‘Verse5 is a tabletop system largely based on Sectors Without Number by Kevin Crawford.

‘Verse5 is the fifth iteration of a setting I’ve been working on throughout my life, formatted for other people to enjoy. It carries a pretty extreme and long history, populated by characters and major events throughout the setting. It’s a setting that’s grown with me, and changed as my life changed. What begins as a setting in my head for mental short stories, a tool to pass the time and help me sleep, exploded into something much greater.

It started as something with three races and no gameplay. Through workshops and playtesting, it exploded into multiple massive books featuring multiple playable races, five playable classes, eight different types of weapons, three armour classes, systems for cybernetics and psionics, and finally, mechanics for drones, exosuits and vehicles ranging from air, land, sea and spacecraft.

I imagined this to be a sort of magnum opus. A major project I would dedicate my life to bring to the rest of the world. In the recent years after my stint with mixing antidepressants and alcohol, I find it more difficult to open Foundry, or work on the game.

I also cannot shake the origins of certain components from other sources. Here’s a short, mostly comprehensive list…

  • Firaxis XCOM, for many of the combat abilities.
  • Psionics and the original ruleset from Kevin Crawford.
  • The Avali, minus their adaptations as a sort of “space goblin.” Credited to Ryujjin Zero.
  • The Yol’Nah’Oss, a powerful race on the far reaches had their name taken from Supreme Commander, and their general disposition was heavily inspired by Toys for Bob’ Ur-Quan.
  • The Assembly Race, a race of monsters who repurpose technology and biomatter were very heavily inspired by AMPLITUDE Studios “Cravers” from the Endless series of games.
  • I’d also be lying if I didn’t say I drew an immense amount of inspiration from Joss Whedon’s Firefly.

The 2026 version of the book totaled 171 pages. It also featured example builds for characters, a picture drawn by ElizaLizard and a picture rendered by Questing Crusader. There were a few placeholders and short stories set within the universe.

This setting is everything to me. I’ve got a lot of stories about the setting in my head. But I need to sit down and really think about what I want this to be. Do Psionics belong in this world? Do the Avali belong? Can I go back, and start anew? Should I? What from this system be kept for the next iteration? What should that iteration look like?

I’m deeply torn. It’s an extreme amount of emotional investment that has been effectively tainted by the recent years. I’ve chosen to take the book down to protect myself from online harassment and would-be content thieves from youtube and other places of social media. That said, some stories based on certain iterations may be found on a website for creative furries. You can contact me, Tek03 for more information about the book.

Some information about the characters and races are below:

Six Playable Races. (Well Technically Seven for gameplay and balance purposes.)

  • Amalgamates: Space cats with a penchant for cybernetics and living in Zero-G environments.
  • Avali: Effectively Space goblins that travel in packs, steal technology, and love everything musical.
  • Humans: Torn from the reminants of Eastern culture and religions, looking to stake their claim across the known sectors.
  • Solitons: Sexually dimorphic reptile people who worship their twin gods and have a strong biological basis in their technology.
  • Terrans: Genetically modified Humans, separated long ago from their distant brothers and sisters on Earth.
  • Vaulters: A genetically created life form based on insects. Uplifted by the Solitons.

Five classes to choose from in version 5

  • Ace: Skilled pilots and especially lucky where they need to be. Gamblers who use Bennies to control the flow of the story.
  • Expert: Capable of bringing extra skill points to interact with vehicles, exosuits, and more.
  • Fighter: Those who start, and end most fights with Adrenaline as their currency.
  • Psion: Space Wizards with multiple subclasses.
  • Wirehead: Hardcore cyberpunk wannabes who interface the strongest with their implants.

*Multiple unique weapon systems including melee, thrown, and launched weapons. Ranged weapons are divided by different technologies.

  • Aero: Avali firearms with carbon-based projectiles. Extreme ROF Bursts pepper targets.
  • Ballistic: Your standard gunpowder firearm from today’s world.
  • Biological Bolt: The Solitons weapon choice, which uses a biological reaction to launch toxic slugs.
  • Rail/Coil: Amalgamate magnetic-based technology, using extra power to punch through almost any barrer.
  • Energy: Terran technology. The be-all end-all beam of destruction capable of burning through anything.

AI was used for statistics and game balancing. Outside of the old Sectors Without Number map, Generative AI was not used for any writing.

Custom System Builder for Foundry VTT was used to bring the game to life. Without Foundry and CSB, none of this would be possible. ‘Verse5 was dedicated to someone who was important to me at one point. Without him, I wouldn’t be alive today. That’s why this is so difficult.