Month: April 2023

Collecting, Comic Books, Doctor Who, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Transformers

More IDW Comics in Star Trek Adventures?

Written by TardisCaptain April 29, 2023February 24, 2024

So earlier this month I was working on my review of the latest Star Trek Lower Decks releases for the Star Trek Adventures RPG when it hit me. “I wonder if we will see any future cross-over products between Modiphius (publisher of Star Trek Adventures) and IDW run of Star Trek comics?” Back in 2021 there had been a cooperative release with the IDW Year Five Tie In.

So I thought I’d take to social media and ask. On twitter (while dodging spam posts) I submitted the following:

Hey @Modiphius are we going to see any additional #StarTrekAdventures supplements for @IDWPublishing #StarTrek comics like we did for Year-Five tie in? I would love to see more supplements like this. #please
@TardisCaptain

Well, I received a response from Jim Johnson, who is the project manager for Modiphius Star Trek Adventures. Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. He asked what I’d like to see from the IDW run. Well when I read that, my first thought was “Everything!” Yea, I know that’s not going to fly logically. IDW has been publishing Star Trek comics since 2007 and has released over 400 issues and trade paperbacks. Some of them include crossovers with other intellectual properties such as Doctor Who, Planet of the Apes, Green Lantern, The Legion of Superheroes and Transformers. The likelihood of any supplements for these issues are slim to none. Especially since there is already a roleplaying game for Transformers and Doctor Who.

So what was the most likely candidates from the wide catalog of IDW publications would be good for a Star Trek Adventures supplement? Well I have several recommendations in mind. I did mention a few in a quick twitter response to Mr. Johnson, but I felt that this topic deserved a blog post to give it more thought.

I’ve actually mentioned this in past blog posts, but IDW has done a very good series of comics covering the TNG crew in the Mirror Universe. In this setting, the Terran Empire was defeated, but not overrun. (Hey, if you are looking for a reason to keep this within “cannon”, just remember that there are many, many multiple universes as seen in the TNG episode “Parallels“.) This empire was boxed in, was low on resources (Captain’s kept their own secret supply caches) and still had some fight in it (for both external and internal conflicts). RPG scenarios could include Prime Universe Federation members dealing with Terran Empire incursions, more accidental crossovers or a campaign set with PCs playing members of the Terran Starfleet. Some of the advantages to this idea include lots of resource material (13 TNG comics plus additionaly 7 TOS comics, 1 Voyager comic, and 4 Discovery comics) which could include new races, new spacefames, new background information, new characters (we see “The Obnoxious Okona” who is a thorn in Mirror Captain Picard’s side). The disadvantages that I see are also the large number of sources (the supplement could be much larger than the Year Five tie in if they didn’t break it up by comic series), roleplaying in the Mirror Universe is much different than in the Prime Universe (but I do recall playing in a FASA Star Trek campaign where we were accidentally sent to the Mirror Universe) and there is a lot of Mirror Universe seen in the shows. While this is my first choice that I would LOVE to see, I could understand why it may not make the list at Modiphius.

Before there was Star Trek: Year Five by IDW, the comic publisher released Star Trek Year Four. This covered what could have been the fourth season of The Original Series. This would make for an excellent companion piece to the STA Year Five tie-in. This would be an excellent opportunity to present the stats for the Federation Class Dreadnought (seen in the Enterprise Experiment series). There are not as many issues covering Year Four as there are for Year Five (10 vs 26 respectively) but that might make is more of a candidate for a PDF only release. There are other TOS comics presented by IDW, but they cover various times across the Original Series. That could be used to pad out a publication if needed.

The next recommendation may be an issue. I don’t know if Modiphius has any type of license with the Kelvin Universe movies. Creating a tie-in supplement might be possible if a license isn’t fully connected. However there are a LOT of Kelvin Universe comics published by IDW. A total of 106 issues (not counting the two Kelvin Universe/Green Lantern crossovers). Some of these issues cover Starfleet Academy cadets and could be a perfect way to release some Kelvin Universe resource material into the market.

The last recommendation that I’m going to make is for Leonard McCoy: Frontier Doctor that had four issues. Not a lot of material, but the storyline covered Dr. McCoy after he had left Starfleet and went on a “Doctors without Borders” type of adventure (between the end of The Original Series and The Motion Picture). There would definable be a new spaceframe (The Joanna), several characters and planets and information on how to play in the Frontier Medics Program. A non-Starfleet sourcebook could help with civilian roleplaying.

As I mentioned in my Year Five Tie-In review, there was still some Year Five material that could have been added to the supplement. I wouldn’t be opposed to that type of expansion.

There are still a ton of other IDW Star Trek titles that information could be pulled to create a tie-in supplement. Some cover various races and characters. A few had different inter-ST series crossovers that only comics could pull off. Others had tie-ins with different Star Trek novels and video games. I believe that IDW has the longest run of continuous Star Trek comic publications. Despite recent news that the company had some layoffs, I hope that they will be able to continue to publish new comics for quite a few more years.

Thank you Jim Johnson for inspiring me to expand this subject into a blog post. I had a great time going back through several comics and (quickly) re-reading some of the stories. Jim did respond to my suggestion tweet saying “I just gotta chat with the good people over there and see what’s possible.” So… (crosses fingers).

What IDW Comics would you like to see turned into a Star Trek Adventures supplement? Are there other Star Trek comics that you draw gaming inspiration from? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: April 24-30

Written by TardisCaptain April 24, 2023April 23, 2023

Watching the final episode of Star Trek Picard.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of April 24th through April 30th.

April 24
Happy Birthday to Jack Quaid. @JackQuaid92 https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jack_Quaid #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“WITHOUT STARFLEET, NONE OF YOU WOULD EXIST!!! WE DON’T WANNA TO PROTECT YOU FROM THE KLINGONS OR THE BORG, WE JUST WANNA EXPLORE AND STUDY [bleep]ING QUASARS! BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? IT’S THE RIGHT THING TO DO!” Boimler- Reflections, Stardate: 58354.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 25
“Respect is earned, not bestowed.” Troi- The Icarus Factor, Stardate: 42686.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 26
“There are always alternatives.” Spock- The Galileo Seven, Stardate: 2822.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 27
“Every Ferengi business transaction is governed by 285 Rules of Acquisition to ensure a fair and honest deal for all parties concerned.” Quark- The Maquis, Part I, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 28
“How long can we sustain warp five?” Soong “As long as the Captain wants it. Or until we blow up, whichever comes first.” Tucker- The Augments, Date: May 27, 2154 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 29
Happy Birthday to Kate Mulgrew. @TheKateMulgrew https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Kate_Mulgrew #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“Unexpected acts of kindness are common among our group. That’s one of the ways we define ourselves.” Janeway- Day of Honor, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 30
“You are a monument, not to our greatness, but to our existence. That was our wish, that you too would know life, and would keep alive our memory.” Ancient Humanoid- The Chase, Stardate: 46731.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Collecting, Star Trek

April 2023 Star Trek eBook deals

Written by TardisCaptain April 23, 2023April 25, 2023

While they are not in the photo above, several of the books on sale this month are the William Shatner written books. There are also a couple of good TNG and DS9 books along with the George Takei autobiography “To The Stars”.

All of these eBooks are 99 cents and available to read on your Amazon Kindle. Amazon is also doing a special where you earn points for each book you buy. This can lead to free books.

Star Trek: Captain’s Blood by William Shatner, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Star Trek: Captain’s Glory by William Shatner, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Star Trek: Captain’s Peril by William Shatner, John Peel, Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens
Star Trek: Dreadnought! by Diane Carey
Star Trek: Memory Prime by Judith Reeves-Stevens
Star Trek: The Next Generation: A Hard Rain by Dean Wesley Smith
Star Trek: The Next Generation: Before Dishonor by Peter David
Star Trek: The Next Generation: First Contact by J.M. Dillard
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: The Never Ending Sacrifice by Una McCormack
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Trial by Error by Mark Garland
To The Stars by George Takei

Which books have you read? Which book do you think would make for a good Star Trek Adventures scenario? Feel free to talk about it on my the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord channel.

Humor, Reviews, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

First look at Star Trek Lower Decks STA products

Written by TardisCaptain April 18, 2023April 25, 2023 1 Comment

So the gang at Modphius just announced a Star Trek: Lower Decks campaign guide for Star Trek Adventures. You don’t know how excited this announcement has made me. There is an old running joke that Dungeons and Dragon campaigns start as Lord of the Rings, but turn into Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Why, because we have fun around a table for our roleplaying games. I can see this also happening with Star Trek Adventures. Even at the recent SaltCON there were several STA sessions inspired by Star Trek: Lower Decks. According to the email, this book should come out in Quarter 3 of 2023. Sigh, I hate waiting so long.

To tide us over, Modiphius has released two Lower Decks products on PDF. The Lower Decks Season 1 Player Characters (aka the crew pack) and the Lower Decks inspired adventure Lurkers. Now in past blog entries I’ve reviewed the Star Trek: Discovery crew packs. So I thought I’d do a quick review of these publications.

Like the other character guides, they are written as reports given by the superiors to the USS Cerritos officers. The book comes in at 17 pages, which is smaller than the Discovery character guides. We get eight main characters, several supporting characters and a write up for the USS Cerritos itself. No new races for the game (sad) but most of the races used were already covered. They could have given us stats for Excocomps, however that wasn’t the case. Hopefully that will be in the campaign guide.

I loved Mariner’s “Contraband Stash” but wondered about the claim that Tendi was the first Orion in Starfleet. I wonder how the focus of “catnip” will come into a session? (guess where that was listed at). I think this was a good purchase for me and I can’t wait to see the season two character guides to see what has been added.

I really wondered if I wanted to read through the adventure “Lurkers” as I wanted to play it. But I also wanted to see how a “Lower Decks” adventure was written up. When we had our Lower Decks inspired game at SaltCON, the gamemaster gave a lot of prep and setup for the game. We had players who had never seen the show, but still had fun. So I would recommend that the GM set the tone at the table explaining that this is a comedic episode and letting the players go a little wild. At SaltCON, we had a player end up with two Orion slave women that I don’t think was originally part of the scenario. But the way the NPCs came to be a part of the group (we hid them from the drunk commanding officer by stating they were new crew) added to the humor.

Without giving the plot to Lurkers away, I can see where the setup works. Bad bureaucracy leads to the scenario and the players have several choices to make along the way. There is an option for combat, but most of the adventure is thinking on your feet and not getting caught or left behind by the senior officers. One of the things that I like about Lower Decks is the various Star Trek Easter eggs that are scattered through-out an episode. Lurkers gives the GM an opportunity to through several of these in the adventure. So I would recommend that the GM be very brushed up on their Star Trek minutia trivia. Especially with debates among various Star Trek fandoms. There is even an opportunity to slip Lurkers into a regular Star Trek Adventures campaign, but the main characters use by the players should be of the Lower Deck variety. In a way, I’d really love to see a veteran group of STA players take the actual Lower Deck characters and play this scenario (and record it on YouTube for others to see).

One final note about Lurkers, it actually has a follow up mission briefing listed for GMs to use as part of a follow up. So you are getting more than just a single mission. I’d recommend picking this up.

Until then, I can’t wait to get the Lower Decks campaign guide. Ugh, 3rd Quarter 2023 is such a long ways away.

Are you looking forward to the upcoming Lower Decks STA products? Have you picked up the character guide or Lurkers? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: April 17-23

Written by TardisCaptain April 17, 2023April 23, 2023

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of April 17th through April 23rd.

April 17
“Starfleet is not a military organization. Its purpose is exploration.” Picard- Peak Performance, Stardate: 42923.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 18
“What the Klingon has said is unimportant, and we do not hear his words.” (to Kirk) “I just called the Klingon a liar.” Dr. McCoy- Friday’s Child, Stardate: 3497.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 19
“I’ve been a security officer most of my humanoid existence and in all that time, I’ve never found it necessary to fire a weapon or take a life.” Odo- The Adversary, Stardate: 48959.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 20
Happy Birthday to George Takei. @GeorgeTakei https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/George_Takei #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“I’ve lost many friends. Some heroically, some tragically. The randomness of death is merely a reflection of the unexpected joys we find in life.” Sulu- Crisis Point 2: Paradoxus, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 21
“Where will that take us, Mr. LaForge?” Picard “The Opperline system.” LaForge “An interesting choice. Why?” Picard “Curiosity. We’ve never been there.” LaForge- Symbiosis, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 22
“Sorry, it’s just frustrating to hear that I have no more legal standings than a replicator.” The Doctor- Author, Author, Stardate: 54732.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 23
“We’ve had our share of disagreements, but you’ve never taken it out on my desk before.” Archer- Damage, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: April 10-16

Written by TardisCaptain April 10, 2023April 9, 2023

Trying to find the Easter Eggs before anyone else gets there.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of April 10th through April 16th.

April 10
“Commander, we don’t have to like each other to work well together. As a matter of fact I’d like you to continue to keep me on my toes.” Riker- The Best of Both Worlds, Part II, Stardate: 44001.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 11
“I’ve talked Chef into doing something special. Starting Tuesday, it’s going to be movie night every night.” Tucker- Horizon, Date: January 10, 2153 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 12
“It is quite possible, captain, that they find us grotesque and ugly and many people fear beings different from themselves.” Spock- The Ambergris Element, Stardate: 5499.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTAS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 13
“On the contrary, the demands on a Vulcan’s character are extraordinarily difficult. Do not mistake composure for ease. How may I be honest with you today?” Tuvok- State of Flux, Stardate: 48658.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 14
“Just remember, it’s you they draw strength from. They look to you for guidance and for leadership. Help them. Show confidence in them.” Troi- The Arsenal of Freedom, Stardate: 41798.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 15
Remembering Michael Ansara who was born on this date in 1922. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Michael_Ansara #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“A Klingon warrior is always prepared to die.” Kang- Blood Oath, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 16
“Blah! Blah! Blah!” Onlies “No blah! Blah! Blah!” Kirk- Miri, Stardate: 2713.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: April 3-9

Written by TardisCaptain April 3, 2023April 2, 2023

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of April 3rd through April 9th.

April 3
“Vulcans don’t imagine things.” T’Pol- Oasis, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 4
Happy Birthday to Casey Biggs. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Casey_Biggs #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

“It is time for us to rebuild on the foundation of strength we have laid. The sons of Cardassia shed their blood to defend our home. Their sacrifice must not be in vain.” Damar- Statistical Probabilities, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 5
“You must let her see the fire in your eyes.” Worf- Transfigurations, Stardate: 43957.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 6
“Well, if you’re speaking of worship of sorts, we represent many beliefs.” Dr. McCoy- Bread and Circuses, Stardate: 4040.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 7
“There is an old Chinese expression: ‘Stay out of harm’s way’.” Kim “That’s not a Chinese expression.” Paris “If it works, use it.” Kim- Parturition, Stardate: 49068.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 8
“I will be delighted to offer any advice I can on understanding women. When I have some, I’ll let you know.” Picard- In Theory, Stardate: 44932.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

April 9
“Yes, we’re very much alike, captain. Both proud of our ships.” Balok- The Corbomite Maneuver, Stardate: 1512.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet

Dungeons and Dragons, Movies, Reviews

Roll vs Review: Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

Written by TardisCaptain April 2, 2023April 25, 2023

Bottom line up front: I really enjoyed the movie. Not only am I planning to buy the Blu-Ray set when it comes out, but I want to go see it a second time in the theaters with more geeky friends.

I don’t know what happened. I remember going to see Dune, Ghostbusters and James Bond in the theaters, and then for some reason I haven’t been back since. I was talking with my geeky wife last week and I asked if she wanted to go see Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Amongst Thieves and it hit me how long it had been. So yea, it was time to go see a movie in the theaters. In the past we’ve gone to movies on the Sunday of the opening weekend. Usually the movie was not as crowded. However for Dungeons and Dragons, it was still very full for a Sunday matinee.

A few months ago, I wondered if I really wanted to go see this movie after the crap that Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro had tried to pull off. After thinking about it, I didn’t want to punish the actors and crew who had already worked hard on this movie and had nothing to do with Hasbro’s corporate level blunder. I will say that when I saw Hasbro’s name come up on the screen, it reminded me that I’m still not happy with them. As a corporation, they haven’t earned my trust or buying impulses back yet for the D&D books.

I can’t really guarantee that I’ll be posting anything spoiler free. A few items were already leaked out onto the internet before the release date. So continue reading at your own risk if you haven’t seen it yet.

First, Chris Pine nailed his character as a bard. He was able to deliver on several ranges that allowed me to connect to him and the character at the end of the movie. I mistook Michelle Rodriguez for the actress who played Cara Dune on The Mandalorian. Michelle played her barbarian roll so well that Disney+ would be smart to pick her up if they wanted to recast the Cara Dune roll. These two are your primary characters in the movie but we had a full range of good characters that played their parts well. If any of you are reading this, sorry, I’m not a professional film critic. Just a fan that liked your works.

There are a few flashbacks in this movie and, in my opinion, they worked well. The humor wasn’t forced and seems like it would come up during a game. I especially enjoyed how the party found the location of a magical helmet. In the movie items from the game, such as spells and creatures, were used without having to go overboard on what they were. Instead of saying “I cast chain lightning”, the spell caster just used the spell. I knew what a displacer beast, rust monster and gelatinous cube was without having to have someone spell it out. When they did have to “explain” something, they were able to present it without breaking the pace. Oh and I loved the dragon. I won’t say anything more on him for those who haven’t seen the movie yet. The setting being used is Forgotten Realms. Several locations and names are dropped that may go over the heads of those not familiar with this particular world.

The spell caster had a weird components pouch that I didn’t recognize from the game. So this may have been something new. One of the things I look forward to when picking up the movie on disc is turning the sub-titles on. Sometimes that can explain a lot more than just hearing it during a noisy scene.

There was one special effect that I thought fell flat. They presented a large number of character races in the film. The dwarf was well done, the tabaxi, aarakocra and dragonborn worked. But when they showed the halfling, he came up short (yea pun intended). I get that they probably didn’t want them looking like the hobbits from Lord of the Rings, but just shrinking the image of a normal human being just looked wrong. Even in the various Dungeons and Dragons books, they looked like the Tolkien hobbits. They could have easily kept the halfling pudgy.

Also there was a very dangerous item at the end of the movie that I don’t know what happened to. I hope it’s not just lying around in the city. Again, another reason I need to watch the movie a second time. I hope to catch more that I missed on the first viewing.

One cameo image that has already made the rounds is the gang from the animated Dungeons and Dragons TV series. While they don’t speak, they do make a couple of appearances that work. Now I need to watch that series again. I did laugh when they came on the screen, but I noticed that I was the only person laughing.

My daughter who is going to college for an art degree wants to see any behind the scenes book for this film. It would be interesting to see it as well. I’d be interested in seeing the character stats, but I’m not interested in signing up for the online D&D game to see them.

One final note about today’s movie going event. It had been a very long time since I had been to an AMC theater. And now I remember why I hardly go there. Non-caring staff, non-working drinking machines, un-stocked restrooms and a very unpleasant experience (not the movie, the theater). I’m sure that I’ll forget why I haven’t been to AMC in about 8-10 years before I get reminded again.

Have you seen the movie? Come to my discord and tell me what was your favorite parts (and yes you can post spoilers there). This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com with any comments.