Swords
Space ships
Horrors

This is a game for exactly five players. 

One player takes on the role of the Empress who has control of the galaxy at large. It is the Empress' job to present the galaxy and the empire to the other players in a way that makes it feel alive. The ship must have an owner as a group decide if you want a game about politics, getting rich, or fighting the privileged. Then one player must take either the Merchant, Noble, or Pirate play sheet. Each of the other players must choose one of the following: Enginseer, Firstsword, or Pilot, each has command of some part of the ship's crew. 

The play sheets of each player tell them information about their character, their ship, the crew of that ship, and give them options for the other players' characters to use. 

Enginseer - occulars, what sorts of power and speed the ship has as balanced against how often swords can be forged and how dangerous the being that powers the core is. Earn XP when you fix something broken or make something new. 
Physical - 1
Mental - 2
Technical - 3
Mystical - 2
Social - 1

Firstsword - soldiers, what kinds of training that the soldiers have as well as what kinds of training everyone else aboard has (including the other players.) Earns XP when you win an engagement and when you retreat. 
Physical - 3
Mental - 1
Technical - 1
Mystical - 2
Social - 2

Merchant - sailors, how much cargo capacity the ship has which gets balanced against how fast the ship can go and how long it takes to reach escape distance. Earn XP when you sell goods for more than you bought them for. 
Physical - 1
Mental - 3
Technical - 2
Mystical - 1
Social - 2

Noble - entourage, what kinds of areas do you have control over balanced against who takes notice of you. Earn XP when you obey those over you and when those under you obey you. 
Physical - 1
Mental - 2
Technical - 1
Mystical - 2
Social - 3

Pilot - crew, two technical skills that everyone aboard can choose one of for free and a mental or mystical skill that everyone aboard can choose one of. Earns XP when people come to you for advice and they earn XP for following it. 
Physical - 1
Mental - 2
Technical - 3
Mystical - 2
Social - 1

Pirate - pirates, the ability for one player to play an alien, the ability to communicate with alien cultures, and two enemies. Earns XP if you attack another ship or sell ill gotten goods. 
Physical - 3
Mental - 1
Technical - 2
Mystical - 1
Social - 2

Skills:
Physical Skills: 
Ambush - catching your opponent unaware. 
Assault - attacking with a group. 
Fight - wading alone into a group. 
Duel - attacking one on one. 

Mental Skills: 
Explore - discovering new places, creatures, and people. 
Investigate - discovering facts. 
Riddle - puzzling through facts for an answer. 
Rule - making use of or crafting new laws. 

Technical Skills:
Astrogate - forcing the outer being to rip time and space. 
Navigate - moving a ship in real space.
Repair - fixing mundane equipment. 
Train - improving the skills of others. 

Mystical Skills: 
Cast - casting spells.
Dream - seeing into the future. 
Far-see - seeing things which are geographically distant. 
Forge - making powerful swords, repairing them, or altering them. 

Social Skills: 
Flatter - to get what you want through false modesty. 
Mingle - impressing those of higher standing. 
Rumormonger - setting information you want free.
Negotiate - getting a better price for goods than what it cost you. 
Wrangle - attempting to command those you have control over currently. 

In a contest decide which attribute is most relevant (usually the one with the skill that matters) and roll it and any dice from skills. So long as you get at least one 6 you succeed with no cost. If you get at least a 3+ you succeed at a cost. For each 1 you roll take an Experience Point. 

Sword culture because space travel is too dangerous with guns. 

Ships that fell to the earth from beyond the stars powered by alien intelligences. 

Swords forged in the fires of a ship's engines become translucent and allow the bearer to wield magic. 

Enginseers have odd powers to see remotely into time and space granted to them by long contact with the minds that power ships. 

Pilots must wrestle with the will of the thing trapped inside a ship's jump drive to make it go. 

Nobles, merchants, and pirates are the only ones with enough capital to own a ship. 

The highest nobility live on Codex, the Library planet. Most of them own a continent or one of the twenty seven planets and rule remotely. 

The four hundred old ships that humanity discovered are much stronger and more dependable than those commissioned by the Empress though they are sized just a bit too large for humans. 

All other species we have encountered have been hostile towards us though none have been capable of interstellar travel.