Faction Turns in Stars Without Number
Faction Turns in Stars Without Number
Faction turns are one of the most underused subsystems in SWN. They're also one of the most powerful tools a GM has for making the sector feel alive. Here's how we've implemented them.
What Are Faction Turns?
Between sessions (or every in-game month), each major organization in the sector takes a turn. They spend Treasure on actions, move assets around the sector, attack rival factions, or expand their influence. The players operate inside this moving world — their choices affect factions, and factions affect them back.
Setting Up Factions
In the Faction Manager (accessed from the sector map panel), you create each faction with: - Name and description - Starting stats: Force, Cunning, Wealth - Starting HP (based on max asset health) - Homeworld (anchor point on the sector map)
Creating Assets
Assets are the faction's tools — Informers, Strike Fighters, Propaganda Campaigns, Trade Fleets. Each asset has a type (Force/Cunning/Wealth), a cost, a rating, and a current world assignment.
To create an asset: select a faction → click Add Asset → choose from the asset list. The VTT validates that the faction can afford it and meets the stat prerequisites.
Running a Faction Turn
1. Open the Faction Turn panel from the sector map sidebar 2. For each faction, select their action for the turn: - Attack: target an enemy asset at the same or adjacent world - Move Asset: relocate an asset along travel routes - Refit: restore HP to a damaged asset - Expand Influence: pay Treasure to establish presence on a new world - Sell Asset: liquidate an asset for half its Treasure cost 3. Resolve attacks — the VTT rolls dice automatically using the attacker's stat vs. defender's stat 4. End the turn — the VTT logs all outcomes and updates asset HP
GM Tips
Don't run every faction every turn. Pick 2-3 active factions and let the rest be implied. The sector still feels alive, and you don't spend 45 minutes on faction admin.
Let players see the faction map. Transparency makes it more fun. Players love knowing that the Mandate Remnant is moving military assets toward their homeworld.
Use faction turns to preview adventure hooks. An asset attack that destroys the local Trade Fleet creates an immediate problem the players can investigate.