New to CODA and ST:RPG

Hey all,

I'm pretty new to Coda and the ST:RPG, but after most of the series (sans DS:9) showed up on Netflix, I bought into these books to gather my other trek fans into a regular game night to make Star Trek moments of our own.

I really enjoy how this system looks and the feel of it, can't wait to actually see it in action, from the looks of this forum, I'd say this game did have a decent following, it's too bad the system was such short lived, I'm just glad there's plenty of official material available that you can pretty much do anything in the series. Though I did have a couple small questions.

-Space creatures (Chrystaline Entity, Space Amoeba, etc.) How would starship combat and space creatures work? judging by the creature creation rules in the NG, this would be hard to accomplish, unless of course you just went with the space creatures as just a plot device, though being numbers minded as I am, I like to play out tactical encounters with a semi intelligent space creature of my own. Any ideas as to making this work?

- Mind Meld, I understand as it is written that if this is opposed it is vs. will/ mind shield, each turn? is at -1 to the roll to continue using to delve deeper into the psyche, now...what is gained? just memories? are memories transferred between Mind Melder/Meldee? In ST VI it appeared to have done damage the longer it was held, anyone come up with some decent rulings on this?

- Starship Shields, it is stated that purchasing more threshold is at a 1 for 1 basis, that means if a shield costs 10 for 1 threshold with a 4 max (for example...) buying another threshold for this would make the shields cost 11?

-Anyone have any ideas on handling the potential for "kill" setting abusers? It may not be a problem but I'd love to get some experienced narrator's thoughts on this.

That's all I have, I'm so glad I bought these books, I am never looking back and hoping to have many successful games with this system. I appreciate any answers you all have. Thanks again!

P.S. - I'm extremely glad I found this site.

Toofy, you came to the right place for CODA and Trek gamers.

Let me also plug one of my favorite websites for all things CODA Trek: http://strpg.patrickgoodman.org/

There are loads of new things for the game here, and you should especially check out the issues of Beyond the Final Frontier eZine. It is a must-read for CODA players.

As to your questions, I'm not very mathy, or much of a number-cruncher myself. But, I'm sure some of the other people here can answer them - I'm interested in seeing what some of the other players have to say about the Space Creatures myself.

I think the Mind Meld performed on Valeris in TrekVI hurt because she resisted Spock's mind-probe, and Spock held it, and forced it to get the info they needed. So a GM might want to consider the possibility of damage done against someone aggressively resisting a mind-meld.

Maybe, if someone successfully resists a mind-meld for a lengthy enough span of time, they must roll a successful Stamina reaction (TN15) or take 1d6 of damage. Something like that.

On the "kill" setting thing - for Starfleet officers there is a canon way of dealing with it. Starfleet regs state that all personnel must keep their phasers on stun unless ordered to do otherwise by their CO, or the commander on an Away mission. So, if a 'Fleeter is constantly setting his weapon on kill, he should face disciplinary action from the Captain.

For characters who are not under such story-centered restrictions, such as rogues, rascals, and gun-happy Ferengi; as a GM if you get tired of Mr. Kill Setting always disintegrating your well thought out scenario, simply fudge the dice and say "ooops ! That Nausicaan you were shooting at jumped behind a big rock right as you fired !"

As they say on iCarly (one of my daughter's favorite shows) - "It's hard to beat the big rock !"

Did you get all 6 of the books ? I don't have mine right at arm's reach right now, but I can look later. You might be able to find the info you need on Space creatures, in Creatures. Or in the section in the Narrator's Guide on dealing with Hazards in Space.

I'll check when I get home.

Oh yes indeed i have all 6 books, unfortunately nothing involving large space creatures, at least in terms of combining it with starship numbers, unless of course i created one using starship guidelines and gave it regular attributes and skills, maybe make armor equate to the class of shields with whatever is rolled and treat energy attacks the same way (each roll equates to a specific penetration value on the table) ...thats how i was thinking about it at least.

Also curious, what sort of examples would one give for a System Operations (command) or (computer) roll?

I appreciate the responses! These are the sorts of things i think about when reading a new system, i like to utilize all skills so no single skill will outshine another, and anyone ever playing command would have good use from his skills.

We've always used System Operations (Command) for when the CO, or XO uses the consoles located near or beside their seats on the birdge. Like when Riker looks into the little monitor on the arm of his chair on TNG.

Also, for initiating the self-destruct sequence, or tansferring control of a system to the command-consoles using the command-authorization code (our Captain's is Northcote-Alpha-1-1-5)

Systems Operations (Computers), I've used for an officer using the computer for doing research or running a simulation. Like when LaForge is investigating what happened to some of his old crewmates on the Identity Crisis episode.

Or Data trying to investigate the origins of a series of e-band emissions on The Mind's Eye episode.

Both of these examples would receive an Affinity with Investigation skills.

Maybe for the spacefaring creatures a new Creature Ability is in order:

Shielded: The creature has natural protection against energy weapons, and other weapons used against it by an attacking starship. The creature will have a Protection rating equal to it's Vitality attribute score, and a Threshold equal to it's Vitality modifier. Thus, a spacefaring creature with a Vitality of 17 would have the equivalent of shielding with a rating of 17/5.

Great to have you here, Toofy! I think you'll find this a great site, with lots of good help from knowledgable, friendly folks! :)

One thing to consider, too, for a 'phaser happy' character (especially if they're Starfleet) is that the standard rules (according to the Stafleet Operations Manual) is to "Never fire first." (p. 8 under "Away Team Guidelines").

Haven't used Mind Meld yet or come across any space creatures; good questions! :)

Hi Toofy - glad to see you here, and hope you enjoy CODA Trek! :)

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Anyone have any ideas on handling the potential for "kill" setting abusers? It may not be a problem but I'd love to get some experienced narrator's thoughts on this.

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Two words for "kill" setting abusers: "court martial" :)

Seriously, Starfleet regulations prohibit kill settings except in lethal combat. Starfleet Officers are simply not allowed to wander around with phasers on kill - at most, they should default to heavy stun. Lethal settings should only be used at the far end of an escalation; in my games, it is "Light Stun", then "Heavy Stun", then "Level 5" and finally, if none of that works, "Level 7" (kill).

Any character that goes into combat once on "kill" will most definitely get an investigation and a probably reprimand. Second time around is definitely court martial material.

If your characters aren't Starfleet, well, then they're on the other end of that escalation. If they start using "kill" settings, so will everyone else. Losing a PC to a single lucky shot should discourage them from doing so :)

The other option (and the one I tend to use) is that all the disrupt settings take a long time to recharge (effectively, their power drain / 10, xd6 in rounds).

In other words, you need the following rounds to recharge:

7 (Light Disrupt A): 1d6
8 (Light Disrupt B): 2d6
9 (Light Disrupt C): 3d6, etc.

Another idea is that the disrupt settings actually require ten times the listed power. When you can only get six shots out of a Type II (at Level 7), you're less likely to make regular use of it.

With both these methods, PCs can still use the higher power settings, but they're more likely to use them as a one-off to blast through a set of doors or cave entrance rather than vapourising Romulans with frightening regularity.

Hope those suggestions help! :)

Toofy:

Welcome aboard! I'm always glad to see more Crew shipping on the USS Coda :)

If you have the Starships book, I think the TNG monster Gomtuu is in there; there may be rules for treating big honking space critters as starships. I don't have my books handy to check that, but I remember seeing it there.

Thank you all for the welcome!

I unfortunately did not see that particular creature in the starship book, though there was the species 8472 bioship.

I only asked about kill setting abusers because in case i happen to run into one i would have some ideas on how to handle it, granted i did read that all federation phasers are locked at up to setting 3 until command unlocks further settigs.

Another question from the starship book, the OCU and MCU scale for older starships, do you just continue to use he same table to determine travel time? If not how exactly do you calculate it?

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Originally Posted by Toofy

I unfortunately did not see that particular creature in the starship book, though there was the species 8472 bioship.

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My bad, Gomtu is in the Aliens book; while there isn't a starship-style write-up, there are some notes there that may help you use creatures vs starships.

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Originally Posted by Toofy

Another question from the starship book, the OCU and MCU scale for older starships, do you just continue to use he same table to determine travel time? If not how exactly do you calculate it?

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I've found it best that you have warp factors move at the speed of plot. You can use the chart for small scale estimates, but when you factor in the chart vs the amount of territory the ships seem to cover in an episode, your head is likely to explode. :D

Toofy, welcome aboard.

- Get index tabs and stick them to the pages of your Player's Guide and Narrator's Guide.

- Use the fan supplements provided by these guys.

http://strpg.patrickgoodman.org/

Highly recommended.

- Use a highlighter in the book for rules you need that you don't think you can find later when you need them. ;)

- Don't assume anything about the rules and for Pete's sake don't skip any chapters.

- Start out slow. Don't try to mash everything into one session or even one story arc. Get your feet wet with some basic story tropes before trying something more complicated.

Ok, now im being a pest with questions but i have another one that involves starship construction.

Regarding the flaws, design defect for impulse and warp sais -2 structure for every .1c over .25c and for every warp factor over engine's sustainable speed, does this mean that when the ship travels those speeds they lose the structure? Or are they reduced from maximum when you build the ship?

Don't worry about being a pest, Toofy; you can ask all the questions you need!

I believe that you make the change when you're building the ship (and that it's permanent), but I don't have my book with me, so I'll double-check later.

Thanks again! I was more wondering about the warp drive one, -2 structure for each warp factor over sustainable, how do you calculate that? Sustainable vs max warp and the differance x2 is the structure lost? That's what confused me when i was starting to build a starship for the crew.

Also, that would seem a bit broken if you have a warp drive that has a 9.2 sustainable with. Max of for example 9.6 since it isnt a full warp factor, unless thy round, i saw some examples of starships that have that flaw in the starships book but it doesnt seem to have the negative structure calculated into it so i couldnt find a good example.

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Originally Posted by Toofy

Ok, now im being a pest with questions but i have another one that involves starship construction.

Regarding the flaws, design defect for impulse and warp sais -2 structure for every .1c over .25c and for every warp factor over engine's sustainable speed, does this mean that when the ship travels those speeds they lose the structure? Or are they reduced from maximum when you build the ship?

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The ship would lose structure when it travels those speeds.

That's what I had thought! Thank you very much everyone for the clarifications....I'm sure I'll have more later

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Originally Posted by iltharanos

The ship would lose structure when it travels those speeds.

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That could provide some great role-playing moments, as the entire Bridge shakes dramatically. At the same time the Engineer frantically calls over the intercom to the Captain, saying "I've given her all she's got, Cap'n... if we go any faster the ship will tear herself apart!" :cool:

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Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

That could provide some great role-playing moments, as the entire Bridge shakes dramatically. At the same time the Engineer frantically calls over the intercom to the Captain, saying "I've given her all she's got, Cap'n... if we go any faster the ship will tear herself apart!" :cool:

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Especially when i dont tell them that its a flaw, and they frantically trying to figure out whats causing it and in the middle of combat no less...then finding out who built the thing and getting some answers...only to find the designer of the prototype engine was really a romulan spy!

Ok, my imagination went a little crazy for a second, need to check the EPS systems again

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Originally Posted by K.G. Carlson

I've found it best that you have warp factors move at the speed of plot. You can use the chart for small scale estimates, but when you factor in the chart vs the amount of territory the ships seem to cover in an episode, your head is likely to explode. :D

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We tend to move everything at the Speed of Plot - even combat. I mean, Star Trek, where an Eymorg can toss Captain Kirk all over the room, and then Jim drops him with one kick ?

A very cinematic show deserves a very cinematic game. And CODA plays into that need quite well.

Totally right Fugazi Grrl, although I wish the chart was a little more useful for plotting.

It looks almost identical to the speed chart from the Star Trek Encyclopedia, which I still firmly believe was only created with its speed benchmarks to support the life-long return trip for Voyager.

Because, you know that a 23rd century starship went from the Alpha Quadrant main powers to the center of the galaxy in about 10 minutes :D

I've always included the "chi factor" into the calculations.

Basically what I've done is convert the Star Trek Star Charts into Campaign Cartographer 3, so that I can quickly get the exact distance over whatever route the players want to take. I then plug that into a spreadsheet I have, which also takes into account the "chi factor" (which is basically a plot device to speed up or slow down the ship :) ).

This then gives me the time at each warp factor (plus, me being anally retentive, it also tells me how much antimatter fuel is expended, and calculates the start and end stardates for a particular trip)

Dang, all this talk makes me wish I had time for a CODA trek game!

Anyone interested in running a game in Durham, NC?? :)

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Originally Posted by K.G. Carlson

Because, you know that a 23rd century starship went from the Alpha Quadrant main powers to the center of the galaxy in about 10 minutes :D

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I also think that by the end of Voyager they were pretty close to home. Almost in the Romulan's backyard. Old Janeway claimed to have become involved in some kind of fude with the FenDomar. I think they're located on the "far end" of Romulan space in the Beta Quadrant.

So, the 75 years of Voyager's journey was more like 15-20 years.

Which makes more sense based on the speed of a Constitution class, or especially a ship like the Galaxy class.

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Originally Posted by Aldaron

Basically what I've done is convert the Star Trek Star Charts into Campaign Cartographer 3...

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I envy your access to that software, sir !

I've looked into Campaign Cartographer and also Fractal Mapper and if they weren't both so far over my head price-wise I'd be running them on my machine. And that sounds like a terrific idea to use the Star charts book in tandem with the program.

We use Star Charts pretty extensively. Especially their grid system for designating the "name" of a sector (actually a number code). The three or four systems we've done have those co-ordinates from Star Charts.

I found something else a little unusual, the degrees of success charts in the players guide and narrators guide are differant, which one is the correct table or are they both wrong?

I think the Narrator's Guide and GM Screen match up, so I use those as the correct difficulty chart.

Yes, the Narrator's Guide has the correct DOS chart.

We use the chart in the NG, and the Narrator's Screen too.