The Prophetsteve Review: The CODATrek Players Guide

I usually review episodes (or did until work schedule kept me from seeing the episodes on time) but I will give my thoughts on the new rule book.

1. A credit to the book is its well roundedness - Its the first Trek game to really look at the universe as a setting rather than a Starfleet backdrop. From Klingon Warriors to Freelance Mercenaries to Starfleet Officers, this game works well...or at least it instills confidence.

I don't buy the idea of "Star Trek is for Starfleet". Trek is a vast and facinating setting and holds far too much potential to be limited to Starfleet adventures. And thats exactly how I plan to explore it.

2. I like the blend of LUGTrek character Generation with the brand new elements inspired by d20. Make no mistake, this isn't a d20 game but Decipher has obviously looked at what works in d20 and used it here. And to good effect, at least to these eyes.

Seeing these rules, I am sold on Lord of the Rings. If the rules are similiar its finally a Fantasy RPG that I can really get a hold of and like. Rockin.

3. Another impressive element was the authors dedication to TOS. After all, with Enterprise brand new and revising history (or at the very least reimagining existing history), the authors could have easily chucked TOS. This dedication shows by adhering to a lot of the history and tech introduced into TOS - the book mentions that in the 22nd Century they used Lasers (not Plasma weapons or Phase Pistols), the 23rd Century equivalent of the PADD is the Electronic Clipboard (Enterprise has PADDs), etc.

While I feel this is probably more to be continuous with LUGTrek, its still a nice touch. It will be interesting to see how CODATrek does Enterprise and works out the (on the surface) inconsistancies; its one of the best things I like about reading RPGs based on established (and often contradictory) settings.

4. The only thing that hurts me about this is waiting for the Narrators Guide. The GM in me is screaming for information that wouldn't (and shouldn't) be in the Players Guide. Hopefully there are no delays and we will get the guide post haste.