That Upcoming Star Trek RPG Comes In A Special Borg Cube Boxed Set!

oneshot · Jun 13, 2017

aramis erak said:
I have a feeling that they got in way over their heads.
Every deadline except the preorder has been blown.
No JJ-Trek and no Discovery; all current trek is TOS Era (albeit different timelines), and their emphasis has been TNG era.
No mention of the Iconic Characters being statted out (or not) in the book.
No concession at all to the gear-head fans... Which Trek-fandom is heavily noted for.

They are going to be in the limelight... one of the 6 big franchises (D&D, SW, ST, Marvel, Dr Who, Cthulhu) with multi-media fan service. Their chance to shine... or wind up running flaming off the stage because the heat gets too high and turns everything into a hot flaming mess.

I want to like the game, but the reward cycle is broken. In a very subtle manner. And in a manner that is core to the engine, not unique to the ST version.

I think that's a profoundly unfair assessment. The only deadline was game release, and as you noted they met that. Yes, they missed some (but definitely not all) of their estimates when playtest material would become available, but that's how it goes with licenses and waiting for approvals.

Not designing the game to be set in your preferred era or to meet your desire for a simulationist play experience where the system has you track different usages of power at each of the 16 different personal phaser settings, etc., does not mean they're over their heads, it just means they're not writing the game you want.

CBS doesn't have the rights to license the Kelvin timeline movies, and CBS isn't going to to license out their new property to an RPG company before launch. In fact, that exact issue (except then it was TNG) was central to the reason Paramount pulled FASA's license back in the day. And they have announced a TOS-era specific sourcebook is coming, so the material will be there.

As for your criticisms about the game itself, I've already addressed those in the other thread and won't rehash them in depth here except to say I disagree pretty heavily, primarily because the heart of your criticism is inflating statistically rare scenarios as commonplace flaws in the game, while ignoring the fact there are game mechanics to limit problems in those statistically rare cases.

No, the game doesn't reward players for failing their tasks. If you want a system that does, then 2d20 isn't your game, but that doesn't mean it's "broken" by any definition of the word. The game is very playable RAW. It just doesn't fit your play style. Which is fine, but it's not fair to claim the system is broken just because you personally don't like it.

Jester David · Jun 13, 2017

oneshot said:
I think that's a profoundly unfair assessment. The only deadline was game release, and as you noted they met that. Yes, they missed some (but definitely not all) of their estimates when playtest material would become available, but that's how it goes with licenses and waiting for approvals.

Not designing the game to be set in your preferred era or to meet your desire for a simulationist play experience where the system has you track different usages of power at each of the 16 different personal phaser settings, etc., does not mean they're over their heads, it just means they're not writing the game you want.

CBS doesn't have the rights to license the Kelvin timeline movies, and CBS isn't going to to license out their new property to an RPG company before launch. In fact, that exact issue (except then it was TNG) was central to the reason Paramount pulled FASA's license back in the day. And they have announced a TOS-era specific sourcebook is coming, so the material will be there.

As for your criticisms about the game itself, I've already addressed those in the other thread and won't rehash them in depth here except to say I disagree pretty heavily, primarily because the heart of your criticism is inflating statistically rare scenarios as commonplace flaws in the game, while ignoring the fact there are game mechanics to limit problems in those statistically rare cases.

No, the game doesn't reward players for failing their tasks. If you want a system that does, then 2d20 isn't your game, but that doesn't mean it's "broken" by any definition of the word. The game is very playable RAW. It just doesn't fit your play style. Which is fine, but it's not fair to claim the system is broken just because you personally don't like it.

All good stuff. Well said.

However, emphasising one comment.
Based on the PDF collection, we know what books are planned: https://www.modiphius.net/collectio.../products/star-trek-adventures-pdf-collection
• Command Division Supplement
• Beta Quadrant Sourcebook
• Operations Division Supplement
• Alpha Quadrant Sourcebook
• Sciences Division Supplement
• Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook
• Delta Quadrant Sourcebook

Three "class" books and one for each quadrant. No sign of an "era" book.
I imagine that's because all of the above will sell to "anyone" regardless of era of preference. But once you get down to TOS or during TNG then the audience narrows.

oneshot · Jun 13, 2017

Jester David said:
All good stuff. Well said.

However, emphasising one comment.
Based on the PDF collection, we know what books are planned: https://www.modiphius.net/collectio.../products/star-trek-adventures-pdf-collection
• Command Division Supplement
• Beta Quadrant Sourcebook
• Operations Division Supplement
• Alpha Quadrant Sourcebook
• Sciences Division Supplement
• Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook
• Delta Quadrant Sourcebook

Three "class" books and one for each quadrant. No sign of an "era" book.
I imagine that's because all of the above will sell to "anyone" regardless of era of preference. But once you get down to TOS or during TNG then the audience narrows.

Steve Hanson, who's a Modiphius employee who has been fielding questions about the product line, starts discussing it on this page over on their own boards:

http://www.modiphius.com/forum.html#/20170607/attention-pre-irder-is-live-5430423/page5/

It gets mentioned a few more times later down in that thread.

It's not listed on the product page yet or in the PDF bundle because it won't be officially announced until August.

Jester David · Jun 13, 2017

oneshot said:
Steve Hanson, who's a Modiphius employee who has been fielding questions about the product line, starts discussing it on this page over on their own boards:

http://www.modiphius.com/forum.html#/20170607/attention-pre-irder-is-live-5430423/page5/

It gets mentioned a few more times later down in that thread.

It's not listed on the product page yet or in the PDF bundle because it won't be officially announced until August.

Oof. That is a heavy product release schedule.

If they get two out between Sept and Dec of this year, that's six potential 2018 books. A Trek RPG book every other month. That is a seriously aggressive release schedule.... Even if they're small/ cheap 32-page or 64-page soft covers.

I always get nervous with that kind of release schedule. I wonder what they're leaving out to make the later products more justified. Or if they couldn't condense things into a single bug hardcover accessory. A Galaxy Guide or Divisions Sourcebook...

oneshot · Jun 13, 2017

Jester David said:
Oof. That is a heavy product release schedule.

If they get two out between Sept and Dec of this year, that's six potential 2018 books. A Trek RPG book every other month. That is a seriously aggressive release schedule.... Even if they're small/ cheap 32-page or 64-page soft covers.

I always get nervous with that kind of release schedule. I wonder what they're leaving out to make the later products more justified. Or if they couldn't condense things into a single bug hardcover accessory. A Galaxy Guide or Divisions Sourcebook...

Actually, there are even more books in the queue, although the specific publishing timeline isn't clear. Modiphius likes to release their product line plans way in advance. On their Conan RPG page, for example, they have a breakdown of a ton of future products grouped in specific waves.

As for STA, officially announced are the core rulebook, the four Quadrant books, the three Division books, and the "These are the Voyages Part I" adventure collection. Unofficially announced are a book collecting the adventures of the living campaign (the first part of which was in the playtest), the TOS book I mentioned above, and Klingon, Romulan, and Borg splatbooks. The Klingon book was discussed initially when the product was first announced, and the company indicated it would allow you to play a non-Starfleet campaign as part of the KDF. I would guess the Romulan book, at least, would be similar. I'm not sure about a Borg campaign, but I would also guess there are people out there would who love to play Borg.

That said, an ambitious publishing schedule doesn't bother me per se. Everything I've seen about the core book looks great and of good quality, and Modiphius has a reputation for publishing gorgeous, durable stuff (although I personally don't own any of it, I have friends that do who fully endorse their products). They have a veritable army of freelancers working on the various books (as per their press release on their site and other news that has leaked out since), so I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that the products will come out at a reasonable schedule and be worth the cost. FFG, for example, has an ambitious publishing schedule, yet their stuff is almost always worth the often hefty cost you pay for it.

Jester David · Jun 13, 2017

oneshot said:
Actually, there are even more books in the queue, although the specific publishing timeline isn't clear. Modiphius likes to release their product line plans way in advance. On their Conan RPG page, for example, they have a breakdown of a ton of future products grouped in specific waves.

As for STA, officially announced are the core rulebook, the four Quadrant books, the three Division books, and the "These are the Voyages Part I" adventure collection. Unofficially announced are a book collecting the adventures of the living campaign (the first part of which was in the playtest), the TOS book I mentioned above, and Klingon, Romulan, and Borg splatbooks. The Klingon book was discussed initially when the product was first announced, and the company indicated it would allow you to play a non-Starfleet campaign as part of the KDF. I would guess the Romulan book, at least, would be similar. I'm not sure about a Borg campaign, but I would also guess there are people out there would who love to play Borg.

That said, an ambitious publishing schedule doesn't bother me per se. Everything I've seen about the core book looks great and of good quality, and Modiphius has a reputation for publishing gorgeous, durable stuff (although I personally don't own any of it, I have friends that do who fully endorse their products). They have a veritable army of freelancers working on the various books (as per their press release on their site and other news that has leaked out since), so I'm more than willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that the products will come out at a reasonable schedule and be worth the cost. FFG, for example, has an ambitious publishing schedule, yet their stuff is almost always worth the often hefty cost you pay for it.

I assumed stuff like the Klingon and Romulan books had been folded into their quadrant book. That seems like content that would be needed in such a book: races, ships, etc for that region of space.

oneshot · Jun 13, 2017

Jester David said:
I assumed stuff like the Klingon and Romulan books had been folded into their quadrant book. That seems like content that would be needed in such a book: races, ships, etc for that region of space.

That is my impression as well. The Beta Quadrant book will have, for example, some basic info on the Klingon Empire, new Klingon ships and NPCs, and campaign and adventure ideas involving the Klingons.

The Klingon book, in contrast, will have rules for making Klingon PCs, both within Starfleet and as part of an all Klingon KDF campaign. So it will have a lifepath to create Klingon characters, Klingon specific talents, ship building rules, etc., as a mirror to the core rulebook, along with specific GM advice for running a Klingon campaign and in depth fluff about Klingon culture, politics, etc.

Also, I assume it will have some variant rules. For example, in the main game, following the Prime Directive (or not) has some mechanical effects beyond just story consequences. So I imagine for a Klingon campaign, that would be changed to Honor or something similar.

Note, though, that all of that is based upon my speculation and extrapolation from what I've heard from various interviews, forum posts, etc. I do not know specifically what their plans are for material to be included in each book.

Edited to clarify: I think I misread your post, Jester David. Later on in that same thread I linked to earlier, Steve confirms there will be Klingon, Romulan, and Borg books separate and apart from the quadrant books.

That Upcoming Star Trek RPG Comes In A Special Borg Cube Boxed Set!

oneshot

Explorer

Jester David

Hero

oneshot

Explorer

Jester David

Hero

oneshot

Explorer

Jester David

Hero

oneshot

Explorer

Similar Threads

Related Articles