So I had to think about this topic for Day 6 of the #RPGaDAY2023 Challenge. “Favorite game you never get to play.” Between physical copies and PDFs purchased online through DriveThruRPG or charity bundles I have a lot of games. Some I’ve read and they were OK, while others I’ve read and I’ve really wanted to try them out. So which one do I choose? Some of these covered science fiction, espionage, post-apocalyptic and more. I’ve never played the Star Trek RPG that was released by Last Unicorn Games, but considering how big of a fan I am of FASA Star Trek and Star Trek Adventures, I wouldn’t mind playing LUG Trek once to try it out, but it’s not really at the top of my list. I want to pick a game that not only would I want to play in a campaign, but I’d want to homebrew for like I have with FASA Trek and STA Trek.
So when I narrowed it down, I felt that Frontier Space by DWD Studios is my selection for this topic. It barely beats out Castles and Crusades (I’ve been told that I can hopefully get into a C&C game if I can get on their discord), Apes Victorious (I don’t know anyone who plays this, but it’s a D20 retro so it should be easy to pick up) and White Lies (an espionage game also by DWD Studios).
I’ve created a character for Frontier Space in a past Character Creation Challenge. The system is rolling a percentile to see if you succeed in a task with your Ability and Skill scores combined creating your target number to roll under (kinda similar to the 2d20 system seen in Star Trek Adventures) The character creation process is pretty straight forward and I thought was easy to understand. The universe it is set in sounds intriguing to play, but the system could easily be adapted for other franchises if desired. I love the use of percentile dice and I am a big fan of science fiction. So perhaps, someday I’ll be able to get some friends into a game?
I’ve actually talked with some RPG fans in my local Star Trek club about an idea of them showing up for a game night not knowing which game we will be experimenting with. I’d run a one-shot for them, explaining the rules and gathering their feedback for a future blog post. I need to get this done because I think it would be fun. Now I just need to get the time set aside to put something like this together. I hate the dreaded real-life/schedule curse.
What roleplaying game would you like to play that you haven’t had a chance to yet? Tell 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.
Of a complete game system, the latest purchase was Sorcery and Super Science by Expeditious Retreat Press. I picked this up from a Bundle of Holding sale that happened in earlier this year.
Sorcery and Super Science is a post-apocalyptic game that appears to be heavily influenced by the 1980’s cartoon series “Thundarr the Barbarian“. I clearly remember a world thousands of years in the future where the moon was cracked and the land was ravaged by sorcery and super science. Dang it, now I need to watch the series again.
I haven’t had a chance to go over all of the rules yet. But I’m certain that I’ll be using this in the 2024 Character Creation Challenge.
What was your latest RPG purchase? Was it a full game or a supplement? Tell 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.
Alright I was able to get through the month of July, so let’s start the #RPGaDAY2023 challenge that I had posted about previously. The day 1 topic is “First RPG played (this year)”. OK, this should be easy.
Except it wasn’t. I had to go back and check. I thought it was my FarTrek game, but it appears that the first half of the year was under the dreaded “schedule curse”. So my first games were at SaltCON in March. At this gaming convention I was able to play the following roleplaying games in one shots.
Pathfinder 2nd Edition- The GM was really good. If I had a good GM like that, I could see myself participating in a campaign. Lots of stuff in Pathfinder that could become too overwhelming if not handled well.
Dungeon Crawl Classics– I’ve always wanted to play in a level-0 funnel and SaltCON gave me the opportunity to try this out. DCC is another game that I could see myself playing as part of a campaign.
Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition- A filler game after another game I had scheduled was canceled.
GURPS– The scenario was set in the Aliens universe. This was where I was glad that I didn’t have to create a character.
Cyberpunk RED– It was good to step back into this universe after I had played the original Cyberpunk many years ago.
What was the first role playing game you played this year? 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 Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of July 31st through August 6th.
July 31 “I’m a doctor, not an engineer.” Dr. McCoy “Now you’re an engineer.” Scotty- Mirror, Mirror, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
August 1 “They’re brothers, Data. Brothers forgive.” Dr. Crusher- Brothers, Stardate: 44085.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“While I may have harmed others in the past, I now choose to save.” Zero- Let Sleeping Borg Lie, Stardate: 61284.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
August 3 “I’m no writer, but if I were it seems to me I’d want to poke my head up every once in a while and take a look around see what’s going on.” Sisko- The Visitor, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
August 4 “Who would have thought that this eclectic group of Voyagers could actually become a family? Starfleet, Maquis, Human, Talaxian, hologram, Borg – even Mr. Paris.” The Doctor- Year of Hell, Part I, Stardate: 51268.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“I will not fight for Starfleet. But I will defend its ideals.” Hemmer- Memento Mori, Stardate: 3177.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“You should consider staying around. Our command believes misfits have merit, so we keep busy.” Georgiou “I’m surprised you call yourself a misfit, ’emperor’.” Tyler “The freaks are more fun.” Georgiou- Point of Light, Stardate: 1029.46 #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Ugh, senior officers are overrated. They’re always like stressed out and just yelling about directives. It is better down here where the real action is.” Mariner- Second Contact, Stardate: 57436.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
When the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds/Lower Decks crossover episode is released early and lives up to the expectations.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of July 24th through July 30th.
July 24 “Trying to get yourself killed… Do you know how much Starfleet has invested in you?” Kirk “One hundred twenty-two thousand, two-hundred…” Spock “Never mind!” Kirk- The Apple, Stardate: 3715.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 25 “As deeply as you feel hurt, you can also feel joy.” Picard- Suddenly Human, Stardate: 44143.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“If you want to change the government, Minister Jaro, you vote to change it. You don’t sneak up from behind it with a dagger.” Kira- The Circle, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 27 “Imagination frees the mind. It inspires ideas and solutions, and it can provide a great deal of pleasure. Human progress, the human mind itself, couldn’t exist without them.” Janeway- The Raven, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 28 “I see no reason to be concerned with idle gossip.” T’Pol- Rajiin, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“That’s what this exchange program is all about. You learn the way we do things and take that information back to your command. It’s up to them to decide which is better.” Wesley- A Matter of Honor, Stardate: 42506.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“I will remember to expect nothing… even from this espresso. Espresso –I release you.” Tilly- Runaway, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
It looks like the Dominion War from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is taking front and center for the latest eBook deal from Pocket books. There are also a couple of Voyager novels in this mix as well. Various Star Trek digital novels are only 99 cents for the month. Amazon is also doing a special where you earn points for each book you buy. This can lead to free books.
I noticed something putting this blog post together. The 3rd novel in the Dominion War series is listed by Pocket Books (and on Amazon) as being written by Esther Friesner. Yet the cover has John Vornholt listed. Does anyone know why there is a discrepancy?
Star Trek Adventures Core Rulebook (left) and the Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide (right)
My Father’s Day gift finally arrived. Around the time of the holiday my wife ordered the Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide for use with the Star Trek: Adventures system by Modiphius. This was a pre-order so it took a few months to arrive in my eagerly awaiting hands. I’ve talked about some of the other Star Trek: Lower Decks products for STA previously. In that blog post I had noted that one of the strengths of Lower Decks, the Star Trek Easter Eggs, had been played upon. I’m happy to report that I’ve seen several strands of the Star Trek minutia listed in the campaign guide. A good example of this is the chart of random items that a member of the Collector’s Guild could be looking for on page 26. For myself, half the fun of watching Lower Decks episodes was the various Easter Eggs that were hidden (or not so hidden) in the episode.
This hardbound book was put together by Project Manager Jim Johnson and a host of writers, editors, artists and more. The ISBN number for the book is 978-1-80281-042-4 and it contains nine chapters on 237 pages. In the image above I placed the Lower Decks campaign guide next to the core rulebook. According to a video interview with Jim Johnson, the similarities between the two were on purpose. I had wondered about this before I had seen the video (and seen an image of the cover). There is an introduction by Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan where he talks about his RPG experiences.
The book was very well protected for shipping.
The first chapter covers the “State of the Galaxy” in 2380 giving updates on the Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Empire, Pakleds (of course) and other Polities (such as the Collector’s Guild and the Drookmani). There is also a listing of notable worlds. I particularly enjoyed reading the log entries from the various USS Cerritos crew members which tell a story.
Chapter two covers Starfleet Support Operations. This covers what would happen in the duties that the Lower Deckers would find themselves in. It also covers what type of second contact missions that a smaller starship would be assigned to by the Admiralty. It also covers some topics such as dead crew members returning to life or dealing with family members.
The title of chapter three is “The Lower Decks”. This covers careers in Starfleet, Lower Deck style adventures for other fleets (from Klingon to Vulcan to Borg), various jobs that junior officers may be assigned and the mysterious “buffer time”.
Science and Technology is the topic for chapter four. Here you can find information on various phenomena and creating new life forms.
Chapter five gives us several new character lifepath options (including Cetacean, Exocomps, Gorn, Pakled and Tamarians). We also get new tools and weapons (anyone want a Starfleet Excursion Helmet?).
The gamemaster gets an entire section in chapter six. There are sections about engaging the characters, story components and knowing the tropes. There are also several Lower Deck style mission briefs present to help inspire gamemasters.
Woot, one of my favorite sections of the book is in chapter seven. Starships, starsbases and vehicles. We get the California, Luna, Osler, Obena, Parliament classes for Starfleet. We also see the Vulan T’Kalat and the Andorian/Teleraite Ganashia classes. There is a good section on the Pakled vessels including Clumpship construction. There are also several other notable starships listed as well. A section is also listed for ground vehicles (including construction notes).
The Allies and Adversaries are found in chapter eight. This contains the stats for various characters seen on the show that haven’t already been covered by the Season One and Season Two crew packs. There is a minor section on Kzinti characters that I wish had been written up as a full lifepath, but I’m glad to have some information on one of my favorite races. And for those of you wanting to bring the Renaissance Fair feeling to your Lower Decks games, there are some notes about the Hysperians.
Chapter nine is a Star Trek: Lower Decks inspired Mini-Campaign with four adventures. Let me just say this. There are stats for holographic Orcs. It looks like meat is back on the menu boys. After this chapter is an index which could be very helpful when quickly trying to look up a stat or rule.
As with other Star Trek Adventures books, there are various quotes from Star Trek episodes and movies used to help bring in some flavor. I’ve found that this helps when referencing for those fully immersed (or not so immersed) in the fandom. Badgey has several tidbits of information here and there (because he’s always monitoring comms). There is enough side-bar information present to make things interesting without too many of them (creating a pop-up problem). The book flowed pretty smoothly when I was looking for various things. The built in book-ribbon impressed my daughter when she looked through the book the first time. I was glad to see this addition that started with the STA Klingon core book continuing on here. You can tell that the production has come along way since the STA core rulebook.
I’m really glad that my wife pre-ordered this book when it came out. Hopefully when Star Trek: Lower Decks gets several more future seasons, a second Lower Decks Campaign Guide will be generated by Modiphius. I enjoyed playing a Lower Decks inspired Star Trek Adventures game at SaltCON and I’m looking forward to more.
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 Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of July 17th through July 23rd.
July 17 “So, what do you do for fun down in Cargo Bay two?” Kim “Fun?” Seven “You know. Relaxation, entertainment, during your off hours.” Kim “I regenerate in my alcove. I study the Starfleet database, and I contemplate my existence.” Seven- Revulsion, Stardate: 51186.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 18 “If you drop a hammer on your foot, it’s hardly useful to get mad at the hammer.” Riker- Shades of Gray, Stardate: 42976.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Oh, Captain, are you going to punch me again over and over till your arm weakens? Clearly you want to.” Khan- Star Trek Into Darkness, Stardate: 2259.55 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 20 (After getting an injection) “I hope that’s an anaesthetic.” Reed “Phlox’s own recipe.” Archer “Please, sir, may I have some more?” Reed- Minefield, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 21 “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations. Symbolizing the elements that create truth and beauty.” Spock- The Infinite Vulcan, Stardate: 5554.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTAS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“I’m a patient woman, but I have run out of patience. I will no longer serve gods who give me nothing in return. I am ready to walk the path the Pah-wraiths have laid out for me.” Winn- Strange Bedfellows, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“This was once a piece of an ancient weapon, and now they offer it as a symbol of… of peace. In the Fibonan culture, to surrender a weapon is an offer of truce.” Kirk- Star Trek Beyond, Stardate: 2263.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 23 “You were lucky, Kurn, but luck always runs out.” Larg- Redemption II, Stardate: 45020.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
Needing to get to the restroom after a long drive.
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of July 10th through July 16th.
July 10 “I accept there are things in the universe than can’t be scanned with a tricorder.” Chakotay- Barge of the Dead, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 11 “History cannot be changed.” Spock- Spectre of the Gun, Stardate: 4385.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 12 “I hope you’re not holding back because I’m a woman. If it makes things any easier, think of me as a man. I’ve been one several times.” Dax- The Way of the Warrior, Stardate: 49011.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“THERE…ARE…FOUR…LIGHTS!!!” Picard- Chain of Command Part II, Stardate: 46360.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 14 “Before we left, Admiral Forrest said we’d be making history with every light year, but we’re not going to do that sitting on our hands.” Archer- Fight or Flight, Date: May 6, 2151 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 15 “One day our minds became so powerful, we dared think of ourselves as gods.” Sargon- Return to Tomorrow, Stardate: 4768.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 16 “Is the love of a woman worth the destruction of an entire species?” Kevin Uxbridge- The Survivors, Stardate: 43152.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Twitter account and the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account for the week of July 3rd through July 9th.
“Time is patient, so we must be patient with it.” Annorax- Year of Hell, Stardate: 51268.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 4 (music plays) “It is ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’. sir, by John Phillip Sousa, a popular American composer of band music in the early twentieth century.” Data- Evolution, Stardate: 43125.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 5 “And Uhura, whose name means freedom. She walks in beauty, like the night.” Spock “That’s not Spock.” Dr. McCoy “Are you surprised to find that I’ve read Byron, Doctor?” Spock “That’s Spock!” Dr. McCoy- Is There In Truth No Beauty?, Stardate: 5630.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
July 6 “But it’s all based on a lie.” Li Nalas “No. It’s based on a legend. And legends are as powerful as any truth. Bajor still needs that legend. It needs you.” Sisko- The Homecoming, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“You are a sham! My words were dust upon the ground…your blood has no fire, you are weak, like them! I don’t care what you look like, YOU ARE NO KLINGON!” Korris- Heart of Glory, Stardate: 41503.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“Are you sure you want your boy to become a monk?” Georgiou “It’s what L’Rell wants.” Tyler “And you?” Georgiou “To know where I belong, and to whom, and who belongs to me.” Tyler- Point of Light, Stardate: 1029.46 #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
“I’m a comm officer. If there is one thing I know how to do, it’s disseminate information.” Sato- Affliction, Date: November 27, 2154 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #WeAreStarfleet
