OK, in truth, that too is a need and I think I've been holding off on it for one reason or another. Well no more! Time to get down to the working on the game I like the most...can you guess? Go on guess! Right! You guessed it...
When I started this blog I had intended on writing a lot more about science fiction gaming in general and Star Trek gaming specifically, yet somewhere along the line I migrated to more entries about Superheroes, Comedy and Ideas-Too-Crazy-To-Work-But-Do, like my Muppets and Smurfs RPGs.
Star Trek and Star Trek gaming, are, like Superhero Comic Books, something I've loved since before I ever saw an RPG book or funny shaped dice. While many kids played cops and robbers, my friends and I, plastic Phasers and Tricorders in hand, knock off Starfleet Uniform T-Shirts on our backs, pretended to explore strange new worlds and seek out new life forms.
The question now, which I previously never bothered to ask myself, is how shall I go about going where no one has gone before? With no official Star Trek RPG on the markets or even in the works it seems, what system and approach shall I take to develop a Star Trek campaign for when next I am given the opportunity to run one?
How you played Star Trek but not used an 'official' system? What do you use? Do you play in the canon Star Trek universe or a variant? Do you explore completely different Trek-like universe (as in Starships and Spacemen)?
I may just dedicate all of August to various posts on Star Trek gaming. Anyone interested?
Let me know. Hailing frequencies are open...
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Barking Alien
We played the old FASA version years ago (and the weird Heritage Games Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier years before that). The last set of ST games I played were actually diceless and pretty awesome. I like the FASA system of generation through career tracks (lifted from Traveller). It would be neat to see something like that adapted to another system.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot more Star Trek-y gaming material out there now (old and new). I'm game!
ReplyDeleteI've got a copy of FASA Trek, LUG Trek (all 3 core books), Decipher Trek, and ADB's Prime Directive (original and GURPS). When I've run Trek, I've tended to GURPS Prime Directive. Mainly because I'm a GURPS kind of guy, but also because it's not as focused on playing one of the bridge crew.
ReplyDeleteI have been on a Microlite20 kick, so I would suggest checking out Where No Man Has Gone Before. Link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www2.abillionmonkeys.com:3389/trek/
It uses the M20 core, so it is very lite, but this little game packs a lot of flavor. Check it out.
I played the old FASA game years ago too, even went so far as designing the ship (before I ever know what the inside of Enterprise type ships were like), and characters of the entire crew.
ReplyDeleteI think Traveller would be a good system to use.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. This is exactly the kind of thing I am looking for.
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of fact, an upcoming post (likely Sunday evening or Monday morning) will go into how I few the various recommendations and what they are telling me on a 'Meta' level.
Yay! Any Star Trek gaming talk is good Star Trek gaming talk.
Over the years our group has played ST using Fasa, Last Unicorn and GURPS. Our GURPS game was the longest running.
ReplyDeleteFor our next Star Trek game we are planning on using Marvel Heroic Roleplaying system. I know that sounds unusual.
But We have played enough Marvel with superheroes to understand the system. We could see right away how MHR would work with Star Trek characters.
Unknown, THAT sounds fascinating. I wish you were known so I could follow your blog or something. Come on back anytime and let us know how it's working out.
ReplyDeleteWow.
I've played all of the published Trek games. FASA was a great love and like Simon I statted out an entire crew. Ah, those were the days. I like LUG and ran a long campaign with it. A bit dry for me in the long run. The Decipher iteration is a good game as well, although if you use that you must look at the errata for it as the character gen system needs work. I've got a few documents that might help with character gen. There is a Traveller version of Prime Directive coming out as well later this year.Prime Directive is not really Star Trek but most of the good stuff is in there. WNMHGB is a great little game although i've not run it yet. May have to give it a go. make sure you track down Okumarts awesome cardboard figures which are linked off the WNMHGB page. They are reason enough to run a trek game ;-).
ReplyDeleteFinally, i've got my own conversion of Savage Worlds which i've used for the last couple of Trek games i've run. Here's a link if you want to check it out.
http://renny.wikispaces.com/ST+Home
I'll be following this thread closely to see how it all goes.
I'm with you for any Trek discussion :)
ReplyDeleteI've played Trek in each of the main incarnations, each of which has its strengths. I personally don't see the point of converting to a new system when I'm happy with the old ones! I tend to go against the grain - I like Coda... although I'd port in the Renown/Honour system from Icon.
I'm still hoping to run some again myself - my ideal setting would be TOS movie-era, mainstream Trekverse, set near the FASA Triangle and using a Prime Team-based series profile...
Jon
Thanks once again to all! I am really happy to see so much Trek gaming love.
ReplyDelete@steveraceuk - If you (or anyone else for that matter) are interested, scan through some of the earlier entries on this blog under the label 'Star Trek'. You will see that I am a long time fan of Star Trek gaming and did some professional work for Last Unicorn Games. Dry? Hmmm. In a way yes, I'll have to agree but I've always liked that game for its sweet spot between the traditional RPG approach and the more dramatic, cinematic take on running Trek.
More on that and other elements as we boldly go forward...
I'm in favor of Trek month if you want to make it a theme. Alas, only one of the Apprentices is a Trek fan so far so my chances of running it are small but I still care!
ReplyDeleteI think if you can talk through what you want to do with the campaign then the mechanical options will become more clear. I still have a thing for the FASA version but I have high hopes for the Traveller PD rules and I think Savage Worlds could do it plenty of justice. That MHR idea mentioned above is intriguing too and would certainly take it in a different direction than most of the earlier rules ... I might even be interested in that - and I'm usually a bit of a rivet counter when it comes to the ships and gear and all - but that would be an interesting approach.
I'll be sure to have a read through the blog. I was a big admirer of LUG's approach to the game. I own all of the supplements and still pull them off the shelf. I was always disappointed that their run at the game was pulled out from under them and really lament the loss of the Engage starship combat game in particular. I look forward to seeing which direction you go in.
ReplyDelete