A big thank you to all of the volunteers at SaltCON this past weekend.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of March 16th through March 22nd. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
March 16 “We are Pakleds. Our ship is the Mondor. It is broken. We are far from home. We need help.” Grebnedlog “Let me guess. Their rubber band broke, right?” LaForge- Samaritan Snare, Stardate: 42779.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
March 17 “Not every problem has an immediate solution.” Chakotay- Scorpion, Stardate: 50984.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
“A vital mission, impossible odds, and a ruthless enemy. What more could we ask for?” Martok- Sons and Daughters, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“Sometimes the only way to find out where you fit in is to step out of the routine, because sometimes where you really belong was waiting right around the corner all along.” Burnham- Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad, Stardate: 2136.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekDSC #IDIC #Quote
“Our missions are peaceful, not for conquest. When we do battle, it is only because we have no choice.” Kirk- The Squire of Gothos, Stardate: 2124.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
When someone realizes that what I was saying was right.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of March 9th through March 15th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
March 9 “Our mission is to seek out new and different life-forms and you certainly qualify as one of the most unique I’ve ever encountered.” Picard- Q Who, Stardate: 42761.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
March 10 “Even when her science fails right before her eyes, she still has full confidence in it. Now there’s a leap of faith.” Nechani Old Man #2- Sacred Ground, Stardate: 50063.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
“Do you know that scotch was actually invented by a little old lady in Russia? Not many people know.” Chekov- Star Trek: Into Darkness, Stardate: 2259.55 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
March 12 “Malcolm and I plan to broaden our cultural horizons.” Tucker “Is that all you two think about?” Hoshi “Well, how we choose to relax is our own business.” Tucker- Two Days and Two Nights, Date: February 18, 2152 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
March 13 “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer.” Dr. McCoy- The Devil in the Dark, Stardate: 3196.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
“You’re a good man Benjamin Sisko but you’ve got a lot to learn about women—especially this one.” Yates- Indiscretion, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“We are at war. Logic dictates that each farewell may be our last. Do not regret loving someone, Michael.” Sarek- The War Without, The War Within, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDSC #IDIC #Quote
“Whether or not you were a miracle, Doctor Culber, you are only human. You need to allow yourself time to rest, as you advise your patients.” Kovich- The Examples, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDSC #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Some of the games that I’ll be running at SaltCON Spring 2026.
Wow, 2026 is flying by already. In less than a week I’ll be at SaltCON Spring at the Davis Convention Center in Layton to throw some dice and see some friends. This will run from March 12-15 and is the largest of the three SaltCON conventions held at this location.
I volunteered to run four different games this year. I’m also signed up to play in four games that I’ve never played before and I’ll be re-visiting a game that I haven’t played since my early days of gaming. I will also be packing my Convention Backpack that I have documented about in a previous blog post.
Once again, my Sunday game has filled up first. But this shouldn’t surprise me because it’s the classic Star Wars D6 RPG by West End Games. I’m certain that all of the players probably remember (or heard about) how well this game ran. I’ve also followed up with some games that I’m getting known for, Basic Fantasy 4th Edition (The Guildmaster’s Quest Part II) and Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition where I’ll be running a scenario written by my late friend, Roger Taylor that I converted over to 2e. I think that Roger would have loved 2nd edition. Another first for me is running the Everyday Heroes cinematic adventure, Escape from New York. What is especially interesting about this last game is that it will be a sanctioned play recognized by the publisher. I’ll get some swag for running the game and the players can get some points as well if they sign up online. The publisher had one of their convention coordinators reach out to me and ran me through a quick online session about a month ago.
I’ve signed up to play in six games. The one that I’ve played before is Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition (role play like it’s 1979). In 2025 I did see a couple of pick up 2nd edition games start. If I hadn’t already been booked for another session, I might have joined them. The remaining games are all new to me. I am really appreciative of the opportunity to try new games. There are 5th Edition/Pathfinder games at all of the local gaming stores, I want to try other things. The first game is the new Paranoia All New Shiny Edition (aka “Perfect Edition”). I recently had the opportunity to make a character for this in the 2026 Character Creation Challenge. I’ve really wanted to try this game ever since I first heard about it back in the 90s. I’m not certain what version it is, but another game that I’ve signed up for is Tunnels and Trolls. Yea, speak about old-school. This was another game that I saw advertised over the gaming publications at the time. I’ll have more to report about this later. There is a sci-fi game out there called Lasers and Feelings which looks like it was inspired by Star Trek. This game has had several hacks published for it to cover other genres and this one will cover the Cowboy Bebop anime. And speaking of Cowboy Bebop, someone will be running the official RPG at the con and I’ve signed up for it. After backing the Kickstarter for this and being very disappointed (see my review) I’ll get a chance to play it at the table. Will this opportunity change my mind? We’ll see. My final game that I signed up for is called DC20, which is a 5e variant. I had seen it scheduled at SaltCON in the past, but the schedules never lined up for me to try it. So I’m taking another plunge to see what it’s like. This game will actually have the players make their character at the start of the game instead of using pre-generated characters.
I’m looking forward to geeking out and forgetting about how bad this year has been so far (again). If you are going, feel free to come up and say Hi. Seeing friends is exactly what I need right now. And a way to help myself is to help others. So let me know if you need a hug as well.
What should I be on the look out for? Any recommendations for the games I’m going to be playing? 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.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of March 2nd through March 8th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
“When we found you, you were dying. I saved your life.” Dr. Crusher “Why?” Hugh “It’s my duty to help those who are hurt.” Dr. Crusher- I, Borg, Stardate: 45854.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote
“You are Vulcan? Famous for your logic, yes?” Brax “Indeed.” Spock “Then your voice is also a part of the Federation?” Brax “All members of the Federation have a voice in its governance.” Spock- Spock Amok, Stardate: 2341.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekSNW #IDIC #Quote
“Well like you always say, if something’s important, you’ll make the time.” Scotty- Star Trek Generations, Stardate: 48650.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote
March 4 “When the captain asked you to take charge of these children, you assured her that you could maintain order.” Tuvok “Controlling them is proving more difficult than I anticipated. They’re highly unpredictable.” Seven- Ashes to Ashes, Stardate: 53679.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote
“I don’t wish to contradict Captain Archer, but learning from one’s mistakes is hardly exclusive to humans.” T’pol- Shockwave Part II, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote
March 6 “The commencement of a new business relationship is the most special occasion for any Ferengi.” Quark- The Maquis, Part I, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote
“xBs?” Picard “Former Borg. It’s what we call ourselves.” Hugh “Ah” Picard “A new name can be the first step to a new identity. I learned that on the Enterprise all those years ago.” Hugh- The Impossible Box, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPIC #IDIC #Quote
March 8 “These people are from another place. They have come among us. Welcome them.” Akuta- The Apple, Stardate: 3715.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of February 23rd through March 1st. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
February 23 Remembering Majel Barett-Roddenberry who was born on this date in 1932. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Majel_Barrett-Roddenberry #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekFilm #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekENT #StarTrekDSC #StarTrekPIC
“A true friend is a person you can always tell the truth to without worrying about it.” Lwaxana Troi- Cost of Living, Stardate: 45733.6
“What the hell?! You can’t hit people!” Mariner “They can either be your crew or your friends!” Becky Freeman “Weird, ’cause I don’t hit either one!” Mariner- Dos Cerritos, Stardate: Unknown
“I gave all my latinum to Major Kira for the Bajoran War Orphans Fund. She kissed me.” Rom “Oh, Rom. You did that for me?” Leeta “I did it for us. Now we have nothing but our love.” Rom “That’s all we need. That and my salary from Quark’s.” Leeta- Ferengi Love Songs, Stardate: Unknown
February 27 “I do not know. Not even a Vulcan can know the unknown, Captain.” Spock- Return to Tomorrow, Stardate: 4768.3
February 28 “I’ve run every diagnostic I know and I can’t seem to isolate the problem.” Torres “Gremlins.” Janeway “Excuse me?” Torres “In the early days of aviation, engineers blamed imaginary little creatures called gremlins for malfunctions they could not explain.” Janeway- Live Fast and Prosper, Stardate: 53849.2
March 1 “You’re Captain Archer.” Lissan “You can read minds.” Archer “We have a strict law here, Captain. No one may enter another’s thoughts without permission. I know your name because the Andorian Chancellor contacted us.” Lissan- The Aenar, Date: Unknown
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of February 16th through February 22nd. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
“Ha. Works every time. First officer’s log. As usual, my grasp of the lower-decker mind has proven to… Oh, er carry on, Ensign.” Ransom “I know you just pretend to be an idiot to trick us into getting along.” Moxy “Are you gonna tell anyone?” Ransom “No. I think it’s cute. Plus, everyone thinks you’re a doofus. Nobody would believe me.” Moxy “‘Cause I’m just that good at the job.” Ransom- Upper Decks, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekLDS #IDIC #Quote
February 18 “You said you wanted freedom. It’s time you learned that freedom is never a gift. It has to be earned.” Kirk- The Return of the Archons, Stardate: 3156.2
February 19 “It won’t bite. It’s called a tribble.” Dr. Phlox- The Breach, Date: Unknown
February 20 “Open your eyes, Krola. We are part of a larger community. We cannot ignore it.” Mirasta Yale- First Contact, Stardate: Unknown
“Federation rules, Federation nobility, Federation compassion? Do you understand? If this had been a Cardassian ship, we would be home now.” Seska- State of Flux, Stardate: 48658.2
“I still can’t believe Starfleet saw fit to give a thief, a pirate and a spy their own ship.” Musiker “Bunch of ne’er-do-wells and rule breakers really.” Jack Crusher “What could possibly go wrong?” Seven- The Last Generation, Stardate: Unknown
Happy Birthday to Celia Rose Gooding. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Celia_Rose_Gooding #StarTrek #StarTrekSNW
“I never told Hemmer, but he reminded me a lot of my dad. Always pushing me to see things from a new perspective. Do better, be better.” Uhura- All Those Who Wander, Stardate: 2510.6
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Let me get this out of the way now. The excellent work done by the crew at Modiphius, from the writing to the art, has continued. Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition has been a vast improvement from the 1st edition and so far every new book I’ve wanted to buy (damn you lack of funds). Every new release of the 1.0 to 2.0 adaptions have been downloaded and reviewed instantly.
The cover of the STA2e Technical Manual.
For those of you who have been regular readers of my blog, I love the various Star Trek Technical Manuals that have come out. I’ve even been called a Treknologist. So when I heard in 2025 that Modiphius was releasing their own Technical Manual for the Star Trek Adventures 2e game, I cried. Not because I was happy, but because at the time I had no money to get it. Eventually I was able to free up some funds to order it from the Modiphius website. I’ve tried to get my local gaming stores to bring in the game, but for some reason they could only get limited items. They were finally able to get me a copy of the Technical Manual for which I was very grateful. If you are not aware, if you purchase a Modiphius product, you can contact them at the email Support@Modiphius.com with a photo of the book and they will send you the PDF. Even if you buy the book used. I was able to do this when I had picked up the John Carter of Mars RPG.
The Technical Manual is a hardbound book with 129 pages and has (thank you) a ribbon book mark for when I’m doing research. I’ve found that a simple thing like the ribbon book mark really improves the book itself. The 2nd edition books have been much, much easier to quickly find answers in, but the ribbon helps. The product number is MUH0142513 and the ISBN number is 9-781802-811933. The project manager is Jim Johnson, the writers are Michael Dismuke, Nathan Dowdell, Jim Johnson, Aaron M. Pollyea, Al Spader and Dayton Ward. Hey, I know that last guy. The cover artist is Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo (OK, why does that sound like a name you’d see at the top of a character sheet?) with a bunch of artists for the interior art. All the art is in color and I’m still of the opinion that Modiphius should release an Art of Star Trek Adventures book for the 10th Anniversary of the game coming up in 2027.
Some of the equipment displayed on the inside front cover.
And some of the equipment on the inside back cover.
As you can see from the photos above, the inside front covers have a ton of graphical information that add to the book. As for what is on the inside, the book is broken down into eight chapters. Supplemental Game Mechanics, Standard Equipment, Diplomatic Assets, Scientific Equipment, Medical Technology, Engineering Technology, Weapons and Tactical Gear and finally Starship Technologies.
For the new submissions for the game mechanics, there are some new career events that are all technological in nature. Several new talents for the different departments and equipment styles (cybernetics, etc.). For the designers of Starships in STA2e there are several new service records and talents that you can apply to the different classes. There is also a new weapon type for mines (the exploding kind, not the digging a tunnel kind). Do you want different types of propulsion? Not only does this book have them from the different shows, but it appears that some are from Star Trek Online (I haven’t played that in years so I couldn’t confirm).
Your standard equipment covers holograms, PADDs, communicators, replicators, uniforms and 32nd century common items (programmable matter, tricom badges, etc.). Not only are these broken down by the major powers, but there are also complications that can affect these equipment items. I think is to make the players lives interesting if they keep depending upon one piece of equipment like The Doctor would always depend upon his sonic screwdriver. So the writers would take it away from him in order to move the story along or challenge the character.
In chapter three there is discussion with the diplomatic assets. Communicating between different languages and how universal translators may (or may not) help. Chapter four talks about the scientific equipment that may be used in the game. From the very common like chronometers to tricorders to sensors. What do the non-Federation scientists use? In our medical device chapter it not only talks about the equipment, but the treatments and enhancements that may be encountered in a Star Trek story. What are some ways a transporter, genetic engineering or cybernetics could be used to resolve medical issues? This book covers it.
It can’t be a technical manual without talking about engineering technology. What do the different diagnostic levels mean? What are the steps in the transporter operation? What are the different tools that can be found in an engineer’s toolkit? While engineering items can create, weapons can destroy which is what is found in chapter 7. The different melee weapons from different cultures. Different types of phasers, plasma pistols, distruptors, and tetryon rifles. I know that in Beta cannon, there were stun only weapons, but I didn’t see those here. I wonder if that ever came up on the show itself? It probably wouldn’t be that difficult to homebrew with this book.
Starship fans will love chapter 8. All of the different pieces of equipment found under (or on) the hull are listed here as well as possible complications (as found throughout the book).
Conclusion: As per usual, this book could have been bigger considering all of the equipment that we’ve seen in the show. I didn’t envy the editors tasks of making it all fit between the covers. I think the Technical Manual does a good job of giving us the basics, which will allow a good game master to homebrew what they need for their table. The use of Star Trek quotes was recognized and appreciated. There is an index in the back for quick lookup.
The back cover to the Technical Manual.
The second book that I’m including in this blog post is the 23rd Century Campaign Guide. I already used the 23CCG (as I had to start calling it) when I made a merchant trader STA2e character for the 2026 Character Creation Challenge. This book was a gift from one of my kids who ordered it from the Modiphius website and shipped directly to me. It was very well protected when it had arrived.
How the book was very well protected when it was shipped to me.
This is another hardbound book that was released in late 2025 by the same gang that I had listed above. However the cover to this book is very different as compared to the earlier STA2e products. Instead of being just a painting of the characters that talk to you in the different STA2e publications, it shows the characters that we’ve known and loved from the 23rd century. Kirk, Spock, Uhura, Pike, Burnham and Saru. I thought it was an interesting, and logical, change. Oh, and thank you again for the bookmark ribbon. It has been very handy.
The cover to the 23rd Century Campaign Guide as done by Paolo Puggioni.
So we have seven chapters in the 23CCG. Supplemental Game Mechanics, Growth of the Federation (2200-2255), War and the Red Angel Crisis (2256-2258), Federation and Empire (2259-2269), Conspiracies and the Thaw (2270-2299), Playing in the 23rd Century and finally Gamemastering in the 23rd Century. I like how they broke down some of the details by different eras in the 23rd century.
The inside front cover of the 23CCG.
Of course, the front and back inside covers are filled with information. You can see the different uniforms presented in the photo above. I didn’t get a photo of the back inside cover, but it has different timelines within the 23rd century. Not just of the prime universe, but of the mirror and Kelvin timelines as well. I think this is the first time I’ve seen any Kelvin information in a STA2e book (or any come to think of it).
For the character creation additions to the game, there are new environment options. This gives a breakdown of some of the major homeworlds (Andoria, Denobula, etc.) and what benefits the character would receive from their time on that planet. This opens up the possibilities for homebrewers to write up different options for different locales. And on page 9 is a quick guideline for gamemasters to do such a thing. Then there is the new Free Trader career path option that I had used last month in the Character Creation Challenge. As I mentioned there, I think this write up for a merchant type character was better than the options listed in the core rulebook. But both could be used if needed. Then there are new Career Events based upon historical moments in the 23rd century like the Tarsus IV Massacre, or the Whale Probe Crisis. There are quick guidelines for homebrewing these as well which has lead to a bunch of fan submissions on the STA Continuing Missions website. Then there are some optional rules that are presented for the GM to consider. These appear to be updates to some of the conflict rules that was presented in the first edition Klingon-Federation War campaign guide.
The three chapters dealing with the different eras within the 23rd century are all broken down into three sub-sections. State of the Galaxy, Technology and Politics. These are all viewed with the eyes of the different powers at that time. There are some interesting side-bars that gamemasters could find interesting such as how to use Command Codes.
Playing in the 23rd Century is the sixth chapter in the book. It also breaks down information by the four eras mentioned above and provides some additional roles. There was a very good side note about “player knowledge vs character knowledge” that I appreciated and would probably bring up at the start of an STA campaign. I also had to giggle at the section about the USS Enterprise being the “only ship in the quadrant”. Primarily because it made sense (and is being adopted into my own personal headcannon). Another good side note is the examples we have in the show of multiple roles such as Spock being both XO and science officer.
Like chapter six, the gamemastering chapter is also broken down by the four eras. The book talks about themes, tones, styles of play and campaign structures. It gives different suggestions for each item and how gamemasters may be able to integrate them into their campaigns. And at the end is another index for quick searches and more Star Trek quotes scattered throughout the book.
The back cover to the 23CCG book.
Conclusion: I’m also happy to have this the 23rd Century Campaign Guide in my collection. I’m really hoping that this will lead to campaign guides for other eras. I can see the 24th century as a sure bet, but I really hope we see one for the 22nd century as well (possible lack of details may hinder this one). I don’t think we’d see a 32nd century guide until well after the TV series set in that era have ended. I’m still seeing some of the FASA Star Trek RPG influences in the book and I’m still pleasantly surprised that there was some Kelvin timeline information. Even if it was mostly a footnote.
One additional note before I wrap this up. There are two other Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition books that have been released, but not yet shipped yet. The Exploration Guide and the Species Sourcebook (which isn’t even available on DriveThruRPG yet but can be pre-ordered from the Modiphus website closest to you). When this second book was announced, I had just enough money to pick up one of them. While I really want to see the rules for creating sectors and planets in the Exploration Guide, I had to pull the trigger on the Species Sourcebook. It already came in handy in the Character Creation Challenge. Hopefully I’ll have both books physically when it’s time do write up some additional reviews.
Did you have any questions about the 23rd Century Campaign Guide or the Technical Manual for Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition? Ask me about it. 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.
How some people are reacting the day after the Superbowl.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of February 9th through February 15th. Note: Because Twitter/X will use posts to train AI, we will no longer be posting on that platform. This is out of respect for the owners of Star Trek.
February 9 “The very thing which has given us this wonderful world is what has caused this tragedy.” Rashella “That’s it. Exactly. Your Custodian has controlled you so completely you’ve lost even the desire to even question it.” Picard- When The Bough Breaks, Stardate: 41509.1
February 10 “The unfortunate accident he had as a child. He caught his head in a mechanical rice picker.” Kirk- The City on the Edge of Forever
“My work here is not yet finished.” Bareil- Life Support, Stardate: 48498.4
February 12 “If you call yourselves enlightened, you have to accept people who are different than you are.” Archer- Stigma, Date: Unknown
February 13 “Actually, I was the one who got you kicked out. You know, you’re incorrigible, Q. You’re a lost cause. I can’t go to a single solar system without having to apologize for you, and I’m tired of it!” Q2- Deja Q, Stardate: 43539.1
“We have our orders, Scotty.” Kirk “That’s what scares me. This is clearly a military operation. ls that what we are now? Because I thought we were explorers.” Scotty- Star Trek: Into Darkness, Stardate: 2259.55
February 15 “I’m a doctor, Mr. Neelix, not a decorator.” The Doctor- Phage, Stardate: 48532.4
What are your favorite daily Star Trek quotes selected for this week? This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
Note: If you made it through 31 days of the challenge, read to the bottom of the post.
The 2026 #Character Creation Challenge has been completed. What a difference a year makes. 2025 sucked so bad that I didn’t complete my 31 characters until March. For 2026 I tried a different approach that was, somewhat, successful. I posted 31 characters in January and a bonus character on February 1st. Now I will admit, since I knew that I had some real-life responsibilities (a funeral and parental duties) in January, I did generate some characters in December. This gave me a little bit of a buffer at the start of the month. But in the latter half, I was making the character the day before it was scheduled to be posted. I think this helped my sanity (what little left there is) a lot.
Another thing I did differently this year was not scheduling out the whole month and printing up all the character sheets in advance. This gave me a little bit of flexibility, especially when one game I selected turned out to be a supplement and not a game. However by the middle of the month I had scheduled everything out. I’m not certain how I’m going to do this in the future. Another thing I did was combine some reviews with the character creation. This wasn’t too bad, but I think I’d like to keep these separate in the future.
I really didn’t have any games that disappointed me this year other than Rebel Scum. Sure there were some weird ones like Time Lord or slightly incomplete like the Trader Captain’s and Merchant Princes. But I think Rebel Scum was the disappointment of the 2026 challenge. It needed to really be more a rule book first.
Of the other entries that I read on various message boards, blogs and social media, I noticed a lot of Star Trek characters. One participant was making Star Trek characters with other RPG systems (like the D6 Star Wars game). There was also a participant who created the classic Masters of the Universe characters using the Advanced Fighting Fantasy system. I also loved the Alpha Squad (a 1930’s A-Team) using the Outgunned Adventure system. There were also a lot of other good themes and new system. I wish I had room to mention them all.
Past Character Creation Challenges After-Action Reports: 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021
And if you completed the 31 characters in 31 days, here is the badge that you can display on your blog posts or social media. I’ve already had this badge show up on Welcome to the Eyrie, Paratime, Three Kobolds with a Trench Gun and on BlueSky. If I missed any, please let me know. This graphic is in a large and small format. I commissioned it from AuroraStark.art if you are ever looking for some production art for a project. Additions:The Other Side, Flubs and Boons and Ravaged Renaissance. Let me know if there are more.
Also, if you purchased anything after clicking on the affiliate links to DriveThruRPG or Amazon, thank you. I’m not doing this blog to make money, but the kickback helps when making game purchases for future challenges.
Get ready for the 2027 #CharacterCreationChallenge coming up next January. And thank you everyone who had fun. Even if you only made a few characters, I still enjoyed reading them.
This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
What? Aren’t you burned out on making characters after January? Well, yes. But before I take a break (and start my final preparations for all the one-shots that I’m running at SaltCON in March) I have one more bonus entry for the 2026 #Character Creation Challenge. Jack Photon’s Fantaversary Revision House Rules 4.0 (for the 40th anniversary of the original release of the FASA Star Trek Roleplaying Game).
Jack was kind enough to send me some physical proofs of his massive project to make a “4.0” version of the FASA Star Trek RPG as a love letter to that game. Why 4.0? Well, besides being the 40th anniversary (which was in 2023 actually) this is the “fourth iteration of the game”. The first edition was published by FASA in 1983. Then, in 1985 FASA, released a second edition of the game which is the version I primarily played with my friends. When the internet connected fans of the game about 15-20 years ago, enough fans got together to make an unofficial “third edition” to polish up the game a little bit. It also allowed fans to introduce stats for various races seen in the other Star Trek series such as The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.
When I was making characters for the 2025 Character Creation Challenge, Jack had asked me if I would be interested in making a character using his system since I already had the prototype books. I said yes at the time, and over the course of the sucky year that 2025 was, I forgot. Luckily, Jack reminded me about half-way through the 2026 Challenge, so I added it as a bonus entry (which I’ve done before in past challenges). Sorry Jack, I’m still human (at least I think so).
Now, I’ve made several characters using the FASA Star Trek system before including a Starfleet Officer, a Starfleet Intelligence Officer and the Merchant Trader made earlier this year. However, I’ve never made a First Edition FASA character (hmmm…. 2027? I better write things down so I don’t forget this time). In my correspondence with Jack he informed me that his version was primarily based upon the first edition which he had enjoyed more. So this will be a new experience for me.
Ok, I’ve printed out the character sheet and found the Officer Generation rules and it looks pretty similar to the FASA entries I mentioned above. Roll 3d10+40 for each attribute of STR, END, INT, DEX, CHA and COOL (oh BTW, that last attribute is new in this version). For the LUC and PSI stats it is still just a percentile roll. There is a note here that magnanimous GMs may allow re-rolls of 1s or 2s. There is a random chart of basic alien races to choose or roll a d10 for (dice clatter on table) and this guy is a Human (hey, that’s what the dice came up with). I adjusted the PSI score as the only racial adjustment. And finally on attributes there is a conditional bonus points option of rolling percentile, divide by two and round down. As a human, he can’t raise his PSI score, but the others can be raised as I see fit. I made my choices and wrote them down in my notes.
Before we joined Starfleet Academy, the character already had some education. There is a list of skills for Personal Development and Formal Education. I divide the INT score by 10 and could choose that number from each list rolling a d10 for the score. As this character entered the academy there are some automatic skill scores that he would have learned and I added them to my notes.
Now I’m told that Starfleet maintains three specialized training schools for select candidates if the minimum requirements are met. He just barely missed out on the Contact Team. Nor did qualify for Command School. So I think I just automatically roll over to one of the Service Branches (Command, Sciences or Services) and I choose a major in that branch (the departments we usually see in TOS) and I think I’m going to make this guy an Engineer. I wrote down the stats listed for that major.
The Cadet Cruise. I remember this from making many different FASA Star Trek RPG characters back in the day. Roll percentage dice and add some different modifiers from LUC and INT. And this yet-to-be-named character was sent to a Starbase. Rolling the dice to see how he did and he passed. Did he get noticed (again dice clattering on table) and he got a Commendation which turned into a Minor Award (Silver Palms if I read that part correctly). And now this guy is an Ensign.
As an ensign fresh out of the academy I could start playing him now and watch him grow. But I wanted to at least get one term under his belt. Let’s see if we can get him up to the rank of Lieutenant. But the dice say only one term so perhaps we can make Lt. (j.g.). Starbase duty again for 3 years? Well that’s how the dice came up. Average efficiency rating so I just rolled the extra skill experiences.
Heh, Chapter 5 is called Life’s Lil’ Details. Age and starting cred, terms of active duty, family history, homeworld, etc. Wow, there is a lot to take in. Some of it I didn’t understand so I kind of muddled through it. His homeworld was being shipwrecked for one year? Besides a backstory did that get me anything? What if I already had a character concept in mind? I think I skipped most of this and just came up with a name and transferred my notes to the character sheet. As I transfered this information over, I noticed some additional derived attributes such as Foolies (aka Bluff or avoid being Blulffed), Perception, Focus and two types of Perseverance (mental and physical). Luckily there were some quick mathematical formulas to follow.
Afterthoughts:
There were some in-jokes like the Herbert Department. Also Jack pulled in information for his version of the game from different sources including different magazine articles about the FASA Star Trek RPG. It was quite interesting to see.
There is a TON of character options in here. Non-Commissioned officer, civilian who went through college, etc. I really could have used the quick-guide that was present in the FASA STA RPG 2nd Edition. Was I supposed to roll on the friends and romance tables? I can see where a lot of work went into this labor of love. I don’t think I’ll ever get a chance to play it.
Additional Notes:
I’ve had quite a few of you reach out to me stating that you’ve made 31 characters in 31 days. I’ve sent the reward graphic, lovingly made by my commissioned artist, that is starting to appear in the wild. If you haven’t received yours yet, please email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain dot Com (or buzz me on one of the socials if we follow each other) and I’ll make sure to get it out to you.
Coming Up Next:
After-Action Report
This article is open for discussion on the TardisCaptain dot Com Discord server. You can also email me at Carl (at) TardisCaptain.com or click on my social media links with any comments.
