GenCon

[Phantom]

November, eh. Darn it that 2 things now I have wait 3-4 months for. (flops himself down, muttering, into a chair in the corner.)

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In the Praetors Name!

[Psylent 1]

What about classes? I heard they were going to use a D&D3e "prestige class"-like system to handle overlays and advanced training.
For example; Advanced medical training might be a 5 level p-class, Advanced tactical might be 10 level p-class, and maybe Transporter operations just a 3 level p-class.

[Phantom]

Oh, I hope not.

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In the Praetors Name!

[ImperialOne]

I do believe (as in you better believe it) that the Decipher Trek is an original rules system in the sense that it is definitely not D20 based (nor licensed).
I believe the earlier info posted here on TrekRPGnet stated a 2D6+ system is used here, not D20.

I just hope the rules stay consistent with the old ICON system (i.e. lethal combat, focus on character development).

I can't wait for Decipher Trek to be released!

[Steve Long]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">So, my big question is whether DecTrek is a "licensed" d20 system, or is it another home-grown design?</font>

It's not D20. We're still setting on a name for it. As noted above, it uses 2d6.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">It was also nice to get a chance to meet some of the LUGgers. I chatted with you briefly, Steve, before returning a few hours later for the demo.... which I think was run by Ross Isaacs. But that's a guess... not many of you were wearing name tags.</font>

Believe me, the lack of names on the badges was not our idea. It was incredibly annoying. The persons responsible have been lined up against the wall and shot.

Steve Long

[REG]

2d6, huh? I can live with that.

Of course, I wonder if the skill and specialization will be an improvement over the other system, especially during character creation and character improvement/advancement.

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Anyhoo, just some random thoughts...

[prophetsteve]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">What about classes? I heard they were going to use a D&D3e "prestige class"-like system to handle overlays and advanced training.
For example; Advanced medical training might be a 5 level p-class, Advanced tactical might be 10 level p-class, and maybe Transporter operations just a 3 level p-class. </font>

I think you read Dons post about the new Trek game wrong. Don was saying that you could make the characters like the old system but there were alos professions so you could specialize within the field - he said they were like Prestige Classes in that way.

But I think we can say there are no experience levels here. Thank Great Maker Roddenberry for that.

Heres wishing the Decipher had gotten the Star Wars game too...

[Cochrane]

Did anyone at the convention learn anything about what supplements to expect when? or what the player races are? Anything about ships?

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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!

[Lapdog]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Cochrane:
Did anyone at the convention learn anything about what supplements to expect when? or what the player races are? Anything about ships?</font>

Er.... no. Sorry.
I didn't hear any word about specific supplements. I know that they had plans to release separate books (after the core books) that focused on the different eras... but no talk of dates or any other scheduled releases. (They likely have their hands quite full with just the core books,... not to mention the Lord of the Rings Rpg following on Trek's heels).
Most of the discussions I was involved in dealt more with the changes (and improvements) to the Icon System, the divided content between the 2 core books (Player's and Referee's), etc.
As for available players races,... I'd make the assumption, since the core books will have to cover 4 (5?) distinct eras, that there'll be an extensive list to choose from.

[Cochrane]

Will the Movie Series get its own sourcebook alongside the four TV series?

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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!

[Lt. Dade]

Hey, Lapdog... I think I played in that same game with you. I was the Bajoran security guy in the Saturday demo (noonish). We hung out in the dome's observation room?

A few more things we learned about the game: Species Abilities and Professional Abilities. These are things like the Vulcan Nerve Pinch (Species) and Commanding Presence (Professional) and they're a little bit like Feats, but different. <g> They play with various rules schemes, like Courage and coordinated actions. All good stuff.

The way equipment is handled is *much* better. Rather than being skilled with a tricorder to use it, a tricorder just adds a bonus to skill checks. This seems to be much more logical for gameplay issues (and Trek issues, wherein technologies are often the magic keys you need to further the quest).

Character advancement does use experience milestones of a sort. Something like levels, but less restrictive. Characters grow more and more distinct as they go on. I felt that the Advancements made it feel a bit like your character was always going through the excellent Icon character creation process. That is, my character learns Skills X,Y,Z from his Deep Space Missions (where he earned his 1000 XP and Advancement). Then he moves on to a Colony mission and picks up a new Advantage (or what have you). Good stuff, still.

I ran the Icon trek games last year at GenCon (to uniformly packed tables), had a blast and met a lot of great folks. This game looks to be great where Icon was great, and better everywhere else. I am very, very psyched.

word,
will

[Lapdog]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Lt. Dade:
Hey, Lapdog... I think I played in that same game with you. I was the Bajoran security guy in the Saturday demo (noonish). We hung out in the dome's observation room?</font>

Hey! Must have been you.
Excellent to hear you post around here.

Definitely a cool demo. Great fun leaping across the damaged staircases, puzzling over alien artifacts, while the Captain and the other officer were (rather oddly) exploring the adjoining corridor.

I must admit... I felt a little sheepish when the Demo-er (Ross, I think) announced the presence of a (Cardassian)"...."-class starship orbiting the planet. I'm so unfamiliar with DS9-era Trek (being more a TOS and TNG fan) that I sat there confused and thought, "Gee. Is that bad? Should I be doing something?" Heh.

Anyway, great to hear from you. Perhaps I'll see you next year.



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Lapdog
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/duneroleplayinggame

[Phantom]

I think you are referring to Galor-class cruiser.

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In the Praetors Name!

[Cyradis]

The demo was one of the first things I did at the con, and I really enjoyed it, even if my group was a bit fascinated by the shiny buttons.

I think what I appreciated most was the way the skill system seemed to be scaled down. Game play ran smoothly, and the drama die has disappeared. I can't say I'll miss it very much.

Alison

[Phantom]

I must say that I am looking forward to the launch of this new game. One thing has me a bit troubled, however, and maybe those who played the demo can help clear it up. I read somewhere above that the new system uses an exploding die concept for critical success, but in an example of the players character in play he rolled the lowest that was possible and yet succeeded in the task because of modifiers. Now, my question, is there a "critical fumble" roll or dose the system use if you have the mods to push you over the edge you succeed at the task at hand? If that is the case then I see, at least IMO,a problem right from the start, that being once a character reaches a certain level of proficiency he can't fail at a given task. Which is an aspect I rather frown on in games...there must always be the chance of failure, no matter how small.

If I have misunderstood the situation well and good, but if I haven't then I hope it will be something that will be clarified by those who are in power.

Thank you.

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In the Praetors Name!