Happy Free RPG Day!
Our group played this system for a short bit. We loved the social combat system and the pooled resources. A good DM can absolutely make it feel like a Star Trek episode. Our problem with the system, is that you have to play the lawfull good guys for it to work well; just like a Star Trek episode. Our group likes to play morally grey.
You don’t have to play the good guys for the system to work, the same system is used for Dune - Adventures in the Imperium, and that’s a setting about as morally grey as it gets. Even with Star Trek Adventures, there is the Klingon Core Rulebook if you want to be a bit more rowdy than your typical Starfleet officers. The Operations Division sourcebook has suggestions for playing as Section 31 as well.
Oh wow, thanks for the heads up!
I’m excited to check this out.
I spent a while reading through this, and I gotta say that this is a really good RPG book. It’s very thorough, it’s well written for suggesting ways to play, it’s attractively formatted. This is a cool book.
It is a pretty gorgeous book - my biggest complaint is that it can be hard to quickly find and reference specific rules during gameplay. I’m hopeful that the Second Edition will have some imrpovements on that front.
I agree with that. Looking through, I find understanding the basic rules to be kind of a burden. It took me a while to realize that “Operations” is the rules section.
I think it makes sense to show players the character sheet early, because that’s the nexus through which they really experience the game. I like the demo scene towards the beginning, but I think a quickstart guide to explain basic rules to the players very, VERY clearly is usually a good idea.
Still, I’m continuously impressed at how well this adapts Star Trek to an RPG. I was initially skeptical that an RPG could take all the nonsense we see in decades of different shows and create a cohesive basis for all of it, but this is really impressive. I’d have to play to see if the rules feel balanced and natural, but at a glance, they make far more sense than plenty of other RPGs I’ve seen. I think this looks like a really fun game.
I think the secret to its success is that it puts narrative first, which makes it adaptable to all sorts of Star Trek nonsense.
I just wish the rulebook didn’t embrace that ethos quite as much as it does!
Agree 100%
