New site about old Trek RPGs

[mechascorpio]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've started a new blog to chronicle the history of old school Star Trek and Trek-related RPGs, miniatures and wargames.

http://groknard.blogspot.com/

Much of what I'll be reviewing is pre-FASA material such as Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier (Heritage, 1978), Space Patrol (Gamescience, 1977), Starships & Spacemen (FGU, 1978), Starfleet Voyages (Terra Games, 1982) and the very little-known Japanese Star Trek RPG from 1983, Enterprise.

I also be covering a few wargames such as Star Fleet Battle Manual (Gamescience 1972), Star Explorer (FGU, 1982) and Star Trek: The Invasion of Klingon Empire (Tsukuda Hobby, 1982), and the Star Trek 25mm miniatures lines of Heritage Models, Citadel and FASA.

Please stop by if you're at all interested in reading about, seeing and helping me document some of this "lost" history!

[mechascorpio]

Just posted a pretty cool update to my blog about a piece of Trek RPG history not a lot of people know (or probably care!) about.



This is a 1983 Japanese Star Trek RPG called "Enterprise", the first Japanese domestic boxed roleplaying game ever released in Japan. That makes 5 officially licensed Star Trek RPGs -- Heritage, Tsukuda, FASA, LUG and Decipher -- through the years (6 if you count PD, which I don't, but oh well!). Click on the pic to read more and see pics of what was inside the box.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

awesome.

[Calastir]

I'm wondering how the stats for Sulu, Scotty, Chekov and Uhura from this system compare to the ones I posted in the topic "TOS stats in CODA" in the Narrator's Ready Room Forum.

If you could post their stats on your site so that I may compare for myself, I'd very much appreciate it!

Anyway thanks for sharing this information, I also think it's awesome!

[mechascorpio]

Great idea! I will post the stats for all of the characters tonight or tomorrow, along with some closeup scans.

[Barking Alien]

This is an awesome resource and as a collector of both Star Trek RPG materials and Japanese TRPGs I can't thank you enough for this information on the Enterprise game.

Fantastic stuff. I look forward to readng further.

AD
Barking Alien

[Calastir]

Thanks for the quick response in posting those stats on your website, mechascorpio!
It's interesting to see how the Basic attributes for those 5 characters compare from 'Enterprise' to 'CODA':

STR > Str
Of these 5 characters in 'Enterprise', Kirk's got the highest Strength, as in my CODA version with Scotty close behind and Uhura as one of the weakest.
DEX > Agl
Kirk's also got the highest Dexterity, with Scotty close behind and Uhura as the slowest. In my version all the characters have the same Agility, with Scotty close behind.
IQ > Int
Kirk's also got the highest IQ and that doesn't seem right to me. Kirk's more a man of action than a thinker. It's usually Sulu and Scotty that come up with the technical solutions, so I gave them both the highest Intelligence scores.
Chekov finishes last. In my version he's just as intelligent as Kirk and Uhura, only not as perceptive.
CHA > Prs
Kirk's also got the highest Charisma, as in my version. Followed by Uhura and Scotty finishing last. (Even though he is Chief Engineer and Lieutenant Commander). In my version, it's Sulu who gets the lowest Presence. (That'll probably change after he's promoted to Captain of the Excelsior.)

Does 'LUC' compare to CODA's Courage points, you think? In that case, Kirk's also the winner in both versions.

All in all, pretty close so far!

Looking forward to part 2 with the stats of the other TOS characters: Spock, McCoy, Chapel, Rand, Commander Kang the Klingon, Stonn the Vulcan and Subcommander Tal the Romulan...

[mechascorpio]

Thanks for the quick response in posting those stats on your website, mechascorpio!

You're very welcome, thanks for the great idea! It really was interesting to chart out the stats, not just to compare the numbers, but to compare which stats were selected by all the game systems, and the summary mechanics themselves.

Personally, I think your stats are closer to "reality". When looking at Enterprise's characters side-by-side, there are a couple of conclusions that, well, made me raise a single eyebrow. Looking at the stats in the FASA book seem much closer to the mark. Unfortunately, the LUG and CODA books don't really gather or (as you've noticed) always stat out the TOS bridge crew, so it's not as easy to do the same comparison.

Looking forward to part 2 with the stats of the other TOS characters: Spock, McCoy, Chapel, Rand, Commander Kang the Klingon, Stonn the Vulcan and Subcommander Tal the Romulan...

Definitely coming, probably this weekend. Going to dig a little deeper this time and translate the notes and special abilities listed (in Japanese) on the cards.

Also up last night, a post about the future (or lack thereof) of a Trek RPG in light of the new movie. I'll probably revisit this, because I'd like to see if I could get some information from CBS Products themselves on the issue.

[mechascorpio]

Quick update before I head out. I've finished translating the Japanese "Enterprise" RPG, and started posting some excerpts from it this week. Turns out is a pretty cool (albeit a bit primitive!) little game. Drop by if you're interested!

Character Creation
Combat

Coming in the next day or two, details about the adventure module that was included with the game, "The Drifting Ring".

[Pantoufle]

Interesting stuff, thanks for sharing