Hello,

The Second session of my GURPS Star Trek game is happening tomorrow, Saturday the 11th.

Making last minute character adjustments and choosing maps.

I am trying to put the finishing touches on three characters. The three players are good role players but are only familiar with GURPS from 'years ago' as the wife of the couple put it.

Here is what they asked for that I have to approximate with Disadvantages or quirks:

The Husband, or Ship's Captain character wants this as quirks or disadvantages:
Methodical, Decisive, and idealistic

His wife, playing the Chief Communications Officer wants a version of this:
Broadminded, Determined, and "glimpses of Clarity".

Their teenage son is playing a Security or Tactical officer and wants this:
Responsible, Impatient, Methodical, 'Secretive', and Realistic.

Trying my best to match those requests or do approximate version of it all.

My Scenario I have a rough draft of in my head , but in a few minutes I will write an outline, hour by hour what I want them to encounter in the game. I am adapting an old Barry B. Longyear story called "Savage Planet" that appeared in ANALOG magazine February of 1980.
Loved the look of the aliens on the cover and finally read the story it is connected to. This will be tricky adapting it t the 'Star Trek' universe.
- Ed C.

Traditional Timeline or are you allowing the Kelvin Timeline to be included?

IIRC, the Federation-Klingon War was about to start around that time in both.

I will confess that I can't recall which era represents 2261. I do most of my Star Trek gaming in the TOS era, if that helps.

Not much to add to your campaign except for a map suggestion. If you can track down the old Task Force Games game called "Federation Space" you might like that map. (Their later version, "Federation & Empire" is probably a lot easier to track down but I don't like the map as well because they added in so many new Neutral Zones.) Again, this is done for the TOS era so if you want NG/DS9/Voy campaigns the map wouldn't help a lot.

You can see a picture of the map here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/image/123797/federation-space

It's a hex-based map so that helps when I want to figure travel times. I assume warp factors are linear instead of cubed, which solves a potential mess for any Star Trek map. (According to most Star Trek canon, WF 1 = 1*1*1 = 1x the speed of light, WF 2 = 2*2*2 = 8x the speed of light, WF 3 = 37x, all the way up to WF 8 = 512x. Putting WF1 and WF8 ships in the same universe is absurd.)

I like this version of the map because is features a "round" Federation bordered by Klingon and Romulan empires, yet also has a couple extra bad guys (Kzinti and Gorn) nearby so you can run diplomacy or espionage scenarios. Also there is an unclaimed area to the "north" of the Federation where you can set exploration scenarios. I like to extend the Tholians into a small circle and assume a small corridor that connects the Klingon and Romulan Empires to the "south" so they don't need to always travel through Tholian space.

Quote from: finarvyn on June 11, 2022, 08:55:14 AM
I will confess that I can't recall which era represents 2261. I do most of my Star Trek gaming in the TOS era, if that helps.

Not much to add to your campaign except for a map suggestion. If you can track down the old Task Force Games game called "Federation Space" you might like that map. (Their later version, "Federation & Empire" is probably a lot easier to track down but I don't like the map as well because they added in so many new Neutral Zones.) Again, this is done for the TOS era so if you want NG/DS9/Voy campaigns the map wouldn't help a lot.

You can see a picture of the map here:
https://boardgamegeek.com/image/123797/federation-space

It's a hex-based map so that helps when I want to figure travel times. I assume warp factors are linear instead of cubed, which solves a potential mess for any Star Trek map. (According to most Star Trek canon, WF 1 = 1*1*1 = 1x the speed of light, WF 2 = 2*2*2 = 8x the speed of light, WF 3 = 37x, all the way up to WF 8 = 512x. Putting WF1 and WF8 ships in the same universe is absurd.)

I like this version of the map because is features a "round" Federation bordered by Klingon and Romulan empires, yet also has a couple extra bad guys (Kzinti and Gorn) nearby so you can run diplomacy or espionage scenarios. Also there is an unclaimed area to the "north" of the Federation where you can set exploration scenarios. I like to extend the Tholians into a small circle and assume a small corridor that connects the Klingon and Romulan Empires to the "south" so they don't need to always travel through Tholian space.

2261 is TOS. As a reference, the Excelsior was launched in 2285.

Quote from: jeff37923 on June 11, 2022, 08:52:28 AM
Traditional Timeline or are you allowing the Kelvin Timeline to be included?

IIRC, the Federation-Klingon War was about to start around that time in both.

This group is in the 'Prime' timeline. I did the Kelvin timeline 10 years ago when it was fresh and new.
Both "ST Discovery" and "ST Strange New Worlds" inspired me to do something in that era.

- Ed C.

Regarding art...

If you're not averse to spending money, and you at least have a relatively modern computing rig, then you can use Daz3d to make art.

A lot of Trek fans out there, including Daz hobbyists. There are a lot of resources for Star Trek, including free ones (since they aren't licensed and you can't monetize them, but free/non-commercial use exists in a grey area, like all of fandom).

I attached one Star Trek-ish image that I did (it was a relatively quick one that I didn't do a lot with) and one inspired by Babylon-5. I think they are fairly identifiable in their contexts, anyway.

These aren't complicated to do, but there is a learning curve (and the more you spend, the more stuff you have to do this with).

Hey!

Let us know how the game went!

A useful website for TOS styled ships would be The Starfleet Museum.  It's non-canonical, but many ships have deck plans and those are what I love to find. 

https://www.starfleet-museum.org/

Again, it's not based on real ships seen on screen.   But I like the Asia class, the Comet class, the Hyperion, and the Avenger. 

Quote from: bromides on June 11, 2022, 03:25:34 PM
Regarding art...

....attached one Star Trek-ish image that I did (it was a relatively quick one that I didn't do a lot with) and one inspired by Babylon-5. I think they are fairly identifiable in their contexts, anyway.

I am NOT doing "Babylon 5" stuff, and the other illustration is more like the 24th century era 'Seven of Nine' sort of character. My campaign is in the 2260s. Neither of those images fits the mood, tone, or setting of the game I am running. Also, I am not made out of money - the COVID-19 pandemic basically closed down the store I had worked at for 17 years.
- Ed C.

Quote from: Koltar on June 12, 2022, 05:37:27 PM

Quote from: bromides on June 11, 2022, 03:25:34 PM
Regarding art...

....attached one Star Trek-ish image that I did (it was a relatively quick one that I didn't do a lot with) and one inspired by Babylon-5. I think they are fairly identifiable in their contexts, anyway.

I a not doing "Babylon 5" stuff, and the other illustration is more like the 24th century era 'Seven of Nine' sort of character. My campaign is in the 2260s. Neither of those images fits the mood, tone, or setting of the game I am running. Also, I am not made out of money - the COVID-19 pandemic basically closed down the store I had worked at for 17 years.
- Ed C.

It's an illustration of what you can do. It's not meant to say what you must do. I just don't work in that space of 2260s.

It's only meant to show you that you can mimic a variety of things in it. There's a lot of space to play because it's your imagination.
It's a toolbox, with which you can create art.

The toolbox includes starships, interiors, uniforms, and all manner of things.
There are a lot of resources for it which do cover the 2260s if you wish.

Like any hobby, it has a cost to it, though.
It can be done in a more economical way, but there's a cost.

I don't minimize the cost aspect since it is a hobby. It's more affordable than industrial/production-type models, but it costs like any other hobby.

Is there a black and white Star Trek coloring book available as scans out there somewhere?  That might provide some good base line art.

Quote from: David Johansen on June 12, 2022, 06:50:34 PM
Is there a black and white Star Trek coloring book available as scans out there somewhere?  That might provide some good base line art.

No sarcasm or snark is needed here.

When I asked for useful artwork' - I was not asking for either comedy or Babylon 5. Just meant there might be some websites I haven't seen yet that had easily 'savable' illustrations of classic era characters and views of ships.

- Ed C.

No snark or humour was intended.  There used to be some very nice Star Trek colouring books with good line art.  And I'll bet they've been scanned and put on-line somewhere.  Not photo realistic perhaps, but easily tweaked to meet uniform and skin colour needs.

For ship views, are you looking for something like Jaynz Starfleet Compendium (UPDATED AND APPROVED FOR TERRAN YEAR 2272)?

Quote from: Wisithir on June 13, 2022, 09:04:14 PM
For ship views, are you looking for something like Jaynz Starfleet Compendium (UPDATED AND APPROVED FOR TERRAN YEAR 2272)?

Anything related to Saladin class destroyers or Hermes class scouts would be great.
-Ed C.