A couple years later, in 1983, Star Frontiers was re-issued in screaming magenta with the subtitle Alpha Dawn. Many things I have read suggest that Alpha Dawn is an expanded version of the original rules, but I’ll be damned if I can find any differences. Likewise, Lawrence Schick says in Heroic Worlds that Alpha Dawn was simplified for younger audiences but not playtested, making it a bit of a mess, but I don’t really see that either.
Anyway, let’s talk about Larry Elmore’s fantastic cover for a second (which, admittedly, you can see more fully in its glory in yesterday’s post). I love love love this painting – it is probably the most iconic non-D&D piece of art TSR produced, and it stands its ground against a lot of the D&D art too, I think. I love that the dude looks basically like a Televiper from GI Joe, I love the fringe on the lady’s boots (so 80s) and I love whatever that monkey thing is (more on that in a second). It totally sells the drama and danger of being marooned on a strange planet. **chef’s kiss**
Star Frontier’s humans are cool, fairly obviously from Earth at some point (though that is never outright stated and they can live to be 200), but the game never explicitly says so either, which I like. There is something delightful about seeing recognizable cultural stuff from our world in a Star Wars-y setting (like the Scottish guy in tomorrow’s post) that gives me major Wing Commander vibes.
My favorite thing about Star Frontiers (and any sci-fi thing), though, is the aliens. The playable ones are WEIRD. Vrusk are long-bodied, insectoid capitalists, Dralasites are basically giant sentient amoebas with weird senses of humor and Yazirians are these maniac gliding apes. And the villains, the mysterious Sathar, are weird, buff worm creatures that occasionally ride dinosaurs. All of them make a distinct contrast to pretty much every humanoid-centric sci-fi thing of the period (and a lot after) and I love it.
Fun fact: all four alien species appeared with different names and modified abilities in Spelljammer!
