Inspiration

I just came across a reference to the blog of John Eaves, a longtime production illustrator for many of the Trek series and films (including the latest). It's a remarkable blog in which he posts daily concept sketches for starships he's designed for Trek properties over the years, along with the occasional surprise (left, from 1964) of what inspires him.

I've always found the work of concept artists and production illustrators very inspiring myself. I got my own start in illustration (not my primary career) in 1977 by carefully studying and copying pre-production illustrations such as those of Joe Johnston and Ralph McQuarrie for Star Wars, and the drawings of Franz Joseph for his Star Trek Star Fleet Technical Manual. My bookshelves are still loaded with The Art of __(insert your favorite blockbuster here)__ and names of futurists such as Syd Mead, Doug Chiang, John Berkey and Iain McCaig. In another life, I would have been one of them, but I'll have to be satisfied with deriving motivation from their works. The process of conceptualization and what didn't get used is often more fascinating than what ended up onscreen.

If you're ever searching for inspiration for that next starship encounter or some strange new worlds for your own game take a look at sites such as Eaves' Eavesdropping with Johnny and, another one of my favorites, the Concept Ships blog (warning, super image heavy) and let your imagination go.

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Homebrewed Star Trek RPG Adaptations (Part 1)

One of the more interesting aspects about Star Trek as a role-playing game is how many times it's been "homebrewed" -- adapted for another existing system by players -- despite the fact that there have been nearly a dozen versions of Trek RPGs (for the purposes of this post, I'm including the "not Treks"). To illustrate, here's a list:

• Space Patrol (Gamescience, 1977)
• Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier (Heritage, 1978)
• Starships & Spacemen (FGU, 1978)
• Star Patrol (Gamescience, 1981)
• Starfleet Voyages (Terra Games Company, 1982)
• Star Trek: The Role Playing Game (FASA, 1982)
• Enterprise - Role Play Game in Star Trek (Tsukuda Hobby, 1983)
• Prime Directive (1) (Task Force Games, 1993)
• Star Trek Role Playing Game(s) (Last Unicorn Games (1998, 1999)
• Star Trek Roleplaying Game (Decipher, 2002)
• Prime Directive (various systems) (Amarillo Design Bureau, 2004 - present)

Yes, one can argue about whether or not my list includes games that are "really" Star Trek, but that's not my point. For over 30 years, at almost any point during that time, one could go out and buy an RPG that was (or obviously tried to emulate) Star Trek, and it probably gave you stats for Klingons.

Nevertheless, there are few other settings that seem to inspire so many homebrews. In fact, I started this blog as a side-effect of re-reading through my own collection as research for my own homebrew, an adaptation of the early TOS years (around Stardate 1500, 2266 AD) for Rogue Games' Thousand Suns. Sometime during that research, I came across a poll that asked Trek RPGers, "Which System Do You Use?" I think it was TrekRPG Forums, but heck if I can find it now! Fortunately, I copied and pasted the results:

CODA.....25...39.1%
ICON......24...37.5%
GURPS.....2.....3.1%
D20..........3.....4.7%
Home......10...15.6%

It's a bit hard to take a poll that didn't include FASA too seriously (and, yes, it's still played and even updated by folks such as Rob Bocchino, as evidenced by his site and other sites still dedicated to it). But, again, not my point. Regardless of the fact that there are already systems out there, over 15% still prefer to roll their own. Why is that? Speaking for myself:

• I like the challenge;
• I like my system of choice (TS's 12° system has a killer way of resolving Tests, especially its use of Resolve for non-combat confrontations);
• I find the other systems to be either too complex for such a cinematic, brains-over-brawn setting like Star Trek, or too dated to support some of the enhancements found in games today;
• I feel that most of the other systems spent way too much time on combat, technology and minutiae such as starship construction. Sure, these aspects can be ignored to some extent, but those decisions end up creeping into other portions of the game (skills, starship combat, task resolution) at the expense of things I feel are more important to Star Trek (exploration, moral conundrums, action rather than combat).

In the end, I might end up with a game that only I want to play. Then again, I'm one of those heathens that actually thinks it's okay to want to roleplay Kirk, Spock and McCoy. And that's one of the wonderful things about Star Trek as a setting: it's many things to many people. Some are very much into the starship combat aspect. There are those that want to play Starfleet Marines, Section 31 or Prime Teams for a more action oriented game. Others want to be free traders or Klingons in the Trek universe. Some want to struggle with a conflict between the Prime Directive and a First Contact situation. There are lots of SF RPGs that claim to be this broad, but I feel that only Star Trek has truly developed support (in both the games and the canon itself) for all of these approaches. Whether or not that's a good thing is a topic for another day.

I did my first Trek homebrew in the summer of 1981. I had a distinct talent at the time for falling in love with games that were doomed to obscurity *. Neither Dungeons & Dragons or Traveller inspired me much after the first few years. For fantasy I gravitated toward Metgaming's The Fantasy Trip system (Melee, Wizard, In the Labyrinth), Steve Jackson's precursor to GURPS. In 1981, Universe was released as SPI's answer to science fiction role-playing games. TFT gave me the crunch, some articles from Space Gamer and Interplay magazines gave me sci-fi technology, and Universe provided inspiration for skills, exploration and aliens. With a pen and a legal pad I set forth creating my first homebrew, which I think had FEDERATION scrawled at the top.

* to be fair, I fell hard for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, too, so it's not like I have a curse or anything

By the end of that summer, my friends and I sat down to play my adventure. It had something to do with the Enterprise finding itself trapped in a void, a castle, robot guardians and probably had more than a passing resemblance to the Doctor Who story "Warriors' Gate". I don't recall the specifics, but I don't think it went well. Sadly, the legal pad is long gone, its pages stored in the Universe box which went in one of many yard sales I've had over the years. I've since recovered Universe, but if you happen to come across those yellow pages, please contact me.

Coming up in Part 2: a look at various Trek homebrews from over the years with links to those that are available

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Trek RPG Auction of the Week - 3/29/09

I didn't come across anything particulary thrilling this weekend and was about to skip Auction of the Week altogether, then it occurred to me that there was something no Trek RPG GM should be without:

Star Trek: Sound Effects from the Original TV Soundtrack
Performers: Jack Finlay, Douglas Grindstaff and Joseph Sorokin
Label: GNP Crescendo Records
Catalog #: GNPD 8010
Running Time: 39:47
Release Date: 1988
# of Tracks: 69

Now, no one likes a GM who spends all there time playing with the laptop ("Wait, you're going through the door? Hold on, I've got a sound effect for that..."), but there are some nice long loops on here such as "Enterprise Bridge Sequence" and "Alien Planet Surface" that should be irresistable (and low maintenance) for a session. Toss in a "Red Alert" and a "Transporter Energize", and you're all set. I've linked to one going for $6.99 with free shipping that expires on Tuesday, but there are a number of them up for auction at any given time, and no reason that you'd ever have to pay much more than $10 for it used. Energize!

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New Trek, RPGs - What's Hip and What's Geek

Just a random thought here.

Over the past few days, I've read a few articles about events and merchandise that seem to indicate that Paramount is putting some serious focus into "hipstering" up Star Trek (classic and new) as part of its marketing campaign for the upcoming film. TrekMovie had articles this week about NYC and LA "Star Trek Dance Parties" (click the Orion to the left for an LA Weekly Slideshow) and the "new pseudo retro" t-shirts from Junk Food. Harry over at Ain't It Cool News has a somewhat bizarre piece this morning about what's hip, what's geek, and what's geek that can be made hip.

This isn't anything new, of course, and it's all about money. Don't think for one second that the guiding principals of Star Trek are actually anything Paramount gives a crap about. There is not one tiny thought that governs their actions about doing this new Trek movie "for the fans". There is some distinction, I think, between Paramount and JJ Abrams & Co., as I've seen and read enough from the latter to feel some certainty that they have enough respect for both Trek and its fans. So I have some confidence that the movie will not only be good, but very good and satisfying as well.

So what does any of this have to do with role-playing games? Some have remarked that they can't believe that such a big franchise with a history of RPGs associated with it doesn't have an RPG right now, of all times. How could they possibly leave money on the table, it's argued.

If there's any truth to the rumor that parties recently inquired with CBS Consumer Products and Paramount about licensing Trek for a new RPG and were rebuffed, perhaps this (in part) explains why. To those guys, Trek is all about The Brand. And now they're trying to "hip up" The Brand to make sure as many of Teh Kidz see Star Trek and buy the t-shirts before heading to Teh Klubz because that's where the cheddar is. Yo.

And in order to control perception of a brand with so many associations, it's necessary to limit those licenses and marketing efforts. Cool fragrances? Hip. Spock ears? Geek. Hot Orion chicks at a dance party? Hip.

Role-playing game? Geek. And completely un-hippable. "Like Dungeons & Dragons... but with phasers!" probably doesn't fit the mission profile right now.

Like I said, though, it's all about money. Once they've pocketed their first $500 million by the end of summer, they'll be looking to keep that money rolling in for 2010. And by that time, your money and mine will be as green as an Orion slave girl at an LA dance party.

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Heritage Star Trek #1630 - Federation SDF

Manufacturer: Heritage Models, Inc.

Set #: 1630 - Federation Special Defence Forces

Scale: 25mm

Year: 1978

MSRP: $2.95

Notes:

- It's been said that when Heritage started submitting more militaristic figures such as Federation Special Defence Forces, Klingon Stormtroopers and Romulan Assault Unit for approval, it was the beginning of some strain between the two.

- The design of the helmets and armor is interesting in that it preceeded by more than a year the look for the Enterprise security personnel in Star Trek: The Motion Picture

- 6 figures with three poses; 1 with handgun (1630A), 1 kneeling with mounted gun (1630B) and 4 with rifles (1630C). Each figure has the model # and "ⓒ1978 PPC" (Paramount Pictures Corporation) etched on the base.

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Hey you, don't watch this! Watch that!

Phew! What a week. I'm going to slow down just a bit because I've got some more stuff coming, and need to do a little more reading than writing. I'm going to begin a new series of articles here on Groknard on the subject of homebrewed Trek RPGs, need to kick back and work on my Prime Directive RPG reviews, and it's about time to get my piece on the Star Fleet Battle Manual together for Star Trek Games. Actually, now that I read that, I need to do more reading and writing than posting. But there's a few things already queued up, so you may not even notice.

In the meantime, Adam at the East Coast branch of GroknardoCorp is starting a new series which I'm really looking forward to. He's taking on the subject of advice for running Trek RPGs -- The Undiscovered Country - Gaming The Final Frontier -- over at his Barking Alien blog. His timing is perfect as I'm getting ready to get all philosophical on the subject myself, so I foresee some back and forth between our blogs in the near future (in a good way!).

So while I'm sitting back with a chihuahua and some books in my lap, get over there, read it and bookmark it!

EDIT: First part of the series is up, a really great start (he says as he digs around for that old issue of Dragon that has an article he didn't know about....)

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OT: Review of Star Trek Countdown TPB

As I mentioned a few days ago, I managed to hit the lottery and get my copy of the Star Trek: Countdown trade paperback (TPB) very early from Amazon, despite the fact that the final issue of the comic book (Issue #4) won't hit streets until next week, and the TPB won't be out until April 7th (or 29th, depending on who you ask). Personally I would have preferred to win a real lottery, but that's no reflection of my opinion of Countdown itself. I skipped the comics as I always do these days, preferring to wait for the collected versions to be released. It's often less expensive (as it was in this case) and sometimes you get extras (as you do here, I suspect).

This will be a spoiler-light review, as so few have even seen the concluding Issue #4 yet. As quick background to tell you where I'm coming from (I don't think I've ever spelled it out here before), I'm a fan of most things Star Trek. I love the Original Series, but love most of the new shows as well. I thought TNG was great, DS9 was brilliant, and I even enjoyed Enterprise. Voyager? Not so much. I didn't think it was bad, I just never found it engaging. I love most of the films; Wrath of Khan is my favorite, with Undiscovered Country a close second. Nemesis was an unforgiveable mess. As for the upcoming JJ Abrams film, I'm thrilled about it. The casting looks great, what I know of the storyline sounds fun and respectful of Trek, the trailers have made my heart leap, and I even like the new Enterprise design. I have a few concerns, but I'm really open-minded about it. I generally don't read Trek novels or comic books. It's been said I have an interest in Trek RPGs. So, with my creds out of the way, here's my review.

Star Trek: Countdown is a prequel of sorts to the upcoming film, but takes place completely in the post-Nemesis Next Gen timeframe (Stardate 64333.4, or 2387, 8 years after Nemesis). Countdown is really the story of a Romulan named Nero, a hardworking family man who captains a mining vessel. After barely avoiding a stellar catastrophe, he returns to Romulus with a warning of the pending doom that threatens the entire Romulan Empire. When his fears are rejected, he decides to take on a mission to save his world with the help of some unlikely (and familiar) allies from the Federation. But events will not go as planned, great losses will be incurred, and a villain intent on utter vengeance will rise from the ashes.

Short spoiler-free review: STC is a pleasant, fairly compelling story with wonderful art by David Messina. The TPB includes 5 pages of character sketches by the artist (example left) that may not be included in Issue #4, which alone may make it worth picking up the TPB. Despite being intended as a direct prequel to the film, STC stands very well on its own right up to the non-cliffhanger ending. The best aspect of it is the "passing of the torch" feel because of the inclusion of many well-loved characters, undoing some damage inflicted by Nemesis. I found the quality of both the character art and the space battles to be exceptional, the best I've ever seen in a Trek comic. I can't judge how well it succeeds as a prequel at this point, but the story and some specifics in it do raise some questions about some pre-conceptions fans (including myself) have about the movie storyline. The series is let down, however, but some plot-holes and grade school science fiction that I sincerely hope are not going to creep into the film itself.

Some light spoilers follow, so if you want to be surprised, stop reading now.

I've seen some criticisms leveled at Messina's character art, but I found it to be very good. I'd buy more Trek comics if the quality of the art and story were as good as this. His renderings of Spock, in particular, are just excellent. If I have any criticism about the art, it's that the few female characters in the book all seem to suffer from BBS (Big Boob Syndrome). It's bad enough that there is really only one female character of consequence in the story, but the rest are just eye candy for the boys. The character sketch section in the back and Giovanna Niro's cover are wonderful.

As I indicated above, I thought the story was better than average. Despite the number of cameos (Spock, Data, Picard, Geordi, Worf, Remans and even a bit of Kirk), they didn't feel forced. It's good to see how the characters have moved up over the years, though there's really no time for development of anyone except Nero himself and, to some extent, Spock. The quiet moments are the best. Unfortunately, I feel that the story and Nero's progression is really let down by the contrived cataclysm of the Hobus system supernova. It's never explained how the explosion could possibly endanger Romulus so quickly, let alone Vulcan and the Federation, let alone the whole damn galaxy. And when Spock tells the Vulcan council, "It threatens the entire Universe," without any further explanation, it just goes from bad science fiction to stupid. It's like the danger keeps being exaggerated every few pages, to the point where you expect someone to say, "Even God Himself will disappear from Existence." Hopefully this is the conceit of writers Mike Johnson and Tim Jones, because I'd hate to see Bob Orci and Alex Kurtzman (who provided the story itself) put this kind of crap science fiction into Star Trek. I also have to wonder about what seemed to me to be a big plot hole, specifically that if the danger to Romulus was so immediate, why in the world would Nero have left his family there?

But those are the only big weaknesses that jumped out at me. The fourth part does contain a (near death?) surprise that is left a bit unresolved, but I was impressed by how self-contained the story was because of the conclusion. Countdown could lead directly into the movie, or standalone on its own. It does seem to raise some questions about what I thought I had gleaned from the trailers and bits of gossip that have been discussed over the past year. For example if, in fact, we did see a glimpse of Nero in chains with Klingon captors in one of the early trailers, it's hard to reconcile that with the events of the comic. It's also difficult for me to guess how some of the background elements (Nero's fall, the destruction of Romulus, the Borgified Nerada, decalithium and red matter) will be incorporated into the movie without depending on the backstory presented in the book. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Taken as a whole, however, and as a way to distract myself from my own personal countdown to the movie (as my mother said today, "May can't come fast enough!"), STC TPB is a great little read, well worth the price. I wouldn't be at all disappointed to see the same team do more projects of this kind, as long as they do a little reading about basic science and astronomy first.

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Ultimo Avamposto's Star Trek TOS miniatures

As I mentioned in my previous post Trek Miniatures, Scale and Alternate Options, one of the coolest sets of miniatures wasn't made for a role-playing game at all, but for a boardgame. In 1999, the Italian company Ultimo Avamposto (literally "The Last Outpost", who runs the official Star Trek Italian Fan Club) released a boardgame called Star Trek Adventure: Serie Classica Set 1. According to the BoardGameGeek website, STA:SC is a strategy boardgame based on TOS for 2-4 players that includes a hexboard, cards, cardboard counters, and 17 unpainted pewter miniatures used to play the Federation, Klingons, Romulans or the Gorn. The game itself seems to be long out-of-print and difficult to obtain. It appears that it may have been intended to be the first of a series of Star Trek games (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager) based on the box (below) and the "Set 1" tag.

The tokens for the game average 34mm in length, 30-32mm from top of base to eye-level. That puts them out of scale with most (but not all) gaming miniatures, but the entire collection gives a real variety of friends and foes. They really benefit from the larger scale, too, as these are really just about the nicest Trek miniatures I've ever seen. If you're trying to get them or the game, you might want to bookmark the eBay Seller's page of grandenagus (Massimo Romani of Ultimo Avamposto). I don't know if he has anymore after 10 years, but you never know. tokens for the game average 34mm in length, 30-32mm from top of base to eye-level. That puts them out of scale with most (but not all) gaming miniatures, but the entire collection gives a real variety of friends and foes. They really benefit from the larger scale, too, as these are really just about the nicest Trek miniatures I've ever seen. If you're trying to get them or the game, you might want to bookmark the eBay Seller's page of grandenagus (Massimo Romani of Ultimo Avamposto). I don't know if he has anymore after 10 years, but you never know.

In the meantime, documented here for posterity...

The Klingons

The Gorn

The Romulans

Scotty, Orion Slave Girl, Chekov
McCoy, Kirk and Spock pictured at top of post (missing: Sulu)

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OT: Goodbye San Francisco

Apparently the destruction of San Francisco is a good way to market the upcoming Star Trek film. At least Spain thinks so. Sheesh! First they take away the Starfleet Construction Yards, and now this. And what did we ever do to Spain?

Anyway, here is one (left, click for larger) of the many European posters now showing up online for the new movie. TrekMovie.com has four or five very different versions up today, really gorgeous stuff.

It just occured to me that I think this is the 3rd or 4th time the Golden Gate Bridge has been used in a Star Trek movie poster. No wonder I ended up here!

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Heritage Star Trek #1628 - Tellerites

Manufacturer: Heritage Models, Inc.

Set #: 1628 - Tellerites "Stocky Pig-Gaces Humanoids" (sic)

Scale: 25mm

Year: 1978

MSRP: $2.95

Notes:

- It should be "Tellarites", and I'm guessing that it was supposed to say "Stocky Pig-Faced Humanoids". Quality is Job One.

- 6 figures with two poses; 3 with rifles (1628A), 3 with handguns (1628B). Each figure has the model # and "ⓒ1978 PPC" (Paramount Pictures Corporation) etched on the base.

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Get an Entire Trek RPG for $35

Well, sure, you can pick up one of the original FASA boxes on eBay for about $10 these days, but that really only gives you enough to run and play Trek games in the TOS timeline (not that there's anything wrong with it). What if Voyager is the way you roll? What if you want to compare, say, the Mugato! to the Malgorian of Bajor? What are the stats for Species 8472? Then Decipher's Star Trek Roleplaying Game based on their CODA system may be for you. And there's probably never a better time to pick it up -- all of it!

6 hardcover books and a Narrator Screen were released from 2002 - 2003, and apparently they've entered the mysterious void known as remaindered stock. Probably the best deal on teh Interwebs is that to be found at Hill's Wholesale Gaming, where they're offering the entire lot for $35 plus shipping. Just need one or two? $6 each. Considering the MSRP for the books was about $25 each when they came out... well, you do the math. My brain is tired today.

Here's what's available:

• Star Trek Roleplaying Game Player's Guide (2002) DCR 900


• Star Trek Roleplaying Game Narrator's Guide (2002) DCR 901


• Star Trek Narrator's Screen (2003) DCR 103339


• Starfleet Operations Manual (2003) DCR 103525


• Starships (2003) DCR 103527


• Aliens (2003) DCR 103604


• Creatures (2003) DCR 103607

By the way, when creating the image above, I inadvertently included included Worlds which, along with Mirror Universe: Through a Glass Darkly, was not published, but only released as a PDF in 2005, and now long gone. Don't expect to get it with your order!

To be clear, I'm really not fond of the mechanics of the CODA system, which is really similar to the d20 approach but using 2D6 for resolution. I also prefer the "era specific" approach of other games as I feel that different eras are going to be played differently. Finally, the errata was out of control to the point where I'd say it was nearly unplayable out of the box (see below). But at this price they're certainly worth it just as an awesome resource, especially if you're building your own Trek campaign for your favorite system. The fluff is excellent, the advice for gamemasters is considered and well-written and it's a helluva lot less expensive than tracking down an equivalent amount of the LUG releases. And they look reelly purty, too.

Also, I'm not pimpin' for Hill's Wholesale Gaming. In fact, I had a bit of difficulty with them on eBay when they had a very difficult time just filling an order correctly. Twice. It all worked out in the end, and you can look at their eBay profile to see that they're generally fine to deal with; but be aware that they're high volume and possibly a little prone to error or slowness at times (the books, once I got them, were immaculate). Great place to go right now for Decipher's Lord of the Rings RPG and Mongoose's Babylon 5 RPG, Conan RPG, the Starship Troopers Miniatures Game and the Starship Troopers RPG. They, too, have gone beyond the Rim...

If you do decide to hop on board the CODA express, get yourself right over to Patrick Goodman's CODA Support Site where you'll find a wealth of great resources for CODA Trek including an ICON to CODA conversion guide, extensive errata for a number of the books, character generation aids, 10 issues of the Beyond the Final Frontier netzine, and more. Patrick's done the Trek RPG community a real service by keeping this stuff available, plus he's been adding a great deal of new material over the past few months, with more to come (including one eBook that's going to be fantastic!). Bookmark it.

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OT: Star Trek Countdown TPB

Apparently I'm the only person in the world who actually got this today. Through some twist of the space-time continuum, UPS delivered my Amazon pre-order of the trade paperback version of IDW's Star Trek: Countdown, the collected version of issues 1-4. Two weeks early. Before Issue #4 has even been released.

The countdown to the motion picture event of 2009 begins here, in the exclusive comics prequel to Star Trek, the upcoming blockbuster film from Paramount Pictures! JJ Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman present the origin of Nero, the mysterious Romulan who will ultimately threaten the survival of the entire universe.

I suspect Nero himself had something to do with me getting this. Forbidding events have been set in motion. I already feel time changing. I sense that... that... the Starfleet Construction Yards are moving from my own backyard here in San Francisco to... to... Iowa. Oh, dear. Things will never be the same.

Oh, and yeah, it's a really great read!!

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LUG 25600 - Federation Away Team Miniatures

Manufacturer: Last Unicorn Games

Set #: 25600

Scale: 28mm

Year: 1998

MSRP: $19.99

Contents: Boxed set (8" x 6" x 1.5") containing 7 pewter miniatures (detailed below) packed in foam; no inserts

Additional Notes: Although the Memory Alpha Wiki quotes the package as saying 25mm, that text is not on the box. The figures measure 28mm from top of base to eye level.

Each figure is marked on the bottom with some variation of copyrights for both Paramount and Last Unicorn (ex: © paramount, © 1998 paramount, © lug, etc.)

This was the only set of minatures released by Last Unicorn Games for the Star Trek Roleplaying Game. I can't find any indication that any other were announced in print. I've read that starship miniatures were said to be forthcoming, perhaps related to the announced (but also unreleased) ENGAGE! Starship Mission Simulator: Battle of Wolf 359 set (#65000, $35, due 9/99) listed in the back of some of the books.

Here are the miniatures, with my best guess as to who is who (as listed on the box), based on what they're carrying (click for larger images):

Security Chief; Security Personnel (1 of 2); Lt. Commander Worf; Science Specialist

Security Personnel (2 of 2); Medical Technician; Science Officer

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LUG Treks - The Lost and Untaken

Next to the FASA system, my favorite of the Trek RPG systems out there was that of Last Unicorn Games. Although its ICON system was a bit unusual, the rules were presented clearly and had a simplicity that the other games lacked, in my opinion. And it really feels like Star Trek. Some may disagree with their approach -- that is, releasing separate core books for TOS, TNG and DS9, leading to duplication and making it expensive to be a completist -- but when I compare it to Decipher's one-size-fits-all approach, I think LUG came out ahead.

Unfortunately, the strategy backfired when LUG was cut down in its prime in 2000 by its own finances, the Wizards of the Coast acquisition, and the subsequent granting of the Trek license to Decipher. As a result, a number of key parts of the Star Trek universe that were planned to be detailed by LUG never saw publication.

Thanks be to the Prophets for the Internet.

If you're a long-time LUG fan and player, you probably already know about the "lost" LUGTrek material. But if you're new to the hobby or just now picking up the books from eBay or online retailers, you'll want to check into these sites that have additional resources available for the game, and give you a glimpse of nearly half of the books that never saw the light of day*. Regardless of your favored system, these sites are well worth bookmarking and checking out.

Untaken Treks: The Unpublished LUGtrek Work of S. John Ross - SJR is one of the best writers and designers in the RPG industry. He's contributed to GURPS, WOTC and others, and for LUG wrote the fantastic Star Trek: The Original Series - Narrator's Toolkit and co-authored Among the Clans: The Andorians and others. Untaken Treks is the collection of his unpublished material for the LUGTrek RPG, and features draft excerpts from books such as Final Frontiers: The Star Trek Films, Sky Princes of Orion, The Klingon Empire: Blood and Honor, The Starfleet Exploration Handbook: To Boldly Go and more.

Steve Kenson's Star Trek: The Lost Episodes - Despite his insanely long CV, Steve is probably best known for Green Ronin Publishing's d20 superhero game Mutants and Masterminds and the True20 roleplaying system. As part of the LUG writers pool, he was a contributor to the DS9 Roleplaying Game, Planetary Adventures 1, and the box-sets The Way of D'era and Starfleet Academy. The Lost Episodes features his unpublished contributions to The Cardassian Union: Iron and Ash, The Klingon Empire: Blood and Honor, The Starfleet Security Handbook, and Through a Glass Darkly: The Mirror Universe and more.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't point out Owen Oulton's wonderful Memory Icon, part of his Adventure Gaming in the Star Trek Universe website. Here he hosts the Official Last Unicorn Games support materials, official errata, and many fan creations. Perhaps most notable is SpaceDock! by Steve Long (HERO Games), a collection of rules and resources based on what was planned to be part of the books The Starfleet Starship Construction and Ship Recognition Manuals. Despite the dissolution of LUG, Steve kept working on the texts, and the end result is an incredibly complete and professional set of PDFs -- hundreds of pages that cover nearly everything from TOS to the Dominion War, all for free.

For a "dead system" LUG's Star Trek Roleplaying Game has more life and depth to it than many living, breathing RPGs... all thanks to the talents and contributions of these generous individuals.

* According to Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki, Last Unicorn had planned the following books:

• Final Frontiers: The Star Trek Films
• The Star Trek Guide to Parallel Planets: Hodgkin's Law
• The Klingon Empire: Blood and Honor
• Operation Stormbird: The Neutral Zone Campaign Vol. 2
• The Starfleet Exploration Handbook: To Boldly Go
• The Starfleet Security Handbook
• Call of the Prophets: The Bajorans
• Dominion War: The Fires of Armageddon
• Merchants & Traders: The Latinum Main
• The Cardassian Union: Iron and Ash
• Through a Glass Darkly: The Mirror Universe
• The Starfleet Starship Construction Manual Vol. 1: Spacedock
• The Starfleet Starship Recognition Manual Vol. 1: The Ships of Starfleet
• The Borg
• Deep Space Nine Player's Guide
• The Orion Syndicate
• The Rigel System
• The Dominion Companion
• Star Trek: Voyager Core Game Book
• Sky Princes of Orion

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Trek Miniatures, Scale and Alternate Options

I took a huge new batch of photos of my miniatures today for future posts, and thought this would be a good opportunity to address the issue of scale between the different lines. It'll also be the first glimpse of some rarely seen miniatures other than those of Heritage, FASA and Citadel and I'll be showing more of these in the future.

And in honor of Bill's birthday (Happy 78th, Mr. Shatner!... not that he's a regular reader of Groknard) I'll kick it off with this, to the left. Here are 6 officially licensed Star Trek miniatures of Captain James T. Kirk (click for a larger closeup). In back is Heritage Models' 1978 75mm Collector Figure of Kirk (Heritage #1600). In the front, from left to right, is Heritage's 25mm Kirk (1604A), Citadel's 1980 25mm Captain Kirk Pose 1 (ST1), FASA's 1983 25mm Admiral Kirk from the Wrath of Khan Collector Series box (3001), USAopoly's pewter Kirk token from the 2000 boardgame Star Trek Limited Edition Monopoly, and the very rare Kirk token from the 1999 Italian boardgame by Ultimo Avamposto, Star Trek Adventure: Serie Classica.

Here's a close-up without Mega-Kirk (click for larger):

The Star Trek Limited Edition Monopoly tokens are really nice sculpts and I'll be posting all 8 from that game, as well as the Star Trek: The Next Generation version of the game soon. The nice thing is that they're somewhat easier to find than the miniatures from the 70s and 80s. As you can see (below), they're out of scale with 25mm figures, but pretty close to 28mm/30mm heroic scale. If you get these, then you can throw in monsters and Orion slave girls from other miniature lines. Although I had seen pics of the Monopoly Trek tokens, I couldn't find a single reference to measurements or comparative scale anywhere. Now I'll save you the trouble. Good for RPGs? I think so.


If you're looking for some 25mm miniatures for your Trek games, but you don't want to spend an arm and a leg, check out the MegaMiniatures "Bridge Crew" lead-free pewter line (PDF Catalog) of Trek-like figures and accessories. Very affordable and great sculpts that are easily modified and painted to look very close to either TOS or TNG eras. Here's one, on the far right. I think it's also a good illustration of the fact that "25mm" doesn't really tell you whether or not miniatures from different lines and manufacturers are really going to mesh well together. From foot-to-eye, MegaMinis are 28mm. Heritage and FASA minis are 25mm from foot-to-eye. Citadel Trek figures are more like 25mm from foot-to-top of head, and look stockier.

Transporters are always breaking down, so be sure your games have a shuttle available. Here's Monopoly Spock and Heritage Spock flanked by 3.5" long Galileo shuttles that aren't in perfect scale for the figures, but close enough and suitable for the game table. The shuttle on the left was one of Playmate's Innerspace series of micro ships, and the one on the right is the more easily obtained Johnny Lightning version. Don't get the Japanese Furuta import, it's barely 2 1/4" inches long.

One last one for today, for fans of TNG who probably feel somewhat left out on my blog, but shouldn't. I love the newer shows (Voyager not so much), and just haven't gotten to the LUG and Decipher eras yet. Here's Worf, one from LUG's one and only box set of miniatures for Star Trek The Next Generation Roleplaying Game, the 1998 Federation Away Team Miniatures (# 25600), along with the Worf token from Parker Brother's 1998 Star Trek: The Next Generation Collector's Edition Monopoly. More from that set later (does Wil Wheaton know he has his own mini???).

I hope this has helped some of you looking to start collecting and adding miniatures to your Star Trek RPG sessions. Look for more photos and details from all these lines over the next few months. In the meantime, coming up next, a look at years of homebrewed Star Trek RPGs adaptations for systems such as GURPS, Simply Roleplaying! and more.

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Heritage's Star Trek RPG In-Depth (Part 2)

Today I'm going to wrap up my in-depth review of the rulebook for Heritage's 1978 Star Trek Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier (STAGFF), then move on to fan written works that added to the original game. In Part 1, I covered the Basic Game rules and scenario. To sum up my findings so far:

• STAGFF is better organized and presented and more playable than its predecessor, Space Patrol.


• The Basic Game is based upon using the classic Trek characters (Kirk, Spock, Koloth, etc.) and provides stats for them.


• For the most part, the Abilities -- Strength (ST), Dexterity (DX), Luck (LK), Mentality (MN), Charisma (CH), and Constitution (CN) -- are each applied to only one or two specific tasks with modifiers. No Skill system is given.


• The game suffers from unnecessary complexity.
  
• The Basic Game provides a brief Scenario called "The Shuttlecraft Crash" and includes a map.


• Even in comparison to the few other RPGs of the time, STAGFF feels more like a wargame, and feels nothing like Star Trek itself.

The section for the Advanced Game actually begins with the Advanced Game Scenario "The Slaver Ruins":

Over 1,000,000,000 years ago the Slavers ruled the Galaxy. They died off when one of their subject races rebelled with sufficient ferocity. The only known remains of the last Slaver Empire are Stasis boxes. These are special force field boxes in which time stands still. These boxes can be opened using a magnetic probe and they often contain artifacts, devices and other remains of the lost Empire. Just such a box gave the Federation its anti-gravity technology used on starships. Another stasis box contained a super-weapon that was lost due to Kzinti intervention. The slaver stasis boxes are the most sought after archaelogical treasures in the known universe.

The scenario opens with the ENTERPRISE shadowing an alien vessel traveling in unknown territory. The alien vessel, possibly a Kzin or Klingon ship (this is at the discretion of the Mission Master. Any aliens can be used. When aliens are mentioned in this scenario they will be called aliens, but the Mission Master can fill in whatever aliens he thinks would be appropriate) makes a landing on a small Class M world near a partially ruined building. The alien crew, numbering 8 individuals, are seen getting out and entering the building. The ENTERPRISE sends down a party of 6 crewmen to investigate.

The planet has been seeded by the ancient race known as the Providers and has animals from many parts of the Galaxy. The building in the ruins is an ancient Slaver outpost and contains 4 stasis boxes hidden within its walls along with various creatures and the searching alien landing party. The Star Fleet crew must prevent the stasis boxes from falling into the hands of the aliens. The walls of the building are made of a Slaver alloy which prevents the operation of the communicator (and thus the Transporter) and tricorder readings are only partially effective through its walls. Doors in the building are sliding doors requiring a strength of at least 13 to open or can be burned down by a phaser set on Dematerialize. The aliens are hostile and will attack the Federation crewmembers on sight.

So that's kind of cool. A sequel of sorts to the 1973 Star Trek animated series episode "The Slaver Weapon" by Larry Niven, and author Michael Scott even got Kzin/Kzinti correct! And an adventure on a planet seeded with the remnants of both Slavers and Providers? All it needs are the Ringers from the Enterprise RPG scenario "The Drifting Ring", and we'll have all the Ancients covered.

In all seriousness, a few things worth noting. First, the "dungeon crawl" nature of the mission is pretty obvious: kill the Kzinti, find and take the treasure. It feels more like a D&D adventure than anything actually inspired by a Star Trek episode. Second, here is evidence that as early as 1978, the question of how do deal with the Transporter in a Star Trek RPG is identified as problematic (and still discussed today, as shown in one of this week's more popular threads on RPGnet). Prospective GMs take note: "Slaver Alloy" as an alternative to "Ion Storm". Third, I do find it interesting that there are some similarities between this Scenario and the one included with the Japanese RPG Enterprise (ancient race, stasis devices)... I wonder if Tama Yutaka had actually seen this game before he was inspired to write his own years later?

The Scenario is more interesting than the one in the Basic Game, and much more deadly. It makes use of the elements from the Advanced Game such as Psionics and some of the new creatures listed later on including the Capellan Power Cat, the Vulcan Sehlat and... the Mugato! Those whacky Providers.

The Scenario is followed by a brief section on custom Character Creation, which basically consists of rolling various dice for the six primary Attributes, the all-important Size attribute (right down to the centimeter) and Movement. The rule for awarding experience essentially amounts to two sentences, encouraging the Mission Master to award Attribute points and new equipment training for a successfully completed scenario.

The section on Psionics makes it clear that, with the exception of Vulcans and the Kziniti, characters will rarely have a Psionic power, determined by a roll (1% chance). If the roll succeeds, they roll to get Empathy (with a rule for Gem-like healing), Telepathy, Telekinesis, Clairvoyance, Precognition, Mind Control or Teleportation. Again, this section is very similar to the PSY Talents section in Enterprise. I suspect the list was influenced by Traveller Book 3 - Worlds and Adventures, but the random generation method looks to be Michael Scott's own, later borrowed and further polished by Yutaka. It's definitely not the Psionics of Eldritch Wizardry.

The next section is on Familiar Star Trek Life Forms, a list of nearly 50 alien races and creatures from both TOS and TAS. Examples (note the use of the generic AR - Ability Rating - for creatures as opposed to alien races, as detailed in the Basic Game; note also, typos are not my own):

MUGATO - Great white horned ape of Neural with poison fangs. They mate for life and will avenge mate's death. Basic move: 12, Basic size: 250 cm, AR 18.

TELLARITE - Pig-like humanoids, they are members of the UFP and can be members of a Star Fleet crew. They are very argumentive and alcohol only makes them more so. Basic size: 175cm, Basic move: 10m, CH -2.

VULCANS - Pointed-eared humanoids of great emotional control and logic. Their blood is based on copper salts and they have protective nictating membrances to protect their eyes from dirt and glare. They have limited powers of telepathy and empathy in that they usually have to be in contact with a subject for the powers to operate. Once every seven years they must mate or die. Basic size 200cm, Basic move: 11m, ST +3, DX +2, MN +3, CT +4. They are members of the United Federation of Planets (in fact, one of the most highly regarded members) and are found throughout Star Fleet's crews. The Vulcan Spock is a successful hybrid of Vulcan and Human heritage.

Rules are also provided for Creating Alien Creatures, based on Space Patrol's random attribute generation method (3D6 for AR) and a series of tables: Type and Shape, Size, Special Capabilties, Size Modifier and Basic Movement.

The next sections are the Advanced Equipment Table and a 4-page List of Equipment and Weapons, many based on Star Trek items (ex: Lirpa, Phaser Bore, Phynburger (sic), Universal Translator, five types of Tricorders), and the rest corresponding roughly to that provided in Space Patrol. These are generally just descriptions with little or no detail as to their effects, provided later in the Advanced Game Weapons Tables that are part of Advanced Combat.

The Advanced Combat Rules don't add much to what was outlined for ranged and hand-to-hand combat in the Basic Rules. In fact, despite the four pages they occupy, the Advanced Rules really only add three things: a modifier for Initiative (or, as it's called throughout the book, "Initiation"), tables for the use of all the weapons previously introduced, and rules for the use of Armor and Shielding (in short, the value of the Armor Rating is subtracted from the damage when hit).

The book starts to wrap-up with simple instructions for creating custom Scenarios, re-uses Space Patrol's types of scenarios, and throws in a few Trek-ish bones into each such as this:

You may have realized that the players of a scenario do not have to be Star Fleet crewmembers. They could be Klingons, Romulans, or some other race. Think how nice it would be sometime to be able to solve a problem technologically and not be hampered by the Prime Directive restricting your every action. Admittedly the Star Fleet crew has the harder job, having to play by the United Federation of Planets' rules and still get the job done. But Kirk seemed to manage from week-to-week, and you can too.

It then gives some advice to the prospective Mission Master on how to keep players engaged by emphasizing the mystery to be solved in the story, and how to deal with players in general. This also leads to one of the stranger passages of the book:

(T)he Mission Master does not volunteer answers to questions that are not asked... Suppose that Spock was using the semi-sentient talking computer of the ship systems to scan an area . He asks for the computer to report any relevant dangers. It would be asking too much of the computer to understand Spock's unreasonable fear of the Groupies at a Star Trek convention. Thus, unless our favorite Vulcan asked, the computer would see no reason to mention his adoring fans waiting in the landing area.

Both of these excerpts are examples of a few places in the game where you may sense a little disdain for Star Trek itself, but I think it's worth noting that STAGFF is really a product of its time.

First, it was 1978 and, in the wake of Star Wars, repeats of Star Trek were starting to feel a little dated. Yes, a big film was on its way in late 1979, but little was known about it. Star Trek and "Trekkies" were seen as cheesy and as objects of derision, even more so than today (for example, the 1976 SNL sketch with John Belushi as Kirk, and Mad magazine's Trek parody later that same year). The way I recall it (and I was only in my early teens in the late 70s), it really wasn't until the films and the Next Generation shows that Trek (even TOS) began to gain some wider respect in pop culture.

Second (and I've mentioned this before), 1978 was early for RPGs, which were still growing out of their wargame origins. The fact that STAGFF was created (probably on the cheap) only to help Heritage Models sell its Star Trek miniatures emphasizes that "role" was still being defined in gaming. At that time, it was probably inevitable that such a game would turn out to be "let's phaser things and take their alien treasure!" As a result, STAGFF is really just a great big list of things to kill, weapons to kill them with and the mechanics to do so.

I'd argue that things haven't improved much in this regard over the past 30+ years. Despite the noble efforts of FASA, LUG and Decipher to emphasize elements in their games such as diplomacy, the Prime Directive, character skills and "the needs of the many", the fact remains that the Trek games that have survived and done best over the years (tabletop or computer-based) are those that are focused on starship combat and "let's phaser things and take their alien treasure!" There have been a number of online discussions lately as to whether Trek is really suitable for roleplaying at all, especially when you have players (and GMs?) that focus on Trek-nology and do things like transport a photon torpedo over to the enemy's bridge (RPGnet thread).

I'm not trying to philosophize (not yet, that'll come later). I'm just pointing out that the easiest criticism to level at STAGFF -- that it's "not very Star Trek" -- is still true of Trek games today. In 1978, I'm not sure that mattered or offended all that much. And despite these strange passages in the rulebook, their are other places where you can tell that the author must have loved the show. For what was probably supposed to be a simple miniatures game, he went a little further than just slapping the name "Star Trek" onto his Space Patrol rules.

The rulebook finishes by referring the reader to the best merchandise available at the time: books! In the days before VHS and The Google, references such as The Star Fleet Technical Manual, The Star Trek Concordance, The Making of Star Trek, and the novelizations of TOS and TAS would be a Mission Master's best friend. At the bottom of the page was the "Star Trek Catalog" of Heritage Models: the list of 31 packages of miniatures, half of which would never go into production.

The most notable elements missing in this Star Trek game are the things that Michael Scott would later remedy somewhat in Star Patrol and Starfleet Voyages: the themes of exploration, character building, starships and starship combat. Although a comprehensive approach wouldn't show up until FASA's 1982 Star Trek The Roleplaying Game, this is not the end of the STAGFF story. Two fan-written works published years apart in Different Worlds magazine would take two very different approaches to extending STAGFF, and make it more like the Star Trek game they wanted it to be. I'll look at those in the near future.

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Trek RPG Auction of the Week - 3/21/09

I'm finishing up my piece of Heritage's Star Trek RPG (and laundry), and here's its daddy on eBay: Lou Zocchi presents Space Patrol by Michael Scott Kurtick and Rockland Russo, released by Gamescience in 1977. It went on to spawn various games: Heritage's Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier (1978), Gamescience's Star Patrol (1981), and Terra Games' Starfleet Voyages (1982).

Although not officially licensed, Space Patrol made some tongue-in-cheek use of the terminology and setting of Trek, referencing Kirk, phasers, Klingons, landing parties and so on. At the same time, its ambitions went beyond Trek-with-serial-numbers-filed and also included references to Niven's Kzinti, Asimov's Foundation, Heinlein's Starship Troopers, Flash Gordon, Pournelle's Falkenberg's Legion and -- in a last minute addenda -- the new kid on the block, Star Wars.

Not a great game, but definitely a piece of RPG history, and a less expensive way to get virtually the same rules as the first Trek roleplaying game.

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Heritage Star Trek #1622 - The Kzin

Manufacturer: Heritage Models, Inc.

Set #: 1622 - The Kzin "8-Foot Cat Men"

Scale: 25mm

Year: 1978

MSRP: $2.95

Additional Notes:

- Technically, it should be "Kzinti". "Kzin" is the singular form.

- The Kzinti appeared in the 1973 Star Trek animated series episode "The Slaver Weapon" by renowned science fiction author Larry Niven.

- Niven adapted the Kzinti from his own 1966 short story "The Warriors", and aspects of the story itself from his own 1967 short story "The Soft Weapon", all set in his Known Space series of stories in which they made frequent appearances.

- In ADB's Star Fleet Universe games, the Kzintis (plural) have no tails; as in Star Trek and Niven's Known Space series, these Kzinti do.

- 4 figures with two poses; 2 with rifles, 2 with handguns. Fewer figures because they're larger and heavier (see below). Each figure has "ⓒ1978 PPC" (Paramount Pictures Corporation) etched on the base, along with "1622A" for Handgun-Kitteh, "1622B" for Rifle-Kitteh.

- For purposes of comparing scale, I've included a pic showing the Kzinti with Heritage's Kirk miniature (1604A).

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OT: The Torch Is Passed

Beautiful Trek video by Paul Sibbald. Brings a tear to my eye.

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Heritage Star Trek #1619 - The Andorians

Manufacturer: Heritage Models, Inc.

Set #: 1619 - The Andorians "Blue Tentacled Humanoids"

Scale: 25mm

Year: 1978

MSRP: $2.95

Additional Notes:

-"Tentacled"???

- 6 figures with one pose, standing holding a handgun. Each figure has "ⓒ1978 PPC" (Paramount Pictures Corporation) etched on the base, along with "1619".

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Star Trek Games Website - Updates from the SFU

I've got a new article up today over at Star Trek Games, introducing readers to ADB's Star Fleet Universe (wargames, RPGs and more), and a round-up of their latest product announcements.

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And the Winner Is...

Congratulations to Adam Dickstein of New York City! I shuffled up the entries, rolled a "3", and Adam was the lucky winner of the Enterprise Translation Giveaway, and will receive the extra copy of my translation of Tsukuda Hobby's 1983 Japanese TRPG Enterprise.

As it turns out, Adam was co-author of one of my all time favorite Trek supplements, Last Unicorn Games' brilliant 1999 release Among the Clans: The Andorians for LUG's Star Trek Roleplaying Game, so I'm pretty thrilled about that. Adam's been involved in the comic and RPG industries for over 20 years, also enjoys Japanese TRPGs, and maintains the blog Barking Alien. Adam's reply to his favorite Trek RPG system?

"My favorite is the Last Unicorn Games ICON System version, although I have to say that the FASA game holds a special place in my heart. It was the very first game I bought with all my own money at the FLGS I still go to all these years later."

Ahh, a man with good taste.

I want to thank everyone else for entering, and hope you'll enter future contests here at Groknard.

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Trek RPGs - Different Expectations

Great post yesterday from Victor Raymond at his Sandbox of Doom blog about the difficulties inherent in running a game in the Trek universe and trying to keep everyone happy. I, too, have seen how concerns about the dreaded "canon" limit your options in what should be a wide open setting. Check it out.

ADDENDUM 4:15pm: Must be the weekend for great Trek RPG blog entries (too bad I don't have one!). Barking Alien posted a completely different type of entry that really takes me back to my own, similar experience at Graceland Hobbyland in Columbus, Ohio. It would have been 1983, I was 17, and there one day -- surrounded by a magic halo -- was FASA's Star Trek RPG. His story is happier though. I didn't buy it that day, I had to hold out a few weeks until I could afford the Deluxe version. Then when I got home and called my gaming friends, nobody cared. *sigh* Today I live vicariously through Adam, lol.

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Trek RPG Auction of the Week - 3/13/09

Just a quick entry for Auction of the Week, a little earlier than ususal. If you've been looking for this, I didn't want you to miss it:

STARFLEET VOYAGES

The Final Frontier holds Danger and Adventure for those who volunteer for STARFLEET VOYAGES!
A complete roleplaying system for interstellar adventure including a separate starship combat game with color counters.

Publisher Terra Games Company (1982), designed by Michael Scott (this copy signed by the designer!)

As briefly covered here in one of my first entries, Michael Scott Kurtick released this game, called Starfleet Voyages, which is esstentially the 4th and final version of Space Patrol. Which makes it sort of an 3rd version of Heritage's Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier, and includes most of the same material but adds starship combat.

Despite it being a not-so-thinly-veiled unlicensed Star Trek game, I'd say it's arguably the best of his games in almost every respect. As any of them are notoriously difficult to find, this is a great opportunity to get your hands on one. Good luck!

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Reminder: Enterprise RPG Contest Deadline 3/14!

Real life hit a recessionary speedbump today, so I'll probably be offline for a few days while I sort some things out. I'll have an article up on Star Trek Games this weekend, so be sure to hop over there for news about a new Star Trek Movie game and a great article about Star Trek Customizable Card Games (CCGs).

In the meantime, don't forget that the deadline is rapidly approaching (Saturday!) ffor my contest in which you could win a copy of my translation of the Japanese TRPG Enterprise.

Details here, but here's the short version of the rules:

• Deadline for entries is Saturday March 14, 2009 11:59PM Pacific
• Read and agree to the Contest Rules & Terms (PDF) that cover my butt.
• Send your e-mail entry to enterprisecontest@gmail.com with the subject "Enterprise Contest", provide your name, return e-mail address and location, and list the official name, year of publication, and publisher of each of the officially licensed Star Trek roleplaying games released over the years (hint: there are more than 3, less than 6), and indicate your favorite, if any.
• One entry per person! You must be 18 or over, but you may enter from anywhere in the world.
• You agree that, should you win the contest, the publication is a gift for your own personal and noncommercial use. If you have a problem with this or any of the Contest Rules & Terms, please don't enter the contest.
• No purchase necessary.

The winner will be chosen at random from e-mails received and be the first one to correctly answer the questions 1-3 above. I'll contact the winner by e-mail on March 15, 2009 and he or she will have 3 days to confirm.

Good luck!

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New Prime Directive RPG Releases from ADB

Looks like the folks over at Amarillo Design Bureau have been super busy lately, and there are a few upcoming releases of interest. I said early on that I probably wouldn't cover the Star Fleet Universe or its Prime Directive RPG much here, but I've changed my mind for a number of reasons.

Primarily, Stephen Cole and ADB have kept the flame burning for Trek tabletop gaming for a long time, 30 frakkin' years! That deserves nothing but respect. Some of the themes and tone of the SFU may differ from Star Trek, but it's properly licensed and the rest is technicality. If my blog is truly "A Retrospective of Star Trek RPGs", then it's incomplete without coverage of these efforts.

I'll also be covering SFU over on my new Tabletop Games column at Star Trek Games, as games such as Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander have probably had a bigger impact in terms of Trek-themed tabletop gaming than anyone else.

Anyway, news!

Scheduled for 4/20/09: Prime Directive: Federation (d20 Modern), SKU 8702, $24.95 - This manual covers everything you could want to know about those do-gooders of the galaxy, the Federation. Extensive history of the Federation, history and culture a dozen member races, military organizations, medals, starships, politics, intelligence agencies, etc. This release is specifically for the d20 Modern rule system, and PD20M core rules and supplements for the Klingons and Romulans are already available. UPDATE: Thanks to Stephen Cole at ADB for sending me the cover images above and below!

Scheduled for 5/18/09: The long-anticipated GURPS Prime Directive: Federation, (GURPS 4E), SKU 8402, $24.95 - Similar to the above, but adapted to the Generic Universal Role Playing System by Steve Jackson Games. The Core PDGURPS book (200 pages, and includes a complete rules set for GURPS including character creation) and supplements for Klingons and Romulans have been available for awhile. Other supplements such as Tholians and Starships have been mentioned in the past, so hopefully the release of Federation is a sign that things are picking up steam.

Keep an eye out here for more on the past, present and future of Prime Directive.

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