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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