Alpha Star is a quarterly magazine with science fiction content for your D&D 5E and Level Up A5E games. It's compatible with the core D&D rules and with A5E rules.
In 2025 we released the Voidrunner’s Codex, a boxed set which introduces sci-fi to your D&D and A5E games, with rules for starships, space travel and exploration, starship combat, alien player options, and psionic abilities.
Alpha Star magazine expands the sci-fi content from the Voidrunner’s Codex, adding new player options, equipment, psionics, and more. Issue one was crowdfunded on Backerkit at the end of 2025, and Issue 2 in early 2026.. This crowdfunding campaign is for Issue 3 of Alpha Star, but you can get all three issue right here. And if you don't yet have Voidrunner's Codex? Well, why not grab that right here, too!
We’ve scoured the universe for the best sci-fi content for your A5E games in our ongoing quest to support and expand the Voidrunner’s Codex--which, incidentally, has sold out in North America, to our surprise and delight!
So, welcome back to this, the third issue of Alpha Star, the official magazine for the Voidrunner’s Codex! And boy do we have a ton of stuff for you–a new heritage, an adventure, monsters, NPCs… we hardly know what to do with it all!
We know you love to see new heritages in your games, and so in this issue, we introduce you to the Vendalayrian people, their homeworld, their culture, and a selection of specialized Vendalyrian equipment and weapons. The Vendalyrians are a peace-loving, scientifically-minded, psionically adept folk–but don’t mistake that reserved exterior for weakness!
We also bring you some nasty alien threats with which to challenge your voidrunners. From the papipapi flies which suck out your psychic energy to the cunning allogibbons who mimic their victims before robbing them, these critters can be found in jungle worlds across the galaxy. But it’s not just monsters and beasts which threaten those who travel the spacelanes–spacestation bars and seedy alleyways alike hide assassins, thugs, and psionic mercenaries all more than willing to prey on an unguarded voidrunner.
And finally, we have an adventure! Unsafe Harbor is a good, old-fashioned murder mystery set aboard a starship, and featuring a strange but deadly alien menace. This adventure can be run as a stand-alone, or as a follow-up to Escape from Death Planet.
Welcome aboard, voidrunners! We hope you enjoy your stay!
There are countless so-called ‘jungle worlds’ across the galaxy, and most seem to have a propensity towards savage and inventively deadly wildlife. In this article are three examples of the alien critters that voidrunners might meet in such environments–the parasitic papipapi flies, the pilfering allogibbons, and the terrifying tigrox.
Starlane Scum by DJ Shepard
It's not just monsters that menace the starlanes. Sometimes the seedy planet bar or space station is just as dangerous and terrifying. This article details several non player characters to populate your cantinas, such as the augmented assassin, hacksaw roughneck, and corpo brute squad.
Unsafe Harbor by Theodore Kacavas
In this adventure for 4th-level voidrunners, the colony ship Desideratum needs help to deal with the hollow folks which have infiltrated the ship--but without starting a shipwide panic!
The Holds of Vendalyr by Michael Woods and Russ Morrissey
The Vendalyrians are a long-lived species, with an origin far in the distant past. Advanced science, powerful psionics, and deadly martial prowess are just some of the traits for which this philosophical people is known. This article contains information about Vendalyrian homeworld, along with Vendalyrian culture, law, language, and society.
Your PDFs will be with you September 2026. Digital (PDF) rewards will be fulfilled as soon as the crowdfunding campaign ends. We pride ourselves on the fastest digital delivery of rewards in the world!
Your books will be with you November 2026. We will place the print run order for the books the same day the pledge manager surveys close in -- the printer is standing by! Printing and shipping via DriveThruRPG is estimated to take 2-4 weeks depending on your location.
Some destinations may impose separate customs charges upon delivery of the Voidrunner's Codex box set.
Alpha Star Issue 1, Issue 2, and the Voidrunner's Codex box set are available as an add-ons or part of a pledge tier bundles.
In Issue 1 of Alpha Star magazine you’ll find:
9 new archetypes—bioengineer, peacekeeper, psyknave, fulcrum, mesmerist, timestealer, warder, voidclaw, and whiskernaut.
a new alien heritage—the catlike felan.
3 new cultures—flotsam, hustler, and Nyxaranii.
2 new destinies—survival and ascendance.
A new background—the free trader.
An array of street-level technology for less scrupulous voidrunners!
We also include (for free) a Foundry VTT module for all backers.
In Issue 2 of Alpha Star magazine you’ll find:
Hokey Religions & Ancient Aliens by DJ Shepard. Backgrounds and archetypes for those raised in societies shaped by religion.
Advanced Armory Requisition by Theodore Kacavas. New weapon augments and explosives.
One Chap's Scrap by Thomas Pugh. An adventure for 2nd-level characters featuring a junk planet and the missing Eye of Clintock.
The Moons of Boria by Russ Morrissey. A new heritage, along with details about their homeworld--the many moons orbiting a mighty gas giant hidden inside a nebula.
The Voidrunner's Codex boxed set rockets your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! It's compatible with the core D&D rules and with our A5E rules.
Voidrunner's Codex is a hardcover containing new player options, equipment, psionics, and more!
Star Captain's Manual details starships, space travel and exploration, and starship combat--along with rules for building your own starships!
Escape from Death Planet is an introductory adventure for character levels 1-3. Can you get off the planet of Ninemoon before the Imperium destroys it?
Plus 200+ tokens, 20 poster maps, and a magnetic Narrator's Screen--all in a beautiful slipcase!
This is not a standalone ruleset. You will need either the Dungeons & Dragons 5E/5.5E or A5E core rules in order to use it. The A5E core rules can be added as part of this Kickstarter, or accessed for free on our comprehensive tools site.
We are strong supporters of the Open Gaming movement and encourage third-party support for Level Up Advanced 5th Edition.
Creators can publish for A5E under the licence of their choice: Creative Commons, the Open Game License, or the Open RPG Creator (ORC) License.
We are developing a new System Reference Document (SRD) for Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E), which will be designated the A5E System Reference Document (A5ESRD). You can read more about this at a5esrd.com.
We already have a thriving community of third party creators for Level Up A5E which can be found here.We are strong supporters of the Open Gaming movement and encourage third-party support for Level Up Advanced 5th Edition.
Creators can publish for A5E under the licence of their choice: Creative Commons, the Open Game License, or the Open RPG Creator (ORC) License.
We are developing a new System Reference Document (SRD) for Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E), which will be designated the A5E System Reference Document (A5ESRD). You can read more about this at a5esrd.com.
We already have a thriving community of third party creators for Level Up A5E which can be found here.
These magazines contain no art or any other content created by generative artificial intelligence. We work with a large, international team of talented freelance artists and writers to create Alpha Star Magazine, overseen by magazine editor Russ Morrissey.
