Hero Prime Directive

[kehrer1701]

Maybe this year (2006, I mean) will be the year to see a Hero verison of Prime Directive, from the people that do Star Fleet Battles (aka a form of Star Trek). Currently, there is a Gurps version, a d20 version, and a d6 version in the works.
There are many Star Trek rpg players out there. This addition would be cool.

[Flames]

"Bones, what is the mission of this vessel? To seek out and contact alien life, and to interfere with the normal development of their culture. If I have to destroy a few alien marker bouys, I'm willing to take that risk!"

Okay, I'll bite... what is this gaming Prime Directive of which you speak?

What does a game system and a directive not to let pre-warp-drive societies know about the Federation have to do with each other?

[Lord Liaden]

Prime Directive is an alternate version of the Star Trek universe, starting from the time of the original series but diverging from the official timeline of the TV series and films. Essentially it's a separate game license from those given to do RPGs based on the official stuff. It grew out of a combat game called Star Fleet Battles. There have actually been quite a few products published for it, under its original system rules and the GURPS system.

It would certainly be cool if the PD publisher got a license from Hero Games to do a HERO version, and I know that Darren and Steve and Co. are pretty reasonable about terms, so it's certainly possible. kehrer1701, have you heard anything about steps being taken to do this?

In the meantime, though, your fellow HEROphiles have stepped in to fill the gaps. On the website below you'll find detailed HERO character conversion notes and profession/race packages for the First Edition of Prime Directive, plus examples and guidelines for gaming in the Star Fleet Universe:
http://www.seenar.com/games/primedirective/prime.html

On this website you can download PDFs of comprehensive campaign sourcebooks for the Original Series and Next Generation/ DS9:
http://www.starherofandom.com/h_trekhero/index.php

Between them (and the HERO rules) you'd have just about everything you'd need to campaign in the world of Prime Directive.

[kehrer1701]

http://www.starfleetgames.com/prime/

I shall paste instead of speak...

"Bones, what is the mission of this vessel? To seek out and contact alien life, and to interfere with the normal development of their culture. If I have to destroy a few alien marker bouys, I'm willing to take that risk!"

Okay, I'll bite... what is this gaming Prime Directive of which you speak?

What does a game system and a directive not to let pre-warp-drive societies know about the Federation have to do with each other?

[kehrer1701]

I think some cheers from Star Trek Hero gamers might light a "friendly" fire or two..

Prime Directive is an alternate version of the Star Trek universe, starting from the time of the original series but diverging from the official timeline of the TV series and films. Essentially it's a separate game license from those given to do RPGs based on the official stuff. It grew out of a combat game called Star Fleet Battles. There have actually been quite a few products published for it, under its original system rules and the GURPS system.

It would certainly be cool if the PD publisher got a license from Hero Games to do a HERO version, and I know that Darren and Steve and Co. are pretty reasonable about terms, so it's certainly possible. kehrer1701, have you heard anything about steps being taken to do this?

In the meantime, though, your fellow HEROphiles have stepped in to fill the gaps. On the website below you'll find detailed HERO character conversion notes and profession/race packages for the First Edition of Prime Directive, plus examples and guidelines for gaming in the Star Fleet Universe:
http://www.seenar.com/games/primedirective/prime.html

On this website you can download PDFs of comprehensive campaign sourcebooks for the Original Series and Next Generation/ DS9:
http://www.starherofandom.com/h_trekhero/index.php





Between them (and the HERO rules) you'd have just about everything you'd need to campaign in the world of Prime Directive.

[swbaxter]

It would certainly be cool if the PD publisher got a license from Hero Games to do a HERO version, and I know that Darren and Steve and Co. are pretty reasonable about terms, so it's certainly possible. kehrer1701, have you heard anything about steps being taken to do this?

Last I heard, the Prime Directive folks were planning on publishing in as many systems as possible. They listed two requirements - cheap to non-existent licensing fees, and interested authors willing to do the conversions. If that's still the case, then I'd guess that the major step that'd need to be taken is for some budding Herophile to fire off a proposal.

The PD books are built with a common set of descriptive text, so for example GURPS Klingons and d20 Klingons are supposed to be identical apart from the game mechanics. That should make conversion easier.

[kehrer1701]

Take hero sidekick product (adding in anything left out that you would need to operate in the PD universe), create the templates, then copy and paste from sidekick.....can it be that straight foward??

Last I heard, the Prime Directive folks were planning on publishing in as many systems as possible. They listed two requirements - cheap to non-existent licensing fees, and interested authors willing to do the conversions. If that's still the case, then I'd guess that the major step that'd need to be taken is for some budding Herophile to fire off a proposal.

The PD books are built with a common set of descriptive text, so for example GURPS Klingons and d20 Klingons are supposed to be identical apart from the game mechanics. That should make conversion easier.

[John Desmarais]

Take hero sidekick product (adding in anything left out that you would need to operate in the PD universe), create the templates, then copy and paste from sidekick.....can it be that straight foward??

You left out a step - License the game system from the nice folks at Hero Games / DOJ.

Actually, what you describe is more than simply licensing the system. It would be reprinting a huge amount of Hero Games intellectual property, which is something that DOJ would proabably not be up for (unless they were going to publish the book themselves or parter with Amarillo Design Bureau to publish it).

Yes, it seems like I'm picking nits, but money and legalities are just as important as design and creativity in the publishing biz.

[kehrer1701]

I wasn't thinking of myself actually, just trying to see what it would take.....
I was just curious how the process works.

You left out a step - License the game system from the nice folks at Hero Games / DOJ.

Actually, what you describe is more than simply licensing the system. It would be reprinting a huge amount of Hero Games intellectual property, which is something that DOJ would proabably not be up for (unless they were going to publish the book themselves or parter with Amarillo Design Bureau to publish it).

Yes, it seems like I'm picking nits, but money and legalities are just as important as design and creativity in the publishing biz.

[kehrer1701]

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the info and pretty much knew the steps; however, its nice to see it again. I really wasn't suggesting anyone other than ADB or HG do the product as Steve has written Star Trek (aka prime directive-sorta) in the past. Besides, I don't have those kind of skills anyway.

You left out a step - License the game system from the nice folks at Hero Games / DOJ.

Actually, what you describe is more than simply licensing the system. It would be reprinting a huge amount of Hero Games intellectual property, which is something that DOJ would proabably not be up for (unless they were going to publish the book themselves or parter with Amarillo Design Bureau to publish it).

Yes, it seems like I'm picking nits, but money and legalities are just as important as design and creativity in the publishing biz.

[swbaxter]

Take hero sidekick product (adding in anything left out that you would need to operate in the PD universe), create the templates, then copy and paste from sidekick.....can it be that straight foward??

I'm going to guess it'd be harder to get a cheap license from DOJ if you're looking to include a large chunk of the Hero rules in the product, and ADB doesn't necessarily require that (the d20 and d6 versions both require that you own a core rulebook that explains the system, for example). But yeah, the actual rules gruntwork isn't that big a deal, the major stumbling blocks are going to be elsewhere.

[kehrer1701]

Basically, it would just be a version of Hero Sidekick rules, right? I mean, gurps version is just a "gurps lite" version, and the d20 version requires use of the dnd players handbook. The upcoming d6 version will have a "d6 lite" rules in them. Since Hero Sidekick is only 10.00, I would think it wouldn't be that big of a deal, but, could be wrong here.

I'm going to guess it'd be harder to get a cheap license from DOJ if you're looking to include a large chunk of the Hero rules in the product, and ADB doesn't necessarily require that (the d20 and d6 versions both require that you own a core rulebook that explains the system, for example). But yeah, the actual rules gruntwork isn't that big a deal, the major stumbling blocks are going to be elsewhere.

[Seenar]

If anyone has any questions on my stuff, feel free to email me. I may not always see a private message, but the system should let you email me.

Bryan

Prime Directive is an alternate version of the Star Trek universe, starting from the time of the original series but diverging from the official timeline of the TV series and films. Essentially it's a separate game license from those given to do RPGs based on the official stuff. It grew out of a combat game called Star Fleet Battles. There have actually been quite a few products published for it, under its original system rules and the GURPS system.

It would certainly be cool if the PD publisher got a license from Hero Games to do a HERO version, and I know that Darren and Steve and Co. are pretty reasonable about terms, so it's certainly possible. kehrer1701, have you heard anything about steps being taken to do this?

In the meantime, though, your fellow HEROphiles have stepped in to fill the gaps. On the website below you'll find detailed HERO character conversion notes and profession/race packages for the First Edition of Prime Directive, plus examples and guidelines for gaming in the Star Fleet Universe:
http://www.seenar.com/games/primedirective/prime.html

On this website you can download PDFs of comprehensive campaign sourcebooks for the Original Series and Next Generation/ DS9:
http://www.starherofandom.com/h_trekhero/index.php

Between them (and the HERO rules) you'd have just about everything you'd need to campaign in the world of Prime Directive.

[Outsider]

I peeked at the links, but didnt see how you deal with the phaser problem* in the Star Trek setting.

*The problem being that the common handheld range weapon has a "make them glow blue and disappear" setting. Which either limits survivability among the PCs, or has to be danced around in a (probably) clumsy way. Sure, you can use the 'Federation Mindset' and minimum force policy to keep the PCs from going disintigrate-happy, but what keeps the bad guys from doing so? No access to hand phasers or other equally deadly weapons?

[Seenar]

I peeked at the links, but didnt see how you deal with the phaser problem* in the Star Trek setting.

*The problem being that the common handheld range weapon has a "make them glow blue and disappear" setting. Which either limits survivability among the PCs, or has to be danced around in a (probably) clumsy way. Sure, you can use the 'Federation Mindset' and minimum force policy to keep the PCs from going disintigrate-happy, but what keeps the bad guys from doing so? No access to hand phasers or other equally deadly weapons?

That is easy. For the sake of game play, I just don't have hand weapons that are that deadly. WHo wants to die with a roll. Prime Directive did not have Phasers that were that deadly, so I did not include them.