01At the table
Keeper craft
Scene framing, spotlight rhythm, pacing and practical principles for being a fan of the player characters.
Behind the screen · Keeper's Companion
Make the galaxy answer back.
A practical guide to running a VeilFarers space opera campaign with cinematic pace, human stakes and worlds that feel alive.
The Keeper's Companion turns the setting into playable scenes: create memorable NPCs, build pressure with clocks, layer environments, design encounters and reveal the secrets that move the Pearl Era from behind the curtain.
The Keeper's toolkit
Run scenes that move like cinema.
Clear procedures support the table without replacing judgment. The focus stays on consequence, spotlight and the choices that make a crew matter.
02Pressure & consequence
Reactor meltdown / exampleReactor contained
Clocks
Race, faction, investigation, complex-task and chase clocks turn invisible pressure into a readable narrative engine.
Demo: a reactor cooling, isolation or repair roll with Failure with Fear—or a printed reactor feature—marks a segment. At six, resolve the declared meltdown. Time alone does not advance this clock.
03An encounter in motion
Encounter design
Build combat, social, exploration, mystery and mixed-mode encounters around stakes rather than empty difficulty.
04One scene / three layers
Layered environments
Start with a Micro environment, add one feature from its Macro world, then an optional Veil-touched feature. One place, several sources of pressure.
- 01 Micro · the place
- 02 Macro · one world feature
- 03 Veil · optional
05A face behind the role
NPC creation
Create people through surface, motivation and hidden wound, then give them a voice and an arc the crew can change.
06A changing confrontation
Cinematic boss fights
Multi-stage legends, changing phases, signature encounters and arenas that transform as the confrontation escalates.
07A signal worth following
Adventure hooks
Quick hooks, class-scaled expeditions, mysteries and starter frameworks help a campaign launch without feeling generic.
08Competing agendas
Faction play
Run rival agendas, changing reputation and NPCs who embody the institutions competing for the future.
09Behind the sealed door
Lore secrets
Keeper-only truths behind the Great Silence, the Veil and the powers that would rather those answers stayed buried.
Take the Keeper's chair