Category: Star Trek

Dune, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Star Wars

#RPGaDay2021 Day 29: System

Written by TardisCaptain August 29, 2021April 24, 2022

Day 29: System

So when it comes to selecting a role playing system to play, which is better? Learning something new or going with a system you are already familiar with that has been adapted for the universe you want to play in?

For me, it’s sixes. Recently I had the option to play in an online game and the game master gave us the option of a D20 system (Starfinder) or something else. I don’t even really recall what the second option was because I was more worried about trying to learn how to use the online virtual table top application (another post for another day). While I was happy for the easy of the D20 system, I also discovered that Starfinder (and I later found out that Pathfinder was the same way) was just a little too crunchy for me. It seems like it has taken the Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 book and added way to many additional rules to the system.

On the other hand, the D20 based Star Wars RPG released in the early 2000’s didn’t really attract me at the time. I’m a big Star Wars fan, but I remember thinking that “Seeing Luke and company with D&D stats just seemed off.” I don’t know if it’s because of all the D6 Star Wars games that I had played, or that I just didn’t have the money at the time to buy another set of books. So I never got into the game at the time it was being published. If someone were to invite me to a game now, I’d take them up on the offer.

There are generic systems out there. I had played GURPS back in the early 90’s. It seemed ok at the time, but a lot of math. So it’s not one of my first choices. I just received Dune: Adventures in the Imperium for a birthday gift which is a 2d20 system like Star Trek Adventures. It’s been interesting to see the tweaks between the two rulebooks. (again another blog post will go into further details on this) The D6 system that was used in the WEG Star Wars system has been ported over to a series of generic RPG books. I could see myself using the D6 system for a classic Battlestar Galactica game.

I haven’t even scratched the surface on which systems have stood out to me or failed to grab my attention. There are just way to many out there. But I have tried a few. When I was going through my three-ringed binder of old characters, I noticed I had sheets for some games that I don’t even remember playing. I must not have been very impressed with the system if I can’t remember them now.

Final Thoughts:

All of the remaining dates in the challenge only have one suggestion for each day. It almost seemed like the list just sputtered out of ideas.

Role Playing Games, Star Trek

#RPGaDay2021 Day 27: Group

Written by TardisCaptain August 27, 2021April 24, 2022

Day 27: Group

Getting together with a group of friends is the biggest reason I play role playing games. These games are a social activity. Those who show up early can chat about how things are going before the game starts. A good game usually results in members of the group talking with each other between sessions.

I recall one campaign with the FASA Star Trek Role Playing Game where the session had ended on a cliffhanger. We were trapped on a starship with several enemy torpedoes heading directly towards us. This was in the days before texting and emails. So phone call by phone call the different players called each other with different ideas of what we could do. Which idea was the best? Which idea would actually work? There was a problem and we were going to solve it.

When it came time for the next session, the GM picked up from where we left off. As the torpedoes hit, the power suddenly went out on the ship. A voice called out “OK, open it up” and the simulator wall holding the viewscreen slid open a la Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. An instructor walked through checking off a box on a clipboard stating “Well you messed that one up, didn’t you?” We don’t know if the GM planned to make this a simulation or it was his idea to get himself out of a painted corner. I just remember that one player screamed. The GM quickly gulped and ran out the door. When he dodged the player chasing him and ran back in to the house, he had discovered that we had a belt converted into a hangman’s noose. While we were upset about our ideas being thrown out the window, we were not really going to hang him… or were we?

I’ve made many different friends in different gaming groups. Some of them I haven’t talked to in years. Others I am still in contact with today. One lives so close I could hit his house with a well thrown rock. It is still my opinion that gaming in person with the group was much better than gaming over an online platform. Yes, the online options have allowed games to continue while we work our way through recent challenges. But I want to see the body language expressing secret messages via glances, I want to hear the groans as I let loose a joke (If I could make the DM laugh during a session he’d give me extra experience points), I want to hear about how my friends are doing.

Having re-read a lot of my gaming books or checking out new systems I want to get a group of friends together just to try a system. While we may not make a campaign out of the game, we would at least try out the system and see if it worked. I just wish that we could actually get together. Not just health wise, but trying to arrange scheduled (the same old story). But we would to it together as a group.

Final Thoughts:

I had a hard time with this set of suggestions. “Fraction”? It was my understand that there would be no math. “Kindle”? I guess I could have talked about reading books on a kindle. “Practice” You want me to blog about practice?

Collecting, Doctor Who, Role Playing Games, Star Trek, Top Secret

#RPGaDay2021 Day 25: Box

Written by TardisCaptain August 25, 2021April 24, 2022 1 Comment

Day 25: Box

I have loved boxed sets for different role playing games. Besides the various books, sometimes there are extras that are included in the box. Dice, maps, character sheets, player aids and (one of my favorites) catalogs. I also think that the boxes look better than some of the books when I’m taking a shelfie (a picture of books on a shelf) of my role playing game collection.

The bad thing about the boxes is that they are made out of a type of cardboard. This cardboard can be easily crushed or damaged at the corners. Games that have been kept in temporary storage boxes (more cardboard that can easily be crushed), over stuffing the box with more than it’s capable of holding, moved from place to play by friends who don’t know what’s inside, constant opening, etc. can take a toll on some of these boxes.

Here are some photos of some of the boxes that I have in my collection that are in need of repair.

Several boxed sets for the FASA Star Trek Role Playing Game.

Boxed Romulan supplement for the Star Trek RPG by Last Unicorn Games.

Damaged corner from the Pirates and Plunder boxed set.

Split corner from the Pirates and Plunder boxed set.

A split corner on the Top Secret boxed set by TSR.

As you can see, some of these boxes are so damaged that I don’t even want to move them on the shelves. This is not good. I’ve been researching how to repair these boxes without damaging them further. I really don’t want to tape up the box as the tape will eventually fade and fail (I’ve got one book that I did this to in the 90’s and I wish I had done something differently now). One site suggested getting candy boxes with thin cardboard and cut them for use in the corners of the box that you wish to reinforce. I’d have to make sure the box is free of any food particles before I do that.

I think the first thing I’m going to do is buy some used board games at a thrift store that come in boxes with similar thickness. Toss the game contents and then use the boxes as my test platforms. I can experiment with different glues and repair styles. This way if I mess up, I’m not further damaging a collectable. I don’t know if I want to go all the way in my restoration project to make the game like mint. Sometimes having a little bit of wear and tear shows the love for the game. But I’d like to be able to pull my Star Trek RPG box out without praying that the entire box doesn’t disintegrate on me.

I’ll make a future blog post with details when I take this project on.

Final Thoughts:

“Welcome” could easily be a post about how to make sure that all players feel welcomed at your gaming table. “Tradition” could be a host of things, none that are coming to me currently. “Fresh” could be a post on how to keep your game from becoming stale and stagnant. I could see some possibilities in today’s recommendations.

Doctor Who, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek

#RPGaDay2021 Day 24: Translate

Written by TardisCaptain August 24, 2021April 24, 2022

Day 24: Translate

There are a lot of languages that can be used within different role playing games. Spies in a modern day espionage game may have to deal with the dialect of different nations. Races in both fantasy and science fiction genres have their own language. In some fantasy games, certain classes/occupations have their own languages such as Thieves’ Cant.

Most games state that there is a common language that everyone speaks as a first or second language. According to StatisticsAndData.org the number of people on Earth that speak English is 1.2 billion. The population of the planet is 7.8 billion. It would make sense that there would be different dialects even in a fantasy world or science fiction universe.

So how do Game Masters handle a language barrier? There are two different ways. Keep the difference in languages there as a possible role playing opportunity or introduce a translator option.

The language barrier can make for some interesting drama. Can you get American secret agent the message over to the Italian police officer that there really is a bomb in the van he’s been chasing? Some RPGs have language skill ratings, this could be a time to use it. If PCs and NPCs are talking in a language that other PCs don’t know, I’d recommend using notes to pass between the players that understand the language (as well as the GM). I understand one of the online virtual table top systems will allow you to type a message in English and have it translated into the language selected. Only those who have that language listed as a skill can read the text. There are different ways that this can be incorporated.

The automatic translator is also another option. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has the Babel Fish. The Farscape TV series uses translator microbes that are injected into the body which conducts the translations. While Star Trek introduced the translator as a piece of equipment in the 1960’s, a modern day version has already been developed. In Doctor Who, the TARDIS translates for the occupants. In one of the early episodes of season eleven, the Human companions were placed in medical pods. When the pod discovered that the occupants didn’t have a translator circuit installed, one was inserted into them. Several fantasy games have the equivalent of a “translate languages” spell, or one could be created very easily. Plus a translator could be hired by the party when entering a foreign land. This also creates another role playing opportunity.

Even if direct translations could be provided, there is still the issue with slang and metaphors. The Next Generation fifth season episode, Darmok, highlighted this challenge very well.

Just as the weather will always be spring like and sunny, different languages can be used to spice up a role playing game.

Final Thoughts:

Not really a bad crop of suggestions for the day. However I didn’t decide upon a topic until just before I started creating the blog post. “Ancient” could have talked about ancient civilizations in an exploring game. “Solve” could talk about different types of puzzles. I had nothing for “Share”.

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: August 23-29

Written by TardisCaptain August 23, 2021August 22, 2021

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes twitter account for the week of August 23rd through the 29th.

August 23
“Storm’d at with shot and shell, Boldly they rode and well, Into the jaws of death, Into the mouth of hell– Rode the six hundred.” Dr. Bashir- Sacrifice of Angels, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #WeAreStarfleet

August 24
Happy Birthday to Jennifer Lien. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jennifer_Lien #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #WeAreStarfleet

“I sometimes ask those kinds of questions. Who am I? What am I doing here? What’s my purpose in life? Doesn’t everybody?” Kes- Projections, Stardate: 48892.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #WeAreStarfleet

August 25
“You’re wrong. The Cardassians live to make war.” Maxwell “That’s what everybody thinks about the enemy. That’s probably what they think about us.” O’Brien- The Wounded, Stardate: 44429.6 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

August 26
Happy Birthday to Chris Pine. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Chris_Pine #StarTrek #WeAreStarfleet

“Better to die saving lives…than live with taking them. That’s what I was born into.” Kirk- Star Trek Beyond #StarTrek #WeAreStarfleet

August 27
“They say they’ve annexed this planet in the name of something called The Romalin Star Empire.” Hoshi “Romulan. It’s pronounced Romulan.” T’Pol- Minefield, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #WeAreStarfleet

August 28
“However, I have noted that the healthy release of emotion is frequently very unhealthy for those closest to you.” Spock- Plato’s Stepchildren, Stardate: 5784.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

August 29
“As you humans say, I’m all ears.” Kazago- The Battle, Stardate: 41723.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

Role Playing Games, Star Trek

#RPGaDay2021 Day 17: Nemesis

Written by TardisCaptain August 17, 2021April 24, 2022

Day 17: Nemesis

When I saw these suggestions, I knew I wanted to homebrew something for Star Trek Adventures from the movie Star Trek: Nemesis. Remans had already been officially stated out in the Beta Quadrant Sourcebook. I believe that the Romulan Warbird Valdore had already been covered by another homebrew. I thought that the Type 17 “Argo” Shuttle hadn’t been covered yet and started working on that, only to find out that yes it had been created. There was an alien race called the Kolaran, but they were a pre-warp civilization, and didn’t really catch my attention for the focus of this article. After watching the movie and consulting with Memory-Alpha, I elected to homebrew the Emergency Transport Unit.

Emergency Transport Unit (Opportunity 2, Quality Hidden 1): Developed by Starfleet in 2379, the Emergency Transport Unit is a self-contained one-way portable transporter. This unit has a short range that can be used between two nearby ships or from a low orbit. A free action can be used to attach the Emergency Transport Unit to an individual and activate it. The unit only contained enough energy for one transport. The first test of the Emergency Transport Unit was performed by Lt. Commander Data to rescue Captain Picard from the Romulan warbird Scimitar.

Standard portable transporter units at the time were large and bulky. While they could be carried, they could be easily spotted according to Constable Odo. By the 32nd century, portable transporters can not only be worn, but could transport themselves along with the wearer. 24th century emergency transporter armbands are wearable controls to a transporter unit installed on a shuttle or starship.

Final Thoughts:

There were several good suggestions for this day. I imagine that a lot of DMs may want to share their favorite “Trap” setups. “Crime” is a common theme in several different RPGs, especially Gangbusters. “Found” was probably the weakest of the bunch, but I could see someone getting inspired by it.

Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: August 16-22

Written by TardisCaptain August 16, 2021August 15, 2021

How it feels watching some of the online arguments.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes twitter account for the week of August 16th through the 22nd.

August 16
(Just before departing on another mission) “Here we are again. Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Archer- Borderland, Date: May 17, 2154 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #WeAreStarfleet

August 17
“Truth, Doctor, is in the eye of the beholder. I never tell the truth because I don’t believe there is such a thing. That is why I prefer the simple straight line simplicity of cutting cloth.”? Garak- Cardassians, Stardate: 47177.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #WeAreStarfleet

August 18
“Those who hate and fight must stop themselves, doctor. Otherwise, it is not stopped.” Spock- Day of the Dove, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

August 19
Happy Birthday to Diana Muldaur. http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Diana_Muldaur #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

“Scientists believe that no experiment is a failure that even a mistake advances the evolution of understanding.” Dr. Pulaski- Unnatural Selection, Stardate: 42494.8 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

Happy Birthday to Jonathan Frakes. @jonathansfrakes https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekPicard #StarTrekLowerDecks #WeAreStarfleet

“I’m sorry I’m late, I was watching the first Enterprise on the holodeck. You know, Archer and those guys? What a story. Those guys had a long road getting from there to here.” Riker- No Small Parts, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekLowerDecks #WeAreStarfleet

August 20
“I’m just going to have to give up coffee. That’s all there is to it.” Janeway- The Cloud, Stardate: 48546.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #WeAreStarfleet

August 21
“Our only influence, Minister, is by example.” Picard- Half a Life, Stardate: 44805.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #WeAreStarfleet

August 22
“What is it? Why, lovely lady, it’s a tribble.” Jones- The Trouble with Tribbles, Stardate: 4523.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #WeAreStarfleet

Collecting, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek

#RPGaDay2021 Day 15: Supplement

Written by TardisCaptain August 15, 2021April 24, 2022

Day 15: Supplement

All right. The topic of the day is “Supplement”. I’d like to post some covers from my favorite role playing game supplements that I’ve collected.

The Star Trek Ship Construction Manual by FASA: I used this supplement for the Star Trek Role Playing Game so much that I had to tape the book together. Not only had I collected every starship for the game from different supplements, modules and magazine articles, I used this book to create stats for vessels found in various tech manuals and blueprints. I started scanning some of the printouts that I made in the 90’s and you can find the ships (or links) here.

The Gazetteer series by TSR: I LOVED this series. I was a bigger fan of the BECMI Dungeons and Dragons game in my earlier days of gaming. As I mentioned during the Maps entry into the #RPGaDAY2021 Challenge, I loved the created world that was presented in the game. When I heard about the Gazetteers I knew I had to check them out. I remember hoping on a bus and taking a ride to a downtown book store just to pick up the first book. It had pull out maps and a ton of details on the lands that we had only briefly seen in the game manuals. I also liked how it added elements to the game such as Dwarf Clerics in The Dwarves of Rockholme supplement. I wondered if these extra rules ever got collected into a single book.

The Prisoner by Steve Jackson Games: I had played a few GURPS games, but I was not a big fan of the system. What I did like was the many, many supplements that was released for the system. Even though you may not play GURPS, the supplements contained a good amount of information that you could use for other games. Being a big fan of the British surreal spy-fi television series, The Prisoner, I had to pick up this book when it came out.

Final Thoughts:

This was a great topic. When I was creating the spreadsheet in July with all of the suggestions on them, I filled in an idea for this topic right away.

Role Playing Games, Star Trek

#RPGaDay2021 Day 14: Momentum

Written by TardisCaptain August 14, 2021April 24, 2022

Day 14: Momentum

I’ve been reading up on the Star Trek Adventures role playing game by Modiphius (I still don’t know how you pronounce that). I’ve only had one chance to play in a session and I’d love to get into an actual campaign. The 2d20 system sounds logical (no pun intended) and I can see how it would work. There are several interesting and huh tidbits about the game. One of the interesting tidbits is one of the subjects for today’s #RPGaDAY2021 challenge. “Momentum”.

When you roll your d20’s in Star Trek Adventures you have to roll under a target number (based upon your Attribute+Discipline+any variables) to earn a success. If you only needed two successes to accomplish the goal and you ended up rolling three or four, you gain what is called Momentum. For example if your character is attempting to scan an energy source on an alien device and you earn Momentum, you can spend a point or two of Momentum to gain some additional information. It is a reward for a well done roll of the dice. Momentum can also be used to create an advantage in a situation (or remove a disadvantage), add additional damage, re-roll a die, and more. The Momentum doesn’t have to be used right away. A player can elect to place it in a pool for anyone in the party to use (max number of items in the pool would be six). Thus the player can decide to help the party if they are having a bad day at rolling dice.

Game Masters have their own pool of dice, called “Threats”. If a player decides that they don’t want to spend Momentum (or they don’t have any Momentum to spend) they can request a Momentum from the GM who gains a Threat to use or place in his pool.

I thought this added an interesting twist to the game. Now if I could get a session in that actually explains how the combat system works.

Final Thoughts:

This was a much better batch of suggestions compared to the past few days. “Fun” is the primary reason we all play role playing games and there was a lot of possible topics that could have been discussed about that. I’m certain that “Limits” could have talked about some of the limits of spells or abilities in various games. “Safety” was another good one as it should be a big goal of both players and game masters.

Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek

#RPGaDay2021 Day 9: Percentage

Written by TardisCaptain August 9, 2021April 24, 2022

Day 9: Percentage

The primary reason I enjoy role playing games is the opportunity to participate in a story with a bunch of friends. I’m certain that if I asked the reason why most gamers participate in RPGs the answers would be very similar to this one. However there is a secondary reason I enjoy role playing games, especially those based off of an Intellectual Property. It provides me with a system that I can use to compare two different things within the scope of the game. A really good example has been the discussion held in geek circles about how two characters/items can stack up to each other. Would a Klingon have an advantage over a Moclan in combat? Which starfighter would be better in combat, the X-Wing or the Starfury? How would Mr. Spock and Yoda do in a chess match with each other? While there hasn’t been an official multi-IP role playing game, fans have homebrewed stats for popular characters, ships and races for their favorite RPG systems. There have also been enough official publications for generic systems (such as D20 for both Star Wars and Starfleet Battles’ Prime Directive) that you could start to put together an educated guess.

While the above mentioned D20 system is very useful for ease of game play, I feel like it lacks on the comparison side. I believe that both Klingons and Moclans would end up with a +2 to their Strength attributes and doesn’t help with the debate. This is why I thought the FASA entry into the Star Trek role playing license was perfect. It was based off of a percentage system for both attributes and skills.

For example: I remember trying to create the FASA stats for the character of Will Decker, the Captain demoted to Commander in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In a D20 system, he would have looked pretty similar to other command grade Starfleet officers. But in the percentage system of FASA, he becomes a little more unique. Sure sometimes the difference may only be a few percentage points, but on paper he is different. I brought my Decker stats to a few of my fellow FASA players and we had a debate on the numbers I had brought in. One friend thought I had Decker’s luck too high (since he lost his ship and his captaincy in a sucky situation). I was really hoping to find my notes from that discussion, but it’s been years since I’ve seen them. Knowing my luck, they will turn up in a box that I’ll be cleaning out of the garage. If I find them, I’ll post them here.

Now I’m not saying that the FASA system is superior to other IP based RPGs. But it is one that I’ve enjoyed a lot more because of the way that they used percentages in the game. I’m aware of other gaming systems that use percentages, but I’ve never had a chance to try them out or look them over.

Final Thoughts:

I’m not certain what to think of all the other suggestions for this date. “Medium” is mostly a size (unless you count the magical medium). I could have done a blog about the different “Role” methods used to generated D&D stats. “Emotion” didn’t elicit any emotion from me. Yea I’ll see myself out for that last one.