From the introduction:
Stardrifter isn’t about complexity for its own sake. Rules that fail to enhance the experience should be avoided or modified; rules are only tools that allow the game to be played, and broken tools shouldn’t be used. Some of the rules might not work well for you; some might be a poor fit for your group’s playing style, while others may seem irrelevant, or even nonsensical. In all circumstances, the rules are less important than the experience. Your campaign and gaming style should reflect that.
Consequently, Stardrifter is not a game for people who require a rule for every conceivable circumstance. No RPG can cover all situations, but this one, especially, assumes that game masters and players alike are creative, dynamic, interesting people; folks who delight in taking what an adventure has to offer, and turning it to their advantage with the whatever is at hand. Skills and abilities are meant to be interpreted and applied in new, unusual ways. Situations are intended to be assessed and discussed, and their solutions negotiated. Players should quiz the NPCs, each other, and the GM, both in and out of character. They should ask and ask and ask.
So if you pin me down and ask-ask-ask, then I think Stardrifter is a dialog. A conversation. It’s a place for the dreamer and raconteur alike to sit and play. It’s where adventure, drama, comedy, and tragedy all live side-by-side. It’s horror, ambition, hope.
It’s whatever you make of it, so let’s get started!