So last month I made a blog post about Introducing OSR to 5E players. After I had released the post to the wilds of message boards and social media, I received a ton of very good feedback. Thank you. Some of the additional games that were suggested included Dungeon Crawl Classics, Beyond the Wall, Worlds Without Number and others. There are a few other games that I may have to check out just to read the rules.
As you can see from the photo above, I elected to go with the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. I had the books in my possession, I really liked what I was reading. I had the option to allow certain supplements if I wanted (I’m going to allow cantrips and other add-ons) and the players could easily get a PDF of the rules from the Basic Fantasy RPG website.
Just as there were several suggestions for the rule-set, there were also several suggestions for which adventure to run. I was pouring through my library (both dead tree and PDF) to see which one stood out to me the most. In the end, I was lead by inspiration. I just happened to be looking at one of the many online freebie maps (I won’t say which one just yet just in case one of the victims… err… players might be reading this blog post.) and a lightbulb went off when I opened up one. One thing lead to another and I ended up with a little adventure in my head. I pulled out my OneNote and started writing things down. Since this only a one-shot adventure, I made it flexible with a clear goal in mind. Kind of like the type of adventure you could end up in if you went to a gaming convention.
I’m going to hold an online session zero next week. There I’m planning to set some expectations for the game. Allow the players to roll up their characters (which may be the first case of culture shock for them) and introduce myself to them. We have an in-person date set for when we will get together to actually roll some dice.
Thanks again for all of the suggestions and feedback. I plan to have a follow up post to let everyone know how it goes.
With all of the holiday shopping going on, you may have missed the announcement for the discounted Star Trek eBooks from Pocket Books. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered with this blog post.
I think this is the first time I’ve seen a Kelvin Timeline book available on one of these sales. I’m looking forward to reading this novel and see how it compares to the movies.
All of these eBooks are available for 99 cents each. Amazon is also doing a special where you earn points for each book you buy. This can lead to free books.
When you realize you are out of the Whamageddon challenge.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of December 12th through December 18th.
December 12 “Your brother can quote Rules of Acquisition, too. I believe his favorite is 211: Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success. Don’t hesitate to step on them.” Grimp- Bar Association, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Do you deny you were demoted for these charges, Captain? Don’t wait for the translation. Answer me now!” Chang- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Stardate: 9521.6 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Although you share the same genetic structure, the events of your life have created a unique individual.” Data- Star Trek Nemesis, Stardate: 56844.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
December 14 “You’re fortunate to be alive. A Klingon who betrays his captain would be immediately executed.” Marab- Affliction, Date: November 27, 2154 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“The Ferengi call it the five stages of acquisition: infatuation, justification, appropriation, obsession, and resale.” Kim- Alice, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
December 16 “To be honest I’m glad to see this kind of change in you, Will. State your opinion and stand by it.” Erik Pressman- The Pegasus, Stardate: 47457.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
December 17 “We’re all sorry for the other guy when he loses his job to a machine. When it comes to your job, that’s different. And it always will be different.” Dr. McCoy- The Ultimate Computer, Stardate: 4729.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
December 18 “Ugly giant bags of mostly water.” Crystal lifeform- Home Soil, Stardate: 41463.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
Two days ago (hey it’s been a busy week for me) my late birthday gift of the Utopia Planitia Starfleet Sourcebook for the Star Trek Adventures role-playing game finally arrived. While I quickly snapped a picture of the book and shot it out for my social media followers, I knew that I was going to have to write a blog post detailing my first look at this book.
As a Treknologist and a big fan of the FASA entry into the Star Trek RPG market (especially using the Starship Construction Manual to homebrew several starships for the game) I was really looking forward to this book. I’ve seen several starship adaptations and homebrews on the Continuing Mission fan website for the Modiphus game and I was interested in trying my hand as well.
Now confession time, when the book was ordered a few months ago, Modiphius sent me a PDF copy of the book. Knowing that I wanted to blog about the book combined with the fact that I love the feel of a physical dead-tree version in my hands, I waited to read this book. Even when a fellow player was asking me questions from items he read on the PDF. Oh the temptation was seriously there for me to start reading previously.
So the book from Modiphius came shrink wrapped. Let’s rip this protective plastic off and dive into the book. There are 253 pages in this hardbound book. The ISBN number (for those of you looking for the dead-tree version) is 978-1-80281-032-5. The project manager was Jim Johnson, writing by Michael Dismuke, Jim Johnson, John Kennedy, Thomas Marrone, Aaron M. Pollyea and Al Spader. The book was edited by Jim Johnson (boy he must have been busy) and Keith Garrett.
Oohhhh
OK, so the first opening shows this wonderful two page spread showing the top views of several classes of Starfleet vessels. Some of these are from Star Trek Online and they are all very beautiful in color. I was very pleased to see this.
There are five chapters, an introduction and an index. The chapters cover Starfleet’s Legacy (chapter 1), Starfleet Operations (chapter 2), Design Bureau (chapter 3), Federation Spaceframes (chapter 4) and Gamemastering (chapter 5). I’m glad that the text is black on white paper (with blue highlights). I was one of many people who found the odd colored text on black in the Core Rulebook very disjointing. Also as a fan of Star Trek quotes, I love how they utilized several quotes throughout the book. The motif used in the book gives it a LCARS feel from the original series movies. That was an excellent choice.
The first chapter covers the history of Starfleet from the pre-Federation days to the 25th century. The little ‘pop-up’ stories were also scaled back and not as numerous that I’ve seen in other Modiphius books. While these are good for adding some background and history, I have found that too many are very distracting. Especially when I’m trying to do a quick search for a rule.
The second chapter is an interesting concept in a role-playing resource book. It covers life on a starship while serving in Starfleet. What are your day-to-day events? Key locations of a starship are detailed. How would the characters interact with the computer? What do characters do during downtime? What happens during an evacuation? There are even sections on replication and salvages.
The Design Bureau in Chapter three is probably where I’m going to spend a lot of time in the future. There are sections for starships, small craft, space stations and more. This includes various starships talents that are used in the game. I liked seeing a guide to the different types of beam weapons (what is a Free Electron Laser vs an Antiproton Beam?) and torpedoes (example: photon vs photonic). There is even information on the Mark I Emergency Medical Hologram.
Chapter four brings us 70 Federation Spaceframes for starships, stations and small craft. This covers designs from the 22nd to 25th century. Just as I poured through the Federation, Klingon and Romulan Ship Recognition Manuals from FASA and the Starships book by Decipher, I could see myself returning to this chapter many times in the future. I knew that I couldn’t spend too much time in this chapter (I was on a time deadline to complete this blog post) but I loved the graphical and data setup (especially with the logo used for the various eras). I’ll try to model my homebrews similar to this setup (without exactly copying it). I was a little shocked to see the Hermes-class scout as seen in the Star Fleet Technical Manual. Possibly because it was mentioned in the background radio traffic in Star Trek: The Motion Picture and seen as “Okudagrams” in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Wait, they also gave us the stats for the NASA Space Shuttle that was used from 1981 to 2011? OK that deserves a chef’s kiss. (fingers to lips) *smack*
I couldn’t get my flash to work on this image, but the pages are very beautiful.
And finally chapter seven brings us to some additional game master rules which are optional. This includes a jury rig role and building specialty shuttles while out on missions (it’s got to have the fins and dials). There are also several starship centric mission briefs that GMs can use.
More ships on the back inside cover.
So am I happy with this book? Oh yea. I think it will go a long way in helping me homebrew various starships for the game. As a Treknologist, I am very impressed with the graphics and level of detail so far. There are not rows and rows of equipment charts as there were in the FASA construction manual, but it’s also a different game. There are plenty of samples of starships from a wide variety of eras so if I needed some inspiration for something, I’m sure that I could find it. I think that both players and GMs will find a lot of valuable information between these covers.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes twitter account for the week of December 5th through December 11th.
December 5 “Two people aren’t even enough for a Denobulan marriage… a proper one, anyway.” Dr. Phlox- Doctor’s Orders, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Why am I here? What was I meant to be? V’ger hopes to touch its creator to find its answers.” Spock “Is this all that I am? Is there nothing more?” Kirk- Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Stardate: 7410.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
December 8 “Irony is often a source of humour.” Tuvok- Workforce, Stardate: 54584.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Our Gods are dead. Ancient Klingon warriors slew them a millennia ago. They were more trouble than they were worth.” Worf- Homefront, Stardate: 49170.65 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Many of the young people want to know more about the offland. They’re attracted to stories of a faster pace of life.” Anij “Most of my people who live that faster life would sell their souls to slow it down.” Picard- Star Trek: Insurrection #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC
December 4th is National Dice Day. So to celebrate, here is my collection of clickity-clackity shiny math rocks. Some are the originals from the 80’s boxed sets, others are cheap dollar store purchases and even others are made by a family business. Or I wonder if the Game Master will notice that I’m rolling all 20’s in my special Jason Fox Lucky Dice?
Which dice deserve to be placed in the Dice Dunce Chair? Which dice should I reach for first when it’s time to participate in a role-playing game?
I can’t wait to actually throw some dice soon. Send me pictures of your dice to Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com
“It sounds like you two need each other. I mean, think about it. Flotter, your water helps his trees grow, and Trevis, your branches shade his pond from the sun. It’s a well-known fact that the sun makes water evaporate.” Naomi- Once Upon A Time #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC
November 29 “On Earth, miners used to take canaries into the tunnels with them. If the canary didn’t die, the miners knew the air would be safe to breathe, and they could proceed.” Archer- Harbinger, Date: December 27, 2153 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
November 30 “I’m sure there is an answer. It simply has not yet been discovered.” Spock- The Devil in the Dark, Stardate: 3196.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
December 1 “Coward! Like all Starfleet! You talk and you talk, but you have no guramba.” Nausicaan “What did you say?” Picard “I said, you are a coward!” Nausicaan “That’s what I thought you said.” (hits him) Picard- Tapestry, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
December 2 “I monitor my gross income hourly. My hourly figures become my indicators. My indicators become my projections.” Quark- Sanctuary, Stardate: 47391.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
December 3 “Because without us to hate, there’d be nothing to hold them together. So the Party has built us into a threat.” Isak- Patterns of Force, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“This is Captain Kurn of the Hegh’ta. We come to defend the Empire and to follow the banner of Gowron.” Kurn- Redemption, Stardate: 44995.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“If push comes to shove, if something disastrous happens to the Federation, if we are frightened enough or desperate enough how would we react?” Dr. Bashir- Past Tense, Part I, Stardate: 48481.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Someone once said…’Don’t try to be a great man…just be a man. And let history make its own judgments.’” Riker- Star Trek: First Contact, Stardate: 50893.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
November 23 “Sometimes it’s a good idea to get away from being a Captain for awhile.” Janeway- Cathexis, Stardate: 48734.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Young children are sometimes frightened of the world. That doesn’t mean that their parents should let them stay in their cribs.” Barclay- The Nth Degree, Stardate: 44704.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“I think you should know that there is no physical training anywhere that matches Starfleet, especially its security people.” Yar- Code of Honor, Stardate: 41235.25 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him. I’ll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares maelstrom and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.” Khan- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Stardate: 8130.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“You either live life – bruises, skinned knees and all – or you turn your back on it and start dying.” Pike- The Cage, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Do you trust me?” Gillian “Implicitly.” Kirk “Good. Large mushroom, pepperoni with extra onions and a Michelob, please.” Gillian- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Stardate: 8390.0 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
Feel free to share this image on social media to spread the word.
Can you feel the crackle of energy in the air. A new Character Creation Challenge will soon arrive in January 2023. Swords are already being sharpened, blasters charged up and battle plans drawn. Soon the dice will roll and 31 new characters will be born.
For those of you learning about this for the first time, the Character Creation Challenge is for fans of various role playing games. You may have looked into a game or collected the books with the intention to play but never have. Or perhaps you have a favorite system that you always turn to for RPG sessions. Well the Character Creation Challenge is an event to create a new RPG character for each day in January (running parallel to the “new year, new you” theme) from what ever system(s) you choose. Once you have the character ready to play, post it on a website, blog, social media (use the hashtag #CharacterCreationChallenge) or online message boards. The forums at RPG.net was a popular forum where a lot of participants had posted their completed characters. You can find the official RPG.net forum for the 2023 challenge here.
I’ve been collecting a few new games to use in the next Character Creation Challenge. Besides picking up a few physical books at various sales and PDFs online, I also had some trades. On the RPG.net forums there is a trade board and one fan wanted my Judge Dread D20 books. He sent me several core books that I’ll be using for the next challenge. Also the creator of Bare Bones Fantasy sent me a PDF of the core book. I told him that I would be using it in this challenge as well.
I also updated the Character Creation Challenge page itself. In the past I would post links to the various blogs and sites that were participating in the challenge. I will do the same this year, but in order to keep the page itself from getting to unwieldy, I moved the links for the 2021 and 2022 challenges over to their own pages.
There was also a special graphic that was made for those who completed all 31 days in 2022. A badge of honor (bragging?) that participants could display. It was designed by my daughter who is going to college for graphic design and production art. I may bribe her again to make a graphic for the 2023 challenge winners.
If you would like to participate, email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or find me on social media/message boards and let me know where you will be posting your challenge characters at. If you are posting them on a website, I’ll add the link to my Character Creation Challenge page.
One of my most favorite books is available in the November sale of Star Trek eBooks. I’ve always enjoyed re-reading How Much for Just the Planet? by John M. Ford. Now that I have it in eBook format, I’m going to have to re-read it again. Why is it a favorite? Just how odd the book is. I really can’t describe it, I can only recommend reading it and finding out for yourself.
Also, the two books on The Eugenics Wars by Greg Cox should really be turned into a series on Paramount+. It would be a Star Trek show without having to pay for large amounts of SFX since they are set in the 1960s to the 1990s.
All of these eBooks are available for 99 cents each. Amazon is also doing a special where you earn points for each book you buy. This can lead to free books.
