The Game
Across the Sea of Stars is a tale-telling game, along the lines of Tales of Pendragon and Arabian Nights. You have a Home Character, who you are for the game. You may be one of several different races from within the Coterie, with your own agenda and goals. You and others of your race may also have a set of goals. All of you are trying to understand the Klorn, to persuade them into joining the Coterie. Or not.
Part of this persuasion is done through the telling of Tales from your racial history, or from the history of the other races. This will be done through the Tale Characters. (See the Rules for more details.)
The game is broken into several separate periods:
| Game Period | Duration | What Happens: |
| Game and Rules Briefing | 30 minutes | We explain the usual mundane things that everyone needs to know about the game. |
| Home Character Time | 45 minutes | You play your Home Characters and start working on the issues that are important to you. No Tales are told during this time. |
| Tales from the Age of Expansion | 90 minutes | You play out the Tales from the Age of Expansion, from the early days of spaceflight. |
| Home Character Time | 30 minutes | You play your Home Characters and continue working on the issues that are important to you. No Tales are told during this time. |
| Tales from the Age of Contact | 90 minutes | You play out the Tales from the Age of Contact, when races encountered each other in the depths of space and on the surfaces of strange worlds. |
| Game break | 45 minutes | Everyone gets something to eat. The GMs go offline. |
| Home Character Time | 30 minutes | You play your Home Characters and continue working on the issues that are important to you. No Tales are told during this time. |
| Tales from the Age of Federation | 90 minutes | You play out the Tales from the Age of Federation, from the times when many races mix and mingle with each other, easily and uneasily. |
| Home Character Time | 90 minutes | You play your Home Characters and resolve the issues that are important to you. No Tales are told during this time. |
| Resolution and Game Wrap | 60 minutes | We explain what resulted. Everyone explains the details of what happened. |
Note that these durations are estimates. The GMs reserve the right to adjust and change the times as needed for game pacing and flow.