"A ragtag crew, a beat-up ship, and a job you can't turn down."
Scum and Villainy is a space opera on the Forged in the Dark engine (the same one behind Blades in the Dark). You're the crew of a battered starship on the edge of the Procyon Sector: smugglers, bounty hunters, and rebels taking on risky jobs. The vibe is Firefly and Star Wars: too much debt, too little fuel, and work that's far too dangerous.
The Procyon Sector under the iron heel of the Galactic Hegemony. Criminal syndicates, feuding noble houses, dangerous aliens, and strange mystics. Your ship is home and your main asset, and the Hegemony breathes down your neck. The romance of space scum: freedom is costly, and every big score just delays the reckoning.
Forged in the Dark
An action is a d6 pool with Position and Effect; a 6 succeeds, 4–5 succeeds at a cost, 1–3 fails. Consequences can be resisted with Stress. The same engine as Blades in the Dark.
The ship as a character
The starship (the Stardancer, the Cerberus…) is a full 'character' with its own upgrades, personality, and damage. It's the crew's home, their pride, and a permanent line of expenses.
Jobs and downtime
A 'score → downtime' structure: take a risky job, then recover, heal Stress, and run projects. Heat and the Hegemony hound you between scores.
Space-scoundrel playbooks
Mechanic, Muscle, Pilot, Scoundrel, Speaker, Stitch, Mystic — archetypes straight out of Firefly and Star Wars. Each frames your role in the crew.
Open in Session Zero to let every player vote and see the results.