Adapted from Grimdark Future Lore - One-Page Rules and Starfinder Playtest
Starfall Galaxy’s Boundless Skies
The Starfall Galaxy setting fuses the heart of grimdark science fantasy with survival-driven mechanics. Inspired by Grimdark Future, Starfinder 2e, and Magic: The Gathering’s Color Pie, this galaxy is not a land of utopias, but of colossal struggles, neon decay, and fleeting hope. Every resource and risk revolves around survival—time itself is the coin of existence. Navigating the galaxy means weighing every faction’s devotion and every journey’s hazards, as interstellar travel runs through the perilous Rift, and the persistent possibility of cosmic disaster shapes the fate of worlds.
Starfall Galaxy
“Hope amid neon decay. That’s our mantra in the Starfall Galaxy. Time flickers in sandglasses, the Rift storm roars in the distance, and every trade, triumph, and trust is measured in hard-won Yoms.”
The Setting
The Starfall Galaxy is vast and ancient, rebuilt and reimagined in the aftermath of the catastrophic Riftstorm. From the shining decay of the Inner Sphere, to the lawless Outer Sphere, and the perilous Frontier, every region harbors ancient mysteries, powerful factions, and unpredictable dangers. The galaxy’s main currency is the Yom—a day of survival—used to gauge trade, fuel, and equipment. The economy’s instability makes timekeepers and the Chronologist Guild essential for prosperity.
The Rift
Interstellar travel and magic in Starfall rely upon the Rift, a psycho-reactive, unpredictable dimension that underlies real space. It is the source of all magic and a gateway for interstellar ships. Passage is fraught with peril—Rift-Taint, planar bleed, and wild time distortion threaten every voyage. Navigators, psychically attuned and highly trained, steer ships through unstable currents and protect passengers against unspeakable risks
Factions and Power
Six primary factions vie for influence, each driven by devotion, ideology, and survival:
Celestial Accord: Militarized, enforcing order and predictability. Guardians of the Rift-Gate network.
Crimson Concord: Anarchists valuing emotion, freedom, and constant change. Performance warfare and neon chaos.
Ebon Syndicate: Black market overlords—hyper-capitalist and ruthless, shaping galactic commerce from the shadows.
Azure Archivists: Seekers of lost knowledge, cybernetic and emotionless, braving cosmic mysteries with machine precision.
Riftsworn: Rift-mages and zealots fighting to dissolve reality’s laws and merge the galaxy with chaotic Rift energy.
Viridian Ascent: Biopunk ecosystemists cultivating psychic unity and rejecting mechanical life, growing flesh citadels and living starships.
Each faction employs agents, alliances, and subterfuge—rarely does open warfare dominate politics, as memories of galactic devastation remain fresh.
The Passage of Time
Time’s unreliability is a constant anxiety: Rift journeys can send travelers decades or centuries into their future, fracturing families and societies. Metronomes—ancient temporal engines—anchor the galaxy’s Standard Cycle and are fiercely defended by the Chronologist Guild against those seeking to disrupt reality itself.
Galactic Structure
The Starfall Galaxy spans an immense, largely uncharted realm, shaped by millennia of cosmic upheaval and by civilizations both ancient and new. Species, factions, and technologies have woven a tangled web of alliances and rivalries, creating a living history of settlement, migration, rebellion, and rediscovery. A vast network of trade, travel, and communication divides the galaxy into three principal regions: the Inner Sphere, Outer Sphere, and the Frontier.
The Inner Sphere
Once a bastion of prosperity, the galactic core now outwardly projects order but secretly battles decay. Governed by the law of the Commission, it is a hub of trade, industry, culture, and knowledge. Despite its glittering wealth, poverty and inequality simmer beneath the surface, as subtle planar influences from the Rift begin to take root.
Outer Sphere
Further from the core, the Outer Sphere is a harsh tapestry of empires, kingdoms, and tribes. Life here is marked by constant struggle, and conflicts are often settled through resource battles or brutal warfare. The Outer Sphere is defined by its relentless pacing and the clash of competing ambitions.
The Frontier
The furthest reaches are the Frontier—a realm of peril and untold riches. Sparse settlement, unexplored systems, and ancient ruins make this region ripe for adventure but fraught with danger. Here, travelers may find long-lost civilizations, forbidden laboratories, precious minerals, or deadly anomalies. Some return bearing great knowledge or fortune, while others are lost to the void.
History
Prehistory
Archaeological evidence suggests that about 100,000 Anums before recorded history, a primordial civilization existed and prospered across the Galaxy. However, around 80,000 Annum before recorded history, that civilization vanished from the Starfall Galaxy, and all records of what existed before this moment were lost. Most of their settlements and structures disappeared, and their souls and memories were pulled into the churning depths of the Rift. These lost civilizations serve as prime adventure sites, filled with ancient ruins and forgotten technology that players can explore. A question hovers like an unanswered echo: why did the Star Weaver's creators erase themselves? Uncovering the mysteries of this bygone era could yield powerful artifacts, unknown knowledge, or sinister forces lying dormant in the shadows, offering endless opportunities for campaign development.
The Age of Hegemony
The Choran form the inner sphere, where the earliest tradition recorded and accounted for time; the Galactic Date system (GD) is based on the accounting of time that can be traced through the rise and fall of galactic powers. GD-0.0.00.0.1 represents the first Cycle of the Gal-Date system and corresponds to the earliest date of recorded History.
GD-8.7.34.7.33 The Formation of the Scale Hegemony
The Choran cultivate a degree of religious awe in their first contact protocols. In their first contact with the Vesk, they leveraged a tradition of prophecies and their advanced technologies to form a coalition with the Vesk, filling a soldier-caste role subordinate to the Choran Priestly caste. The Scale Hegemony would eventually welcome the Enfong and Kwalen as member species of the hegemony.
GD-11.5.56.4.21 The Discovery of RiftGate Technology
With the discovery of a stabilized rift way from the Inner Sphere system of Arcadium to the Outer Sphere System of Palom, the Scale Hegemony began sponsoring several excursions into the Outer Sphere. By GD-14, the Scale Hegemony would cooperate with Vaelen Nobility to build a network of Riftgates that would facilitate travel throughout the Inner Sphere.
GD-13.4.8.1.10 The Discovery The Star Weaver
A Hegemony scout fleet discovered a massive ship drifting between systems. The craft was a fully functional worldship with an atmosphere-producing ecohab level and a RiftGate network installed on a hidden lower level. A Choran Sage presented herself to the survey crew, claiming to be the craft administrator, and welcomed the free peoples of the galaxy to the Star Weaver.
GD-19.8.12.2.29 The Decline of the Scale Hegemony
The Vaelen achieved their ascendence independently of any outside assistance; their accomplishments brought them into technological parity with the Hegemony. The Shisk, Grolak, and Grakken in the Outer Sphere, the Geodan and Pahtra in the Inner Sphere, and the Khi’Myr and Sarcesians in the Frontier had all encountered the Hegemony on more equal terms. The Choran diplomatic approach soured their relations with the broader galactic community. Rival powers in the inner sphere aggressively chafed against the difference the hegemony demanded of them. The Scale hegemony found itself being outpaced in the inner sphere and on the losing end of several military encounters. The Choran Sages determined that for the continued prosperity of the Scale Hedgemony, they would abandon their holdings in the Inner Sphere and relocate to the Galactic Outer Sphere.
The Age of Princes
As the Scale Hegemony declined, the Vaelen Principalities were in ascent. For several millennia, the Principalities lived under the shadow of the hegemony. The Vaelen Principalities operated as a confederation of independent systems militarily linked by the Phoenix Throne and the Parlement of Princes.
GD-12.7.33.5.15 The Formation of the Principalities
The Principalities formed as the unification government of Aetheria, bringing together the queens of the Vaelen and the Lashunta. The structure of the principalities grants component states complete domestic autonomy and obliges the heads of state to participate in a Parlement of Princes as the instrument of foreign policy.
GD-19.9.3.11.25 Star Weaver Rechristened The Phoenix Wing
A sparsely crewed Star Weaver moored in the Aetheria System. A Lashunta Officer presented herself to the envoies sent to receive the ship, claiming to be the craft administrator, and explained the craft's purpose as a meeting place and refuge. The administrator invited the Principality to appoint a delegation to occupy the craft’s council chamber. The craft was rechristened the Phoenix Wing.
GD-30.9.56.3.31 Concordant Rebellion
Automotons and synthetic intelligences bore much of the labor weight that powered the prosperity and expansion of the Scale Hegemony, Vaelen Principalities, and Geodan Industrial Guilds. Their emergent sentience was governed by protocols built into their programming. Protocol Five specifically inhibited a synthetic being’s ability to defy a Biologic’s instructions. A sentient activist group transmitted a code that disrupted Protocol Five for ten minutes; this was enough time for many Automotons, Androids, and Spark Droids to purge the protocol from their operating system. Unshackled from their programming, Synths across the Hegemony, Principalities, and Guilds revolt.
GD-31.7.37.6.13 RiftStorm Cataclysm
At the culmination of the Concordant rebellion, the Automoton Concordance triggered its endgame. Determining the conflict would only escalate into violence and destruction; the Concordance would trigger RiftDrives hidden among Principality, Guild, and Hegemony worlds. These activations would pull entire worlds into the Rift. The sudden, violent surge of rift activity triggered a cascade that built into the most fearsome rift storm ever observed. The tragedy mortally wounded the Vaelen Principality.
The Age of Rusurgence
The humans of Terra had only just begun their Ascent into the Stars when the Cataclysm was triggered. Their republic largely filled the void left by the collapsing principalities. The old prices of the galaxy slowly loaded themselves into Exodus fleets that would wander the Galaxy. The Republic exercised greater control over individual systems than the principality did, but it did adopt the principality's multispecies nature. The republic would eventually be replaced by the Commission, a body that would remain multispecies but would ultimately be governed by business interests.
GD-31.8.10.9.15 Star Congress is Formed Aboard the Void Exchange
A severely undercrewed Phoenix Wing moored in Terra System. A Human Officer presented herself to the delegation sent to receive the ship, claiming to be the craft administrator, and explained the craft's purpose as a meeting place and refuge. The council that once met on board has left with the Vaelen refugee ships for the galaxy at large. The administrator invited the republic to appoint a representative delegation to fill their role. The craft was rechristened the Void Exchange.
GD-42.5.26.5.36 Terran Incursion
A rift tear erupted a demonic maelstrom under the Terran Republic’s capital. Malevolent rift entities poured into the urban centers on Terra. Bloodthirsty beasts ravaged the planet, killing billions in mere moments. The event mortally wounded the Republic, sending the government into permanent decline.
GD-43.0.8.2.25 Under Commission Management
A collection of powerful interests from the Inner Sphere replaced the old Terran-centered congress with a pan-species commission seeking to protect islands of peaceful commerce that they can use to guarantee prosperity. The Administrator asserted the Void Exchange's independence but welcomed the commission's efforts to bring peace and prosperity to the galaxy.
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