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Pen & Paper Roleplaying Central => Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion => Topic started by: weirdguy564 on August 26, 2022, 12:59:57 PM

Title: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: weirdguy564 on August 26, 2022, 12:59:57 PM
I'm just looking for a game that can do Star Trek.  I'm not interested in the official game. 

Rules light to medium crunch is OK.  I'm not much of a fan of D&D style rules, but I get that those six attributes and are class are nearly ubiquitous.   

Right now the two games I'm looking at are:

1.  Tiny D6 Frontiers
2.  Starships and Spacemen
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: rkhigdon on August 26, 2022, 01:03:47 PM
Far Trek might work for your needs.  Can't post it from here at work, but I imagine you can find it easily enough.

*edit* Here's the link https://www.mediafire.com/folder/lrhbz9l0qay0j/Far_Trek

Where No Man Has Gone Before might also be a choice.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: Koltar on August 26, 2022, 05:56:58 PM
GURPS 4/e

I am currently running a Star Trek campaign set in the 2260s and I am using 'GURPS' 4th edition.

- Ed C.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: ForgottenF on August 26, 2022, 08:22:39 PM
I'll be curious to see what people come up with on this one. There isn't a science fiction game that I really love, yet.

Haven't played it but I know Savage Worlds has a number of sci fi sub-settings you could probably kit-bash into a serviceable Star Trek game.

Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: David Johansen on August 26, 2022, 08:44:43 PM
Galaxies In Shadow of course!  :D  http://www.uncouthsavage.com/uploads/1/3/3/2/133279619/_sf.pdf
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: S'mon on March 20, 2023, 08:24:31 AM
I actually used White Star with the Five Year Mission supplement to fill in some gaps https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/153685/Five-Year-Mission?affiliate_id=330920&

I used The Lucanii Drift https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/201735/The-Lucanii-Drift which is very good if you like a bit of a raunchy feel to your Trek.  The author certainly like catgirls. ;D
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: S'mon on March 20, 2023, 08:25:51 AM
Quote from: AlexBreengs on March 20, 2023, 06:39:08 AM
Hey there! As a fellow Star Trek fan, I gotta say that finding a great unofficial game can be a bit of a challenge. But fear not, I have a recommendation for you! Have you tried "Star Trek Timelines"? It's a really fun strategy game that lets you build your own crew and explore the galaxy. And while it's not quite the same as playing solitaire cash app (https://joywallet.com/article/solitaire-cash-review/), it's definitely worth checking out! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Is this an AI spambot? It's very good if so!  ???
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: rgalex on March 20, 2023, 08:55:03 AM
It's meant to be a little more Flash Gordon, but Cosmic Patrol could do Star Trek fairly easily.  It's pretty rules light, but eschews the typical 6 stats for 5 (Brawn, Brains, Charisma, Combat, Specialty) + a Luck Stat.  I've run it several times with pretty good results.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: Banjo Destructo on March 20, 2023, 09:41:13 AM
I like the Gurps "Prime Directive" books, if only for the setting/background information you can pull from them.

Then "Star Crawl" is a pretty good sci-fi/space adaptation of DCC RPG,  it's a game that is good for mimicking a range of settings from Star Trek to Star Wars to Flash Gordon and others.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: jeff37923 on March 20, 2023, 09:50:10 AM
Quote from: rkhigdon on August 26, 2022, 01:03:47 PM
Far Trek might work for your needs.  Can't post it from here at work, but I imagine you can find it easily enough.

*edit* Here's the link https://www.mediafire.com/folder/lrhbz9l0qay0j/Far_Trek

Where No Man Has Gone Before might also be a choice.

Another vote for Far Trek.

Why? IT HAS KZINTI!!



Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: squirewaldo on March 20, 2023, 10:15:47 AM
Quote from: weirdguy564 on August 26, 2022, 12:59:57 PM
I'm just looking for a game that can do Star Trek.  I'm not interested in the official game. 

Rules light to medium crunch is OK.  I'm not much of a fan of D&D style rules, but I get that those six attributes and are class are nearly ubiquitous.   

Right now the two games I'm looking at are:

1.  Tiny D6 Frontiers
2.  Starships and Spacemen

Where No Man Has Gone Before 2.0

http://trek.abillionmonkeys.com/
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: squirewaldo on March 20, 2023, 11:08:09 AM
Here is a setting that is more or less rules agnostic. It is produced in 3 blog posts. Has some interesting ideas:

https://ruleslightrpgs.com/2022/06/mini-setting-the-pan-sentient-confederation-part-1/ (https://ruleslightrpgs.com/2022/06/mini-setting-the-pan-sentient-confederation-part-1/)

https://ruleslightrpgs.com/2022/06/mini-setting-the-pan-sentient-confederation-part-2/ (https://ruleslightrpgs.com/2022/06/mini-setting-the-pan-sentient-confederation-part-2/)

https://ruleslightrpgs.com/2022/07/mini-setting-the-pan-sentient-confederation-part-3/ (https://ruleslightrpgs.com/2022/07/mini-setting-the-pan-sentient-confederation-part-3/)

I have been thinking of combining it was some lite rule system, but I would need to know there are some players looking to use it.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: migo on March 20, 2023, 12:37:40 PM
Quote from: weirdguy564 on August 26, 2022, 12:59:57 PM
I'm just looking for a game that can do Star Trek.  I'm not interested in the official game. 

Rules light to medium crunch is OK.  I'm not much of a fan of D&D style rules, but I get that those six attributes and are class are nearly ubiquitous.   

Right now the two games I'm looking at are:

1.  Tiny D6 Frontiers
2.  Starships and Spacemen

Which aspect of Star Trek do you want to emphasize? Is it Kirk having to battle with the Gorn captain? Is it Picard being captured and tortured by Cardassians? Is it Riker turning an alien from a planet of enforced asexuals into a woman with his masculine charm? Is it Seven of Nine having to process her trauma of being assimilated by The Borg?
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: GeekyBugle on March 20, 2023, 12:47:26 PM
Quote from: migo on March 20, 2023, 12:37:40 PM
Quote from: weirdguy564 on August 26, 2022, 12:59:57 PM
I'm just looking for a game that can do Star Trek.  I'm not interested in the official game. 

Rules light to medium crunch is OK.  I'm not much of a fan of D&D style rules, but I get that those six attributes and are class are nearly ubiquitous.   

Right now the two games I'm looking at are:

1.  Tiny D6 Frontiers
2.  Starships and Spacemen

Which aspect of Star Trek do you want to emphasize? Is it Kirk having to battle with the Gorn captain? Is it Picard being captured and tortured by Cardassians? Is it Riker turning an alien from a planet of enforced asexuals into a woman with his masculine charm? Is it Seven of Nine having to process her trauma of being assimilated by The Borg?

Of the four examples you provide IMHO

1 is rules and mechanics.
2 Is fade to black and roleplaying
3 Is roleplaying and maybe fade to black
4 Is pure roleplaying.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: ronwisegamgee on March 20, 2023, 02:15:37 PM
Quote from: weirdguy564 on August 26, 2022, 12:59:57 PM
I'm just looking for a game that can do Star Trek.  I'm not interested in the official game. 

Rules light to medium crunch is OK.  I'm not much of a fan of D&D style rules, but I get that those six attributes and are class are nearly ubiquitous.   

Right now the two games I'm looking at are:

1.  Tiny D6 Frontiers
2.  Starships and Spacemen

If you can unpack what you mean by "a game that can do Star Trek" into more actionable language, that'd make your request a lot clearer.

What is it about Tiny D6 Frontiers and Starships and Spacemen that have piqued your interest, especially in contrast to an official Star Trek TTRPG?
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: Baron on March 20, 2023, 03:07:13 PM
If you're just not interested in the "current" official licensed Trek rpg, then I'll throw my pointy ears into the ring for FASA Star Trek. Played it from its debut on, still playing it in recent years. We toss out the Action Points for melee, and pretty much handwave starship battles with simple skill/stat rolls now and then, but the character generation and skill system can't be beat, IMO. And I love percentage-based skills, so intuitive.

OTOH I've been convinced to give Far Trek a try next month, so we'll see how that goes.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: King Tyranno on March 20, 2023, 03:23:34 PM
Quote from: jeff37923 on March 20, 2023, 09:50:10 AM
Quote from: rkhigdon on August 26, 2022, 01:03:47 PM
Far Trek might work for your needs.  Can't post it from here at work, but I imagine you can find it easily enough.

*edit* Here's the link https://www.mediafire.com/folder/lrhbz9l0qay0j/Far_Trek

Where No Man Has Gone Before might also be a choice.

Another vote for Far Trek.

Why? IT HAS KZINTI!!

That's exactly why you should avoid it. Star Trek was the nucleus for many awful fan fiction tropes. And one of those was furries.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: GeekyBugle on March 20, 2023, 03:48:58 PM
Quote from: King Tyranno on March 20, 2023, 03:23:34 PM
Quote from: jeff37923 on March 20, 2023, 09:50:10 AM
Quote from: rkhigdon on August 26, 2022, 01:03:47 PM
Far Trek might work for your needs.  Can't post it from here at work, but I imagine you can find it easily enough.

*edit* Here's the link https://www.mediafire.com/folder/lrhbz9l0qay0j/Far_Trek

Where No Man Has Gone Before might also be a choice.

Another vote for Far Trek.

Why? IT HAS KZINTI!!

That's exactly why you should avoid it. Star Trek was the nucleus for many awful fan fiction tropes. And one of those was furries.

Furries come directly from Manga/Anime.

Kzin are a much more interesting race to play as than Klingons while sharing many points:

Honor bound warriors
space faring species

On the plus side Kzinti AREN'T humans with rubber foreheads. And I'm a Trekkie since I first saw my first episode of ST:TOS.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: Baron on March 20, 2023, 03:51:46 PM
Kzinti are Niven's creation, and they made their Trek debut in the 1970s Animated Star Trek.

Also fan fiction pretty much exploded onto the scene as a result of Star Trek, and we got some very good fiction out of it. Along with all the other SF&F fan fiction that's come along after.

"Furries" OTOH are just weird. I went to plenty of Trek conventions in the 70s and 80s, and knew a few fan fiction authors and artists, but never met or even saw a furry.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: Baron on March 20, 2023, 03:56:53 PM
Quote from: GeekyBugle on March 20, 2023, 03:48:58 PM
Kzin are a much more interesting race to play as than Klingons while sharing many points:

Honor bound warriors


I'm a TOS fan. Klingons didn't get that "honor" thing until John Ford gave them his personal spin in the early '80s. Then we got Worf beginning in '87, and Klingon background and culture exploded like a bin full of tribbles. But I prefer the TOS Klingons.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: Foxxxy Bruin on March 20, 2023, 03:57:20 PM
Quote from: jeff37923 on March 20, 2023, 09:50:10 AM
Quote from: rkhigdon on August 26, 2022, 01:03:47 PM
Far Trek might work for your needs.  Can't post it from here at work, but I imagine you can find it easily enough.

*edit* Here's the link https://www.mediafire.com/folder/lrhbz9l0qay0j/Far_Trek

Where No Man Has Gone Before might also be a choice.

Another vote for Far Trek.

Why? IT HAS KZINTI!!

Prime Directive has Kzinti as well.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: migo on March 20, 2023, 04:10:19 PM
Quote from: Baron on March 20, 2023, 03:56:53 PM
Quote from: GeekyBugle on March 20, 2023, 03:48:58 PM
Kzin are a much more interesting race to play as than Klingons while sharing many points:

Honor bound warriors


I'm a TOS fan. Klingons didn't get that "honor" thing until John Ford gave them his personal spin in the early '80s. Then we got Worf beginning in '87, and Klingon background and culture exploded like a bin full of tribbles. But I prefer the TOS Klingons.

Klingons did a lot of talking about honor, but even in TNG and DS9 you didn't see it through their actions. Like with a lot of things in Star Trek (Mirror, Mirror should have just been a transporter accident with a bubble universe created by Kirk and Spock's psyche- no return in DS9; Section 31 should have remained in Sloan's mind- no return in Enterprise), it makes the most sense if you see Klingon Honor as Worf's idealization of Klingon culture, and nothing like what they actually are.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: S'mon on March 20, 2023, 05:05:49 PM
Quote from: migo on March 20, 2023, 04:10:19 PM
Klingons did a lot of talking about honor, but even in TNG and DS9 you didn't see it through their actions. Like with a lot of things in Star Trek (Mirror, Mirror should have just been a transporter accident with a bubble universe created by Kirk and Spock's psyche- no return in DS9; Section 31 should have remained in Sloan's mind- no return in Enterprise), it makes the most sense if you see Klingon Honor as Worf's idealization of Klingon culture, and nothing like what they actually are.

Apparently in Star Trek 2 they intended to have Romulans as the villains, hence all the Honour stuff. They switched to Klingons but kept the script. And thus Klingons became (nominally) honourable!
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: migo on March 20, 2023, 05:08:31 PM
Quote from: S'mon on March 20, 2023, 05:05:49 PM
Quote from: migo on March 20, 2023, 04:10:19 PM
Klingons did a lot of talking about honor, but even in TNG and DS9 you didn't see it through their actions. Like with a lot of things in Star Trek (Mirror, Mirror should have just been a transporter accident with a bubble universe created by Kirk and Spock's psyche- no return in DS9; Section 31 should have remained in Sloan's mind- no return in Enterprise), it makes the most sense if you see Klingon Honor as Worf's idealization of Klingon culture, and nothing like what they actually are.

Apparently in Star Trek 2 they intended to have Romulans as the villains, hence all the Honour stuff. They switched to Klingons but kept the script. And thus Klingons became (nominally) honourable!

That explains half of it. Were Romulans as portrayed in TOS honorable? Use of cloaking technology strikes me as quite not honorable.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: jhkim on March 20, 2023, 05:08:40 PM
Quote from: Baron on March 20, 2023, 03:56:53 PM
Quote from: GeekyBugle on March 20, 2023, 03:48:58 PM
Kzin are a much more interesting race to play as than Klingons while sharing many points:

Honor bound warriors

I'm a TOS fan. Klingons didn't get that "honor" thing until John Ford gave them his personal spin in the early '80s. Then we got Worf beginning in '87, and Klingon background and culture exploded like a bin full of tribbles. But I prefer the TOS Klingons.

John Ford's take was very rooted in TOS episodes like "Day of the Dove", where the Klingons were clearly portrayed as having honor. Their style of honor was mostly modeled on Russians, but they clearly had values like truth, loyalty, honor, etc.

In TNG, they were changed to be more based on stereotypes of Japanese warrior culture - with traditional bladed weapons, formalities, and clans as the most prominent parts of their culture.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: GeekyBugle on March 20, 2023, 05:57:19 PM
Quote from: jhkim on March 20, 2023, 05:08:40 PM
Quote from: Baron on March 20, 2023, 03:56:53 PM
Quote from: GeekyBugle on March 20, 2023, 03:48:58 PM
Kzin are a much more interesting race to play as than Klingons while sharing many points:

Honor bound warriors

I'm a TOS fan. Klingons didn't get that "honor" thing until John Ford gave them his personal spin in the early '80s. Then we got Worf beginning in '87, and Klingon background and culture exploded like a bin full of tribbles. But I prefer the TOS Klingons.

John Ford's take was very rooted in TOS episodes like "Day of the Dove", where the Klingons were clearly portrayed as having honor. Their style of honor was mostly modeled on Russians, but they clearly had values like truth, loyalty, honor, etc.

In TNG, they were changed to be more based on stereotypes of Japanese warrior culture - with traditional bladed weapons, formalities, and clans as the most prominent parts of their culture.

Thank you! Yes, TOS Klingons were portrayed as honorable, just not a Samurai stand-in.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: King Tyranno on March 20, 2023, 06:28:17 PM
Quote from: jhkim on March 20, 2023, 05:08:40 PM
Quote from: Baron on March 20, 2023, 03:56:53 PM
Quote from: GeekyBugle on March 20, 2023, 03:48:58 PM
Kzin are a much more interesting race to play as than Klingons while sharing many points:

Honor bound warriors

I'm a TOS fan. Klingons didn't get that "honor" thing until John Ford gave them his personal spin in the early '80s. Then we got Worf beginning in '87, and Klingon background and culture exploded like a bin full of tribbles. But I prefer the TOS Klingons.

John Ford's take was very rooted in TOS episodes like "Day of the Dove", where the Klingons were clearly portrayed as having honor. Their style of honor was mostly modeled on Russians, but they clearly had values like truth, loyalty, honor, etc.

In TNG, they were changed to be more based on stereotypes of Japanese warrior culture - with traditional bladed weapons, formalities, and clans as the most prominent parts of their culture.

The FASA Klingons were so cool. I've read the Ford books and I was very disappointed with how the Klingons turned out in Next Gen. There were some things about the FASA Klingons that were goofy. Like the idea of genetically modified infiltrators to messily describe the discrepancy between TOS and TMP Klingons. But the culture was very interesting and I would've liked to have seen that explored more in a series or film. FASA Trek is something I'd like to run at some point. Just without the rules. Probably end up using Far Trek or Traveller.

Actually Traveller would be my pick for a Trek game. It's good for giving your party members specialisations like the crew of a starship. You can give packages of skills similar to base MGT whilst still doing the life path stuff. Just ask the players to ensure that by the end of that they go to Starfleet Academy. And Traveller has some of the best rules for open ended space exploration. But you may need to adapt them for a more Star Trek style of exploration compared to Traveller's baked in concepts.

Actually at one point I was working on a kinda sorta Star Trek flavoured version of Traveller. At least Trek themed space exploration as an add on to MGT2. Set in the early years of the Federation with sandbox tables to fill out a hex grid with. If anyone wants to have a look give me a shout, I'd love some feedback.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: Spinachcat on March 20, 2023, 06:31:05 PM
Love to hear more about Far Trek.

Anybody run a campaign?
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: S'mon on March 20, 2023, 07:08:30 PM
Quote from: migo on March 20, 2023, 05:08:31 PM
That explains half of it. Were Romulans as portrayed in TOS honorable? Use of cloaking technology strikes me as quite not honorable.

In their first appearance they were "Romans in Space" - hence the name. Their tech was completely different from Federation tech, and generally vastly inferior - no Warp(!), plasma & nuclear weapons - the nuclear blast was portrayed as very powerful, I liked that - but a cloaking device. The episode was basically German U-boat vs US Navy Destroyer.
Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: Venka on March 20, 2023, 11:15:30 PM
Quote from: AlexBreengs on March 20, 2023, 06:39:08 AM
Hey there! As a fellow Star Trek fan, I gotta say that finding a great unofficial game can be a bit of a challenge. But fear not, I have a recommendation for you! Have you tried "Star Trek Timelines"? It's a really fun strategy game that lets you build your own crew and explore the galaxy. And while it's not quite the same as playing solitaire cash app, it's definitely worth checking out! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

I don't know what's worse, that a bot would be doing this, or a man.  I'm so tired of spam.  If a meteor was gonna hit the earth, that's one of the things I would think.  "Welp, that's it for spam!".  It wouldn't be much, but I would definitely think it.

Title: Re: Best unofficial Star Trek game recommendation?
Post by: jhkim on March 21, 2023, 02:00:15 AM
Quote from: S'mon on March 20, 2023, 07:08:30 PM
Quote from: migo on March 20, 2023, 05:08:31 PM
That explains half of it. Were Romulans as portrayed in TOS honorable? Use of cloaking technology strikes me as quite not honorable.

In their first appearance they were "Romans in Space" - hence the name. Their tech was completely different from Federation tech, and generally vastly inferior - no Warp(!), plasma & nuclear weapons - the nuclear blast was portrayed as very powerful, I liked that - but a cloaking device. The episode was basically German U-boat vs US Navy Destroyer.

I feel like they're more Japanese than Roman. Their suicide mission using their new submarine against the technologically superior Federation gives that feel. Fanatic loyalty to the empire is their style of honor.