Remembering STAR TREK Roleplaying Games

With the passing of Leonard Nimoy, thoughts of Star Trek roleplaying games sprang to mind. Over the years, there have been several - FASA's version in the 1980s, Last Unicorn Games' version, plus Prime Directive (which also had GURPS and d20 versions), and Decipher's Star Trek RPG (not to mention various tabletop starship combat games, board games, and card games). My own personal history with Star Trek roleplaying games lies back in the 80s with FASA's game and dozens of supplements and adventures, and I still have a soft spot for that game, and it's what inspired me to write my own sci-fi RPG, N.E.W.

I revisited FASA's game a couple of years ago in a short-lived campaign which didn't go too well. The system, sadly, had not aged well. It did give me chance to poke that nostalgic part of my brain which had be scouring eBay in a - successful - attempt to repurchase all the old material I'd lost over the years.

What are your memories of Star Trek RPGs? Or, indeed, portrayals of Star Trek using other systems?

 

[delericho]

The only time I played an actual ST RPG was in the old FASA system back in high school. It was a decent game, but I don't have any real memories of the system one way or the other - it was largely the GM who brought it to life.

I did once run a game that wasn't strictly ST but had a heavy influence. It used a homebrew system, the details of which I have now completely forgotten. The storyline was essentially that of Voyager, although it predated that series by some years.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Not an RPG, but I used to love me some Star Fleet Battles.

 

[JeffB]

Yep. Had Star Fleet Battles too. I did have the original FASA boxed set when it came out, but never ran a game. Traveller and Space Opera were more our thing at the time.

 

[Warmaster Horus]

I had all the FASA stuff but we never ran the actual system, we just ported it to GURPS instead.

 

[CarlZog]

I think the most enduring depiction of Star Trek in gaming is Star Fleet Battles, which was originally published in the late '70s and ended up developing its own extended universe before Star Trek itself ever expanded into movies and additional TV shows. Consequently, much of SFB's universe doesn't look very familiar to fans of later day Trek, but it does have its own avid fanbase, and a variety of games are still published for it.

Prime Directive is the RPG for the "Star Fleet Universe", and as you note it's been published for several different systems, including GURPS, and d20Modern. It's still in print and a Traveller edition is currently in the works.

Because the Star Fleet Universe was originally a wargame setting and is built loosely on elements only from the original series, there tends to be more military emphasis and inter-empire conflict than in other Trek-based RPGs. At least that's my take. I know other Prime Directive GMs who have successfully kept the focus on Trek-style exploration.

I personally like the GURPS version of Prime Directive best. It uses an essentially GURPS lite rules set, but anything and everything from the full GURPS rules and sourcebook lineup can be added to the game. It opens the game to a lot of possibilities similar to the oddball situations the Trek crews often found themselves in, and the grittiness of GURPS system is well-suited to the solutions those crews had to come up with.

Prime Directive, Star Fleet Battles and several other games set in the Star Fleet Universe are all still in print and actively developed by a tiny Texas company that's still owned by the original designer of SFB. Because of the byzantine legacy of their Trek license, they can still only use limited elements of the original series, and can't ever develop anything based on later shows or movies.

Despite vaguely knowing about these games for decades, I was only really introduced to playing them a few years ago, and in that time I think I've become a bigger fan of their Star Fleet Universe than I am of the canon Trek universe. In many ways, it's more internally consistent and more interesting.

 

[AsakoSoh]

I played the FASA game for a long time whilst at school, tended to play in default setting of TOR or the period of the early films, but enjoyed playing Klingons, Romulans and Starfleet Intelligence too. Very much liked linking the RPG to the Starship Combat game FASA also released. Remember the system being not too great and way too many skills! But great setting material - I think rather like WEG Star Wars, defined the universe beyond the game.

 

[lyle.spade]

I was a huge ST fan during the first golden age of RPGs and owned a large quantity of the FASA titles, but only played it a handful of times. I still own some of those books and boxes, having sold a good amount of my collection years ago on eBay. When LUG published their version in the 90s I picked up most everything for it...and played it twice. I still have most of the LUG books and boxes - in fact, I think the only things I don't have from that whole line are the DM kids and Raiders, Renegades, and Roges (I think that's what it's called).

I still really like ST as a property, and would love to run or play a ST campaign. I also think it's highly improbable that it'll ever happen. Running ST within the story conceits of the series' or movies is exceptionally difficult, due to the system of ranks and the fact that ST has a certain feel that is unique within scifi worlds. My players over the years have all disliked even the notion of one having command authority over the others, even if it's not run that way. Sure, they could all be the same rank, still the idea of being in uniform and working closely within a rank-based hierarchy just hasn't interested my players. The other issue - that of the feel - is the bigger one, I believe. ST is different from all other scifi properties, and if that vibe isn't promoted, it's not ST...and therefore not satisfying as an attempt to play in that world.

The last time I ran it - years ago with the LUG system - one of my players insisted on running big, rough guy of Scottish descent, and then tried to play the guy as an initimading, hair-trigger brute. "I punch first" might work on fantasy, or in other genres, but it breaks down the necessary vibe of ST. Needless to say, that was a short-lived story.

The great challenge is in recruiting players who know enough about ST and agree on the vibe that should be established and maintained. That's far more difficult to do than with Star Wars. And so ST, as an RPG, is to me the great unrealizable dream. It'd be awesome and memorable and cool beyond words if it could be made to work...but it's a tough one to make happen. That said, I've always loved reading the books and dreaming about that idea.

Maybe I'll offer it as a session at a con later this year. Maybe.

 

[Venthrac]

Until recently, the longest RPG campaign I'd ever been a part of was a Star Trek: The Next Generation era game. A friend and I co-GMed the game, taking turns running episodes in a format similar to the TV show. We organized our campaign into "seasons" of 15 episodes each, and managed to do three full ones for a total of 45 game sessions.

It was a fantastic game and fun way to mirror the television format. The rotation of GM duties allowed us both to play and run the game, and we had a great group of player as our senior officers aboard the Galaxy-class USS Athena.

It remains probably the most beloved and memorable RPG either of us has ever been a part of.

 

[lyle.spade]

Until recently, the longest RPG campaign I'd ever been a part of was a Star Trek: The Next Generation era game. A friend and I co-GMed the game, taking turns running episodes in a format similar to the TV show. We organized our campaign into "seasons" of 15 episodes each, and managed to do three full ones for a total of 45 game sessions.

It was a fantastic game and fun way to mirror the television format. The rotation of GM duties allowed us both to play and run the game, and we had a great group of player as our senior officers aboard the Galaxy-class USS Athena.

It remains probably the most beloved and memorable RPG either of us has ever been a part of.

Officially jealous. Do you have this archived anywhere online?