Decipher Trek question or two

[Don Mappin]

Simultaneous posts! Cool!


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[Eric R.]

Cornor stone might have been a poor choice of word, what I was getting at was a piller. They may not use ship rules much but when they do they better be good. For example in D&D you don't expect to find a good system for naval movement/combat do you. This was one of the weaknesses of the orignial FASA game when it was released, though it had a great and detialed world generation system which in my mind is another piller and the only weakness I ever saw in the Basic Icon system with its lack of.

[REG]

But this is a roleplaying game, where the characters matter most. Things like combat from personal to grand scale army or naval or spacecraft are merely tools.

Although personally I did not expect a naval combat rules in D&D, deep down at least I wish they did include a rule on mass combat so I can lead an army of henchman into the wilderness and wipe out an army of orcs.

Star Wars and Star Trek are not about starships and starbases. They're mainly props for the stage. What matters most to the audience is the heroes in the story.

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Anyhoo, just some random thoughts...

[Cochrane]

RPGs need to be all- encompassing. Things that people are going to want in their story should be adequately covered. And it would make sense to me to have ship combat rules in D&D.

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Games. The Final Product. These are the books of the Star Trek RPG. Their five year license. To explore strange new roles. To breathe new life into get togethers. To boldly play what no fan has played before!

[Don Mappin]

I think we all agree that having starship combat is a necessary component of an RPG centered around a property like Star Trek. (And Decipher’s game will have that material in the GM book.)

What Eric is saying is that he would prefer a really good system as opposed to a superficial treatment similar to what Wizard’s Star Wars came with. (That system has been universally panned by critics out there.)

While those of us who don’t feature a lot of starship combat in our games really don’t care about these particulars, others out there, such as Eric, do feel it’s important.

Personally I feel it’s better to put in a nice system that people can elect not to use than to have a bad system in there that no one can use.


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[Paul]

Agreed, Don. As with many things: it's better to have it and not need it, than to not have it and need it.

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"...and more controversial than Oolon Colluphid's trilogy of philosophical blockbusters Where God went Wrong, Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes, and Who is this God Person Anyway?"
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[Flamestrike]

Some things I'd like to see from Decipher-Trek:

A good planet generator.

A ship-to-ship combat system that covers both small and large-scale warfare.

High setting Phaser damage listed as "the target glows for a split-second and then disintegrates"

Provisions for a PC to be the ship's captain. Rank should be important, but not prohibitively expensive.

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Even in this age of technological wonders, the human mind is still the most powerful weapon in the universe.

[This message has been edited by Flamestrike (edited 07-08-2001).]

[Cochrane]

My dream would be an entire (200 Page?) book that's nothing but planet/ system/ sector/ species generator. I imagine I'd have loved Aria if I'd grabbed it. What other such things are in existence? I already have GURPS Space and Traveller First In, West End Star Wars GG: Scouts and 3 in 1 Planets Collection, and Alternity.

Would it make any sense at all to have a random starship generator?

I still think it would be a fun idea to integrate the RPG with the CCG. Given the nature of Trek, why not have integrity as a basic attribute? Maybe if not use the CCG, involve decks of cards to determine random events, or as a handy summary of stats like in WEGWars.

Maybe have species templates include examples of names.

Maybe include more information about languages, possibly random word generators like in GURPS or if conceivable have a Decipher product be a comprehensive Vulcan dictionary and grammar guide / lessons on learning the language. Maybe assign sounds to the written languages for Vulcan, Andorian, Klingon, Ferengi, and Romulan.

Maybe detailed maps of planets and cities.

Maybe an entire book that's nothing but a history textbook.

I hope TPTB change their minds and have a lot of entire books focusing on specific races.

If the actual RPG books aren't released until the end of the year, could we pretty please have the ship miniatures sooner??

I hope the game gets started as soon as possible in case the license isn't extended after the first five years. Maybe have the initial core rules rushed, bugs and all, but immediately after that's finished, begin planning the 2nd edition to be released 2 or 3 years down the road, so that will be perfect.

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Games. The Final Product. These are the books of the Star Trek RPG. Their five year license. To explore strange new roles. To breathe new life into get togethers. To boldly play what no fan has played before!

[REG]

<font color="orange">Personally I feel it’s better to put in a nice system that people can elect not to use than to have a bad system in there that no one can use.</font>

You got a valid point there.

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Anyhoo, just some random thoughts...

[Calcoran]

If I may add, it's even better to have a nice and all-encompassing system that people can elect not to use, AND disengage smoothly when they prefer to use a simpler system.
Something like the dual system standard_LUG/Spacedock ... although in this case I can hardly call the transition "smooth" .
Granted, designing a system with a modular complexity/realism is pretty hard ... but some managed it and I think it's worth it .

[Eric R.]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Don:


What Eric is saying is...

</font>

Exactly, Don, and without further comment from me

[Imagus]

Well, this is by no means official, but I asked one of the guys on the Decipher booth at Origins, and they said the first official stuff should hopefully start appearing around September/October time.

So given the usual industry-wide product slippage - I guess it'll just in time for Christmas!


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Slartibart-Jon

[Michael Brinkhues]

I'd prefer the GURPS approach:

Low level basic combat systems
High level but compatible combat system as an add-on

Put both in the basic rule book. Don't put any background in there (maybe some equipment)

Give me a second book with background and equipment. (Or even two)


Sure, that way I pay 120-180 marks (2-3 books) instead of 70. But I get more value and can even give the basic rules to a player.

Michael