quozaxx Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Star Trek is a favorite of many fans and they have so many possibilities and options. I think it would be a great role playing idea, and you could use the Hero System easily. But which Star Trek "genre" would you prefer? Enterprise: Just starting out. The Original: Against the Klingons, but more actual world exploring. The Next Generation: A little less on world exploring, and replace Klingons with the Borg Deep Space 9: Have the actions and situations come to you Voyager: Trying to get back home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JmOz Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier I would go with a combination of all, heavily borrowing from ST: TOS and Voyager. Smaller ship, more on the frontier with an emphasis on exploration. Peter David wrote a series of books called the new frontier which would be a good road map IMO, but with a smaller ship Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier But which Star Trek "genre" would you prefer? Enterprise: Just starting out. The Original: Against the Klingons, but more actual world exploring. The Next Generation: A little less on world exploring, and replace Klingons with the Borg Deep Space 9: Have the actions and situations come to you Voyager: Trying to get back home. I prefer none of them over the other. I also never disliked any of the series or characters, like some many other fans did. When the question is about the ship size: I always felt the Enterprise D was to easily pushed around by enemys/natural disasters. That thing is supposed to be a battle- and admirals ship, but is was disabeled/outclassed more often than the TOS and ENT Enterprises together. So either a smaller ship than Galaxy/Sovereign Class, or one than can push his weight around (a little bit more like Andromeda). That action only comes to you in DS9 is not so true. They added the Runabouts and the Defiant exactly to be more mobile and not have anything come to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Escafarc Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier I like the Prime Directive RPG version where the PCs are the "Away Team" specialist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Star Trek is a favorite of many fans and they have so many possibilities and options. I think it would be a great role playing idea, and you could use the Hero System easily. But which Star Trek "genre" would you prefer? Enterprise: Just starting out.. If I was running it, I'd reboot Enterprise the way I figure it should have been done. The ship would be armed with lasers, and "impulse torpedos" (with and without nuclear warheads). The major focus at least at first would be visiting all of the known human colonies and trying to bring them into reunion with Earth. The Romulans wouldn't have cloaking devices but would have sensor jamming technology that makes it hard to target them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Typist Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Also, how about security teams who remember our extensive years of CQB doctrine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier I'd probably roll with the ST: Reboot universe. If I was going to stray away from that, Something along the lines of the Vanguard novels (set in the TOS timeline), so I can play around with good solid different things like the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, and of course the often over looked and rarely used Federation Scout stuff as shown in said same novels, by the Crew of the long range scout outrider, the Archer Class USS Sagittarius. ~Rex.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Star Trek always seems like a great idea. It's rife with awsomeness... However, it's tough to pull off. All of the Star Trek genres are, by nature, military. That means the need for a clear and concise command structure. How would we have received Kirk, Picard, Janeway or Sisko if they were just part of a council of elders or senators. No, they ran their commands with a host of perfectly timed adjectives... Their crews were awesome as well, each contributing in a major way to the excitement (and continued existence) of their positions... But how do you role-play that consistently? Sure, on face value it seems perfect. Each PC has a distinct position, unlimited possibilities, and is slotted into a pseudo command structure that forces the players to come together to thwart all sorts of trials and tribulations! You can even stretch the sanity of a situation to accommodate ANY character in ANY circumstance (heck, Picard went on away missions in the face of his First Officer's quoting of the regs and protestations regularly). But, think for a moment. What have you created? The crew of one of the Star Trek shows is a fine-tuned machine, each member with its distinct responsibilities. From the Captain to the bartender they all fill a special role. So what happens when a player can't make it to the game??? I can't count the number of times I've put into play a Star-Trek-like game (dependent on military structure) that came to a screeching halt when the Captain had a sick child, or the Engineer's car broke down or the Lt. Commander in charge of the away mission turned up missing or the Helmsman took a wrong turn on the way to the second part of a deadly ship-to-ship battle. Without every cog present the machine usually ceases to run. On the other hand, a Superhero game can survive even if Superman turns up missing (heck Batman can be gone too). A Fantasy game doesn't fold when the cleric gets sick or the Dwarf stays home. Even a Star Wars game can continue without pause if the Jedi is called away. These games usually have individuals brought together by fate or circumstances. Like a Star Trek game they usually fill a specific niche in the story. Unlike Star Trek games they can usually perform individually, without the need for permission or the inevitable mission report to Star Fleet. Too many of my "Space Military" games have stalled due to player absence for me not to mention it here. Just something to think about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier The crew of one of the Star Trek shows is a fine-tuned machine, each member with its distinct responsibilities. From the Captain to the bartender they all fill a special role. So what happens when a player can't make it to the game??? Then you have to bear in mind that you have two other shifts of NPC bridge crew plus assistants, and they fill in when one of the regulars is injured or on special assignment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Oh sure, I can always have an NPC finish off an awesome adventure for a player... But what about Captain??? Do you want the Captain of your ship to be an NPC (especially if the PC Captain was deeply embroiled in the current situation)? Now you have an NPC calling all the shots, from combat and discipline to where to fly the ship next. Talk about leading by the nose. No, the Captain is almost always needed in a Star Trek game. The absence Star Trek PC Captain is almost always the downfall of such a game. There's only 1 Captain and 1 First Officer (and usually only 1 "Quark"). On top of that you have ranks to consider. If the NPCs are as high a rank as the PCs then you have to determine why the PC are the focus of the game. Probably because they're the best at what they do. So, substituting an NPC Helmsman for a PC usually fails to pass scrutiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier I always have multiple NPCs on board my ship games. Often there are a few that are secretly much better than the PCs. But it always turns out that a missing PC ruins continuity and breaks the command structure, thus stalling game momentum and forcing a hiatus. In college the Star Trek games worked like a charm. We could play whenever everyone was available. In real life we schedule games weekly or bi-monthly. 1 game without the Captain meens a whole missed week(s). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Oh sure' date=' I can always have an NPC finish off an awesome adventure for a player... But what about Captain???[/quote'] The captain get's injured and has to give over command to the the Second. Or the Science officer (beacuse the second also got injured/is away). Does not needs to be serius, just enough that he has to go to sickbay for that session (and can come back in the next). There was even a TNG episode where the Deana (Ships Counselor) had the bridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Oh there are certainly work-arounds... But I've rune into this situation multiple times with completely different groups. The rigid nature of Star Fleet makes it harder... not impossible. You're better off knowing it's easier for these hiccups to happen in a Star Trek game than other genres going in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Oh there are certainly work-arounds... But I've rune into this situation multiple times with completely different groups. The rigid nature of Star Fleet makes it harder... not impossible. You're better off knowing it's easier for these hiccups to happen in a Star Trek game than other genres going in. Certainly. I would have repped you for your insights above, but the system does not allows it right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier I would have repped you for your insights above' date=' but the system does not allows it right now.[/quote'] Captain's orders??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeropoint Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Seems to me that you're doing something wrong if you have that much trouble--one of the reasons for HAVING a command structure is making it easy to determine who's in charge in any given situation. Captain's not there? You've already got a pre-defined fallback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier I enjoyed the original series best, although TNG is a close second. I'd run either one of those settings. I used to play the FASA game with a couple of friends, although they were more interested in the starship combat than roleplaying. Still, I was able to re-imagine our old characters for use in my hard sci-fi campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier I'd probably roll with the ST: Reboot universe. If I was going to stray away from that, Something along the lines of the Vanguard novels (set in the TOS timeline), so I can play around with good solid different things like the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, and of course the often over looked and rarely used Federation Scout stuff as shown in said same novels, by the Crew of the long range scout outrider, the Archer Class USS Sagittarius. ~Rex.... Slight threadjack (or major canon shift) here. But IMO, NuTrek will never happen. Because Spock Prime will put his Katra into Spock Sylar, who will go on to become the galaxy's formost expert on The Butterfly Effect. Over the next century, he'll play around with what happens when this or that event is tampered with, until Romulus is about to blow up. Then, having forewarning, he'll save many more lives, and prevent the distruction of Vulcan by a revenge crazed Romulan (what, you don't think he'd save Mom?) And then he'd go back into the past -again- because if he didn't, he'd reset the universe to the original sequence of events, rinse, repeat. But now Spock would have two lifetimes of experience, the tech would be advanced still further, and you'd have a another, different clean slate to work with. Now consider this: The players can mega-rollplay all they want: Heck, Spock could even play oracle and *tell* people what happened the last two times (I doubt he would, but he could): "OK, we're to pick up Not!Methos and bring him back to Earth so he won't die of old age - let's be more careful of how he reacts this time. And 'Just Say No' to 'droid sex." Midas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RexMundi Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Yeah but you have those issues with any age of Trek. Speaking of NuTrek.....comics finally got the green light. That means the novels (like 9 of them now), can finally be released shortly thereafter which also means that sequel should be on the horizon soon. ~Rex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier [Compilation] "to Star HERO Conversions & Adaptations" http://herogames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24969 ST:TOS: Against the Klingons, but more actual world exploring. Enjoyed for campy-ness and fun. ST:TNG: A little less on world exploring, and replace Klingons with the Borg Enjoyed for revival and characterization. ST:DS9: Have the actions and situations come to you I would not want to have been O'Brian. ST:VOY: Trying to get back home. Could have been much better involving more crew. I can not imagine harder decisions. ST:ENT: Exploration of space, self, and time. Great right up until the last five episodes. ST:KHAN: The Eugenics Wars Would have been awesome. Cheers QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
megaplayboy Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier I'd probably go with a joint task force, dealing with an incursion from another Galaxy(through a wormhole)--a shaky coalition of Federation, Romulan, Klingon, Cardassian, maybe even Borg, Gorn, and Dominion vessels, sent first to stop the incursion, and then to counter-attack/seek a peaceful solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Star Trek Wiki - Memory Alpha http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Portal:Main Star Trek Roleplaying Game http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Roleplaying_Game Star Trek Online http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek_Online Star Trek: Elite Force http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Voyager_-_Elite_Force Cheers QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clonus Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Slight threadjack (or major canon shift) here. But IMO, NuTrek will never happen. Because Spock Prime will put his Katra into Spock Sylar, who will go on to become the galaxy's formost expert on The Butterfly Effect. Over the next century, he'll play around with what happens when this or that event is tampered with, until Romulus is about to blow up. Then, having forewarning, he'll save many more lives, and prevent the distruction of Vulcan by a revenge crazed Romulan (what, you don't think he'd save Mom?) And then he'd go back into the past -again- because if he didn't, he'd reset the universe to the original sequence of events, rinse, repeat. The premise behind Nutrek is that they travelled into a parallel universe in the first place just to evade paradox issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldenAge Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Seems to me that you're doing something wrong if you have that much trouble--one of the reasons for HAVING a command structure is making it easy to determine who's in charge in any given situation. Captain's not there? You've already got a pre-defined fallback. You're missing it. Being a Lieutenant (or any other rank and file) doesn't make you a Helmsman. The loss of specific cogs in the Star Trek wheel can be hard to surmount. Hard, not impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuestionMan Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Re: Space the final frontier Star Fleet Secrity, Section 31, and Red Squad. Espionage mixed in. QM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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