[Star Trek RPGs] Tell Me of Them and How They Run

[Megamanfan]

Ineti sent me here from RPG.net so I shall repost here:

I've always been curious over the years on how a Star Trek game is run or what kind of adventures PCs go on? It seems a Trek game would be loads of Rping and not to heavy on the combat. What roles the PC's fill? Are they typically crewman, ensign or maybe Lt. JG? What system works best?

I've wanted to run a Trek game for years, but these questions always come up in my head. I figure an ToS game would be more action oriented and TNG/DS9/VOY would be more diplomatic and full or RP. Am I close in this assumption?

Fill me in!

[D.S.McBride]

First of all, welcome to the boards.

I'll try to take your questions in order. To begin with, the kind of adventures PCs go on varies as widely as the people who play the game itself. To make a comparison, you can have D&D games that concentrate on straightforward military-type campaigns, free-wheeling adventure, epic quests, or up close and personal romance. It all depends on what you, as Narrator/Crew want, and what your group - whatever its size - is comfortable with.

This leads into the next point. Are Star Trek games loads of conversation and stingy on combat? Not the sessions that I've run/played over the years, that's for sure. The divisions between the series that you mention exist - in terms of outlook/style, certainly - and you can definitely use those as convenient benchmarks for what kind of game you and your group want to run. There is nothing, however, to stop you from taking a Next Generation setting (usually very conversation and diplomacy oriented) and turning it into the Federation's battle for its very existance. Ditto taking a Klingon-based game and turning it into a series of very low-key, high-tension chess moves between players as they vie for political and military power.

In terms of what roles the characters play, yes, Starfleet is the most common and flexible of choices in terms of ease of story creation for the Narrator. The Icon system by Last Unicorn Games (LUG) certainly assumed that the majority of the Crew would fit this bill, although the LUG Deep Space Nine Core book certainly filled out a range of alternative possibilites. The Coda system by Decipher makes these choices clear right off the bat.

Ranks (or the equivalent thereof for non-Starfleet personnel) in play are entirely up to the group, subject to Narrator approval. LUG started off with the assumption that, yes, players would start off at an Ensign, Lieutenant j.g., Lieutenant level, but later supplements (the Player's Guide, not to be confused with the Decipher book of the same name) made the road to advancement as a starting character much easier. With Coda, you simply choose how many advancements you want your character to start out with in order to reach the desired rank, assign a per year value to each advancement, and distribute the points as necessary.

I hope this helps to at least get an initial idea as to what we're all about here; doubtless others will also chime in with some superb advice on in the same vein, along with what to do/get, and how to set up shop.

[Ineti]

Hi, Megamanfan! I've already responded to this over at rpg.net, but be sure to browse the Narrator's forums and the Coda forums here. Tons of info for you.

And definitely browse through the older threads and messages. This site's been around for a couple years, and some of the great chestnuts of advice are buried in the archives.

Have fun!

[JonA]

Originally posted by Ineti
great chestnuts of advice are buried in the archives.

What? Where? When? How?

[Liz Not Beth]

This message has been removed on request by the
poster

[Ineti]

Originally posted by Liz Not Beth
Chestnuts? Would those be my legion of loyal fans?

*snerk*