Enterprise, the 1983 Japanese Star Trek RPG

ENTERPRISE - ROLE PLAY GAME IN STAR TREK (Japanese)

Manufacturer: Tsukuda Hobby
Designer: Tama Yutaka (多摩豊)
Set #: HG-014-R
Format: Boxed Set
Year: 1983
MSRP: ¥3,000

Enterprise - Role Play Game in Star Trek was a Japanese roleplaying game that, despite an impressive history of firsts, is not widely known in the western world. It was the first Japanese domestic RPG (note: RPGs in Japan are generally known as Table-Talk RPGs, or simply TRPG, to distinguish them from computer-based RPGs). It was Tsukuda Hobby's first entry into tabletop roleplaying games, alongside the wargames that they were already publishing. And as Enterprise was based on an official license from Paramount/Tohokushinsha for Star Trek, it was the first Japanese RPG based on a licensed property.

Background

ConSim (conflict simulation) wargames were already popular in Japan in the early 80s, published by Tsukuda, Bandai and other hobby publishers. Tsukuda had their "Hobby Simulation Game SF Series" which included 1982's Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire (HG-009), a strategic wargame similar to Task Force Games' Federation Space; two Star Wars games, Death Star (HG-005) and Hoth (HG-010); and various titles based on the Gundam and Xabungle anime universes. Enterprise would be the first of the series to be designated as a "role play game".

Although Enterprise was the first domestic RPG released in this format, it was technically preceded by Donkey Commando, a tactical level science fiction minigame featuring character stats, published in the Japanese Tactics magazine in 1982. At the time, western RPG titles such as Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller were known by many Japanese gamers, but it wouldn't be until 1984 that these games would actually be imported by companies such as Hobby Japan, and later be localized for Japanese hobbyists. In the meantime, computer-based RPGs were already beginning to gain interest, and Japanese designers were starting to create their own tabletop RPGs.

The first original TRPG came after Enterprise, and was another science fiction title called Star Quest (Tsukuda HG-032-R). Interestingly, it was written by Ed Lipsett, an American expert on Japan and author of the wonderful 1979 Spacefarers' Guide series from Phoenix Games, which served as a starting point for Star Quest. The first Japanese translations of Traveller were starting to appear and gain popularity, and Tsukuda was eager to have their own competing product in place. Star Quest was similar in concept to Traveller, but utilized a d1000 mechanic (roll 3 d10: designate one as the 100 value, one as the 10 value, and the last as the 1 value, to get a result from 001 to 1000). Around the same time, Tsukuda released the first domestic fantasy TRPG, Roads to Load (HG-030-R). All of these games set the stage for TRPGs in Japan -- imported and domestic, licensed and original -- which would become increasingly popular well into the early 90s.

It's impossible for me to know how much of an impact Enterprise made at the time (I suspect that it wasn't very much), but it is nevertheless interesting to note that it was a Star Trek RPG that started the ball rolling in Japan. I should also note that the game was written by Tama Yutaka, a pioneer in the early Japanese gaming industry. He was a founding member of the Keio University HQ Simulation Game Club, graduated in 1984 (he designed Enterprise while in school), co-edited (with Hitoshi Yasuda, translator/author of the Hobby Japan Traveller) the Japanese version of the UK publication Warlock - The Fighting Fantasy Magazine, was author and translator of numerous gaming texts and articles, and is even credited with some early PC adventure games. Sadly, Mr. Yutaka passed away in 1997 at the age of 35.

ENTERPRISE - Contents

Like most Japanese publications and boxed games, the quality of the components of Enterprise was exceptional. It came packed in a brilliantly colored hard cardboard box (8.5" x 11.5" x 1.5") featuring Kirk, Spock and McCoy on the front; and a black and white rear cover with a description of the game, pictures of some of the character cards and their stats, and a list of the game components, as follows:

• A 20-page Rulebook, almost entirely text with few illustrations and no other Star Trek photos


• A 13-page Adventure book, including 4 pages of maps with a "blueprint" look to them


• 15 double-sided Character Cards, coated for use with erasable markers or crayon; the front featured a photo of the player character, and the back listed their statistics and provided space for tracking hits, making notes and so on; cards were provided for Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, Chapel, Rand, Commander Kang the Klingon, Stonn the Vulcan, Subcommander Tal the Romulan and three blank cards, presumably for NPCs


• Two twenty-sided D10 dice (red and white, numbered 0-9)


• One 9mm D6


• Mail-in return survey card


• 4-page 1983 Tsukuda Simulation Game catalog detailing the SF Series, HG-001 through HG-016

ENTERPRISE - Game Mechanics

At this point, there's not a great deal I can say about the game itself as I've yet to translate it. I've done this kind of work before (see my translation of Bandai's 1982 Mothra vs Godzilla wargame), but I'm by no means a Japanese expert, and translating games is a time-consuming process. I do plan to do so (2 months?), so keep checking back!

Having said that, here's what I can tell from a glance. It appears that the mechanic is roll 2d10 under attribute for many task resolutions, as well as some percentile rolls. Each character has five basic attributes: Strength (1-18, which also acts as HP), Dexterity (3-18), IQ (10-18), Charisma (10-18) and Luck (3-18). Rules are provided for a PSY (Psionic) characteristic, but it's not listed on any of the cards. Characters are also provided a space for Special Abilities, and assigned an Alignment (Lawful Good, Lawful Bad, Neutral, Erratic Bad, Erratic Good) that is cross-referenced with an opposing character's alignment to determine CH and IQ modifiers to opposed tasks.

Hand-to-Hand combat appears to simply be ST-ST to cross-reference and determine the % required to roll under. There are only about 10 small tables, so the game doesn't appear to be at all complex. There do not seem to be any rules for class, skills, XP and possibly not even for character creation. I don't see anything for starships or starship combat, and the adventure itself appears to be completely landing party based.

For now, Enterprise appears to be mostly a curiosity, especially to those accustomed to more sophisticated (and English!) RPG systems. Nevertheless, I thought it was important to at least get it documented.

And, if nothing else, the next time someone tries to trick you when asking "How many licensed Star Trek RPGs were there?" (expecting you to forget Heritage, and answer "3"), you can turn the table on them and say "5!"

References and additonal resources (Japanese):

TRPG Chronology
Wikipedia Japan entry on Tama Yutaka
TRPG Library

Very special thanks to EL