Celestial Bodies

Limited Run Print Copies Here!

Adrift Among the Bodies of the Dead

For a generation after the calamity, the infinite dark between the stars felt cramped, crowded by refugees on ships meant for fewer people and shorter trips. 

In the second generation, those who survived in their home-ships now cannibalized the metal skeletons of the less fortunate ships. 

The third generation did not just expand their ships; they expanded their mecha and their operations. They fled to farther stars — populations in space stations and on surfaces booming as quickly as lives were lost in petty disputes. 

The fourth generation discovered the Titans. No probe had yet reached these dead gods whose frozen bodies spanned hundreds of miles across.

You are the fifth generation.

Humanity's Blood Stains the Stars

Celestial Bodies is a game about humanity's long struggle to colonize the universe, and what will become of them. It's about those who will continue to the next generation — and those who will not. It's about endless destruction and death in the name of continuation, and those who wage it. It's about the great titan corpses that lie where the stars end, and what lies beyond them.

You are lamplighters: a once-reverent name for the union of pilot and mech, flesh and steel, serving a home-ship. In the name of your home-ship, you will do things that are alternatively necessary, magnanimous, and possibly unspeakable. Your mechs will engage in combat with other hulking metal war machines and uncanny monstrous threats. Your ships and mechs will change as humanity begins to extract everything from the Titans.

Reviews

"The loadout system is the logical evolution of Mausritter's inventory, leading to a satisfying tetris mini-game to juice up your character and elegantly handling tradeoffs by giving powerful tools shapes that require - literally- being built around."  
- Aisling Jensen

"This game is, narratively, about balancing the ruthless calculus of survival: resources harvested vs resources deployed. Instead of presenting this from an impersonal, macro perspective, it zooms right in and magnifies the importance of the individual Lamplighter player-characters. 

Celestial Bodies perfectly emulates the dopamine-and-adrenaline rush combo of being a squishy human making extremely reckless choices because you are wrapped in several tonnes of steel and titan-bone. "
- Justin Vandermeer

"Clear writing and beautiful illustration bring this tactical game of space-mecha to vibrant life. The unique combat system allows for mechanical and flavorful tracking of damage to different mech systems. Celestial Bodies is an absolute blast!"
- Allen Hall

Terrestrial Edition (and Editions Further Beyond)

 The Terrestrial Edition available here features:

• The Grid: an intuitive but deep way to define a mech or vehicle based on its parts and weapons. Every choice has direct implications in combat.
• Eight Frames and dozens of weapons and parts to build whatever you like. Melee, firearms, missiles, and more.
• A scenario-building system designed for full GMless/GMful play.
• Factions with custom builds designed to emphasize certain ideas of how that Faction approaches combat.
• Incredible art and layout.

Future editions will include features like:

• Right now, the power that can be gained from those Titans is more theoretical than anything. In the future, this and other things will comprise rules for advancement.
• A more detailed idea of the universe and its economy: what kinds of stars and titans exist, what factions fit into the universe, and what they're fighting over.
• Parallel to your mechs being constantly constructed and reconstructed, your home-ship will undergo construction of its own: facilities, systems, and features will shape your ship to your heart's content.
• Further art and even more evocative layout. 

Discord

Feel free to join our discord at https://binarystar.games/discord!