If you are new to roleplaying, you might be asking yourself, “what is a roleplaying game?”

In roleplaying games (abbreviated “RPGs”), players take the roles of characters in a fictional setting, acting out their decisions through simple decision-making and character development. Character success or failure depends on chance and a set of rules, such as this book.

A session of play is conducted by one player called the Referee (also known as a Game Master in other rulesets), who presents the setting of the game, while each of the other players plays the role of a single protagonist. Together, the Referee and the rest of the players enact an open-ended adventure, much in the way you used to create stories playing games of make-believe as young children, except, in this game, you use dice and a ruleset to check the success of actions.

In Alpha Cephei, players will roleplay adventurers in a science fiction story that could be set in any number of worlds. Campaigns are mainly focused on exploring exotic star systems and planets, trying to make a living by fighting, scouting, solving problems, moving goods and people, hunting bounties, or any combination in-between.

In the vein of traditional tabletop RPGs, this game can be played in groups or solo, but it’s optimized for 4 to 6 players.