LUGTrek - a question ??

[Fugazi Grrl]

I've been a loyal FASA player for... a long time. I think I created my first character using the system 17 years ago. Of course the game's been around a lot longer than that.

But, I'm always open to new things, and since I've done all my RPGing in the TNG era or later, an updated game with some info on things in that period is always interesting to me.

I've already ordered a CODA set, and intend to give it a try. But, I see a lot of players like LUG's ICON system too....

I haven't tried to pick up a set of ICON books yet because they seem to be pretty expensive on e-bay, or Amazon's Market Place. I did the math and I think it would be around $400 for a full set between those two sources.

Someday, though, I might find a good deal.

Now... my question... I have heard that ICON's rules do not allow players to play command-level characters - bridge officers, captains, etc....

Here's my problem with that: for any campaign I'll be involved in, I'll be simply converting the established characters we already have from all those years playing FASA. I know there's several methods available on line for doing that.

But, after so many years of role-playing, it goes without saying these characters are all senior officers, bridge officers, and relatively well experienced.

Soooo... is there a way to fudge aroun' it and play a senior officer/department head etc. in ICON ? Or are the rules just not structured that way ?

[Cut]

If I recall correctly you can use the rules found in the corerules (Either TNG, DS9 or TOS as they each had their own respective corebook) to create characters of every experience level you desire. There is no guideline though for creating more seasoned and expirienced characters. The character creation process can be broken down into the use of development points (DP). If you allow for more DP to be used during character creation, you can surely create characters, that are more powerful and more experienced than those characters, that just use the basic creation method of the rules. But as I said, there are no numbers given, so no table says: a starting ensign character uses xxx DP to build an XO ranking commander one should allocate xxx DP. You have to come up with your own ideas, what a more seasoned officer should have learned so far and allow for the distribution of a certain bigger number of DP. Once you get a feeling for the ICON rules and how the system works, you'll surely find it possible to transfer your previous character's capabilities over into the ICON system, and calculating what ammount of DP seems to be neccesary to do so.

Aside from the Corerules, the Player's Guide sourcebook (a book I highly recommend getting once you decide to persue ICON as a system) offers some more insight into this matter also. Although I don't recall right now, what this was. I think, something about creating Department Head positions...

But other gamers here will surely offer more advice

[Dan Gurden]

Yeah. You seem to have heard incorrectly.

Whenever we played we always played as Command Level Characters. The way the system works is this.

Pick a Species.
This gives you your base stats and species specific skills
Pick a Role.
This gives you your Starfleet Role, and covers all the standard TNG roles.

Then you tailor it, with packages that give you additional skills/stats/edges following the path;

Early Life (your childhood)
Academy (Additional Training)
Cadet Cruise (either 1 point to spend anywhere or a package of skills that are worth a bit more)

This would get you a freshly minted ensign, wet behind the ears and out of the academy. But from here you now get the Tours of Duty. 1st tour is worth 10 development points, each additional tour is worth 5points and last 1D6+1 years (or narrator specified time), each tour should represent the most significant event.

Simply purchase tours to taste, and feel free to tailor the points.

What the information you got probably meant was that its difficult to make Command Characters on a par with those in the TV series, but for a starting character and with some re-allocation of points its easy. The rules allow for you to run characters with different levels of experence, as there are fixed DPs for the packages, but no limit for the number of packages. This can vary between players so your capain could be more experienced and skilled than the young ensign at CONN.

Now as for books.

The DS9 Core Rules is best. It gives you the same game rules, but also the relevant species and civilian rules (which are slightly different allocation of points), and in a section at the back of the book all the relevant Federation species and Starfleet generation rules from the TNG core book.

After that the TNG Players Guide is best, this gives you a few more roles/character generation options/species/psionics and some add on rules...

Those two would cover you for the game. Everything else is just gravy.

[Fugazi Grrl]

That does sound like an easy system. Of course, I'd be converting characters from a 17 year old FASA campaign.

Here's an example:

Lt. Commander Baxala Sodi - Flight Control Chief. Half-Betazoid. Spent her teenage years in a Klingon street gang, before trying the IDF for a year. Got into trouble, made her way to Earth, and falsified her entry exam to get into Starfleet.

All would have been pretty rough for her if Picard himself hadn't vouched for her, saying she was the most gifted pilto he had ever seen.

Picard carries a lot of weight !

So, in Baxala's case I'd need a DP for the Klingon gang thing... and the DS9 book sounds like it might cover that sort of thing better. But... I love the look of the TNG book.

So, I'd probably try to grab both, as well as the other book you mentioned. First I'm gonna try CODA. But, I'll keep an eye out for the LUG books on e-bay and Amazon.

I just did a search on Amazon, and didn't see any of the core books. I prefer Amazon...

[Owen E Oulton]

To convert an existing character, rather than re-generating it, you could convert it. My site has conversion notes, and FASA is covered, in fact it's used as an example:

http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/game/s...se/convert.htm

[Sarge]

I agree with Dan Gurden; the DS9 corebook and TNG player's guide will cover the vast majority of your gaming needs. Some of the sourcebooks are great resources too, especially the Andorian book, Among the Clans.

[Fugazi Grrl]

To convert an existing character, rather than re-generating it, you could convert it. My site has conversion notes, and FASA is covered, in fact it's used as an example...

You know, I found your site to be invaluable in converting from FASA to CODA. I couldn't make heads or tails out of the ICON to CODA conversion because I don't own the ICON rules. But, I followed the number ratios on your site, and, based on the fact that CODA basically runs everything (attys and skills) on 1-12, and ICON uses 1-6, I was able to find a quick way to convert my characters.

And if and when I do get the LUG books, I'll be visiting your site again !!