A long, long time ago I picked up a boxed set game purely for the fandom of it.
The original Star Trek RPG, by FASA,circa 1986.
It wasn’t playable, IMHO, but it was nifty to own anyway and it had a small but devoted following. The tactical ship combat board-games were more successful and still ongoing to this day.
Then came along Modiphius. Along with the publication rights to the Elite:Dangerous, Tales of the Loop, Fallout, Mutant Chronicles, Robert E Howard’s CONAN, and Achtung Cthulhu, they recently put out a new Star Trek licensed roleplaying game.
And boy, howdy, is it better than that 1986 boxed set.
Titled Star Trek Adventures, it’s an ambitious -and in my opinion- successful attempt to mainstream the popular science-fiction franchise as a tabletop experience. Part of that success is due to the fact that out of the core rule book they support all three TV generations of the Star Trek universe: Enterprise, classic Star Trek, and the combined series of ST: The Next Generation, ST:Deep Space 9 and ST:Voyager. And it wouldn’t take much to expand that to the spin off series of Discovery, The Mirror Universe, and the plot-lines of the Star Trek MMO as supplemental material.
The core of Star Trek Adventures is Modiphius’ home-grown ‘2d20’ engine. At first I was a bit unsure about this system. Having been burned out on the deluge of ‘d20’ engine clones from the D&D 3.5 SRD flood, I was apprehensive about how Modiphius was going to treat my beloved childhood settings. And yet, the 2d20 engine has impressed me very much. This is no D&D clone, but a slick and relatively smooth new game experience. The fun I’ve had with Star Trek Adventures so far has made me eye Modiphius’s other 2d20 game settings (Corvus Belli: INFINITY and the reborn Mutant Chronicles) as possibilities worth investing in.
It also doesn’t hurt that Star Trek Adventure player characters are good at their jobs. StarFleet trains them very well, and you start the game with a very capable character in the fields they specialize in. 2d20 has a ‘momentum’ mechanic where extra successes generated by one player are banked for other players to capitulate on immediately. This gives your Federation characters a powerful sense of coordination and teamwork.
Character advancement feels slow however. But that fits within the TV-series feel of the game. Similar to FATE’s ‘Milestones’ for advancement, characters in Star Trek Adventures can shift around their abilities after minor milestones, and only improve them after reaching major milestones (‘Spotlights’ as the book calls them). Again, this is befitting the feel of the TV series, where one could argue that major characters were affected by lesser events, and only transformed by major ones that only occurred once or twice a season. But outside of statistical improvements, Star Trek Adventure characters grow by their reputations and service records, which have different effects. In our campaign we haven’t delved into this much yet, but it gives the GM a way to reward characters in alternate ways.
Another advantage of the Star Trek Adventure engine is that it treats Starships as characters in their own right, and this is very fitting of the feel of the show. Ships have the same array of abilities and disciplines that characters do, so it’s easy to see the synergy between ship and crew. Only a few additional details required by the technical details one is used to in a Star Trek game are added (shields, some power management, etc.), but Star Fleet Battles this is not.
Another compelling aspect of the game is that it allows the spontaneous creation of supporting crew as characters when needed, and in fact encourages their re-appearance in later episodes. This allows for players to still participate in adventures when their primary character isn’t directly involved; roll up a redshirt security officer, or a blue-shirted science team member for that away-mission. Every subsequent time a supporting character returns to play, they get a little more detail and stat boosts. This is how you get your Chief O'Briens and Lt. Barclays to become major characters in their own right after a few seasons.
So far our group has played two long sessions and we’ve covered A LOT over those two gatherings. Equivalent to an ongoing story arc. This has probably as much to do with the skill of the GM (not me), as well as all the players understanding that we’re sticking to a TV-esque format. We frame our scenes, transitions and breaks as one would a TV show. It’s been a refreshing restart to my tabletop gaming experience which has been lacking lately.
Titled: “Star Trek: Legacy” our campaign follows the crew of the re-commissioned Stargazer (yes, Picards' old ship) after she was recovered, refitted, and put back into service. In the big chair is a Trill captain, recently joined with symbiote; a Betazoid as her helmswoman, and an Andorian science officer who was raised on Vulcan.
The books themselves are beautiful and well designed. If you’re a Trekkie, and/or looking for a quick and fun game engine to enjoy, I feel confident in recommending this game. Modiphius is continuing to support the line, with miniatures, maps, published adventures and custom dice.
Then came along Modiphius. Along with the publication rights to the Elite:Dangerous, Tales of the Loop, Fallout, Mutant Chronicles, Robert E Howard’s CONAN, and Achtung Cthulhu, they recently put out a new Star Trek licensed roleplaying game.
And boy, howdy, is it better than that 1986 boxed set.
Titled Star Trek Adventures, it’s an ambitious -and in my opinion- successful attempt to mainstream the popular science-fiction franchise as a tabletop experience. Part of that success is due to the fact that out of the core rule book they support all three TV generations of the Star Trek universe: Enterprise, classic Star Trek, and the combined series of ST: The Next Generation, ST:Deep Space 9 and ST:Voyager. And it wouldn’t take much to expand that to the spin off series of Discovery, The Mirror Universe, and the plot-lines of the Star Trek MMO as supplemental material.
The core of Star Trek Adventures is Modiphius’ home-grown ‘2d20’ engine. At first I was a bit unsure about this system. Having been burned out on the deluge of ‘d20’ engine clones from the D&D 3.5 SRD flood, I was apprehensive about how Modiphius was going to treat my beloved childhood settings. And yet, the 2d20 engine has impressed me very much. This is no D&D clone, but a slick and relatively smooth new game experience. The fun I’ve had with Star Trek Adventures so far has made me eye Modiphius’s other 2d20 game settings (Corvus Belli: INFINITY and the reborn Mutant Chronicles) as possibilities worth investing in.
It also doesn’t hurt that Star Trek Adventure player characters are good at their jobs. StarFleet trains them very well, and you start the game with a very capable character in the fields they specialize in. 2d20 has a ‘momentum’ mechanic where extra successes generated by one player are banked for other players to capitulate on immediately. This gives your Federation characters a powerful sense of coordination and teamwork.
Character advancement feels slow however. But that fits within the TV-series feel of the game. Similar to FATE’s ‘Milestones’ for advancement, characters in Star Trek Adventures can shift around their abilities after minor milestones, and only improve them after reaching major milestones (‘Spotlights’ as the book calls them). Again, this is befitting the feel of the TV series, where one could argue that major characters were affected by lesser events, and only transformed by major ones that only occurred once or twice a season. But outside of statistical improvements, Star Trek Adventure characters grow by their reputations and service records, which have different effects. In our campaign we haven’t delved into this much yet, but it gives the GM a way to reward characters in alternate ways.
Another advantage of the Star Trek Adventure engine is that it treats Starships as characters in their own right, and this is very fitting of the feel of the show. Ships have the same array of abilities and disciplines that characters do, so it’s easy to see the synergy between ship and crew. Only a few additional details required by the technical details one is used to in a Star Trek game are added (shields, some power management, etc.), but Star Fleet Battles this is not.
Another compelling aspect of the game is that it allows the spontaneous creation of supporting crew as characters when needed, and in fact encourages their re-appearance in later episodes. This allows for players to still participate in adventures when their primary character isn’t directly involved; roll up a redshirt security officer, or a blue-shirted science team member for that away-mission. Every subsequent time a supporting character returns to play, they get a little more detail and stat boosts. This is how you get your Chief O'Briens and Lt. Barclays to become major characters in their own right after a few seasons.
So far our group has played two long sessions and we’ve covered A LOT over those two gatherings. Equivalent to an ongoing story arc. This has probably as much to do with the skill of the GM (not me), as well as all the players understanding that we’re sticking to a TV-esque format. We frame our scenes, transitions and breaks as one would a TV show. It’s been a refreshing restart to my tabletop gaming experience which has been lacking lately.
Titled: “Star Trek: Legacy” our campaign follows the crew of the re-commissioned Stargazer (yes, Picards' old ship) after she was recovered, refitted, and put back into service. In the big chair is a Trill captain, recently joined with symbiote; a Betazoid as her helmswoman, and an Andorian science officer who was raised on Vulcan.
The books themselves are beautiful and well designed. If you’re a Trekkie, and/or looking for a quick and fun game engine to enjoy, I feel confident in recommending this game. Modiphius is continuing to support the line, with miniatures, maps, published adventures and custom dice.
No comments:
Post a Comment