Star Trek Week continues! I've amassed a few Star Trek RPG goodies over the years, and even tried to run a campaign or two, but real success has so far eluded me. The problem was recreating the feel of the shows, with their ensemble casts and large support crews. The players invariably went the realistic route and simply commanded their underlings to do the stuff they would have done themselves had it been a television program. Many role-players are, by nature, efficient resource managers, and you can't expect them to conveniently forget the technology and humanoid resources at their command like they do on the show.
The challenge then is how to adapt the RPG format - the "adventuring party" - to the Star Trek universe. In other words, what would make an interesting Star Trek series and still only use 3 to 5 characters with manageable resources? Here are five of my favorite ideas.
Runabout Survey Team
Not every mission requires a fully loaded starship! Join the Runabout crew where the highest rank you can aspire to is Lieutenant, exploring a sector Starfleet doesn't much care about, but that's about to become the key to the quadrant. At least you hope so. It happened to those Bajoran dudes. With still the possibility of going back to starbase for your recurring supporting cast, your characters will enjoy almost no support on missions, being the best self-contained and self-sufficient little crew in Starfleet. For extra thrills, replace with Survey Team with Special Ops. I almost got one of these off the ground years ago, but it never panned out for some reason.
Suggested system: Last Unicorn's Star Trek RPG
Warp Collapse
A few years after the TNG era, spacetime finally tears itself apart as a result of all the warp travel and warp fields become impossible to maintain around large starships. Suddenly, if the various powers of the quadrant want to stay in the space race, they have to convert to smaller ships and crews. Colonies are cut off from emergency supplies, starbases have to become self-sufficient, and only the best of the best can land posts on starships that now carry five people at most. And yet, the warp-capable races soldier on in their small, but well-equipped ships, exploring space, fighting battles and righting wrongs wherever they (even more) boldly go.
Suggested system: GURPS Space
Klingons
Every time we've been allowed aboard a cramped bird-of-prey, there's always been the definite sense that they have much smaller crews. You can enjoy the cannon fodder extras, or you can go even smaller with the B'rel-class ship. Either way, Klingons makes a great campaign for players hungry for battle, song and glory. Fans were clamoring for a Klingon tv series long before Enterprise came to our screens, and you know you won't have to deal with pesky Federation Paladin sensibilities.
Suggested system: Feng Shui
The Guardian of Forever
This one's for the geeks! If you and your players spend way too much time discussing the intricacies of star Trek continuity, you'll enjoy this time traveling campaign that allows you to visit key moments in Star Trek history and fight the Time War on your own terms. The Guardian of Forever has agreed to let you enter his dread portal because it seems someone in the Mirror Universe has been messing with both parallels' timelines using their own (evil) version of the Guardian. Now, you can revisit your favorite episodes!
Suggested system: TimeMaster
Secret War
Starfleet Intelligence. Section 31. The Tal Shiar. Klingon Intelligence. The Obsidian Order. The Ferengi Speculators. This the world of espionage, disavowed agents and impossible missions. The Star Trek universe has shown us plenty of spy organizations off which to build a campaign. Watch out for double agents!
Suggested system: Top Secret
What are your best ideas for a Star Trek RPG campaign?
The challenge then is how to adapt the RPG format - the "adventuring party" - to the Star Trek universe. In other words, what would make an interesting Star Trek series and still only use 3 to 5 characters with manageable resources? Here are five of my favorite ideas.
Runabout Survey Team
Not every mission requires a fully loaded starship! Join the Runabout crew where the highest rank you can aspire to is Lieutenant, exploring a sector Starfleet doesn't much care about, but that's about to become the key to the quadrant. At least you hope so. It happened to those Bajoran dudes. With still the possibility of going back to starbase for your recurring supporting cast, your characters will enjoy almost no support on missions, being the best self-contained and self-sufficient little crew in Starfleet. For extra thrills, replace with Survey Team with Special Ops. I almost got one of these off the ground years ago, but it never panned out for some reason.Suggested system: Last Unicorn's Star Trek RPG
Warp Collapse
A few years after the TNG era, spacetime finally tears itself apart as a result of all the warp travel and warp fields become impossible to maintain around large starships. Suddenly, if the various powers of the quadrant want to stay in the space race, they have to convert to smaller ships and crews. Colonies are cut off from emergency supplies, starbases have to become self-sufficient, and only the best of the best can land posts on starships that now carry five people at most. And yet, the warp-capable races soldier on in their small, but well-equipped ships, exploring space, fighting battles and righting wrongs wherever they (even more) boldly go.Suggested system: GURPS Space
Klingons
Every time we've been allowed aboard a cramped bird-of-prey, there's always been the definite sense that they have much smaller crews. You can enjoy the cannon fodder extras, or you can go even smaller with the B'rel-class ship. Either way, Klingons makes a great campaign for players hungry for battle, song and glory. Fans were clamoring for a Klingon tv series long before Enterprise came to our screens, and you know you won't have to deal with pesky Federation Paladin sensibilities.Suggested system: Feng Shui
The Guardian of Forever
This one's for the geeks! If you and your players spend way too much time discussing the intricacies of star Trek continuity, you'll enjoy this time traveling campaign that allows you to visit key moments in Star Trek history and fight the Time War on your own terms. The Guardian of Forever has agreed to let you enter his dread portal because it seems someone in the Mirror Universe has been messing with both parallels' timelines using their own (evil) version of the Guardian. Now, you can revisit your favorite episodes!Suggested system: TimeMaster
Secret War
Starfleet Intelligence. Section 31. The Tal Shiar. Klingon Intelligence. The Obsidian Order. The Ferengi Speculators. This the world of espionage, disavowed agents and impossible missions. The Star Trek universe has shown us plenty of spy organizations off which to build a campaign. Watch out for double agents!Suggested system: Top Secret
What are your best ideas for a Star Trek RPG campaign?
Comments
Another idea I had involved a Starfleet colony-based outpost. I figured this would allow players to explore an entire planet and give the GM a chance to do a bit of world-building.
Played a fair amount of FASA's Star Trek (a serviceable if unexciting system) many years ago. But we mostly played a bunch of oddball character who got stuck on a ship and sent off to the middle of nowhere to keep us out of command's hair.
Where a bunch of cadets on a training mission get themselves in a real life crisis and without the help of teachers/senior officers.
(yeah, taken from DS9:Valiant but a great premise nonetheless.
Dr Mi: Last Unicorn actually came out with a SF Academy boxed set (and then collapsed before they could finish a similar treatment for the Klingons). PRIORITIES!
Chops: You learn me well.
Fisher King is referring to my other blog, Hyperion to a Satyr which has the same title as his.
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In some ways, DS9 was an off-model Star Trek campaign as well...