Has anyone combined the two?

I ask because I'm looking to run a very lame, short-term Star Trek campaign based on Star Trek Voyager (hence the lameness.) So I'm wondering how easy it is to marry the old FASA year-by-year chargen to GURPS 4e point-buy. (I'm not sure, but GURPS Traveller fans may have some insight. Also, I do not have Prime Directive, and am not really interested in buying it, but sell me on it if you wish.)

My idea is this: the rolls the player makes on various charts determines how he/she may spend his/her points. Eventually those rolls will cut off avenues of advancement, but those characters cut off from advancing will still have a part of their CP to spend more or less as they wish. The idea being:  those who advanced farthest studied hardest on relevant skills and those who advanced the least studied other things.

Either result is wonderfully viable in a true Star Trek campaign, in my opinion.

Please tell me if I'm re-inventing the wheel. I suspect I am, all the more so because I'm a real newbie when it comes to GURPS.

Even if you are reinventing the wheel it might be a neat way to work around even needing to dissuade players with the threat of death in chargen.

I re-worked the original FASA rules at least once when I was running the old STAR TREK  game so they would make more sense and reflect what we actually saw in the movies and forst 3 seasons of Next Generation.

IF (and its a majorIF) I had more time on my hands I bet I could farly easy re-work the FASA RPG lifepath character creation to work with GURPS rules and character creation.  Be somewhat of a major undertaking ...but I know both syustems well enough.

 Now if I just get myself unemployed - I'll have plenty of time.
 (sometimes it sucks being an assistant manager who actually cares about his store.)


- Ed C.

I think it would be great stuff to combine the two, for the most part (but probably very time-consuming, as you indicate.) I don't intend a full conversion, though--- I was just thinking about modelling some charts on my old Cadet Orientation Handbook or whatever it's called, indicating how PCs can spend their CPs in the course of their growth.

IF I worked out such a system, I could see it having other applications, e.g. a GURPS Hornblower/Aubrey, where characters are built through a series of templates based on success/failure at various stages in their careers.

Hmm... I've been playing Privateers & Gentlemen lately, and played a one-shot of Cold Space a few months back... I think I will look at those for some guidance.

Quote from: FASERIPI think it would be great stuff to combine the two, for the most part (but probably very time-consuming, as you indicate.) I don't intend a full conversion, though--- I was just thinking about modelling some charts on my old Cadet Orientation Handbook or whatever it's called, indicating how PCs can spend their CPs in the course of their growth.

IF I worked out such a system, I could see it having other applications, e.g. a GURPS Hornblower/Aubrey, where characters are built through a series of templates based on success/failure at various stages in their careers.

Hmm... I've been playing Privateers & Gentlemen lately, and played a one-shot of Cold Space a few months back... I think I will look at those for some guidance.

If I knew anything of GURPS as a system - I keep buying GURPS settings and using them for my own games, but I'm a GURPS ignoramus - I'd gladly help you, FACERIP! I'll follow the thread and if there's something I understand, I'll jump in...

-clash

Quote from: FASERIPI think it would be great stuff to combine the two, for the most part (but probably very time-consuming, as you indicate.) I don't intend a full conversion, though--- I was just thinking about modelling some charts on my old Cadet Orientation Handbook or whatever it's called, indicating how PCs can spend their CPs in the course of their growth.

IF I worked out such a system, I could see it having other applications, e.g. a GURPS Hornblower/Aubrey, where characters are built through a series of templates based on success/failure at various stages in their careers.

Hmm... I've been playing Privateers & Gentlemen lately, and played a one-shot of Cold Space a few months back... I think I will look at those for some guidance.

Well, first off instead of rolling a D10 randomly for characters pints that you gain or the points the old FASA book tell you to give - just give 1 point to the character  for each of those skills gained. GURPS points aree just that much more powerful.

- Ed C.

Quote from: FASERIPI ask because I'm looking to run a very lame, short-term Star Trek campaign based on Star Trek Voyager (hence the lameness.)

Jumping just a little off track, this is one of those few instances where borrowing from an existing show/movie/comic/whatever really has the potential to work.  The original material was so crappy, you can pretty much only go up.  

Also, there were a lot of neat ideas in ST: Voyager that were eventually left on the script editor's floor.  I'll be happy to discuss some of these only if the diversion is welcome.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaAlso, there were a lot of neat ideas in ST: Voyager that were eventually left on the script editor's floor.  I'll be happy to discuss some of these only if the diversion is welcome.

Good ideas are always welcome. Please share so I don't have to steal.

I agree with you, more or less, about Voyager. I hadn't seen it in years till I started DVRing the first season for the heck of it recently. It held up far better than I remembered (or perhaps I somehow grew more tolerant of Kate Mulgrew's voice.) Anyway, if you know of some neat ideas unused by the show, please pass them along. I'm looking at a short campaign, 6-13 'episodes,' and I really want some genuine ST feel (with a little Voyager crappiness: I'm definitely having a horrid Neelix-like NPC.)

Quote from: KoltarWell, first off instead of rolling a D10 randomly for characters pints that you gain or the points the old FASA book tell you to give - just give 1 point to the character  for each of those skills gained. GURPS points aree just that much more powerful.

- Ed C.

Thanks for the suggestion. I've only just dug out my old FASA books and begun toying with how to condense the old 'Star Fleet Academy' charts into a point-buy/lifepath system. I like your suggestion (with modifications) since it allows for a little more randomness in point-buy chargen--- perhaps on a roll of 7 or higher, the player receives 1 CP to spend? I'm thinking of a baseline 125 points for PCs. One or two extra due to good rolls while in Star Fleet Academy adds flavor without unbalancing things.

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Oh, and thanks for the kind offer, Monsieur Bowley. I need to kick my friend in the ass so he restarts his Cold Space campaign. Our first and only session was a "They Live!" parody (sans aliens) that ran amok! A total reboot may be in order.

If you're using 4th edition GURPS... (which I strongly recommend) I'd say you should go with 150 points per player character or close to it for their totals.

Really wish I had more time to help - just had a computer hard drive crash on me, I'm in charge of the store for the next 3-4 weeks till my manager comes back from the out of town business trip,....and got Con-Com meeting or two to go to.

 REALLY like this idea ...want to help more...


- Ed C.

I have to make sure I don't put too much work into the conversion... there's definitely a law of diminishing returns IME as long those lines.

I am using 4e, and thanks for the advice about 150-point PCs, I think I'm going to create a handful of templates representing Star Fleet Academy and the different specializations (security, medical, etc), some of which I can adapt from my GURPS books (I have Characters, Campaigns, Space, and Biotech, all for 4e.) I do want to retain some of the cadet-cruise result tables (re-written) to give character creation a little old school FASA/Traveller feel.

One piece of advice I would like to solicit: can I use the GURPS gadgeteering rules as written to simulate the old ST technobabble solution? E.G. "Captain, I'm going to try to reconfigure the plasmaconduit metastabilizers to match their deflector frequencies." It seems like a natural fit, but that's one part of the GURPS books I haven't examined closely, since I actually bought them for a different space campaign that went kaput.

YES!!

 You can.

 I believe Kromm/Sean Punch has said so in the past. (or words pretty much to that effect) Gadgeteer was created for exactly those kinds of Scotty/LaForge/O'Brien  situations.


The templates in the back of 4/e SPACE I have already used to create a 4/e version of Kirk. So yeah, those are a pretty good guideline.

- Ed C.