Modiphius Star Trek Adventures

[Dulak]

I've had every (actually still have, if I must be honest) Star Trek RPG to come along. Played some of them, read them all. Been kind of a long dry spell since the last plug was pulled on the Decipher system (I guess the Prime Directive stuff in the alt universe is still in production/print).

The PDF was reasonably priced, so I got it. But has anyone actually played the system yet. I'm familiar with GURPS, D&D, and have been playing Savage Worlds, Hollow Earth Expedition, Mutant Year Zero, and Legend of Five rings. But in reading through the mechanics, which don't seem bad, just a bit ALIEN to wrap my head around...Keeping track of various earned bonuses (Momentum AND Determination AND Threat for the GM).

The mechanics seem like they'd be OK, and i'm intrigued by the way solving tech problems might work, as well as starship combat. BUT the background provided and the poor way Starfleet and the Federation are explained make it seem like the GM will be referencing a lot of material from previous games and various tech manuals to make the game really feel like Trek. Am I wrong here?

 

[SheliakBob]

I have to admit, I hate the 2D20 system. The core part seems okay. It's the Momentum and Threat rules that give me fits. It's all too "Meta" for my tastes. You spend half of the game managing the M vs T economy of the system when you should be concentrating on the plot and characters.
The product is beautiful, have to give them that!
And...yeah. I get the impression that they assume everyone that is going to be playing it is a hardcore Trek gamer with a fairly deep level of familiarity with the universe. The background they provide seems kind of cursory, like an obligatory nod to the complete N00bies who might pick it up. I was kind of appalled by the very slim selection of ships and the similarly thin roster of opponents and threats.
eh. Truthfully, I haven't gotten a chance to run it enough to really get the hang of the system. It's that Momentum/Determination/Threat stuff that just keeps getting stuck in me craw. There's a new Quickstart out. I'm hoping that maybe the parred down version will be a little more palatable, for getting started anyway.
It sure is a pretty book, though...

 

[Jim Johnson]

The mechanics seem like they'd be OK, and i'm intrigued by the way solving tech problems might work, as well as starship combat. BUT the background provided and the poor way Starfleet and the Federation are explained make it seem like the GM will be referencing a lot of material from previous games and various tech manuals to make the game really feel like Trek. Am I wrong here?

It was a specific design intention going into the game that it not cover the same ground every other Trek RPG has done. We set the starting year at 2371, though the game rules support gaming in any Trek era. We didn't want to burn a lot of pages on all 50 years' worth of Trek history; all that is easily available in other resources and online. In the 14-odd years since the Decipher game, there are so many more online resources than ever before.

I think the first few chapters give a good grounding and overview, but the challenge for me personally there is that everyone I know is steeped in Star Trek lore, and I haven't heard much from casual fans or total Trek newbies to know if the book is inaccessible for people not at all familiar with the IP.

 

[SheliakBob]

I can't say I have any real problem with the background material as it is presented. There's a "why reinvent the wheel" economy of space in a Trek core book, with multiple previous licensed games, online resources, and a huge number of books, magazines, and articles to comb through--it does seem pointless to rehash things that most readers are already going to be familiar with. I would've liked to have seen more choices for player races and a LOT more on antagonists--but I'm guessing that stuff is coming in the quadrant sourcebooks.
I hope I can afford any of the stuff coming down the line. A hardcopy of the core book is still a little out of reach at the moment. Damn but that Borg Cube thingie was beautiful. Must be great being a 2%er! sigh.
While I was unimpressed with the sample scenario in the core book, and the Living Universe stuff is leaving me cold at the moment, the Adventures PDF was full of just the juiciest damn Trekkie goodness!
I have my problems with 2D20, and NONE of my regular circle of gaming buddies is inclined to even try it, but I still hope to run it at some point (or better yet, play it and THEN run it), maybe as a pick up game at a shop or convention.
And, did I mention that it is just a damn beautiful book?
'Cause it is.
verra purdy.

 

[Solariabsg25]

I'm hoping to pick it up at some point, but have a lot, and I mean of lot, of Bolt Action, Konflikt '47, Flames Of War, Team Yankee, Terminator Genysis and Warhammer 40K forces to assemble and paint so can't really go into another game system right now. I still have a fondness for the old FASA system, but am glad at least they seem to be concentrating on a Core Book and then some add-ons rather than like Decipher doing an entire Core Book for each Trek series.

 

[Dulak]

It was a specific design intention going into the game that it not cover the same ground every other Trek RPG has done....there are so many more online resources than ever before....but the challenge for me personally there is that everyone I know is steeped in Star Trek lore, and I haven't heard much from casual fans or total Trek newbies to know if the book is inaccessible for people not at all familiar with the IP.

Thanks for the reply Jim. Especially nice to hear from someone directly involved with the project. I do agree that there are more resources than ever before (and I have most of the RPG ones anyway...) and online.

I'm torn between wishing someone would do a rules free trek background book for use in gaming or just pulling races/places/events from say the trek wiki or some-such place.

I was hoping to hear from more people that have actually played the game to see how the mechanics work out, but perhaps I'll simply have to try it with all or part of my group.

Big fan of supporting the efforts of Trek RPGs each time they come out. Hope that this license can be held and worked on for longer than the previous versions that either had the licensing pulled because of disagreements or just lost interest.

 

[Jim Johnson]

I'm torn between wishing someone would do a rules free trek background book for use in gaming or just pulling races/places/events from say the trek wiki or some-such place.

Like the two-volume Star Trek Encyclopedia?

 

[Dulak]

I hereby downgrade myself from Trek Nerd.....I used the Star Trek Encyclopedia (and several tech manuals) for gaming back in college (won't say how long ago, but at the time FASA Star Trek was the only rpg in town for trek)...and somehow missed vol. 2.

Lol, going to have to check my stuff in case memory is faulty.

 

[Desert Kris]

So, I'm interested in this yet confused, is the physical book available, and what's the fastest way to get it? Amazon is showing it available in November or early 2018. If I order directly from Modiphius, are they shipping out physical copies as they receive orders, or is it already showing up in local gaming shops?

 

[Pauln6]

My hardback is still on order.

 

[Dulak]

There is a pretty cool option from Modiphius, for a bit more than the hardback itself (I think $90ish), you get not only the hardback when available, but also the PDF, AND the PDFs for a bunch of planned releases when they come out.

 

[Jim Johnson]

So, I'm interested in this yet confused, is the physical book available, and what's the fastest way to get it? Amazon is showing it available in November or early 2018. If I order directly from Modiphius, are they shipping out physical copies as they receive orders, or is it already showing up in local gaming shops?

Pretty sure the core books themselves are shipping immediately from Modiphius.net itself. Copies to US distributors and stores are in progress, last I heard, which is why places like Amazon and CoolStuff don't have copies yet. We had a bunch at GenCon, so it's possible a few have hit ebay, though I hope people are holding onto the books and playing the game...

 

[Dulak]

I ordered one last week and got an e-mailed shipping notification. Looks like it's on it's way.

 

[USS Triumphant]

There is a pretty cool option from Modiphius, for a bit more than the hardback itself (I think $90ish), you get not only the hardback when available, but also the PDF, AND the PDFs for a bunch of planned releases when they come out.

Sounds like basically what is called a "season pass" for video games, only for a tabletop RPG. Neat idea.

 

[Desert Kris]

Pretty sure the core books themselves are shipping immediately from Modiphius.net itself. Copies to US distributors and stores are in progress, last I heard, which is why places like Amazon and CoolStuff don't have copies yet. We had a bunch at GenCon, so it's possible a few have hit ebay, though I hope people are holding onto the books and playing the game...

Thanks!

 

[Dulak]

OK, I just got my hardback a few days ago. It is pretty. My middle aged eyes are still getting used to reading white text on black paper, but it's not really a problem. Here are my initial impressions as I'm reading through the book after several reads of various sections electronically.

1) The game mechanics seem like they will be simpler in play than they were at first to read. The Attribute/Discipline combo used to generate target numbers is pretty straightforward and not as alien as I had originally thought. I'll say this now, most of my difficulties internalizing the system seem to have stemmed from trying to read too much on PDF, it's just easier to have it on paper in front of me.

2) Everything in both the Operations/Conflict/Starship Operations/Combat rules seem to have pulled something off that has been difficult for role playing games to replicate. This will have to be tested further with other people in actual game play, but, I really think they have tweaked the mechanics of a role playing game to simulate effectively the FEEL of the Star Trek shows.

3) There may not be a ton of Federation ships and races in the core book, but there are more than enough to get started with the system. And for those who can't wait for supplemental material to come out, the races and ships are stated in such a way that extrapolation based on existing examples is highly feasible and wouldn't be overly crunchy for the game master who just has to have a certain race or ship in his game.

4) Lot's of resources on developing races/life/ and planets for adventures..in trek terms. And for developing missions that, once again, feel like the shows.

That's all for now. I'll try to update this as I do some actual playtests and gameplay. But, so far, I would recommend for anyone interested in gaming (pen and paper) in the Trekverse to give this game a try.

 

[Allen Shock]

Hi I am a big fan of Star Trek and of the Star Trek Adventures RPG. I have been running it pretty steadily since it came out and I love the system.

 

[Dulak]

Are you running the advancement system as written? And, how to the players find having the broad disciplines versus skills?

 

[Desert Kris]

I was happy to see that copies of the game arrived last week at my local game store, and went home with a copy.

So far I've mostly skimmed the fluff, I usually gradually take in the game system details. The art is beautiful and depicts some very exciting action situations, there's a good balance between TOS and TNG era Trek.

 

[TJ Sinclair]

I really need help/advice to decide if it's worth laying down the rather significant (for me) financial investment for this game. I was a big fan of the LUG and Decipher games, even though I never got to actually play them, the books are rather wonderful Trek resources, and there's so much that I'm seeing from Modiphius that looks awesome.

D20 systems aren't my preference, but I can live with it just fine. The miniatures give me pause, though. Is the system reliant on them? Or are they just for "flavor"/ease of visualization? If we're creating original characters, it seems weird that the minis are the TNG/Next Gen crews rather than more "generic" figures.

If you *had* the disposable income, would you buy the Limited Edition Cube? Or is it really just a lot of...extra trappings that are nice to look at, but aren't really worth the investment?

I...don't know what to do with this one, and it's driving me nuts.