side, but the Sathar were definitely the villans.

* SpacePirates: Present in the introductory module, no less, and with their own unique ship design in ''Knight Hawks'', the corvette, whose counter only appeared in pirate colors.

* FirstContact: Happens all the time. Much of the Frontier is unexplored, and sentient races seem to be all over. Volturnis (from the intro module) has ''five'' sentient races living on it (though that is due to one having genetically modified the others).

** The Exception is the module [=SF5=]: "Bugs in the System" which featured the Belnafaer system where most of the action occurred in the atmosphere of the gas giant Venturi on the Jetsom extraction platform.

** But then, the planets in the Alpha Dawn books are only given one line of description apiece, so we don't know exactly how earthlike they were.
* AlwaysChaoticEvil: The Sathar, apparently. The other races in the setting could be on either side, but the Sathar were definitely the villans.

* BarbarianTribe: Most of the natives of Volturnis are these.
** And Alcazzar, and Starmist, and Mahg Maar, in fact, most of the natives in the printed modules are primitive barbarians.

* JackOfAllStats: Humans are this, with generally average stats and no special abilities.
** They did get a +5 to a single stat (out of eight stats). All the other PC races had balanced stat modifiers (adding up to zero) but also had racial abilities.

* MadeOfIron: Nearly everyone can take a lot of damage before dropping.
** Fortunately some weapons (lasers) are capable of dealing out a lot, although you then have to reload...
* MegaCorp: The Pan Galactic Corporation and several others — all relatively benevolent.
** Though there have been corporate wars and the module SF 4: "Mission to Alcazzar" puts the characters between the secretive Cassidine Development Corporation and the aggressive Streel Corporation.

* PsychicPowers: None of the player races have any, but some of the aliens in the modules do.
** Unless you have "Zebulon's Guide to the Frontier" and became a Mentalist or Enlightened character.

* [[RecycledInSpace Recycled In Space Of A Different Sort]]: The alien races of ''Star Frontiers'' were later recycled for the ''{{Spelljammer}}'' ''DungeonsAndDragons'' setting under different names: The Dralasites became Plasmoids, the Sathar became Syllix, the Vrusk became Rastipedes, and the Yazirians became Hadozee.

* SpacePirates: Present in the introductory module, no less, and with their own unique ship design in ''Knight Hawks'' (the corvette).

* WeWillWearArmorInTheFuture: Skin-tight flexible armored suits, in fact.
** Bulky power armor also appeared in Dragon Magazine 129.

''Star Frontiers'' takes place near the center of a spiral galaxy (the setting does not specify whether the galaxy is our own Milky Way). A previously undiscovered quirk of the laws of physics allows starships to jump to "The Void", a [[{{Hyperspace}} hyperspatial]] realm that greatly shortens the travel times between inhabited worlds, once they reach 1% of the speed of light (3,000 km/s).

The basic game setting was an area known as "The Frontier Sector", where four sentient races (Dralasite, Humans, Vrusk and Yazirian) had met and formed the [[TheFederation United Planetary Federation [UPF]]]. The original home planets of the Dralasites, Humans and Vrusk were never detailed in the setting and it is possible that they no longer existed. A large number of the star systems shown on the map of the Frontier sector in the basic rulebook were unexplored and undetailed, allowing the {{Gamemaster}} (called the "referee" in the game) to put whatever he wished there.

A late addition to the game was ''Zebulon's Guide to Frontier Space'', which introduced several new races and an entirely different rule system. It was, however, the last book produced for the line.

The basic rules set was called ''Alpha Dawn''. It was released as a boxed set that included a fold-out poster map of a futuristic city on one side and various alien terrain on the other, a bunch of die-cut counters, the introductory modules ''[=SF0:=]Crash on Volturnis'', and a pair of 10-sided dice.

** But then, the planets in the Alpha Dawn books are only given one line of description apiece, so we don't know exactly what they were like.

* ArtificialGravity: Averted. Ships have to accelerate constantly in order to provide gravity.

** And Alcazzar, and Starmist, in fact, most of the natives in the printed modules are primitive barbarians.

* CoolStarship: The Assault Scout, which has deck plans in the ''Knight Hawks'' game.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: The Yazirians are intelligent ''flying'' monkeys!
* EverythingTryingToKillYou: Most of the alien life on Volturnis is quite dangerous.

* FirstContact: Happens all the time. Much of the Frontier is unexplored, and sentient races seem to be all over. Volturnis (from the intro module) has ''five'' sentient races living on it.

* TheMetricSystemIsHereToStay: ''Star Frontiers'' is one of the few TSR games that use metric units.

* PsychicPowers: Apart from the ability of the Sathar and some other races to hypnotize, absent.

* SpaceStation: ''Knight Hawks'' features rules for these. Some act as orbital defense fortresses.

The basic rules set was called ''Alpha Dawn''. It was released as a boxed set that included a fold-out poster map of a futuristic city on one side and various alien terrain on the other, a bunch of die-cut counters, the introductory modules 'SF0: Crash on Volturnis', and a pair of 10-sided dice.

Another boxed set called ''Knight Hawks'' presented a starship combat system and starship-related skills and rules for the regular rpg. It also included a fold-out poster map with empty space on one side and a space station and ship deckplan on the other, along with another set of spacecraft counters, 'SFKH0: Warriors of White Light', and another pair of 10-sided dice.

* IntrepidMerchant: What the players become in ''Drammune Run''.

* ProudWarriorRace: The Yazirians.

* SpacePirates: Present in the introductory module, no less, and with their own unique ship design in ''Knight Hawks'' (the corvette).

* DoppelgangerSpin: Dragon magazine #88 article "The Battle at Ebony Eyes". A pair of closely orbiting black holes create illusionary duplicates of any starships in the area.

* DoppelgangerSpin: Dragon magazine #88 article "The Battle at Ebony Eyes". A pair of closely orbiting black holes causes the appearance of illusionary duplicates of any starships in the area.

* DoppelgangerSpin: In the Dragon magazine #88 article "The Battle at Ebony Eyes", a pair of closely orbiting black holes causes the appearance of illusionary duplicates of any starships in the area.