Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 29-October 5

How was it meeting Doug Jones 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 September 29th through October 5th. 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.

September 29
“I was in command. The decisions were mine, no one else’s.” Kirk- Court Martial, Stardate: 2947.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

September 30
“You wish to be taught?” Vulcan Master “I would question everything you say.” Tuvok “You would not be a worthy pupil otherwise. Let us begin. Sit down, Tuvok.” Vulcan Master- Gravity, Stardate: 52438.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote

October 1
“Perhaps they’re all remembering that old saying. Power corrupts” Picard “And absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Riker- Hide and Q, Stardate: 41590.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote

October 2
Happy Birthday to Avery Brooks. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Avery_Brooks #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9

“Is it justice you’re after or just some way to express your anger, your fear?” Sisko- A Man Alone, Stardate: 46384 #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

October 3
“To be human is also to seek pleasure, to laugh, to dance.” Flint- Requiem for Methuselah, Stardate: 5843.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

October 4
“Part of being human is learning how to deal with the unexpected. To risk new experiences even when they don’t fit into your preconceptions.” LaForge- Inheritance, Stardate: 47410.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote

October 5
“Your accomplishments have been noteworthy.” Kuvak “They don’t justify deception…” V’Las “Deception has never been a stranger to this room.” Soval- Awakening, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #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.

Posted in: Collecting, Community Service, Conventions, Fan Club, Star Trek

FanX 2025 After Action Report

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Stuff from the con.

So the latest FanX: The Salt Lake Comic Convention is in the books and it was a good one. It continues to be one of the largest attended comic conventions in North America. I know that I was meeting people from Chicago, Oregon, St. Louis, Texas and beyond.

This year my Star Trek fan club, Starfleet Command’s Seventh Fleet, continued our community service focus by supporting an anti-bullying organization called R.E.A.C.H. (Raising Education Through Arts Characters and Heroes). I was really impressed with the level of work they had done. Our booth wasn’t on the vendor floor. Instead we were in the main hallway just outside of the Starship Frontier Artemis Bridge Simulator room. We were combined to help save space on the vendor floor as changes are being made to the Salt Palace (more on that later). I also got to dress up as a Borg intruder and assimilate the Captain of the crew before they could stop me. I don’t have any pictures of that but I may be getting a video soon.

We had a chance to meet a lot of people. I’m hopeful that some will join us as members of our Star Trek family. I also had a chance to network with a couple of club leaders for future endeavors.

As for loot, well I didn’t pick up a lot this year. A friend printed up a photo of actor Jerry O’Connell with his Commander Ransom character from Star Trek: Lower Decks. It was my intention to pick up his autograph at FanX, but his flight was delayed and I wasn’t able to make it over to his booth afterwards.

I was able to meet up with actor Doug Jones who played Saru on Star Trek: Discovery and obtain his autograph. Talk about someone who made you feel special. Everyone who he met at his booth got as much time as they needed with him. So we didn’t mind taking longer in the line because we all knew we were going to get the same amount of attention. If you got a selfie with him, he did three poses with you. And when he was done he gave you a big hug. I told him about my encounter getting Jason Isaacs’ autograph on the same photo. And when I gave Doug my favorite quote that Saru had given, he finished it just as I started it. It amazed me that he recalled it after all these years.

“Before we can care for others, we must care for ourselves.” Saru- New Eden, Stardate: 1027.32

I was gifted a convention t-shirt from a friend who discovered that I never had a FanX shirt before. However, just after taking this photo, I offered it to my geek wife who quickly snatched it up since it had her two favorite colors on it.

I did bump into a gentleman advertising his game galled Delve in Your Pocket by Otherwise, Games. It was a solo RPG that you could keep in your pocket and pull out when needed. It had a dice system that was contained within the text. I’ll have to see if I can complete it. There were a lot of RPG shirts and fans there. I did talk with a few GM groups about coming up to SaltCON. Hopefully we will see some of them there.

I really tried to find other things to buy at the con. At past FanX events, I had found several RPG items to pick up. But for some reason this year was lacking. I will say that the staff was wonderful as well as the added security the event had. I took the time to shake the hand of one Salt Lake police officer who was patrolling the building and thanked him for being there. There were also a lot of police dogs as well.

I am sad about one thing, I had a great time staying at the Plaza Hotel that was right across the street. The convention rate was amazing compared to the other hotels. However this is the last year the hotel will be in operations as it is getting torn down to make way for a parking garage. There is a lot of construction going on downtown for the new entertainment district and the upcoming winter olympics in 2034. This also led to a lot of people wondering about the future of FanX since the Salt Palace will be going under some massive changes over the next few years. At the end of the con, the organizers did announce that the 2026 dates will be September 24-26. So we know there will be a FanX next year. So next year the Seventh Fleet will be returning (and I think we will be back on the vendor floor) with another charity booth. Many thanks to Dan Farr, the staff and the army of volunteers who helped out with this convention.

Did you go to FanX or another nearby convention? 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.

Posted in: Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Star Trek

Kudos to Modiphius for Star Trek Adventures

When a company screws up, I complain about it. I want other people to know how badly that company handled a situation. Because I don’t want to be someone who complains all the time, I also want to point out when a company excels at what they do. And my latest good example of this is the team behind the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game by Modiphius.

Like any successful roleplaying game, as time progresses the designers get feedback from players. They also make changes when the same RPG system is used in other games adding and removing portions of the game. Look at the latest version of Dungeons and Dragons. While it still has the D20 aspect, there are a lot of changes to the game if you compare it to Dungeons and Dragons version 3.5 or the older BECMI that I started out with. There are differences that are good and bad. After the publisher had released the first edition of Star Trek Adventures, they took the feedback to heart and made some changes that were reflected in the Klingon Core Rulebook and the STA Rules Digest. Later, they took more feedback (and aspects from other 2D20 games) and released the much superior 2nd edition.

An advantage for the publisher, besides making the game better, is the sales of new books. This also caused some difficulties as well. If a new version of a game is released, then their loyal customers wondered why they invested in the previous books. Most games were not very backwards compatible. This was particularly bad when it came to the Warhammer tactical games with the official miniatures. The older miniatures were not allowed in the new official tournaments to drive up sales. I remember a friend telling me after the latest edition change that he was done with Warhammer because of this. It had gone through it twice and was not going to follow a third time even with how much he had loved the game.

When the second edition of Star Trek Adventures was released, I recall a few players wondering if their books were no longer compatible. I even saw one collection going up for sale online as the seller thought they were no longer needed. The team behind STA2e kept telling us that the older books could still be used. Well, they have started doing something beyond talk. They are releasing free PDF updates to all the older books that makes them “second edition”. Usually, it’s a minor correction to a character stat, or the wording on a certain rule. These ‘revisions’ have been released for the division books covering Command, Operations and Sciences.

As someone who wants to homebrew for this 2D20 game, it’s been fascinating to read some of these revisions and comparing them to the original releases. It helps me get an ‘under the hood’ look in the system.

So, I’m going to grab one Starfleet officer from Star Trek Adventures: The Next Generation Player Characters and compare the 1st edition book to the 2nd edition revision that was released for free. That being our earl grey drinking captain, Jean Luc Picard.

Now the “story line” presented in the 1st edition publication is not present in the revision. I don’t believe that ‘revision’ meant ‘reprint with 2e stats’. The revision just presented the stats. So it’s still worth picking up the 1st edition publications for all of the lore presented within the books. With STA2e relying more on traits, our enterprising commanding officer has some of his traits reworded. For example ‘Former Borg’ is now ‘Liberated Borg’ which makes more sense. His position of ‘Captain of the Enterprise’ is also listed as a trait. In the STA2e stats, the new past time focus of ‘Ancient Earth Literature’ was added. I love the idea of a past time focus as it tells us that the character is more than just a bunch of stats on a piece of paper. For Picard’s talents, Spirit of Discovery is slightly re-worded (as it was between the two books) and the Veteran talent has a change since STA2e dropped the challenge dice (again, seen in the new core rulebook). This is the same reason Captain Picard’s attack stats are slightly different, no challenge dice means he uses the damage listed in the new core book. Besides the past time trait, the only other noticeable change was the ‘special rules’ listed for the character. These contain the Species Ability which gives the character the advantages of being Human. And the role benefit of Commanding Officer. These role benefits have been very interesting to read. Other than that, the character’s values, attributes, departments (called disciplines in the first edition), stress, focuses, protection and equipment are all the same.

So, as you can see, Jim Johnson and his team of writers have been true to their word. You can still use your STA first edition publications with the second edition with just some minor tweaks. And they are helping you along by taking the time to provide some of these tweaks themselves (at the same time that they are working on new STA2e content).

Besides being impressed with these ‘revisions’, I recently used a 1st edition adventure in a one-shot at SaltCON. I GMed a game using the scenario from the Klingon Empire Quickstart using the second edition rules. Other than a few minor strokes of the pen on the pre-generated characters and a few NPCs, I had no problems running it with the Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition rules.

So, don’t sell your first edition books, and if you happen to see any dead-tree versions, snatch them up as they are no longer being printed. Or you can pick up the PDFs on DriveThruRPG. You can use them in a second edition game with minimal effort. Truly something to tip the hat to the writers of this game. Like I said in the title of this blog, Kudos to Modiphius.

ADDITIONAL: It was pointed out to me that I didn’t include a link to the free downloads on the Modiphius website. They can be found here: Star Trek Adventures Downloads.

Have you encountered smooth transitions between editions of your favorite roleplaying game systems? 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.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 22-28

Me at the Seventh Fleet booth at FanX next 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 September 22nd through September 28th. 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.

September 22
“Components must be weighed. Our danger to ourselves as well as our duties to other life forms, friendly or not. There’s a third course.” Spock- The Galileo Seven, Stardate: 2822.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

September 23
Happy Birthday to Rosalind Chao. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Rosalind_Chao #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

“I’m not teaching any philosophy. What I’m trying to teach is pure science.” Keiko- In the Hands of the Prophets, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

September 24
Star Trek: Discovery premiered on this date in 2017 with the episodes The Vulcan Hello and Battle at the Binary Stars. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Discovery #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #Quote

“You do understand that being afraid of everything means you learn nothing. There’s no opportunity to discover, to explore.” Burnham- The Vulcan Hello, Stardate: 1207.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #Quote

September 25
“Don’t throw away a lifetime of faith because of one anomalous incident.” Chakotay- Mortal Coil, Stardate: 51449.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote

September 26
Star Trek: Enterprise premiered on this date in 2001 with the episode Broken Bow. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_Enterprise #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote

“All work and no play. Everyone should get out for a little fun now and then.” Broken Bow, Date: April 15, 2151 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote

September 27
“Zeus, Hermes, Hera, Aphrodite. You were right. Athena, you were right. The time has passed. There is no room for gods.” Apollo- Who Mourns for Adonais? Stardate: 3196.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

September 28
Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered on this date in 1987 with the episode Encounter at Farpoint. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote

“The same old story is the one we’re meeting now– self-righteous life-forms who are eager not to learn, but to prosecute to judge anything they don’t understand or can’t tolerate.” Picard- Encounter at Farpoint, Stardate: 41153.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #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.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 15-21

How I’m preparing for Monday.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of September 15th through September 21st. 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.

September 15
Happy Birthday to Tom Hardy. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_Hardy #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote

“I would be interested to know what we’re talking about.” Picard “Unity, Captain! Tearing down the walls between us to recognize that we are one. …I’m talking of the thing that makes us the same. Peace. We want peace.” Shinzon- Star Trek Nemesis, Stardate: 56844.9 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote

September 16
Happy Birthday to Jayne Brook. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jayne_Brook #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #Quote

“Sometimes in war, the terrible choice is the only choice.” Cornwell- Project Daedalus, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDiscovery #IDIC #Quote

September 17
Happy Birthday to Ella Purnell. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Ella_Purnell #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #Quote

“You learned who your true friends are. The ones willing to go along with you no matter how foolish it seems. Never take that for granted.” Gwyndala- First Con-tact, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekProdigy #IDIC #Quote

September 18
Happy Birthday to Christina Chong. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Christina_Chong #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #Quote

“Seems to be New York City. Mid-21st century.” Kirk “What?” Noonien-Singh “What?” Kirk “It’s Toronto. The biggest city in what used to be called Canada? You know, maple leaves, politeness, poutine.” Noonien-Singh- Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Stardate: 1581.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #Quote

Happy Birthday to Babs Olusanmokun. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Babs_Olusanmokun #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #Quote

“Biobed 2 is working again. At least for now. But I know it’s only a matter of time before it shuts down again. Some things break in a way that can never be repaired. Only managed.” Dr. M’Benga- Under the Cloak of War, Stardate: 1875.4 #StarTrek #StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds #IDIC #Quote

September 19
“Before you can be loyal to another, you must be loyal to yourself.” Dr. Bashir- Profit and Loss, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

September 20
“You are experiencing difficult emotions.” Tuvok “Guilt, shame, remorse.” Seven “Then you haven’t lost your Humanity. You have reaffirmed it.” Tuvok- Tsunkatse, Stardate: 53447.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote

September 21
“Doubt is the basis of all scientific progress.” T’Pol- Chosen Realm, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #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.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 8-14

When someone chooses to be good person to someone they don’t know.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of September 8th through September 14th. 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.

September 8
Star Trek premiered on this date in 1966 with the episode The Man Trap. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

“Shall we pick some flowers, Doctor? When a man visits an old girlfriend she usually expects something like that.” Kirk “Is that how you get girls to like you, by bribing them?” Dr. McCoy- The Man Trap, Stardate: 1513.1 #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

Star Trek: The Animated Series premiered on this date in 1973 with the episode Beyond the Farthest Star. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Animated_Series #StarTrek #IDIC #Quote

“The wands are accumulators, receptors to attract energy, motion, sound, light, heat, every kind of energy around them.” Spock “The structure of the ship, those huge arches, thrusting up. The whole ship is designed to receive and store energy.” Scotty- Beyond the Farthest Star, Stardate: 5221.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekTAS #IDIC #Quote

September 9
Happy Birthday to Jeffrey Combs. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Jeffrey_Combs #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekENT #StarTrekLowerDecks #IDIC #Quote

“The Founders are gods because that’s what they want you to believe? That they built that into your genetic code?” Odo “Of course they did. That’s what gods do. After all, why be a god if there’s no one to worship you?” Weyoun- Treachery, Faith and the Great River, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

September 10
Happy Birthday to Harry Treadaway. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Harry_Treadaway #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #Quote

“I need to see how it works.” Narek “In your new capacity as…?” Soji “Can you keep a secret?” Narek “Yes.” Soji “Good. So can I.” Narek- Maps and Legends, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #Quote

September 11
Happy Birthday to Roxann Dawson. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Roxann_Dawson #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote

“She saw something in me that I didn’t see. She saw a worthwhile person where I saw a lost and hostile misfit. And because she had faith in me, I began to have faith in myself.” Torres- Coda, Stardate: 50518.6 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote

September 12
“You know, Number One, you missed something not playing with model ships. They were the source of imaginary voyages, each holding a treasure of adventures.” Picard- Booby Trap, Stardate: 43205.6 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote

September 13
“A farm?” Archer “It’s remote and sparsely populated. If you’re exposed, there’s a reduced risk of cultural contamination.” T’Pol “This must be why aliens are always landing in corn fields.” Archer- Civilization, Date: July 31, 2151 #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote

September 14
Happy Birthday to Walter Koenig. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Walter_Koenig #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #StarTrekPicard #IDIC #Quote

“It makes me homesick. Just like Russia.” Chekov “More like the Garden of Eden, Ensign.” Dr. McCoy “Of course, Doctor. The Garden of Eden was just outside Moscow.” Chekov- 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.

Posted in: Character Creation Challenge, Collecting, Conventions, Dungeons and Dragons, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek

SaltCON-End of Summer 2025 After Action Report

Loot from SaltCON End-of-Summer 2025

When I was thinking about my after-action reports, I almost combined this one with my RPGaDAY 2025 after-action report. However, I realized that they should remain separate as they were both unique events.

SaltCON End-of-Summer 2025 has completed thanks to the many efforts of the volunteers and staff. Having run conventions in the past, I must tip my hat to them. I was talking with one of the volunteers on Sunday and I could tell they were exhausted. They were happy with how the event went, but very tired. I myself had a blast and I had a lot of opportunities to talk with different gaming friends and throw some dice. I also had the opportunity to use the First Aid Kit that I keep in my Convention Backpack. Nothing serious, but I was glad that I was prepared.

I played the following games:

MechWarrior: Destiny was a lot of fun. It was a rules light system and the scenario was pretty straight forward. Get in my mech, go shoot some pirates that had taken over a corporate base (we were hired because we were the closest). I was pretty impressed with how easy this ran. The tactical combat with the mechs was built more for roleplay, but still utilized a hex map. From what I understood, there are more crunchier versions if you just want to beat up other giant mechs. I had a chance to look at the rule-book while we were sitting at the table and if I can find it for a good price, I’ll be very tempted to pick it up.

Dungeon Crawl Classics was a little different from the last time I played it. Instead of being a funnel, we had established level-3 characters. This was being run by a first-time-at-a-convention GM and we all gave him some positive feedback when the session was over. While I didn’t play a magic-user in this one-shot, I did get to see the magic system in action and it looks funky. The randomness and danger from messing around with magic can be appealing for some gamers, but may push others off. When the adventure was over, my fighter character ended up with the MacGuffin we were after known as ‘The Balance Blade.’

I had some fun with Daggerheart and I was able to get my feet wet with it. I liked some things. The hope and fear dice mechanic was interesting and didn’t really turn me off like I thought it would. We had plenty of roleplaying opportunities in the system. The only thing I really didn’t like was the initiative system. If you succeeded with hope, then your side could keep the initiative, but there was no order to go in so someone could go several times (or pass off between the two). It was only when you succeeded (or failed) with fear did imitative move to the opposing side. Like Mechawarrior above, I was able to look through the rule-book at the table. I’ll pick this up if I can get it on a sale, but I don’t think I’ll go out of my way to get it. I also wouldn’t turn down an invite to a game if presented. There is a metric-butt load of fantasy RPGs out there and so I’m not in a rush to play or homebrew for most of them.

My Sunday morning game of Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Prpogramme lived up to the hype. The GM was running it for the first time after picking up the book and our marry troupe was sent by God to spank the Pope because he had been a naughty boy. Now that I’ve had a chance to see the system at the table, I can also say this works for the source material. I could see this system being used for Blackadder as well. One interesting note, the GM didn’t provide pre-generated characters so we had to roll up some before starting the game. Instead of making a new one, he let me play Sir Richard Hammond that I had created in a past Character Creation Challenge. Because I had the unusual dice from the Kickstarter Reward, I had lots of request to use them. But only I used the Coconut Dice Rollers.

I had players for all three of the games that I ran over the weekend:

Basic Fantasy went off better than I expected since this was a home-made adventure. The characters were able to find the missing Guildmaster and complete his quest. I want to polish up the adventure and run it one more time before I submit it to the Basic Fantasy community for possible publication.

This was the most unusual time that I’ve ever run Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition (or any STA game). Because it was a Klingon based scenario where the squad was sent to infiltrate a Dominion outpost during the Dominion War, there was a lot of combat. I GMed more combat in this one-shot more than any of my other STA one-shots combined. I will need to go back and re-read some of the combat rules and probably ask a few questions on the Modiphius discord server. But the characters survived and completed the objective.

I really wish that I had a physical copy of the Space: 1999 Quickstart Rules as I was running the scenario from it. I didn’t want to print out too much from the book as it was graphic heavy (and would have eaten up a lot of the ink in my printer). So I was using the PDF on my tablet which meant a lot of scrolling. Most of the players were familiar with Star Trek Adventures, so I was able to read off some of the slight differences in the rules out loud. And they made sense. Two of the things that I really liked in the rules I plan to adapt to my STA games. When I reported on the Modiphius discord server the results of one of the characters using a photo of his family to calm down a panicked crew member, the writer of the game gave me a thumbs up. The team had lots of fun and one participant played the Space: 1999 opening and closing themes at the appropriate moments in the game. I even got an email from one of the players a few days later telling me how much fun he had at the table.

While I was running Space: 1999, I had someone come up to the table and ask if I’d be willing to run games as a paid GM. I signed up for more information, but I’m kinda-sorta hesitant about making a hobby into a paid thing. I’m sure I’d have fun, but I’d hate to take something fun and turn it into work. I may have to investigate this more.

One of the big reasons to attend a gaming convention is to make connections. Talking with one GM he mentioned that he only ran games that were in print for purchase. He was worried that a player would want a copy of a game after his session. I understood this as I overheard two of my STA players at the Summer SaltCON say they wanted to pick up the 2nd edition core rule-book after playing. Both myself and another player encouraged him to run any game that he wanted to play. Part of the reason to play at a con is to play those games you don’t get a chance to play elsewhere. At past SaltCONs I’ve had a chance to play older out-of-print games like James Bond, Ghostbusters and Red Dwarf. I didn’t get a chance to play, but I passed a table where they were playing Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition.

A merchant that sells roleplaying books would be smart to find out what games are being ran at SaltCON and sell them at a vendor’s table. I know there has been a few times that I was tempted to pick up a game right after finishing a game. Had Mechawarrior: Destiny been within reach, I would have been seriously tempted to buy it.

Speaking of loot from the con. You can see what I picked up at the convention in the photo above. The Fallout Starter Set was in the game swap (still sealed and a very good price). The convention usually gives away a freebie game to attendees and this time around it was a card game called Flip 7. The family looked interested in trying it out. As a thank you gift for GMing, I was gifted the core rule-book for a game I didn’t know existed. It was called Rivers of London by Chaosium and was based off of a series of novels called, you guessed it, Rivers of London. It reminded me of The Dresden Files but with police officers investigating wizards and magic crimes. And the convention t-shirt had a robot playing a game on a red background.

Overall I had a ton of fun. I can see where the organizers are putting their heart and soul into a gaming convention like this one. The next SaltCON is the big one in the spring and will be held at the same Davis Convention Center on March 12-14. I’ve been trying to recruit some friends to come and GM at the convention because I think they would have fun as well.

Do you have any questions about the convention weekend? 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.

Posted in: Quotes, Star Trek

Daily Star Trek Quotes: September 1-7

How you sit at the gaming table at the con.

Here are the Daily Star Trek Quotes that will appear on the @STrekQuotes Mastodon account and the @STrekQuotes Bluesky account for the week of September 1st through September 7th. 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.

September 1
“Has a war been staged for us? Complete with weapons and ideology and patriotic drum beating?” Kirk- Day of the Dove, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekTOS #IDIC #Quote

September 2
“I wonder, what would Doctor Freud say about the symbolism of devouring oneself?” Data “Data, sometimes a cake is just a cake.” Troi- Phantasms, Stardate: 47225.7 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #IDIC #Quote

September 3
“You were Borg. But you escaped, and despite incredible odds, you managed to reclaim your humanity. No one’s ever done that before. You’re famous.” Reg Hologram “Fame is irrelevant.” Seven- Inside Man, Stardate: 54208.3 #StarTrek #StarTrekVOY #IDIC #Quote

September 4
“It’s your responsibility as a scientist to learn from past mistakes.” Dr. Phlox- Cold Station 12, Date: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekENT #IDIC #Quote

September 5
“Cannon to the right of them, Cannon to the left of them, Cannon in front of them, Volley’d and thunder’d.” O’Brien- Sacrifice of Angels, Stardate: Unknown #StarTrek #StarTrekDS9 #IDIC #Quote

September 6
Happy Birthday to Idris Elba. https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Idris_Elba #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote

“Krall, the ship is turning back.” Manas “Cut its throat.” Krall- Star Trek Beyond, Stardate: 2263.2 #StarTrek #StarTrekFilm #IDIC #Quote

September 7
“There comes a time in a man’s life…when he looks down at the first smile of his baby girl and realizes he must change the world for her.” Jarok- The Defector, Stardate: 43462.5 #StarTrek #StarTrekTNG #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.

Posted in: Character Creation Challenge, Conventions, Role Playing Games, Star Trek, Star Wars

RPGaDAY2025 Day 29: Connect

It’s time to link up for Day 29 of the RPGaDAY 2025 Challenge and our topic is ‘connect’. Roleplaying games are social events. Sure, there are solo games, and video games. But when it comes down to it, sitting around a table and seeing the faces of the other players, hearing the inflection in their voices, making memories, it’s infectious. It is one of the main reasons we play our different games. We get to geek out with someone that has a common bond. We get to yell at little pieces of plastic when they don’t roll the right number. We get to wear robes and chant from ancient texts… wait, did I give away too much? (No, that doesn’t happen. Bad Carl for making a joke again.)

So, how do you connect with other gamers. Well in this day and age, it’s a lot easier than it was previously. Here are a few suggestions to connect with fellow dice throwers.

Go to your local game store. Most game stores worth their salt will have events where you can meet up. The more people play the game, the more games that they can sell. Sure, a lot of their gaming events are of the collectible card variety. But most will allow you to schedule an RPG session or two there. Meeting in a public place may get you some additional players for your campaigns as people may be more comfortable than going to someone’s home that they don’t know. I’ve also noticed a trend that more smaller game stores are setting up discord servers as a way to connect members of the gaming community together. Some may have Facebook pages, but there’s been a bit of a push back on using that social media platform with the weird algorithms that they keep pushing.

If there is a gaming convention near you, check it out. My time at SaltCON has lead to exchanging information with a lot of local gamers. It also included a one-shot invitation to a D6 Star Wars RPG by WEG and writers sending me their games to get my feedback. And, as I’ve recently said, I really needed the community at SaltCON during this troubling year.

I mentioned discord earlier. There are a lot of discord servers that are put out for the gaming community. I even have one for my blog that is gaining some traction (thanks guys). Several publishers have their own discord servers. I’ve received some feedback from publishers to my reviews and Character Creation Challenge entries via discord. I know that Basic Fantasy still uses a message board. Two good message boards with lots of activity is the one on RPG.net and RPGPub. And yes, even with the pitfalls that Facebook has, there are a lot of gaming sites on it. I’m on some of the MeWe gaming groups, but that hasn’t caught as much attention. And I’ve been very impressed with the gaming community on BlueSky. All of these have options to find players in your area. When I posted on the Modiphius discord server that I was running a Star Trek Adventures 2e one-shot, a gentleman from two counties distant drove up to play. If I had access to these resources in the 90’s (the closest we came were local BBSes) I would have loved it.

And probably the best way to get someone to game with you is talk with your friends. Pick an RPG system that you can explain the rules in under two minutes and show your excitement for the game. If the rules are too complex to explain, they might not jump on board as fast. But try to emphasize the fun that can be had around the table.

Are there other methods that you’d recommend for connecting with fellow RPG gamers? 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.

Posted in: Conventions, Role Playing Games, Science Fiction, Star Trek

Prepping for SaltCON End-of-Summer 2025

I might need to use this book this weekend.

The end of August is almost upon us and that means that SaltCON End-of-Summer is just around the corner running during from August 29-31st at the Davis Conference Center in Layton. There are still tickets available if you want to stop check it out. Use the code SUMMEREND for a discount price (not valid after August 28th)

I volunteered to run three different games this year. I’m also signed up to play in three games that I’ve never played before and I’ll be re-visiting a game that I’d love to play in a campaign. I will also be packing my Convention Backpack that I have documented about in a previous blog post.

Games that I’ve volunteered for include Basic Fantasy 4th Edition (The Guildmaster’s Quest) and Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition (a new Klingon scenario, which was wildly popular last time I ran one of this style). The new game that I’m going to be running at this con is the new Space: 1999 roleplaying game by Modiphius. The amazing thing that shocked me is, the Space: 1999 session is already sold out and it’s my Sunday game. Usually that is the one that doesn’t sell out. At the time I was typing this blog post up, my other two games only had two seats left each.

For the games that I’ve signed up for, my only repeat system is Dungeon Crawl Classics that I will be playing on Friday. I like that this is a D20 clone (with some twists) and has a zero-level funnel. This DCC one-shot will be level three characters.

Of the three other games that I’ve signed up for, they are all new to me. I made sure to give myself breaks between games so that I can get a lunch (I did that wrong one year, wow won’t make that mistake again). The first of the new games is MechWarrior: Destiny. This is in the BattleTech universe. While I was aware of it in the 90’s because it was also published by FASA, I steered clear of it as I could have seen myself making a collection of different Mech stats in a three-ringed binder like I did with the FASA Star Trek starships.

If you’ve been watching a lot of the RPG video podcasts you’ve probably been hearing about a new game called Daggerheart from Critical Role Productions. Well I signed up for a demo to check this out and see what the hype is about.

And finally I backed the Kickstarter for the Monty Python Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme. Well now I’m going to have a chance to play it at the table. When I wrote my review linked above, I on-purpose did not read any of the scenarios within the book just in case one of them was used at the con. I can’t wait to see this game in action and to use the special coconut dice-rollers that came with my reward.

I’m looking forward to geeking out and forgetting about how bad this year has been so far. 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.

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