So many updates and tidbits to share, so little time to put it into a cohesive format. But I don't want to delay and today is a holiday, so I'll get them out here.
First, this (left) should put to rest the question "How big is the new Enterprise??". It's really the best photo reference yet in which we can compare scales. The new Enterprise is 23 meters long and 5 meters tall. Let that be the end of it.
The new movie has certainly kicked up interest in Trek role-playing, big time. Google Trends indicates searches have nearly tripled over the past few months (as has my own traffic here), activity related to Trek old and new has really increased over at TrekRPG.net, there seem to be at least 3 new threads a week at RPGnet about Trek, and bidding has been somewhat fierce over on eBay for a number of Trek games and supplements, especially FASA (I curse whoever it was that outbid me on the Romulan Ship Recognition Manual last night, lol). It's a shame that there's no new game to take advantage of it, but it seems to me that it just doesn't matter right now. Interest seems to be evenly split between FASA, CODA and homebrews, which is really wonderful.
Speaking of homebrews, that series of posts seems to have been one of the most popular here at Groknard. As it happens, there are some updates worth mentioning (in no particular order):
- Mike Berkey's brilliant Microlite20 Where No Man Has Gone Before has been updated a few times. It's in Version 2.0, but he continues to update it occasionally (including today!), so bets to bookmark it.
- Jerry Cornelius of the Triplanetary and Jetan blogs has a compelling Trek TAS adaptation for R. Talsorian's Mekton Zeta.
- I don't even remember how I found this (right), but I dig it! DT Butchino's To Boldly Go... A True Trek Sourcebook for Star Trek TOS (PDF via Sendspace) for Green Ronin's True20 system. Great layout, tons of fluff and crunch.
- Bob Portnell has put out a call to those who would eventually like to playtest his EZFudge adaptation of Final Frontier. Drop him a line at nvdaydreamer (at) gmail (dot) com. Details at his blog.
- Speaking of EZ, fans of Atomic Sock Monkey Press' PDQ (Prose Descriptive Qualities) System should check out a series of blog posts in which a group uses it for their Trek adventure. The posts cover character creation, character descriptions, and the three gameplay recaps. RPGNow offers the updated PDQ# (PDQ Sharp), the basis of ASM's Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies RPG, for free.
- Although Adamant Entertainment has cancelled plans for their Mongoose Traveller sourcebook, Final Frontier, an effort to do a Trek homebrew for MgT has kicked up over at TrekRPGnet. Please jump in if you'd like to assist in this effort.
- Also at TrekRPGnet, CODA stats for the crew of the new Star Trek film and a call for submissions for a CODA Klingon Sourcebook is underway.
- At RPGnet, an effort to map out Trek for Troll Lord Games' StarSIEGE: Event Horizon, itself adapted from their Castles & Crusades d20-like re-imagining of OD&D.
- Again at RPGnet, running a Star Trek game using Cubicle 7's FATE-based Starblazer Adventures.
- GURPS and GURPS PD fans take note: Steve Jackson Games recently released the latest PDF from David Pulver's excellent GURPS Spaceship series, GURPS Spaceships 3: Warships and Space Pirate, which includes the "Intrepid Class Frontier Cruiser" which seems an awful lot like the Enterprise, and the stealthy "Eclipse-Class Battle Cruiser" which could possibly pass for a Klingon D-7 K'tinga class cruiser. Just sayin'...
- Speaking of GURPS Prime Directive, two threads over at the SJG forums about adapting the new Trek film to GURPS PD.
- Not necessarily Trek related, but Jason of Elf Lair Games has mentioned on his new blog that he's planning a science fantasy/space opera game (a "settingless toolkit") called Twelve Parsecs™. I absolutely love Elf Lair's Spellcraft & Swordplay, and you know what I'll be thinking about doing with this when it's released. It's still some time away, but I wish ELG best of luck as they get started on all these great endeavors. An Old-School Renaissance Space Opera game... yippee!
- Again, how did I find this? Bridge Crew by James Mullen over at the 1KM1KT collection of free rpg games, which is described as "a simple, narrativist style RPG of cheesy space opera, very much in the mode of a certain well known, heavily franchised TV show". I usually run from anything that says "narrativist", but there are a few interesting ideas worth mining here.
- You already know about the supremely cool Star Trek Miniature Maker, don't you?
- Remember my translation for Tsukuda Hobby's Enterprise Star Trek RPG from 1983? I was told awhile back that it ended up online. No biggie, glad to know it's out there and I can't be held responsible for distributing it! Anyway, I ran across it over at Scribd. Thank you, Vina, whoever you are. It even got a comment in Japanese: "This is a good translation. Thank you." Phew! I even found a copy of my Mothra vs Godzilla boardgame translation at Scribd. What next? My grade school book reports?
- And speaking of my projects, I have actually decided to postpone my TOS adaptation for Thousand Suns. Instead I will be doing one based on the new film. Why? Two reasons. One, as these posts make clear, there are already tons of options for playing TOS. I'll get to it, but there's just no rush. Second, I want to play in this new sandbox, both as a writer and as a player. "I like this ship! It's exciting!" There's a lot of freedom there, whether it be in deck plans for the new Enterprise, the backstory of events leading up to and following the Kelvin incident, and mapping out what could happen next. Thousand Suns is still the perfect choice to do so, so that won't change.
- Following that, there will be two, possibly three projects. One (or two) is a Trek game based on a wholly original system I've been working on, one that takes an approach similar to my beloved The Fantasy Trip games like Melee (1977) and combines that with elements similar to the RPG portions of starship combat of the FASA system and the exploration themes in boardgames such as FGU's Star Explorer (1982) and West End Games' Star Trek The Adventure Game (1985). I've already started writing it, though I'm hashing out some high-level details about how many books and how to break it down. I think it's going to be pretty different from much of what's out there, and I wouldn't categorize it strictly as an RPG. It's much more of an "adventure game" that will either have broad appeal... or no appeal at all! Nevertheless, I'm pretty excited about it. I think it's going to be the Star Trek game I've always wanted. I'll keep readers updated and, as I said, I also plan on returning to TSFF. All of these projects will benefit from each other.
That's all for now!
EDIT 5/27: Adam reminds me below that Owen Oulton of Memory Icon has been busy posting updates to his Rising Sun Campaign for LUG's Star Trek RPG. Of special note are new additions such as a full-color map of the infamous Triangle boardering Federation, Romulan and Klingon space, and Starbase T-1. Be sure to check out the extensive deckplans for the SS Rising Sun itself!
Monday, May 25, 2009
More Homebrew Updates and Tidbits
Saturday, March 21, 2009
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.
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.
But wait! There's more.....
Sunday, March 15, 2009
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.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Reminder: Enterprise RPG Contest Deadline 3/14!
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!
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:
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Contest! Enterprise RPG Translation Giveaway!
My translation of the Japanese TRPG Enterprise is finished, my copies back from the printer, and I'm dying to share it with one lucky reader of Groknard! What better (and completely legal) way to do that than to have a contest in which I give away a copy of it?
That's right, you could be the winner of this professionally printed, 60 page, saddlestiched copy of my English translation of the rare 1983 game that I keep going on about (if you've missed my coverage of it, you can catch up here). If you love Trek RPGs, then there are few unique collectibles such as this, the next best thing to having the original box set itself. The book includes the complete rules, the adventure scenario, maps, a GM reference and a pull-out insert of double-sided character sheets. Just add dice (two 20‐sided percentile, numbered 0‐9 twice, and one 6‐sided) and friends. Check out PDFs of sample pages here and here.
The rules are straightforward:
- Read and agree to the Contest Rules & Terms (PDF) that cover my butt. Also outlined here is the Privacy Statement (short version: I'm not using your e-mail for anything except this contest, no catches)
- 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 (c'mon, it's a contest, you gotta work a little for it!) 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.
- Entry must be recieved by Saturday March 14, 2009 11:59PM Pacific
- One entry per person!
- You must be 18 or over. You absolutely may enter from anywhere in the world (I'm consantly amazed by the geographic diversity of my readers!)
- You agree that, should you win the contest, the publication is a gift for your own personal and noncommercial use. I do ask that you respect the spirit of the contest, the original work and my own work, and that you not reproduce, redistribute, attempt to license, or republish the work outside the constraints of personal fair use. If you have a problem with this or any of the Contest Rules & Terms, please don't enter the contest.
- No purchase necessary. I think I have to say that. And don't rip that tag off your furniture.
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. Once that's said and done, I hope to be able to announce you as the winner on Groknard (but will respect your privacy if you wish), and I'll package it up and send it anywhere in the world that you happen to be.
If this goes well, I hope to do more contests like this in the future. If you have any questions, please contact me at robert AT robertsaintjohn.com, and good luck!
But wait! There's more.....
Monday, February 23, 2009
Enterprise RPG - Tama Yutaka's Designer's Notes
Here is the last in my series of excerpts from my translation of the 1983 Japanese TRPG, Enterprise. I've finally (well, 3 weeks, not bad!) finished translating both the rulebook and the accompanying scenario, "The Drifting Ring". The scenario book wraps with designer Tama Yutaka's notes (below) on what he was trying to accomplish with the game, and the importance he saw in upcoming tabletop roleplaying game revolution.
Keep in mind that up until this time, gaming in Japan was mostly limited to simulation wargames, including Tsukuda's 1982 Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire (pictured left), which he references in his notes. Look for my articles regarding this game and its follow-up Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan over on Chessmess's Star Trek Games website in the near future. Yutaka also mentions "the original SF RPG we are now planning", which I can only assume was Ed Lipsett's Star Quest, detailed previously which came out later in 1983.
As for Yutaka himself, despite graduating from law school at Keio University in 1984, he would continue to do pioneering work in the Japanese gaming industry. With his partner Hitoshi Yasuda (translator/author of the Hobby Japan Traveller), he would edit the Japanese version of the UK publication "Warlock - The Fighting Fantasy Magazine" for a number of years before they continued the magazine with their own original content. He was author of many books such as the 1990 text "Handbook of Computer Game Design", and translator of numerous gaming-related texts and articles, including at least two exclusive Japanese texts based on the writings of "the father of D&D", Gary Gygax, entitled "Master of the Role-Playing Games" and "Master of the Game Master". Unfortunately, his life was cut short at the age of 35 by a collagen auto-immune disease, and he passed away in December 1997.
Here, then, to wrap up these excerpts from his work -- the first Japanese tabletop RPG -- are the words of Tama Yutaka regarding his thoughts on roleplaying games, and his STAR TREK RPG, ENTERPRISE:
DESIGNER NOTES
I designed this STAR TREK game as a way to introduce the Role Playing Game -- currently at dizzying heights in the United States -- to Japan. It is my belief that the ability to create a background world and your own characters in an SF and Fantasy Game is a significant one and, although Mr. Sonoko feels my translation of "Midgard" was a board-less story making game, I feel this role playing game is the true next step.
Previously, there were two ways in which to convert a story to a game: by taking a portion of the whole world and cutting out the characters, and then limiting it to one game board (which made a strategic game such as Mr. Nakajima's STAR TREK possible). And although one can focus on machines like the Enterprise, SF and Fantasy -- especially in the case of STAR TREK -- are something in which the human (character) should be central (though some are not), and the game that does not make the characters the subject feels incomplete.
There is also a limit in a board game's ability to employ the charm of a character, and for this reason the development of the role playing game is inevitable.
In a board game, with the focus on a map board and pieces, the ability to convey the world is limited. In role play, the only limits to an infinite world are the creativity of the GM and the restrictions he places upon the players and the actions he allows them.
Because charts cannot be included for everything, the system of this game is based on using percentages, allowing the GM to determine results for almost any situation.
Although one might find the combat system unsatisfactory when compared to that of a board game, please consider that the most valued element of this game should be that of making a story.
Although it is a game in which many parts are left to the discretion of the GM, if you are blessed with a good GM, you should be able to enjoy yourself.
Further, we look forward to showing the next stage in SF role playing with the original SF RPG we are now planning.
I wish to thank Mr. Yoshifumi Sakatani who supplied me with information during the design of this game.
Designer - Tama Yutaka
Keio HQ Simulation Game Club
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Enterprise RPG - "The Drifting Ring" (scenario)
(Note: Here is the next in my series of excerpts from my translation of the 1983 Japanese TRPG, Enterprise. The box set included a separate booklet, an adventure module entitled "Scenario No. 1". As far as I can determine, it was the only official module released for the game. It's only 14 pages, many of them detailed maps, but it appears quite imaginative. Sort of "A Private Little War" crossed with "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky", as our intrepid crew finds itself aboard an enormous Stanford Torus-like generation ship, rushing toward Klingon space.)
"The Drifting Ring"
Captain’s Log, Stardate 3205.6
We are in pursuit of a spectacle beyond compare.
The Enterprise discovered it while exploring within UFP territory near the Klingon border.
It possessed a remarkable velocity that, in many ways, could not be believed.
Spock judged that it must be an artificial satellite powered by some kind of technology.
But the size!
It did not seem conceivable to me that this was a ship, dozens of times larger than our own Enterprise.
Once it was before our eyes, however, our suspicions were confirmed.
Now this enormous torus with a diameter larger than 10km is before us.
Bones calls it "The Drifting Ring".
However, "The Ring" is hurtling toward Klingon territory. This is our pretext, and we have no way of knowing how they’ll react. We must investigate and stop the Ring.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Enterprise RPG Combat Example (excerpt)
(Note: Next in series of excerpts 1983 Japanese TRPG, Enterprise. This time, a long actual play example that illustrates really well the combat systems and how rolling against modified abilities works. I'm not including the tables that break down weapons range, modifiers and so on because the text clearly shows how they get to the numbers. You can detect the rather quirky sense of humor that shows up throughout the book, and you can see how simplistic the game mechanics are... especially for Hand-to-Hand combat!)
Kirk and Spock have transported down to a planet to investigate some mysterious activity.
GM: "Ahead of you, two men are standing 150m away."
Kirk: "I pull out my phaser and set to stun."
Spock: "Is there any cover nearby?"
GM: "Yes, there are some small rocks."
GM: "It's about 10m away."
Spock: "Anyway, I run to the rock."
GM: "I understand."
The GM reviews the Scenario and the characters Kirk and Spock are encountering.
They are two Klingons, armed with disruptors and always hostile. They have ST of 13 and 14, and DX of 12 and 15, respectively.
Because the disruptors only have an effective range of 100m, the Klingons approach.
GM: "Roll one 6-sided die."
Spock and Kirk each roll one die and get 4 and 3, respectively.
4 is added to Spock's DX16 for 20, and 3 added to Kirk's DX15 for 18.
The GM rolls for the Klingons and gets a 2 and a 6. 2 is added to DX12 for 14, and 6 is added to DX15 for 21.With the highest adjusted DX, the 2nd Klingon moves first. As the combat round is starting, it will proceed to Spock, then Kirk, then the other Klingon, in that order. (see 8-3 Combat Order Decision).
GM: "The first Klingon comes running forward."
Spock: "How far is he now?"
GM: "About 100m."
Kirk: "Your phaser is of no use holstered."
Spock: "I pull out my phaser and set to stun."
GM: "Understood."
Kirk: "I hide near a rock."
GM: "You're moving to the same place as Spock?"
Kirk: "No, a different one."
GM: "Yes, OK."
GM: "The other Klingon has come running forward."
With that, the combat round is ended. As for damage, none. Distance between the two sides is 100m. Spock and Kirk are taking cover by rocks.
GM: "We roll the 6-sided die again."
Spock rolls a 1, added to his DX16 is 17. Kirk rolls a 3, added to his DX15 is 18.
For the Klingons, a 3 and a 2. 12+3 is 15, 15+2 is 17.Combat order this time is Kirk, then Spock, then Klingon 1 then Klingon 2. Spock and the Klingon tied with a 17, but Spock's base DX is higher so he'll go first.
Kirk: "Still 100m distant, right?"
GM: "Yes."
Kirk: "I move forward to take cover near another rock."GM: (You quickly consult the Scenario. Because there's no precise description of the location of the rocks and the distance, you must decide how to proceed). "I'm going to roll a die, and if it's a 1, 2 or 3, it's 20m; and if it's a 4, 5 or 6, it's 30m." The GM rolls a die. It's a 4. "It's about 30m to the next set of rocks."
Spock: "I'll go there."
GM: "OK. The first Klingon moves forward about 10m while dodging. The second moves 50m and ducks behind another rock."
Now the second combat round is finished.
Klingon 1 (ST13, DX12) is near a rock, about 20m from Kirk. Klingon 2 (ST14, DX15) is 60m ahead.
GM: "Okay, roll the 6-sided die."Kirk rolls a 2 (17) and Spock rolls a 6 (22).
The Klingons rolls a 5 and a 2, for 17 and 17. The combat order is Spock, Kirk, Klingon 1 then Klingon 2. (Three of them had an adjusted DX of 17, so order was defined by base DX. In the case where those were the same, the player is given preference. This is the decision of the GM).
Spock: "I aim for the dodging Klingon."
The GM passes the two 20-sided dice to Spock. The distance is 60m. If it's a Phaser II, the range is M. Because Spock's DX is 16, the probability of a hit is 49%. But because the Klingon is dodging, a penalty of 10% is applied and the adjusted probability is 39%. (see 8-7, GM Options).
Spock: "I rolled a 34. Did I hit?"
GM: "Yes, the Klingon has been stunned."
Spock: "OK."
Kirk: "I set my phaser to "dematerialize" and fire at the rock the other Klingon is hiding behind."
The GM hands the dice to Kirk. The distance is 20m, so the range is M. Kirk's DX is 15 so the probability is 46%. There is no modifier because the target is a rock. Kirk rolls.
Kirk: "Yes, a 28."
GM: "The rock disappears in front of your eyes. The Klingon stands there agape."
Kirk: "Is he going to shoot us?"
Spock: "It's likely he'll shoot us."
GM: "Yes, very likely."
The GM rolls for the target, and a 1,2 or 3 will be Kirk, and a 4,5, or 6 will be Spock. It's a 3, which means Kirk will be the target. The distance is 20m, S range for a disruptor. The Klingon's DX is 12, so the probability of a hit is 83%. Because Kirk is taking cover behind the rock, a penalty of 25% will be applied (GM's decision). Adjusted probability is 58%.
The GM rolls the 20-sided dice.GM: (The dice are rolled. 11. A hit.) "It hit, Kirk is shot. Damage..." (he rolls one 20-sided die) "…6. How much ST does Kirk have now?"
Kirk: "It's 15."
GM: "OK, now it's 9."
Combat round three ends. Kirk has acquired 6 points of damage, Klingon 1 is unconscious, and the other stands 20m away with no cover.
Combat will continue to advance in this fashion.
Let's jump ahead to another round, this time with an example of hand-to-hand combat. The order is Spock, Kirk, then the Klingon.
Spock: "I'll engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Klingon."
GM: "OK."
Spock's ST is 17, the Klingons is 13: a difference of 4. Therefore the hand-to-hand value is 90%.
GM: "Roll the 20-sided dice."
Spock rolls the dice and gets a 74.
GM: "You've knocked the Klingon out."
At this time, 5 rounds have elapsed, but the time passed is 1 minute.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Enterprise RPG Character Creation (excerpt)
- ST roll is 5, 4, 6 and 1, a result of 15.
- DX roll is 2, 3, 5 and 4, a result of 12.
- IQ roll is 3, 6, 2 and 5, a result of 14.
- CH roll is 2, 3, 3 and 5, a result of 11.
- LU roll is 1, 4, 2 and 6, a result of 12.
First we check for the Mechanical Repair Talent. Since DX is 12, if you can roll 60% or less on the two 20-sided dice (did you remember to designate the dice?), it is OK.
With a roll of 7 on the tens die and 4 on the ones die, the result is 74.
Regrettably, he does not have the Mechanical Repair ability.
For the Medical Talent, an IQ of 14 means a 40% probability. The 20-sided dice are shaken. 6 for the tens and 2 for the ones is 62. He does not have the Medical Talent.
The Science Talent with an IQ of 14 is a 70% chance.
The roll is 2 on the tens die and 7 for the ones. With a 27, he has the Science Talent.
Finally, a roll of 10 or less to see if he has a PSY Ability.
A roll of 0 for the tens and 6 for the ones is a 6. He has a PSY special ability.
The two 20-sided dice are shaken again. A roll of 6 for the tens and 5 for the ones, a 65. This character will have the Telepathy ability.
Next the Alignment of the character is determined. The player may choose this to their liking.
We decide that this character is EG (Emotional Good).
Next we'll decide what Equipment the character has.
Because he has the Science talent, we'll give him the Tricorder, as well as a Communicator and a Type II Phaser. Furthermore, he may be given food for 3 days, water and a knife. (However, please declare it to the GM, otherwise it may be said he doesn't have it).
With this, character creation is completed.
Leonard Shatner; Human Race; ST15, DX12, IQ14, CH11, LU12; Alignment EG; Special Ability: Science Talent; PSY Telepath; Equipment: Science Tricorder, Type II Hand Phaser, Communicator, knife and three days water and food.
Take the above, and write it on one of the Character Cards included with this game. (A water felt-tip pen or marker can be used and erased if wiped off).
Monday, February 16, 2009
Update - Translated Enterprise and More
Apologies for the extended absence this past week.
I've really been immersed in translating Enterprise, and finished the rough translation yesterday. I'm now in the process of cleaning it up, redoing charts, de-Engrishing it and so on. In the end it came out to be about 39 pages and 15,000 words. And I still have to translate the Scenario that was included with the game! That should go rather quickly, though. It's only 9 pages of text and 7 maps, so perhaps another week.
I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it once I'm finished, other than certainly run a game or two. I may even put together some online games using MapTool or some other VTT such as Battlegrounds or Fantasy Grounds, or even a Play by Post hosted either here or elsewhere. I'll keep you updated so that those of you interested in playing some very old school Trek gaming have a chance to get in on the action.
As for making the rules available to a wider audience, that's a tougher question. I've got a lead on another copy of the game, but it's rarely cheap or easy to get them over from Japan. The exchange rate is working a little more in my favor these days. And Japanese games that include translations almost always go for a great price on eBay, and might make the 100+ hours of work I've done worth it. On the other hand, the economy is not what it once was and there is something appealing about more people being able to have it, even if I have to file the serial numbers off. There might be some hints I should take from the burgeoning "Old School Renaissance" taking place as to how I can do this legally and cover my expenses at the same time!
And to think I still have to do the same for my Tsukuda Trek consims, Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. There aren't enough hours in a week!
In the meantime, I'll be catching up with the blog. Look for some excerpts from the Enterprise rule book translation, including some examples of play. Also, more miniatures. There wasn't really anything worthy for the Auction of the Week when I checked on Friday and Saturday, but I'll post should anything come up. Check back starting tomorrow for more updates.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
More on the Enterprise JTRPG (1983)
Sorry about fewer updates than usual this week; Real Life and Day Job calling. PART II - RULEBOOK (pages 5-20)
I have been working on some Groknard stuff, though. Coming up is that closer look at STAGFF, and this week I started translating Tsukuda's Enterprise, the Japanese TRPG introduced previously. As I dig into it deeper, Enterprise is turning out to be quite interesting. It takes its position as the first real Japanese-language RPG very seriously, and spends a great deal of time (and precision) imparting the the basics and history of roleplaying games to its reader to an even greater degree than seen in TSR's Basic D&D. It makes no assumptions and often draws distinctions between the RPG and the simulation wargame (already quite popular in Japan at the time), and references western games such as D&D, Tunnels & Trolls, DragonQuest and Traveller. The rulebook is deceptively small. With virtually no illustrations, it manages to squeeze a great deal of RPG concepts and rules for the game into its 20 kana/kanji typeset pages.
I was mostly correct with my initial perceptions of the game: the mechanic is 2d10 roll under attribute for many task resolutions with some percentile rolls; characters have five basic attributes, with rules provided for PSY (Psionic) and a few other special abilities; Alignment is an an important trait for use with encounters with NPC characters; and there are no rules for starships or starship combat, with adventures mostly limited to landing party type missions.
I was mistaken on a few things. There are rules for race, skills and custom character creation. The rules are structured in such a way as to support a "basic" game that consists of using the pre-generated characters and their cards in the adventure included with the game. But the rulebook also stresses that the real fun continues when players create their own characters, and game masters create their own scenarios, and provides plenty of guidelines for doing so.
Oh, and those Alignments? Very cool: Logical Good, Logical Bad, Neutral, Emotional Good, Emotional Bad. Very Star Trek!
In terms of both its familiar SF setting setting and its execution, Enterprise seems to have been the perfect introduction to Japanese audiences for tabletop RPGs. But as I said previously, I'm not altogether certain it made much of an impact at all especially in comparison to the soon-to-come translated imports of Tunnels & Trolls and Traveller, later domestic TRPGs such as Roads to Lord and Sword World, and the very Japanese concept of published replays (example role-playing sessions in book form).
With that, here's the Table of Contents for the Enterprise Rule Book, to give you a better idea of what all the game covered:
PART I - GUIDE TO ROLE PLAYING (pages 1-4)
1. To Start
2. Contents of Game
3. Progress of game
4. Characters
4.1 Strength(physical strength)
4.2 Dexterity (deftness)
4.3 IQ
4.4 Charisma
4.5 Luck (fate)
4-1 Personality/makeup of Character
-1 Race
-2 Alignment
4-2 Trait and bonus of each numerical value
4-3 Equipment
5. Specialities (specific abilities)
5-1 Types
5-2 Mechanic Repair (repair ability)
5-3 Medical Talent
5-4 Science Talent
5-5 PSY Talent (ESP)
5-6 Limitations of PSY
6. Character Creation
7. Adventure
7-1 Movement
7-2 Movement and Time
7-3 Instant Actions and Time
7-4 Normal Actions and Time
7-5 Combat and Time
7-6 Master's option (time)
7-7 How to Resolve Type and Results of Actions
7-8 Limitations of Actions
7-9 Master's Options (Actions)
8. Encounters (Encounters and Combat)
8-1 Master's Characters
8-1 Alignment Check
8-1 Combat
8-1 Firefights (shooting)
8-1 Hand-to-Hand Combat
8-1 Master's Options
9. Equipment List
10. Alien List
11. Creating Scenarios
11-1 Maps
11-2 Numbered Squares
11-3 Enemies
11-4 Master's Characters
11-5 Missions
11-6 Conditions
11-7 About the Creation of Scenarios
11-8 Before Beginning the Game
12. Master's Reference
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Comparing Character Stats (Part 1)
Some of the folks over at TrekRPGNet were nice enough to admit reading this blog, and took some interest in my article on the Japanese Enterprise game I posted about earlier this week. Calastir over there has recently worked up some CODA character stats for the TOS Bridge Crew, and wanted to know how they compared to the classic character attributes in Enterprise.
Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott
Ensign Pavel Chekov
Lieutenant Uhura
But wait! There's more.....
Monday, January 26, 2009
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:
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!"
TRPG Chronology
Wikipedia Japan entry on Tama Yutaka
TRPG Library
