Necro-Cavaliers of the Astral Galaxy is a free role-playing tabletop game wherein you get to play in a campy sci-fi fantasy adventure about necromancers and cavaliers. Developed by Dolorous Exhumation and written by Jack Shear, this game is a hack of the quick-play role-playing game Lasers & Feelings by John Harper. This tabletop game answers the question, "What would Warhammer 40k be like if all the grimdark was replaced with haute couture?"

Honor-bound by blood

Necro-Cavaliers of the Astral Galaxy takes place in a space empire where fashion, chivalry, decadence, and pomp reign supreme in the universe. The Astral Galaxy has been ruled by the God Empress for a very long time—and by her side all throughout is her court of seven noble houses. As a player of the game, you are a member of one of the noble houses and have been brought up as a necro-cavalier by your family. 

The game begins with your party being tasked with a quest by the God Empress herself. Like all tabletop games, this one doesn’t follow a set plotline and relies more on scenarios. The mechanics here were largely borrowed from Lasers & Feelings, as your actions are dependent on whether you’re better as a necromancer or a cavalier. This game is more focused on the delivery of the world-building rather than the end result of rolling the dice. 

It encourages you to reinforce the dramatic themes of the story and the nature of your character and their noble house—which can be funny since one of the character sheet requirements is a stylish attire. Take note, however, that this game provides a PDF file and not an EXE file. The developer offers four documents for different purposes—printing, displaying on a screen, and such—but they’re not bundled together in a ZIP file.

Something different

All in all, Necro-Cavaliers of the Astral Galaxy is a grand unique adventure for players looking for something a little bit different and maybe a little bit silly. While it’s too bad that the four offer PDF files aren’t packaged together, they’re well-written and clear on how the game is supposed to be played by both beginner and veteran tabletop gamers. This is also a highly-recommended game for Warhammer 40k fans.