Star Frontiers: New Genesis (Unreleased Beta)

Disclaimer: The unreleased Star Frontiers: New Genesis product written by Justin LaNasa and Dave Johnson is not sanctioned by Wizards of the Coast (“WotC”) or any person involved with the original TSR Inc. It is entirely the product of hate monger grifters with no noteworthy connection to the history of Dungeons & Dragons (“D&D”) and role-playing games in general. The trademark that was registered for it has been cancelled.¹ US Trademark #90276506 <https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=90276506&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch> and ownership purchased by WotC through the bankruptcy proceedings. The game itself was not listed as an asset, so theoretically still belongs to someone. However it is, in all likelihood, never going to be released beyond the “playtest” versions.

Also, this is will be heavily cited in all matters relating to the product, specifically because Justin LaNasa initiated at least two legal actions against his critics (including a Harmful Digital Communication Act complaint against me)

Content warnings: This is a deplorable product made by deplorable people, to do the discussion justice requires the discussion of slavery, sexism, anti-black racism, white supremacy, Nazi ideologies such as eugenics and truly terribly bio-essentialism.

Before TSR LLC went into bankruptcy, and the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum closed, thus essentially guaranteed that WotC would prevail in court – it had a product in the works that was baffling on so, so many levels it defies simply summary.

It was a product that got them noticed and invited into communities for one of TSR Inc’s classic but less well known games. It was a game that initially led people to believe they must have obtained all the proper licensing etc.

That game was Star Frontiers: New Genesis, a game which was announced both as a reboot, and as a spiritual successor, and as a sequel, and so, so many things. Initially it was pitched as being completely legitimate – then as a sort of protest product that seemed to go against everything the original stood for.

It was never released, and as the fate of nuTSR becomes both clearer, and darker – it becomes evident that it never will be – all we have to go off is rumours, and court filings. So, let’s have a look at what (allegedly) might have been:

Table of Contents

1 – BACKGROUND | 1.1 – Star Frontiers | 1.2 – Star Frontiers: New Genesis 2 – THE RULES | 2.1 – Incomplete | 2.2 – Unstructured and contradictory | 2.3 – “Inspired by 5E“ | 2.4 – “d20 Modern“ | 2.5 – Other sources | | 2.5.1 – Advanced Dungeons & Dragons | | 2.5.2 – Basic Dungeons & Dragons | | 2.5.3 – 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons | | 2.5.4 – The Official d30 System by Dave Johnson | | 2.5.5 – Paranoia | 2.6 – Conclusion (Rules) 3 – THE SETTING | 3.1 – Generally | 3.2 – The (Space) Navy | 3.3 – Merchants | 3.4 – Frontiers

| 3.5 – Technology | 3.6 – Source Material | | 3.6.1 – “Wing Commander movie” | | 3.6.2 – “2001 A Space Odyssey“ | | 3.6.3 – “Dune (1984)” | | 3.6.4 – “The Running Man“ | | 3.6.5 – “Brazil (1985)” | | 3.6.6 – “Blade Runner (1982)” | 3.7 – Conclusion (Setting) 4 – THE POLITICS | 4.1 – What’s yours is ours | 4.2 – Starship Troopers but the bad version | 4.3 – Women ain’t shit | 4.4 – Eugenics and pseudo-medical purity nonsense | 4.5 – Other Nazi shit | 4.6 – Conclusion (Politics) 5 – CONCLUSION APPENDIX A: The Other Version APPENDIX B: Google Books

1 – BACKGROUND

In beginning there was a man named Gary Gygax… actually no, in the beginning there were a random collection of people who signed up to play David Wesley’s Braunstein in 1969 But most famous of those was Dave Arneson who would go on to co-write Dungeons & Dragons. None of these people are central to our story, but the company that published D&D is, as is the imposter company that tried to trade off it’s name twenty years after its closure.

It’s a story of misrepresentation, fraud and incompetence at every level as a narcissist bully attempts to take on a mega corporation. But hey, that happens every day, we need to understand the background of events leading up to to conceptualization of this game.

1.1 – What is Star Frontiers

Star Frontiers (1982) was a role-playing game published by TSR Inc from 1982 – 1985. to try to compete with Traveller (1977) (the singular big space opera role-playing game of the time). Edited by Steve Winter, building upon the work of David “Zeb” Cook and Lawrence Schick, it presented a very exciting vision of the wider universe involving weird aliens, warrior cultures and adventure galore.

By all reports, Gary had very little to do with the project as science fiction was not really his special interest and this was around the time he moved to California.

The property never got the same sort of the traction that Dungeons & Dragons did, and when Lorraine Williams took over she shelved the property in favour of her dynastic property, Buck Rogers (and thus we got the Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday (1990) game and it’s sequel Buck Rogers: Matrix Cubed (1992)).

1.2 Star Frontiers: New Genesis

In 2021, the charlatan company TSR LLC – operated almost entirely by right-wing grifter Justin LaNasa – announced that it would be publishing Star Frontiers: New Genesis as some sort of spiritual successor to Star Frontiers. For the purposes of this piece, “nuTSR” refers primarily to TSR LLC but also the various people who serve the interests of it.

It seems that originally it was going to be handled by role-playing game enthusiast, wannabe life coach and now right-wing reactionary mouthpiece Michael K Hovermale and his son (who will remained unnamed, sins of the father and all that).² At time of writing Michael is associating with Clownfish TV and had interviewed Mark Kern of Gamergate infamy).

Unsurprisingly, WotC were not super thrilled about this and applied for the cancellation of the trademarks. Surprisingly, Justin LaNasa decided to escalate the matter out the United States Trademark Office (where the scope of risk was just the trademarks) and into federal court (where everything was on the table).³ TSR LLC v. Wizards of the Coast LLC, 2:21-cv-01705, (W.D. Wash.) [“TSR v WotC“] At time of writing, WotC have eliminated the original action and continuing a counter-suit.⁴ Above, Document # 66, 29 May 2024

Of particular note, in October 2021, nuTSR made the bizarre claim that they’d held a blitz sale⁵ Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 18 Oct 2021 <https://x.com/wincenworks/status/1449900610912854019> and unfortunately all copies of the original version had sold out. To the surprise of no one, nobody seemed to have one of these:

Later Michael and his son departed the project, and it seems the bulk of the writing discarded and replaced with the work of Dave Johnson. Dave had a long history of creating various projects but never really getting any success. At the time he was publishing Alarms & Journeys and seemed to have the approval of Justin LaNasa for that.

NuTSR rarely volunteered any great details, but promotions were posted indicating that “slavery by law or custom” would be a big part of the setting, along with summary executions for mutiny – two aspects that were essentially contrary to the original game.⁶ Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum (Facebook, 13 February 2022) <https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=993620677895164> formerly <https://www.facebook.com/RPG/videos/993620677895164/>

Later it was promised that it would be released at TSR Con, with this being delayed due to Dave Johnson (who was to run the event and give away copies to all participants)⁷ Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 1 Feb 2022, <https://x.com/wincenworks/status/1488291921403723776> getting Covid.⁸ David Flor, X nee Twitter, 27 Mar 2022 <https://x.com/BrainClouds/status/1507867761363533828> Fortunately, nobody bought a ticket. Court filings would indicate that at this point they had only just started working on printing the playtest version⁹ TSR vs WotC, above n 3, Document #39, at [23] (despite claims it was finished, they had an ISBN¹⁰ Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 15 Mar 2022 <https://x.com/wincenworks/status/1503647045063565313> and piles of books).¹¹ Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 1 February 2022 <https://x.com/wincenworks/status/1488301874961072128>

The ultimate punchline for this would not come until 2024 (Appendix B).

Shortly after this, 50% of the writers for Star Frontiers: New Genesis were outed as being a proud Nazi who had a history of posting all kinds of terrible stuff, including literal admirable for actual Nazis.¹² No Hate in Gaming <https://nohateingaming.com/> Even other reactionary conservatives in the space turned on them at this point, you know, the kind of weirdos who refer to people they disagree with as “wokists” and say its everyone else’s fault they helped platform the Nazis. They called him racist! That’s how bad it was.

It should be noted that this was not helped by the fact that he also, in his (ill fated) magazine Alarms & Journeys #13 released some Star Frontiers: New Genesis lore that essentially seemed to support the hypothesis he was pro-Nazi – much of which made it into playtest beta. That issue and the majority of issues have been withdrawn from publishing in the wake of the revelations.

It is however, increasingly difficult to verify these details as the future gets darker and darker for nuTSR and things get deleted, but we do know that Justin was so upset by this public shaming he would later ask Elon Musk to take down the Twitter account associated with the page.

In July 2022 a video was released, showing a Google Drive full of documents which appeared to contain materials belonging to nuTSR, included a Haters List (which I am proud to say, I featured on).

It also contained draft of Star Frontiers: New Genesis which included a great deal of inflammatory content (example: “just like in real life some races are better at some thing than others, and some races are better than others”) – most memorable of which was the “Negro” race which was a strong and inherently unintelligent.¹³ Tenkar’s Tavern Let’s Look at an Example of Races from Star Frontiers: New Genesis – Oh My! (YouTube, 20 July 2022) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD9evesvAos>

The news of the leaked playtest document, with it’s Nazi content spread far and wide,¹⁴ Tyler Chancey TSR’s Star Frontiers New Genesis Playtest Contains Racist Content (TechRaptor, 21 July 2022) <https://techraptor.net/tabletop/news/tsrs-star-frontiers-new-genesis-playtest-contains-racist-content> led to Wizards of the Coast seeking an injunction order to prevent the release of Star Frontiers.¹⁵ TSR v WotC, above n 3, Document # 35, 21 September 2022

It also seems that while the documents were primarily written by Dave Johnson, with ongoing review and guidance from Justin LaNasa.

This led to word of it spreading further, even to podcasts that just discussed law. Justin LaNasa bravely folded and promised the court he would not release it until after the lawsuit.¹⁶ TSR v WotC, above n 3, Document #51, 14 December 2022 As part of his defence, before he folded, Justin LaNasa supplied two versions of the game, (“SFNG Beta”)¹⁷ TSR v WotC, above n 3, Document 39, 10 October 2022, 92 – 304 (“SFNG Beta soft“) & 306 – 549 (“SFNG Beta print“) which he claimed was the real representation of the product (Wizards of the Coast rightfully pointed out it was also bad, but in the end it didn’t matter ’cause he folded).

It is difficult to overstate what kind of negative publicity this entire fiasco created for nuTSR, but now even the much more buttoned up Bloomberg refers to them as making a racist game.¹⁸ Stephen L Carter Can Trademark Law Stop a Racist Role-Playing Game? (16 September 2022, Bloomberg) <https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-09-16/lawsuit-over-racist-video-game-hinges-on-trademark-law
Aruni Soni D&D Owner, Maker of racist Game Seek to Dismiss Trademark Case (30 May 2024, Bloomberg Law) <https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/d-d-owner-maker-of-racist-game-seek-to-dismiss-trademark-case>

On 8 June 2023, TSR LLC entered Chapter 7 Bankruptcy,¹⁹ TSR, LLC, 23-01577, (Bankr. E.D.N.C.) though with the intellectual property, art, etc for Star Frontiers: New Genesis mysteriously absent from the assets list.²⁰ Above, Document #1, at 9 – 10 Still, it seems that Star Frontiers: New Genesis will never see any sort official publication.

To minimise the need for weird speculation and assessment of the denial: I will review the specifics of the Beta and supporting material supplied by nuTSR, and offer my thoughts on the truth of the matter at the end. There is, after all, a copy that Justin supplied himself and the articles from Dave’s magazine. Primarily I’ll be using the print out version,²¹ SFNG Beta print, above n 17 as neither version is more “complete” – the digital documents are missing some content like “Merits & Flaws”²² Above at 361 – 364 but also have illustrations that are absent in the printed beta.

I will also make allowances for it being intended for testing and feedback, and as often as possible using the version that was made for print out, with the digital edition used only when the imagery that wasn’t taken across is insightful.

2 – THE RULES

While promotion information and text message logs accidentally shared to the public by Michael K Hovermale indicate the system was originally going to be compatible with Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (2014) (“5E“). This could be an understandable approach given the System Reference Document 5.1 (“SRD 5.1“) is quite a comprehensive document, the license is free but also its distinct fantasy flavour means your sci-fi game would need a lot of distinct material.

In fact, in an odd way it’s following in the footsteps of Lorraine Williams in getting her brother Flint Dille to make a Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (“AD&D“) setting: Buck Rogers XXCV. Those familiar with Lorraine likely have your own opinions on how compatible walking in her footsteps is with calling yourself a bastion of the OSR and seeking to preserve the legacy of Gary Gygax. I will leave you to them and the implications you draw from them.

The problem we run into is that adapting a complete system is a lot of work, and requires a lot of familiarity with the system. Also that the original Star Frontiers was, actually not very compatible as it was an attempt to move onto a base 10 & percentile system rather than D&D’s mix of arbitrary factors. Basically it was the nerd attempt to bring the metric system to the USA.

2.1 – Incomplete

This is probably not going to be a shock to you, but to explain how incomplete it is a think I should elaborate on what various stages of product development should look at the the time they are issued particular titles. This is everything from AAA video games to home projects.

• Proof of Concept: Is a stage where it illustrates a core concept, the heart of the product and the thing that everything else will be build around. Blackmoor was effectively proof of concept for D&D when Dave Arneson was resolving combat via Rock, Paper, Scissors games. It asks “Do you think I should start work on this?”
• Prototype: This stage is where there is enough framework around the core idea that you should be able to envision what the final product will be, not just the full potential of it but also the specific direction its going on. The most famous prototype sold in table top role-playing games is the original White Box, which advised you to use combat rules from Chainmail.²³ Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren Chainmail: Rules for Medieval Minatures (Guidon Games/TSR, Inc, 1971-1985) It asks “Do you think this is a good direction?”
• Alpha: A version of the product which has all the core functionality operating, but without all the features available. Usually it is for testing, but it can also be to just focus on refining those fundamentals. One could use the Red Box BX as an alpha for introducing friends to AD&D. Most “quick start” versions of games are essentially Alphas in this respect. It asks “Do you think this is a good foundation?” and “How would you like to see me build upon it?”
• Beta: A version which includes all the features the developer wants to be in the final product, at that time. Features may be added or removed prior to final release, but a beta test should be an honest question of “If I released this tomorrow, what would you say?” Perhaps the most infamous commercial beta in the space was Unearthed Arcana which was released with insufficient play-testing but became the foundation of many developments in D&D.

SFNG Beta is labelled as a Beta (obviously) but essentially fails to meet the standard of a proof of concept. It’s less a rules system and more a series of weird brain dumps about what Dave and/or Justin feel role-playing games ought to be.

There isn’t enough to do basic character creation, but there are rules for high level/prestige development – so I can’t really do a part by part breakdown because no part is complete. Some parts are both inexplicable, and almost entirely incomplete with just a name, a sketch and random data.

But perhaps, the weirdest part is that the rules don’t really set you up for any idea of what kind of game you’d play. There is no prioritization, but rather an extensive ramble about stats for social interactions, rules for psionics, nebulous ideas of skills and skill checks, a mention of the existence of saving throws, etc but no core idea.

It’s not clear if you’re going to be a game where you plan out your next four character arcs in advance, or you bring four backup characters – whether you optimize for combat, for comedy, or for innovative problem solving. It’s not even clear if the combat is supposed to be fast paced, crunchy or theatrical.

There is also no prioritization. 24 pages are dedicated to rules for psionics (hauntingly similar to AD&D),²⁵ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 418 – 442 but only 2.5 pages for combat (which essentially boils down to you can roll to hit, and you can run out of hit points)²⁶ Above, at 504 – 506 and 1 for skill checks (which are reference in combat, but you are not told about until after combat).²⁷ Above, at 202 You can’t do the fundamentals, but you’ve got all the rules for an ability the majority of players won’t get to play with.

For the uninitiated, psionics were one of the most broken areas of AD&D that were only bolted on at the last minute due to Tim Kask pointing out that without them – mortals were absolutely helpless against Mind Flayers. A pre-made character with mid-power or higher psionics was always viewed with deep suspicion of roll fudging due to them being unbalanced. Various campaigns have tried to incorporate them, but they ultimately fall by the wayside because they skew the world so far it distracts from the adventures.

Even if they weren’t broken, it’d be absurd to spend so much of the book on them given that by design on a small percentage of characters ever make the necessary roll to be eligible for them. It’s a waste of everyone’s time, and definitely absurd to include in a beta where the core of it is so under developed.

Yet SFNG Beta seems to be a product mostly about people without psionics, with most of the actual gameplay rules being about psionics.

Also, in the grand tradition of toxic gaming – while there are essentially no useful rules on how to action things successfully, there are tables of how to have them fail and be a detriment to the players.

To give you an idea how bad it is, as part of the ironically named TSR Con, there was supposed to be a release of not just Star Frontiers: New Genesis, but also an example module hosted by Dave Johnson²⁹ Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 10 February 2022 <https://twitter.com/wincenworks/status/1491575299506642949> and I don’t know if the system would really even facilitate that since you apparently won’t use the social skills, and what’s left isn’t explained to an extent you could reliably make informed decisions.

But honestly, I’m not really sure what kind of adventures you are supposed to have where they’re carried but the one member of the group who was lucky enough to get a psionic ability (which can range from barely impacting, to literally the ability to turn lead into gold).

2.2 – Unstructured and contradictory

So, suppose you want to make a character and run a quick encounter in Star Frontiers: New Genesis… how do you do it?

Okay, the first thing you’re supposed to pick is your character concept? That seem s promising right?³¹ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 344 Then it tells you to pick things like your handedness, favourite food, likes and dislikes. Player autonomy for the win! But the first thing it tells you is read up the races. Those are in the next section, so skip ahead for a bit I guess?

Once you come back from that section it asks you to work out your background, starting with your handedness, likes and dislikes… just like you did above.

It then tells you that your character is a blank canvas but will have passed mandatory conscription, so have proficiency is “weapons and shields” (no clarification if these are traditional shields, or maybe something like Dune (1965)³² Frank Herbert Dune (Chilton Books, USA, 1965)) and “2 starting proficiencies each character” with no clarity on if that is the same thing, and that you’ll start with the “basic loadout for reserve personnel”.

Then it tells us to pick a race and sex, and gives us a 1 paragraph summary (Entomoids get 2 paragraphs) for 6 of the 13 playable races that you would have seen in the Core Races area.³³ SFNG Beta print, above 17, at 345 – 346

Then it’ll tell you how to roll for stats generally,³⁴ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 347 though later in this section different stats will supply different ways to roll that particular stat (Looks is 1d12+6)³⁵ Above at 355 and then later when you get to the core races such as “D’arelit” some of them will have rules for rolling stats,³⁶ Above at 376 and then at the end of it it once again tells you to roll stats using the general method.

Then when you you give up on all that and get back to the process you have to roll to see if you get psionics,³⁷ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 418 then you have to find out about your modifiers (which you were told about already), pick an alignment (this has no bearing on anything in the book), and then you’ll be required to roll 2 merits and 2 flaws off the tables³⁸ Above at 361 – 364 ensuring that whatever character development work you did is wasted as traits you were told you’d decide have been arbitrarily set for you.

Then you’ll get told “Choose profession”,⁴⁰ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 446 which will be confusing since you’ll have seen the progression tables in the race section and there are a bunch of NPC only levels and “Paragon levels” but still using the same table. (Also apparently a second Merits and Flaws section was intended to be there?)

The first two classes have a summary, proficiencies (creating more confusion over if we all start with all these proficiencies or not) and progression tables with no headers. No other class after this gets a progression table.⁴¹ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 450 – 455

Medic is introduced as a paragon class despite being included in the core classes, and despite having a huge gaps like empty space in Tool, Saving Throws, Skills, etc. The rest are just a list of equipment and starting cash (essentially).⁴² SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 452

Now you’ll get to calculate your skill points, and allocate them – which creates a problem immediately. The weapon skills don’t match the weapon descriptions in the starting gear, you have a “pistol” but no clarification if it’s a “laser pistol” or one of the 5 other types.⁴³ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 450 – 455

Basically there is pretty much 0% chance you’ll finish character creation because no attempt has been made to structure it or consider what information is useful the player – and when to supply that information. This steps from that they clearly have not worked out what they want the product to be and are marking it as “beta” when it is just a jumble of ideas, rather than a good faith representation of the completed product and how it could be pending feedback.

It also bears nothing that that original Star Frontiers game did not include any sort of class system, rather it had a very simple system where you can simply spend experience to improve your stats (it used a 1-100 system, so there was a lot of room to improve increment by increment).⁴⁴ Ed: Steve Winter Star Frontiers: Alpha Dawn Expanded Game Rules (TSR Inc, Lake Geneva WI, July 1982) at 5 So all of this is… completely contrary to the approach and the spirit to the original.

2.3 – “Inspired by 5E”

Early on the rules claim they are “inspired” by 5E, but otherwise seem to have real connection to it. Which, is very confusing that if you want to just bash out a game with with low effort on the mechanics and more focus on what you want to make unique – the SRD 5.1 is probably the best solution available.

For some reason every edition of D&D since 2nd Ed has always included information for weird science fiction weapons,

Despite being written specifically for a space opera type campaign – they are clearly focused on the idea of a sword and sorcery adventure. Items like chain mail and swords appear in the gear, one of the example actions you can do your round include wearing or removing a ring (there are no rings in the equipment list).

In fact, the only 5E influence I can find is one that is not so much “influence” as just unlicensed copying. The Nanite Hypo gun just lists 5E spells as “Secondary effect” up to and including True Resurrection…⁴⁵ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 531 a spell which does not require a physical body to remain in order to restore life to anyone who has died in the past 200 years (provided you know their name). Not even Hideo “we made a vampire with nanomachines” Kojima would pitch this.

This is also particularly weird given that Star Frontiers had pretty in depth lore regarding the science fiction healing powers of the medical kits – with specific items that including a device that lets you perform surgery on yourself (and was parallel to the repair system for vehicles and robots). Oddly, none of this is carried across and instead it’s just a colour of nanomachine.⁴⁶ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 531

Grenades require a Dexterity saving throw with a DC 12 – which is odd since the fluff describing them says they have TASK ADVERSITY, but also that your GM might roll a d30 sometimes (no clarification on when that would be).⁴⁷ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 521

It’s not inspired by 5E, it’s hastily written with the intention that since everyone plays 5E they can just refer to all the specifics in it and people will play it. Specifically, it’s done without using the licensing of the SRD 5.1 which would make it legal to copy in particular content as long a proper citation is included. This makes this next part even weirder.

2.4 – “d20 Modern”

As part of the overall strategy for Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition (“3E“) was use the shiny new d20 System as a launching point for various other games, and encourage others to do so to. For espionage, cyberpunk, science fiction and modern fantasy market, they released D20 Modern (2002). Into this system would eventually be added some of the original Star Frontiers material in the (4 page long) “Star Law” campaign, along with Dralasite, Vrusk and Yazirian in the “Xenobiology” section within d20 Future (2004). It also had it’s own SRD, now available online. So there was a lot of potential to influence here.

However, the main influence seems to have been that they misunderstood the class system – possibly due to only reading the d20 Future book. In d20 Modern you pick a class based off what you want to be your primary focus (ie a stat, Strength, Dexterity, etc) and an occupation that dedicated your starting skills and money. There are also “Advanced Classes” you can take as you advance and want to specialize.

In Star Frontiers: New Genesis your “class” is set by your race, and your occupation is your “class” and it’s an absolute mess (see “Unstructured and self-contradictory” in “Rules“). The “Advanced Classes” are now “Paragon Classes”, but they don’t work like they do in d20 Modern… more on that later.

The Technology Levels system also seems to been directly lifted out of it, with Progress Levels being swapped for Technology Levels and all sense and feeling of narrative stripped from them.⁴⁸SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 497 – 498 In d20 Future they are themed by “age” of development for a civilization – the Fusion Age, the Gravity Age, etc. In Star Frontiers: New Genesis they are listed like quality ratings.

The races are essentially irrelevant as they are proudly lifted from the original, and then warped beyond recognition (as well as a bunch of new ones added). However, it seems that they didn’t realize that only three were from Star Frontiers as he seems to have adapted the Fruul and Aleerin in as the Zetaians and Cyborgs (though he could also have come up with them independently given how hopelessly derivative they are – grey aliens and people in robot bodies).

It mentions using elements of d20 Modern, and while it does literally claim to copy-paste the rules on Pivot Points…⁴⁹ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 445

Pivot points would later be referred to as “Gygaxian Gameplay” in Those Pesky Goblinz (2023),⁵⁰ Justin LaNasa Goblinz: Those Pesky Goblinz (TSR LLC/OSR Games LLC, Lake Geneva WI/Wilmington NC, 2023), at 10 it’s also not clear.

What is truly bizarre about this though is there are not Pivot Points or Paragon classes in d20 Modern – there are Action Points though, which work roughly the same way – but that text does not appear in d20 Modern and action points rules do not appear in the SRD (action points just sort of float around unexplained in there).

Somehow, nuTSR failed at copy-paste.

By far though, the biggest emulation of d20 Future is that they seem to have assumed what a sci-fi game needs is lots of sci-fi babble, unexplained terminology, random bits of inspiration notes and heaps of tables without remember that everything in the book was supposed to be setting agnostic.

2.5 – Other sources

So, pretty clearly the system isn’t really that inspired by 5E, or d20 Modern… so where is it from? The front of the book tells us that it is all from the TSR Creative Team.

Well, unsurprisingly there are clear sources.

2.5.1 – AD&D

As mentioned, the Psionics section the rules is essentially lifted out of AD&D, which is particularly weird when you consider that are specifically created in a way that many groups will not even have a single character with psionic ability. There’s also no information in the material to guide how this is treated in game… can you tell people you’re psionic or is it taboo?

2.5.2 – Basic Dungeons & Dragons

Pretty much the only game that has ever made your race/species your class/profession in the mainstream is the basic set for Dungeons & Dragons where being non-human meant you had your own progression path. Humans could be Fighter, Magic User, Cleric or Thief. Elves were Elf, halflings were Halfling and dwarfs were Dwarf.

2.5.3 – Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition

So, the Paragon class system doesn’t really match anything in D20 Modern or 5E, but you know what they do resemble? The system in Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition (“4E“) where upon reaching 10th level you get to pick a specialist/prestige type class regardless of your other qualifications. In fact, in this system they were referred to as “Paragon Paths”.⁵¹ Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, James Wyatt Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook: Arcane, Divine and Martial Heroes (“DnD 4E PHB“) (Wizards of the Coast, Renton WA, June 2008), at 53

What makes this very funny is that 5E sort of kept this idea, but moved the entry level to 3 rather than 10. So it wouldn’t have been too hard to work them out and adjust them to be better in line with 5E

If you’re familiar with 4E, you’re probably aware of why they didn’t want to make comparisons to it and that’s because it’s essentially the shortest lived and worst received version of D&D. Not exactly a great marketing point.

Also there’s the distinct possibility they just didn’t know the difference between the editions since it doesn’t seem anyone involved in this was much of a scholar of the TTRPG collected works and scene.

2.5.4 – The Official D30 System by Dave Johnson

Before he was banned from DriveThruRPG for being Nazi filth⁵² Andrew Girdwood DriveThruRPG suspends game designer linked to the Nazi filth (GeekNative, 21 May 2022) <https://www.geeknative.com/142136/drivethrurpg-suspends-game-designer-linked-to-the-nazi-filth/> (the article’s words, not mine – though also mine), co-write of Star Frontiers: New Genesis, Dave Johnson had an “official” d30 system available for sale on the platform.

Calling it a “system” was inherently misleading though, as it was really a bunch of brain farts mashed out onto a couple of pages that stopped before explaining character creation and was only a few pages.

But it was the “prototype” for some of the features introduced in the book, specifically anything that that requires a d30 and the Primal/ mentioned early in – and then never again.⁵³ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 329

2.5.5 – Paranoia

Originally released in 1984, this game is the ideal palette cleanser for when you’ve overdone crunchy fantasy settings requiring intense problem solving and tight cooperation. It’s difficult to explain Paranoia but the main takeaway you need to know is that in order to facilitate regular player character death without impeding the game – each player character is one of six clones who are identical and named in order John-1, John-2, John-3, etc.

SF:NG Beta includes a race, Multar, who have multiple clone backups each named and numbered: Paul-1, Paul-2, Paul-3, etc.⁵⁴ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 390 They also, like the citizens of Paranoia come from a society with no reproduction outside of this system but can also reproduce normally.⁵⁵ Above, at 391 It is not clear if they trust The Computer. (If you don’t get this joke, try playing Paranoia)

2.6 – Conclusion (Rules)

This is fundamentally unacceptable in anything calling itself a “beta”. A beta is supposed to have all features for the final product included, and being tested for workability and to see if they need to be revised. Content in the beta may not make it in, and content may be added, but the content of the beta is supposed to be an honest representation of the intended product.

Notably, while there were many sources that influenced the rules – none of them appear to be Star Frontiers, and most of them are used in a manner which is probably not advisable. There is essentially no coherent theme or foundation to expand upon.

Of course, rules are only half the game. This wouldn’t be a dealbreaker if the core premise was good – plenty of settings have started with their own system them been imported into a simpler system, or simply been imported into a generic system.

3 – THE SETTING

So the setting… doesn’t really exist.

There’s a few micro fictions at the start, one where it’s a world similar to our own, then it meets aliens and things change – basically it’s a very inept attempt emulate the intro to the premise of the original Star Frontiers, using pages of text to somehow convey less story than the original did in two paragraphs.⁵⁶ SFNG Beta print, at n 17, at 330 – 332

In fact, Star Frontiers is so hilariously insecure about conveying the setting that the printed beta includes a (now defunct) YouTube link.⁵⁷ SFNG Beta print, at n 17, at 331 Yes it seems they expected someone to type out the link manually, watch the video and then resume reading. At time of writing, this video is no longer available.

This is unsurprising since, among other oddities there is a race called Molluskoids mention in the introductory materials and then never again.

Then there’s a bit about The Syndicate/Bounty Hunters who are just basically space cowboys (right up to drinking whiskey with their quick draw hand) but not as cool as George Peppard in Battle Beyond The Stars (1980). Largely it seems an attempt to ride the popularity of The Mandalorian (2019 onward) without actually watching and appreciating the premise of the show.⁵⁸ SFNG Beta print, at n 17, at 333 – 334

This is followed by a weird right up of shared history between unrelated, unnamed alien races (the ones that are from the actual Star Frontiers) to introduce what they became and at no point does it link to either of the bits that came earlier. Rather it comes across as a collection of concepts torturously crushed together as an attempt to both get to claim to be Star Frontiers, but also disclaim it is not Star Frontiers.

So, if it’s not Star Frontiers, what is it?

3.1 – Generally

Much like the rules, all the setting information is tossed in and much of it is contradictory. You are told in this bold new world cybernetics have been excluded to the point of being outlawed,⁵⁹ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 335 but the Cyborg race is basically a brain in a robot body – gaining immense benefits from it. ⁶⁰Above, at 346, 387 – 389

Names of planets, companies and individuals are dropped but there’s not real guidance on how you would engage with these. This is weird, because there was definitely material prepared.

In his short lived self-published zine, Alarms & Journeys – there’s was this additional detail:⁶¹ D. Johnson Star Frontiers New Genesis History in ed: Dave Johnson Alarms & Journeys Magazine Vol 5, No 1, Issue 15 (Dave Johnson, Murfreesboro TN, 2022) at 71

For some perspective, this is what the Statue of Unity looks like:

So this statue (which they take care is the tallest of a woman, not just a person) is both an amazing waste of resources in a barbaric reason but also nothing that cannot theoretically be managed in our modern world if we had someone willing to waste the resources on a statue you can barely see on most days.

Somehow, this is absent in both the drafts of the SFNG Beta and this diminishes the product – we don’t even have a world where people supposed on barbaric frontiers waste precious resources on a statue we probably couldn’t build in the modern world. It’s just… there’s space… or something.

There is an extremely amateurish attempt at world building where various species, organizations, areas, key figures, etc are all listed off in ways that keep them all so distinctly separate that you can’t really put them together. This is further complicated by the fact the intro tells you that you will either be in the navy, or work for a merchant – two areas it provides essentially no information on.

3.2 – The (Space) Navy

The introduction of the book proposes that the default set up in Star Frontiers: New Genesis is to be a member in the … navy. This is an odd choice for a game with “frontiers” in the name, which inherently implies free wheeling adventure, but is even more confusing when there is essentially no information on this institution.

Other than they believe in summary execution, support slavery by law or custom… wait why do we want to support these people?

This is extra baffling since, from what I could find: Both Justin and Dave have military experience – Dave was in the US Navy (and apparently served as a Corpsman) and Justin did a stint in the US Army, then the US Coast Guard. Both were enlisted men so you’d think they’d know military life is:

• Highly regimented with everything from the weapons you carry to the food you eat being decided for you by the institution; and
• It operates on a strict hierarchy, which can work for a single player adventure like the Mass Effect games, but is terrible for a party where the players are peers; and
• A huge institutionalized navy pretty much contradicts the “frontiers” aspect by way of it indicating everything is already settled.

The uncharitable interpretation of this is that the intended play is the GM’s favourite gets to be the captain, and has rules that they can execute the other PCs for not doing what they say. A kind of tedious, asymmetrical, unfunny and incredibly boring version of Paranoia.

If you want to play as navy officers, you’ll have to invent your entire own institution, chain of command, rules, standard kits, etc. Also apparently the government that controls this navy agrees to give unconditional support to the Nord race which means they’re outside of this group with control, but can also be members of the group? More on the implications of that that later.

Basically the information supplied is completely unsuitable for playing as a member of this navy, as the front of the book says you will.

3.3 – Merchants

The classic thing that are widely joked about being the worst approach to adventure role-playing games. Not because that it can’t be fun (Taipan! (1979) was a smash hit for a reason), but because when you sign up for a game with adventure, and combat, and danger it’s very weird to spend it making spreadsheets about profit & loss.

Except in this setting, there’s not even a way you’d start on that. Everything there is demand for, is supplied in wild excess. Fuel? All comes from this mysterious Justainium 115 comes from three planets and is so awesome 1 kilo lasts 100 years with no drawbacks.⁶² SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 337 Technology and equipment? Cybernetics and bioengineering are outlawed.⁶³ Above, at 335 Entire races already have full cloning facilities,⁶⁴ Above, at 390 – 391 fully mechanized bodies,⁶⁵ Above, at 387 – 389 and make their own weapons that simulate magic.⁶⁶ Above, at 403 – 405 and 522 – 523 Food? Well food, sundries and commodities aren’t really explored in the rules – there’s no price for a kilo of rice, a six pack of beer, etc.

Not that it’d matter, according to the equipment list 50 credits of rations will last you for most of a year (200 days).⁶⁷ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 528

So, basically if you’re going to be a merchant you’re going to need to invent your own economy, own standards for trading. You’ll also need to try to determine everything about how somehow being a merchant results in exciting adventures.

Basically the information supplied is completely unsuitable for playing as a merchant in space, as the front of the book says you will.

3.4 – Frontiers

There’s… also not really anywhere to explore it seems. All the fluff indicates that all the colonizing is already done, all the problems are in the past and now it’s all very prosperous for everyone. There’s rules for trying to decipher how to use alien technology, but we’re living in an era where people with terminal disease can be putting into a purely mechanical body, travel across space.

In fact, it seems that even the creators think it is so openly devoid of any interesting adventure that they have gone way out of their way to include a means of departing the setting entirely – potentially into something wildly different like a sword and sorcery type setting where the various swords, spears, chain armour, etc you can buy in the inventory might actually make sense.

That is “Space Angels” who left behind a “time portal” that lead to “a place long ago with knights, trolls, goblins and dragons.”⁶⁸ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 235 This seems to describe the cover proposed cover that was, for a while, advertised as proof of a completed product.

So given the lack of alternatives, and the emphasis on this portal – it seems the singular frontier is getting to play D&D but as an annoying munchkin who insists they should have all this sci-fi garbage and be a special unique creature that doesn’t fit with the setting or the themes of the game.

This would certainly explained why it declares it is “inspired by D&D” and lifts not from the original game in gameplay, style or fluff (beyond claiming some of the races are superior versions of the original) but from a weird mix of D&D versions.

3.5 – Technology

So, unsurprisingly a certain amount of the technology is lifted directly from Star Frontiers with no only terminology, but also a weird attempt to emulate it. The original basic rules have a weird ID card do they collaged together a monstrosity card that is more complex, and more ridiculous.⁶⁹ SF Beta soft, above n 17, at 288

And it needs be remarked, none of the technology ideas that were in the actual Star Frontiers are unique in the current landscape – they are all pretty entry level science fiction ideas that have shown up everywhere. I’ll get into more detail later, but basically where they do include adaptions of the existing ideas they fuck it up, but that’s still better than what they do with the stuff they don’t.

The book also includes a bunch of stuff which seems to have been essentially attempts to import D&D magic items into the science fiction setting with the assumption that the reader will fill in the gaps: Force Field Bracers, Asgarōr Chain Mail, Sonic Sword, etc.⁷⁰ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 512 – 524

Then there are items were are clearly science fiction but lacking the kind of extra elaboration you’d need to make them work: Dispersion Suit, Nanite Stealth Suit, Grav Suit, Sonic Sword, Powered Sword, EMP Grenade, Powered Gloves etc. You’re going to have to write up all the rules yourself.⁷¹ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 512 – 524

Lastly there are the ones where you simply have no context provided for how they work other than they just do: Ga’ss Psitol, Zetaians Force Field Belt, Jump Boots, Zetaians Force Field Headband, Galvanic Sword, etc.⁷² SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 512 – 524

Of the other items that are described there continues to be a weird mix of technologies and world changing assessments without any thought as to how they would impact the world you live in. For example, one items allows a skilled operator to access any of anyone’s memories with the push of a button – no thought is given to how this thing that is too extreme and horrifying for Black Mirror (2011-onward) would impact a society that has access to it.⁷³ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 529

3.6 Source Material

Appendix A of the book specifies there was “inspirational reading or movies and television shows” then lists 6 movies made between 1968 and 1999.⁷⁴ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 544 Well… 3 of them and are based off literary works, and while some have the year of release one is both a movie and a literary work – but lacks the year of release so could be either, or the video game adaption. But let’s be real here, the first item on the list is the Wing Commander movie – the creators couldn’t be bothered to play the game, they ain’t reading the literary versions and didn’t notice none of them are television shows.

Also very clearly, none of them are the actual influence but rather they seem to be added as because it’s widely understood that other products they’ve lifted ideas from used them as influence.

Notably none of them depict this weird militaristic utopia, with a plethora of alien beings working cooperatively within a singular government and going on naval adventures together. In fact, most of them seem to be the opposite of that. I mean let’s go through them one-by-one.

3.6.1 – “Wing Commander movie”

This was basically Top Gun (1986) in Space and without the gay subtext my university lecturers were obsessed with. Notably Star Frontiers: New Genesis has no particular rules for flying ships, or being in Space, so you couldn’t enact any of the dramatic scenes in it.

It’s worth noting that in the movie, the bad guys are the Kilrathi, a highly militant race that demand absolute obedience within the hierarchy, and look kind of like one of the playable species in Star Frontiers: New Genesis. Also slavery is illegal in the Wing Commander universe, unsurprisingly.

I guess it’s possible they were confused who were supposed to be the good guys?

3.6.2 – “2001 A Space Odyssey”

Stanley Kubrick’s reflection on the hubris of humanity, and how we would not be able to understand any creators we may have but are compelled to seek answers anyway has no gunfights, no women and no weird aliens so… really has nothing in common but the presence of space and space ships.

This is another one where notably, the creators seem to have completely missed the overall message of the movie. In 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968) it is implied that humanity originates from, and makes massive leaps forward due to alien intervention – but it is not accompanied by prosperity and happiness. It is accompanied by chaos, violence and death as our worst impulses have the chance to take over.

Wow, they’re really bad at media literacy aren’t they?

3.6.3 – “Dune (1984)”

Presumably this one only slipped in ’cause the creators of Star Frontiers: New Genesis don’t realize David Lynch is and always has been an empathetic lefty who advocates acceptance and love. That and it seems to be the only one with cool science fiction weapons, sword fights, and “psionic” powers that they knew of so had to include.

This one is particularly funny given the overall thesis of Dune is that attempts to build the kind of society that is supposedly present in this setting is doomed to failure because even the best humans are messy and fallible.

Okay, so you get the bit at this point, but I also just feel the need to point out that aside from the obvious above, it’s also kind of hilarious that Star Frontiers: New Genesis is pro-slaver and cites Dune (1984), a movie where the ultimate badasses of the universe are the Fremen… not the Harkonnens.

3.6.4 – “The Running Man”

Given that the novel, the movie and the video game are all about a dystopian near future where society has degraded to the extent that hunting humans for sport is national entertainment. It seems that they just included this one for the violence, but once again managed to miss the point as the overall message of all versions of The Running Man is not to trust mega-institutions that maintain control through indoctrination and violence as they will always turn on you.

Like, let’s be real – the rest of these are movies and the creators of Star Frontiers: New Genesis are clearly not readers. They watched the movie and somehow saw all the bits where its revealed the competition is a lie, the military turns on its members with a conscience, and decided that is the future they want to live in.

3.6.5 – “Brazil (1985)”

I haven’t seen this one personally so cannot comment much other than to put out the inclusion of a black comedy version of Nineteen Eighty-Four is certainly a choice.

3.6.6 – “Blade Runner (1982)”

Much like The Running Man, it’s hard to see how Blade Runner (1982) is supposed to be relevant in any way since it takes place pretty much entirely on a version of our Earth where everything has gone wrong to the extent that humanity’s creations better understand what it means to be human than humanity itself.

Moreso even than Dune, this one is essentially the anti-thesis of Star Frontiers: New Genesis. It has an unmistakable, palpable disdain for those who think that technology will solve social ills, the birth is determinative of ones role in society or that there will be be ethical slavery.

Like all the other movies, its inclusion only makes sense if you disregard the text and imagine it from the viewpoint of someone who see the villains, the people who are depicted as irredeemable and doomed to failure by the core themes of the text and says, “I wanna be them, only nothing bad would ever happen to me, because I’m cooler and smarter and better than them, the person I wish I was.”

3.7 Conclusion (Setting)

The setting, in so much as it exists, is completely useless to anyone. It consists of a bunch of buzz words, concepts tossed out there with no thought to how they fit together or how the big picture should look.

It is not actually a setting, or even a guide for making a setting as it is a weird masturbation by the creators which results in a mess of concepts that are not worked, not examined and then followed by a list that is meant to imply there are some deep and meaningful sources.

This is the antithesis of what should be included in a new game that you want people to pay money for, even more than GiantLands (2021).

4 – THE POLITICS

Okay, so normally this doesn’t warrant it’s own header, but given how much TSR LLC ranted about “no politics” it was inevitable that their games would be almost entirely about politics. So are there politics in this, and if so: what kind of politics does this text endorse?

4.1 – What’s yours is ours

In his seminal work, Plagiarism and You(Tube),⁷⁵ Harry Brewis (as hbomberguy) Plagiarism and You(Tube) (YouTube, San Bruno CA, 3 Dec 2023) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDp3cB5fHXQ> hbomberguy noted that this a trend among the self-declared elite to simply decide that other people’s work is better off being credited to them rather than the actual creator. Obviously, this applies to the creators of Star Frontiers: New Genesis as they pillaged not just the name but widely for the name mechanics – but to the extent it actually starts to get funny.

Like they know because the races belong to Wizards of the Coast they can’t use them, but then they just go out and outright say their races as specifically are the origins of their own… effectively making the text itself confirmation that it is an unlicensed derivative work.⁷⁶ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 335 This is very funny from an intellectual law perspective but raised to spectacularly hilarious when the last thing in the book is a guide on how to convert between “versions”.⁷⁷ Above, at 545

More blatantly, it is pretty much impossible to know what various weapons in the inventory are without directly cross-referencing from the original Star Frontiers materials. They have provided summaries for some items like laser guns, and gyrojet weapons,⁷⁸ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 521 but forgotten to include information for things like Needlers or Recoilless Rifle, weapons.

One thing that with the comparisons is that even here, they try to be cooler. Like their version of the same concept is just inherently better than that of the people they stole from because they think they’re so cool. Gyrojets in Star Frontiers: New Genesis are described as firing small rockets “called Microjects, which have little recoil and do not require a heavy barrel or chamber to resist the pressure of the combustion gases. They can be fire underwater and are entirely silent.” ⁷⁹SF:NG Beta print, above n 17, at

If you’re a Warhammer 40,000 fan, you’re probably thinking these sound a lot like bolt guns but in a way that doesn’t make sense. If you’re not, maybe you remember this concept in classic movie You Only Live Twice (1967) where these weapons are shown to be loud and destructive. Well, let’s see how they’re described in Star Frontiers (in simple and expanded rules):

And indeed, even as I look at the TSR Official Community Discord channel there is still a dedicated text channel for “Star Frontiers Reboot”

Basically the only reason to support this product conceptually is if you 1. really loved the idea of Star Frontiers but also 2. really hate literally everyone who works in a creative field – especially the people who made Star Frontiers.

4.2 – Starship Troopers but the bad reading

In 1997, infamous pervert and general creepy guy, Paul Verhoeven released a movie adaptation of the Robert A. Heinlein novel Starship Troopers, to the delight of Nazis and anti-fascists alike. Verhoeven and his stans maintain the world is clearly mocking satire of fascism and Nazi ideology, and that is a valid reading of it – but the fact remains Nazis fucking love it because they read it as validation of their ideology.

Specifically Nazis like things like the idea of a world where what you are is more important than who you try to be. They also want a world of clear heroes and villains, one where only those who accept military indoctrination have rights, and where any failure or deviation results in death or slavery.

While there is no great war going on… or there might be it’s not clear – this is essentially the world that Star Frontiers presents to you. Your career path is decided by your species, one subgroup are the ideal and all others measured against their similarity to that group, your PC is assumed to be ex-military because otherwise you’d be inherently inferior, officers have the right to execute insubordinates and there is slavery by both law and custom.

As a side note, I remind you that Star Frontiers: New Genesis did inexplicably introduce aliens that are insects with stingers and “molluskoids”.

4.3 – Women ain’t shit

As mentioned, the first version of this product that was seen by the public is the one disavowed by Justin LaNasa and the one I am reviewing was supplied by Justin as evidence. Wizards and the Coast and I rarely agree on much, but we do agree that this version is bad and misogynistic.

The appearance section (reminder this is a game where you can play a brain in a cybernetic body, or an insect person who communicates primarily in clicks and whistles) assumes the authors personal beautiful standards are a universal force the effects the minds of all.

This is however, very funny when you remember that the creators of this seem to assume that 1) only men play TTRPGs and 2) only straight men play them. So all this uncontrollable simping for hot babes is to be enacted by one deeply insecure homophobe and responded to eagerly by another deeply insecure homophobe.

Fellas, is it gay? If so, it seems nuTSR shouldn’t be into it.

But apparently they are.

4.4 – Eugenics and pseudo-medical purity nonsense

So this is a little complicated to explain but their attempt to apply eugenics and pseudo-medical purity into a science fiction setting. But let me start with saying, bioessentialism has a long history in fantasy, science fiction and TTRPGs.

Firstly, they credit the “rise of the Eugenics movement” with leading the creation of these superior races which either just focused on themselves, or interbred with another race.⁸¹ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 335

But that’s not even vaguely how eugenics is supposed to operate. Rather it gets waved around as a magical buzz term, presumably to signal loyalty to a certain political demographic and their viewpoints.

People who believe in eugenics don’t actively seek out to make new races, or even new breeds – but rather they get the idea there is a singular perfect ideal and push to get as close to that. They basically can’t acknowledge the need for anything new, because the idea is already there – it just needs to be distilled.

If it sounds like that’s something that could lead to a lot of inbreeding, why yes, it is in fact how you get someone like King Charles II of Spain. That’s where the actual theory gets you, because the theory doesn’t allow for considering the outcomes of pairings, it just hinges on the idea that if both parents are “good” then the positive traits will be inherited and the negative will dissolve way.

Secondly, the idea that it would lead to discarding cybernetics is just … bizarre. Because well, Nazis had people who became disabled in war, needed reading glasses as they got old, had accidents that led to disability etc. Even actual Nazis realized that no amount of good breeding could prevent misfortune, and naturally they felt the “best” of their society deserved the most support. Karl Plagge and Oskar Groening had glasses.

In Star Frontiers: New Genesis they attempt to propose that selective breeding and a love of “natural bodies” will just warp every facet of reality. It’s fascinating as an insight into the delusions of the wretched people who support these toxic ideas. It takes the already absurd and toxic notion of eugenics, then assigns it magic powers simply of a fear of how technology may benefit others.

4.5 – Other Nazi shit

So, throughout this I’ve been mentioning there’d a race in the game called the Nord, and it’s no coincidence that it overlaps with the Nazi master race. Blue-eyed, blonde space elves who are singularly the most important race and also the most well placed to do the singular “invade a Sword and Sorcery world” option in the game (they even have technical versions of magical fantasy gear).

Also, to be clear, this is not just a case of them being one of eight races – they are repeatedly mentioned as being critical, they have by far the highest stats of any race, ⁸²SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 403 – 404 and they are the only race which gets specific types of gear (which all happens to be fantasy stuff).⁸³ Above, at 522 – 523

The also enjoy a special political status, where every other member of the group agreed to prioritize their issues.⁸⁴SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 335

Notably, though, there is no real information for them in there other than “they’re just awesome” which kind of indicates that the writers haven’t really thought of them as an alien species but just “better” humans and the “correct” choice. As evidenced by the guide to rolling for their stats:⁸⁵ SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 403

4.6 – Conclusion (Politics)

More than about creating a fun system for a TTRPG, or about creating an enjoyable setting for all kinds of space adventures – Star Frontiers: New Genesis is about pushing fascist, Nazi and Nazi-adjacent politics.

It’s specifically, more than being a game about having space adventures, this is a game about living out a fantasy of being privileged for being at the top of hierarchy – whether it’s being a Nazi elf, or getting everything ’cause you’re a hot babe, or just getting to execute disloyal employees because you’re the boss.

The creators are hilariously transparent about their despicable stances because they have, in their collaboration, convinced themselves that these things are not political but just “correct” or “fun”. By refusing to engage in self reflection, they have exposed their inner souls to the (understandably disgusted) world.

5 – Overall Conclusion

This product is garbage even by the weird alt-right reactionary grift mill standards.

It is not unbalanced, it is just straight up unplayable so they can’t even attack to live out their weird fantasies using these rules. It is not explicit in its politics, and where it does try to put them out there it does them incompetently.

It’s tempting to say this is just a low effort burp but if that was their goal, there were a lot easier ways to go about it – the most obvious being simply using the SRD 5.1 or simply rewording the rules for Star Frontiers basic rules until it can avoid copyright concerns.

Actual effort went into this, it seems to be an actual sincere attempt by the creators to express their vision of the kind of future where they think they would be happiest (assuming they are the ones in charge and not the ones being executed for insubordination or subjected to the Thought Reader).

It betrays a childishness in the creators where they at once want to be seen as authorities and experts on life, the universe and everything within but also don’t want to consider the value of plot arcs, exploring situations that are without solution or where all solutions require trade offs.

It is the game equivalent of being promised a gourmet meal, then being handed a box of chocolate bars later revealed to be cheap knock offs of reputable brands but also expired and padded with empty wrappers and a box of rat poison.

It sucks, and it seems even Dave Johnson knows it… either that or he’s since shown that he was probably not the best person to ask to write a Star Frontiers game.⁸⁶ Dave Johnson as ONB Publishing, X nee Twitter, 2 Oct 2024 <https://x.com/PublishingONB/status/1841180817898553442>

APPENDIX A: The Other Version

As mentioned above, there was another version of the document which was in circulation – one which appears to have been written in OpenOffice and contained much more inflammatory material. It has been formally disavowed by Justin, though Don Semora assures the world it was the real draft that Justin & Dave worked on. To date, the court has made no findings on it.

Both documents are quite long, and obviously the disavowed version has more content which would be offensive and frankly not the kind of thing that I want to appear on my blog – so I’m not going to go blow-by-blow, nor do I think there is really any sort of need to.

Strictly for the purposes of helping you, the gentle reader, decide whether you believe this – I want to showcase what I believe is the most compelling evidence. It’s a single paragraph on languages, in the soft copy:⁸⁷ SFNG Beta soft, above n 17, at 209

Now this is absurd, and has nothing relating to reality – but it is weirdly worded even for Dave Johnson and Justin LaNasa. The “For example” makes no sense. Now lets look at the same paragraph in the leaked copy.

As always, I invite you to reach your own conclusions. Was the leaked copied falsified or was the beta a copy that was hastily edited? You decide!

APPENDIX B: Google Books

As mentioned, there was initially a fiasco over the reality of the book – was it really going to be published or was it just nuTSR claiming they were working on a product in order to facilitate trademark trolling or try to get clout without doing the work.

Eventually, there would be an ISBN and a registration in Google Books which had many and numerous issues – the first being that it stated that it’d been released in 2022. The far bigger issues were that it claimed to be the work of Gary Gygax (E Gary Gygax Senior) and Jim Holloway.

Now, to Jim Holloway was the iconic artist for the original Star Frontiers and the good news is that seems that none of his art appears in any of the Star Frontiers: New Genesis materials – so this seems to be a pretty transparent attempt to hunt clout without producing it.

The focus on Gary Gygax is just bizarre since, as far as I’ve been able to find, Gary’s interest in Star Frontiers began and ended with having a product that might take some of Traveller‘s market share. His name does not appear in any of the credits, and Gary famously was much more interested in historical type games like Chainmail and Napoleonic war games.

Recently, it appears that the filing as been updated to try to change the listing for Star Frontiers: New Genesis seems to be for the ill-fated Dungeon Crawl game originally designed by Wizard Tower Games but then warped and mismanaged by nuTSR.

But still crediting all the same happy faces, listing it as science fiction and having the cover preview for the book that never was.

Original link: https://www.google.com/books/about/Star_Frontiers.html?id=Jt7uzgEACAAJ
Current link: https://www.google.co.nz/books/edition/Dungeon_Crawl/Jt7uzgEACAAJ

It’s very bizarre. Particularly since it seems that some clause or events within the bankruptcy means that the rights to Dungeon Crawl are now reverting back to Don Semora.⁸⁸ Tenkar’s Tavern Responding to GraphPaper Architect’s “How to Find Motivation” Video (Youtube, 6 October 2024) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zpko_ew3WA> He’s hoping to get a version released in January 2025. This would mean this latest update is:

1. Deliberately messing the registration data to create misinformation; and
2. Doing so in a manner that could impact or interfere with the business of a direct competitor; and
3. Specifically a competitor who has been called as a witness in the lawsuit where WotC is essentially alleging various kind of unlawful and unethical practices by Justin; and
4. Doing so during the time frame where this could actually be raised as an issue by that competitor.

I’ll be honest and say I don’t understand how he could think this was a good idea, but then again I can’t say with full honestly I understand how he thought anything in the TSR/nuTSR Saga was a good idea. So I guess we’ll just have wait to see how this plays out, and hence am going to need to buy more popcorn.

• 1
  US Trademark #90276506 <https://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=90276506&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch>
• 2
  At time of writing Michael is associating with Clownfish TV and had interviewed Mark Kern of Gamergate infamy).
• 3
  TSR LLC v. Wizards of the Coast LLC, 2:21-cv-01705, (W.D. Wash.) [“TSR v WotC“]
• 4
  Above, Document # 66, 29 May 2024
• 5
  Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 18 Oct 2021 <https://x.com/wincenworks/status/1449900610912854019>
• 6
  Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum (Facebook, 13 February 2022) <https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=993620677895164> formerly <https://www.facebook.com/RPG/videos/993620677895164/>
• 7
  Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 1 Feb 2022, <https://x.com/wincenworks/status/1488291921403723776>
• 8
  David Flor, X nee Twitter, 27 Mar 2022 <https://x.com/BrainClouds/status/1507867761363533828>
• 9
  TSR vs WotC, above n 3, Document #39, at [23]
• 10
  Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 15 Mar 2022 <https://x.com/wincenworks/status/1503647045063565313>
• 11
  Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 1 February 2022 <https://x.com/wincenworks/status/1488301874961072128>
• 12
  No Hate in Gaming <https://nohateingaming.com/>
• 13
  Tenkar’s Tavern Let’s Look at an Example of Races from Star Frontiers: New Genesis – Oh My! (YouTube, 20 July 2022) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fD9evesvAos>
• 14
  Tyler Chancey TSR’s Star Frontiers New Genesis Playtest Contains Racist Content (TechRaptor, 21 July 2022) <https://techraptor.net/tabletop/news/tsrs-star-frontiers-new-genesis-playtest-contains-racist-content>
• 15
  TSR v WotC, above n 3, Document # 35, 21 September 2022
• 16
  TSR v WotC, above n 3, Document #51, 14 December 2022
• 17
  TSR v WotC, above n 3, Document 39, 10 October 2022, 92 – 304 (“SFNG Beta soft“) & 306 – 549 (“SFNG Beta print“)
• 18
  Stephen L Carter Can Trademark Law Stop a Racist Role-Playing Game? (16 September 2022, Bloomberg) <https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-09-16/lawsuit-over-racist-video-game-hinges-on-trademark-law
  Aruni Soni D&D Owner, Maker of racist Game Seek to Dismiss Trademark Case (30 May 2024, Bloomberg Law) <https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/d-d-owner-maker-of-racist-game-seek-to-dismiss-trademark-case>
• 19
  TSR, LLC, 23-01577, (Bankr. E.D.N.C.)
• 20
  Above, Document #1, at 9 – 10
• 21
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17
• 22
  Above at 361 – 364
• 23
  Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren Chainmail: Rules for Medieval Minatures (Guidon Games/TSR, Inc, 1971-1985)
• 24
  SFNG Beta soft, above n 10, at 293
• 25
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 418 – 442
• 26
  Above, at 504 – 506
• 27
  Above, at 202
• 28
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 430
• 29
  Kim Wincen, X nee Twitter, 10 February 2022 <https://twitter.com/wincenworks/status/1491575299506642949>
• 30
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 500 – 501
• 31
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 344
• 32
  Frank Herbert Dune (Chilton Books, USA, 1965)
• 33
  SFNG Beta print, above 17, at 345 – 346
• 34
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 347
• 35
  Above at 355
• 36
  Above at 376
• 37
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 418
• 38
  Above at 361 – 364
• 39
  Above at 364
• 40
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 446
• 41
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 450 – 455
• 42
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 452
• 43
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 450 – 455
• 44
  Ed: Steve Winter Star Frontiers: Alpha Dawn Expanded Game Rules (TSR Inc, Lake Geneva WI, July 1982) at 5
• 45
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 531
• 46
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 531
• 47
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 521
• 48
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 497 – 498
• 49
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 445
• 50
  Justin LaNasa Goblinz: Those Pesky Goblinz (TSR LLC/OSR Games LLC, Lake Geneva WI/Wilmington NC, 2023), at 10
• 51
  Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, James Wyatt Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook: Arcane, Divine and Martial Heroes (“DnD 4E PHB“) (Wizards of the Coast, Renton WA, June 2008), at 53
• 52
  Andrew Girdwood DriveThruRPG suspends game designer linked to the Nazi filth (GeekNative, 21 May 2022) <https://www.geeknative.com/142136/drivethrurpg-suspends-game-designer-linked-to-the-nazi-filth/>
• 53
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 329
• 54
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 390
• 55
  Above, at 391
• 56
  SFNG Beta print, at n 17, at 330 – 332
• 57
  SFNG Beta print, at n 17, at 331
• 58
  SFNG Beta print, at n 17, at 333 – 334
• 59
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 335
• 60
  Above, at 346, 387 – 389
• 61
  D. Johnson Star Frontiers New Genesis History in ed: Dave Johnson Alarms & Journeys Magazine Vol 5, No 1, Issue 15 (Dave Johnson, Murfreesboro TN, 2022) at 71
• 62
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 337
• 63
  Above, at 335
• 64
  Above, at 390 – 391
• 65
  Above, at 387 – 389
• 66
  Above, at 403 – 405 and 522 – 523
• 67
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 528
• 68
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 235
• 69
  SF Beta soft, above n 17, at 288
• 70
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 512 – 524
• 71
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 512 – 524
• 72
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 512 – 524
• 73
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 529
• 74
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 544
• 75
  Harry Brewis (as hbomberguy) Plagiarism and You(Tube) (YouTube, San Bruno CA, 3 Dec 2023) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDp3cB5fHXQ>
• 76
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 335
• 77
  Above, at 545
• 78
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 521
• 79
  SF:NG Beta print, above n 17, at
• 80
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 356
• 81
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 335
• 82
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 403 – 404
• 83
  Above, at 522 – 523
• 84
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 335
• 85
  SFNG Beta print, above n 17, at 403
• 86
  Dave Johnson as ONB Publishing, X nee Twitter, 2 Oct 2024 <https://x.com/PublishingONB/status/1841180817898553442>
• 87
  SFNG Beta soft, above n 17, at 209
• 88
  Tenkar’s Tavern Responding to GraphPaper Architect’s “How to Find Motivation” Video (Youtube, 6 October 2024) <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zpko_ew3WA>