SFC-FASA Trek RPG: Any fans left?

[Capt_Jason]

Are there any fans of the old Spaceflight Chronology-based FASA Star Trek RPG out there in this day and age of canon freaks and beagles in space? Are there any die-hard fans out there still clinging to tried, true but clearly "dated" ways?

To be sure there are perhaps dozens of FASA RPG sites on the net, and a great many of them still utilize the old gaming engine, but an even greater number of these sites bend and shape the backstory and chronology of the gaming system to conform with the current "canon" Trek timeline and universe.

In our opinion, this not entirely possible with any degree of success nor is it very coduscive to utilizing the gaming system as it was intended to be used.

Thus, the nature of this poll. The Star Fleet Network in association with Vance and Pixel Sagas is interested in this question. We consider ourselves fans of SFC/FASA Trek and would love to put together a database built around it. But we need your feedback.

Would such an archive/sandbox be wanted or needed? Would users of such a database be willing to work with the material as written and intended? The outcome of the poll will determine how we might go about proceeding with this project.

 

[Capt_Jason]

Well, I can see I've cocked up the poll listing. That RPG question should be on top, hehe.

Ugh AND the start date for the Poll

 

[Sec31Mike]

Well, I don't play it anymore. I do remember playing the FASA Star Trek game in the late 80s. My friends and I had a lot of fun with it. We had some intense battle sims going on the good old hex paper.

All my books were destroyed in a house flood while I was in boot camp (US Navy). I just never got around to getting replacements.

 

[Capt_Jason]

I'd just like to point out that...the Poll is now "officially" open for consideration. Many apologies for the errors made creating this poll in the first place.

Place your bets now!

 

[Unicron]

I never really played the RPG much, but I do think FASA made a consistent effort to make decent material. And it annoys me to no end that a lot of their stuff is considered "wrong" just because it was never incorporated onscreen. I haven't really seen that many sites for it around, but I do know a few.

 

[Sec31Mike]

When FASA was writing the game material there was next to no official background info out there. I think they did a great job filling in the massive blanks in Trek history, culture, and ship classes.

It would be like some off the street artist trying to paint a Picasso based upon one of his sketches.

 

[Unicron]

Indeed, and even today the bulk of that info doesn't conflict with a lot of what's been established in later shows. FASA did a pretty good job fleshing out the TOS/Movie era Klingon and Romulan fleets (somewhat less so with the Feds), and canonically we still know very little about these powers in that timeframe.

Personally, there are some things I think they handled better. I have always preferred their backstory for the Klingon BOP design, because the details were consistent and it avoided two problems that still are discussed by fans (what the correct size is and who really designed it). And there are five separate classes in the FASAverse.

One of the good sites I know has a lot of ship info. I could post it here if anyone wants to view it. It's a nice resource since you're not likely to be able to find any of the old Ship Recognition Manuals nowadays.

 

[Capt_Jason]

Well, the SFC/FASA 'verse certainly DOES contradict a great deal of official "canon" as far as the Romulans and Klingons go. According to FASA, the Klingons we see in TOS/TAS were Klingon-Human hybrids (Smacks of ENT a bit doesn't it?), and the Romulans were transplanted from Vulcan rather than migrating offworld en masse after the "time of the beginning" and Surak (A concept which is heavily supported by the Graham/Mandel 'verse).

I would dearly LOVE to jump into the SFC/FASA database "mode" with both feet if and when we see a clear demand for what is clearly alternative Trek in this day and age. I love messing about with Trek's limitless outcomes, and creating a solid databse of all things Spaceflight Chronology/FASA would be a project I would be happy to be a part of. I am counting on this poll here to sort of guage fan demand for such a thing. At the end of the day, I have to know that such a thing will actually be used before I can committ site resources to it.

The type of databse Iw ould like to develop would include the complete SFC/FASA chronology as written and as intended (complete with it's 2087 UFP Day date and 2207-12 date for TOS/TAS), an encyclopedia of sorts containing virtually every subject covered in SFC/FASA (right down to those fun anecdotal side panels in the SFC), full support for promoting the game system itself (which would include character forms, starship data tables, maps, etc), and technical material which can be converted from canon and non-canon sources alike for use in the SFC/FASA 'verse and game system.

A big unertaking? Yes...but one that has never been attempted to any satisfactory degree as far as I can tell.

Thoughts on this appreciated.

 

[Unicron]

* shrugs * It sounds like it conflicts more with the Romulan origin, now that ENT exists (although personally I would have preferred that there was more than one Klingon subrace, as FASA suggested). I'd just ignore it, the way I ignore canon stuff when episodes contradict each other.

FASA did do a good job of handling the alliance/technology exchange between the two empires, which has been vaguely hinted at canonically but never developed.

 

[Data Holmes]

Yes.

 

[straxus]

I would love to see such a database!
I have had FASA star trek books since high school and still buy them when I find them at used book stores. As someone who 3d modeled for the game star trek armada for a few years, I had worked on a large number of the FASA ships for game mods. Alot of the SFC modders did the same things.
When I can convince gaming groups to play in a star trek setting I always use my FASA stuff. (usually annoys them as they all want to play TNG era and I am a big fan of TMP era.) I found this thread while looking for some FASA star trek reference material.
I think my favorite creation of the FASA game was the Triangle! Actually prepping a game that will take place there.

 

[Unicron]

Here's the website I mentioned.

 

[Capt_Jason]

Thanks for the positive remarks thus far guys. While I am a little discouraged by the lack of responses on this, I am still willing to consider formatting the site for the SFC/FASA 'verse.

The way I see things, what do we really have to lose at this point? It seems clear Star Trek XI is going to go off and "do it's own thing" in many ways and with no other "official" materials forthcoming, why not?

 

[MarianLH]

I know TOS was all over the place with regard to how far in the future it was, but the "200 years" used by the SFC and FASA seems to have been the most common. I've been watching TOS on DVD as I can catch them at the library (they're always checked out), and so far I've noted no less than four references to TOS being about 200 years in the future.


"Where No Man Has Gone Before": Gary Mitchell reads poetry from the 1990s.

"Tomorrow Is Yesterday": the USAF colonel threatens to put Kirk in jail for "two hundred years". Kirk replies, "that sounds about right".

And, of course, there's "Space Seed" and The Wrath Of Khan.

Maybe this isn't news to anyone else, but prior to this the only 200 years referent I knew of was Khan.


Marian

 

[Capt_Jason]

I Quite agree with you Marian. By that very virtue alone, the SFC/FASA 'line has always been attractive to me as a basis for an alternate universe Trek. Combine that with the fact that SFC/FASA chronology is THE most complete fanon information source ever produced, I'd love to work the materials as is in a group setting.

I've spent the last month mulling over things (questioning why I am still a fan) and again I have to ask myself...why not? We have very little lose at this point.

That being said, I'd like to hear some input on content. I have a goodly portion of the FASA materials produced between 1980 and 1987. However, I am missing one invaluable piece of the puzzle, The Romulan War supplement. Also, I would require a working copy of The Orion Book Of Deep Knowledge. If any one has a facsimile copy or a spare they'd be willing to offer up for sale, please let me know. Beyond the core supplement books, I'd say we would approach the gaming modules with a certain degree of selectivity, as these secondary materials are often highly subjective.

If I am to convert my site into a SFC/FASA support base, then the content will be produced as written and as intended; no embellishments, no tweaks to make it fit facts established onscreen after 1986. I want to see a good unbiased reference base come out of this project. This will require a number of dedicated site contributors who would be willing to do the necessary scanning, typing, etc.

This project is without a doubt a MASSIVE undertaking and is beyond the capabilities (and time constraints) of a single editor (Me ). I will need help, I will need contributions, I will need a fanbase hehe.

Thoughts appreciated.

 

[Nerroth]

At the risk of sounding somewhat de-rail-ey, if you are looking for an alternate universe take on TOS, there is the likes of the Prime Directive RPG (which currently has rulebooks in GURPS and D20).

At the moment, there are Klingon and Romulan sourcebooks out for each, and the Federation book (well, books, if you count the GURPS and D20 versions sepaately) ahould be out sooner or later - plus work is proceeding on other sourcebooks, like Tholians (which should be interesting - not least because SFU Tholians used to rule an entire galaxy before being overthrown and forced to flee to the Milky Way to avoid annihilation... but eventually find that their usurpers decide to try and follow them to finish the job anyway!).

And the handy thing about PD is that it's still in-print, and looks likely not to go anywhere, in terms of ADB's continued existence (which doesn't seem to be too troubled, not least with the success of Federation Commander) - so even though they have been somewhat delayed with the likes of the Federation book, they are still planning on keeping PD alive for the foreseeable future.

 

[USS Intrepid]

I loved the old FASA RPG, and still have most of the books. A lot of them I picked up over the years via eBay. So yeah, I'd certainly be interested in such a site.

 

[Holytomato]

I downloaded all the FASA ST books from plunderbay.com :grin:

Have I read all of the them? No...:sob: But whenever I find time, I pop in the disk, and go back to the FASA Days. I also read the DC Comics Star Trek TOS comics, which relied on the FASA materials. The TNG tv series used concepts such as the Klingon Chancellor, and the Romulan designs. Last Unicorn Games' Price of Freedom, Among the Clans, and Way of Kolinar work as compendiums of what FASA did. ADB's Prime Directive is a brill continuation of FASA's efforts (Tholians, Feline Empires, and Gorn oh my). :thumbsup:

Oh...darn...where's that disk... ...I found it! ...The Orions! Ymm....

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

I used to play this. In fact I still would if my old gaming group hadn't scattered to the four winds. The Fasa system is still superior to both Icon and Coda imnsho. I was never fond of the SFC timelime but that was easily fixed, and once the dates were more to my liking I found the background history was very well done.

Here are two links to material that I used with the game. The first takes you to the timeline I was using, and the second to the game mechanics.

Timeline:
http://www.geocities.com/blademaster01757/FTTN-timeline.html

Game Mechanics:
http://www.geocities.com/blademaster01757/startrek.html

 

[straxus]

Well I know I am at the very least planning on writing up some info on the New New Aberdeen Shipyards of the AOFW in the Triangle, as well as some stats on AOFW ships (including construction manual charts.)
Though a number of the AOFW ships are starfleet hand-me-downs, the Triangle sourcebook does say they are capable of making their own ships and that they contract ship construction for other governments.