Prime Directive d20 is out? Anyone have it?

[tsadkiel]

What races and or monsters are covered?

No monsters. I'll divide the species up by political bloc, and list them in the order they appear in the book. They mention a few other species that willbe detailed in future supplements, but these are the ones playable as PCs out of the gate.

Federation:

Humans
Rigellians (Honorable and stripey near-humans)
Alpha Centaurans (Matriarchal near humans, with both male and female stats)
Vulcans (LA +3)
Arcturians (Kung Fu elves)
Cygnans (Albino technological savants)
Mynieni (Tentacled Muppets)
Andorians
Tellerites

Klingon Empire:

Klingons (As mentioned above, these are the smooth-headed TOS variety)
Dunkars (orange-skinned administrators)
Slirdarians (Gorilla-bear space marines. LA +2)
Hilidarians (Amphibious lizard mn. LA +1)
Cromarg (Radiation-scarred dwarves)

Romulan Star Empire:

Romulans (LA +1)

Kzinti Hegemony:

Kzinti (A bit different from the Niven version. Male and female stats, LA +1 for both.)

Confederation of the Gorn:

Gorn (LA +1)
Skoleans (Chameleon-like mercenaries, and members of the Federation)

Tholian Holdfast:

Tholians

Orion Pirates:

Orions (Come in regular and Slave Girl flavors)

Hydran Kingdom:

Hydrans (Small, tentacled methane breathing monarchists)

Lyran Star Empire:

Lyrans (Yet more cat people. LA +1)
Ranel (Raccoon people)
Phelan (Space dolphins.)

 

[trancejeremy]

I don't know what made them rant about that particular picture. I thought it was awesome. One of the first things derided was the presnece of 3 non-klingon-looking aliens next to the one Mongol-looking one. The Star Fleet Universe is not Star Trek, though.

Yeah, I saw that picture on the message board and thought it was great.

Anyway, the SFB universe is Star Trek, just more based on TOS and the cartoon. At least, IMHO, because I was into SFB when I was a kid, so it seems more like Trek than the later shows (which have about as much in common with the original trek as the new Battlestar Galactica does with the original BSG, IMHO).

Yeah, stuff got added over the years, but most of it isn't too wacky. A lot of the added stuff, like the Klingon subject races, was based on fairly reasonable assumption.

 

[Ranger REG]

Yeah, I saw that picture on the message board and thought it was great.

Anyway, the SFB universe is Star Trek, just more based on TOS and the cartoon. At least, IMHO, because I was into SFB when I was a kid, so it seems more like Trek than the later shows (which have about as much in common with the original trek as the new Battlestar Galactica does with the original BSG, IMHO).

I dunno about SFB being Star Trek. Like FASA's Star Trek, they are both militaristic, which is good since I'm mostly concerned about starship combat when I was a kid (got into SFB at age 15).

As I matured, I finally understood Roddenberry's vision, and the contemporary Trek series (at least up to DS9) are more close to that vision. I still like the militaristic theme because it provide one form of conflict that makes any adventure shows interesting (no conflict, no fun).

Having said that, it's possible to take PD20 and make it the Trek game that you do like.

 

[King_Stannis]

And according to the message board on the official site, it's been out since late July or so. But the only real comment I could find about the game is that it's good, but doesn't have a character sheet.

W3rd. Long live the FASA version, not only the best Trek RPG (by far!), but one of the better RPG's of all time. That ship combat system was amazing in how it captured the feel of a combat in an episode.

 

[Ranger REG]

Long live the FASA version, not only the best Trek RPG (by far!), but one of the better RPG's of all time. That ship combat system was amazing in how it captured the feel of a combat in an episode.

*shudders violently*

If FASA-Trek have any drawbacks, it is their ship combat system. The three phases in one turn always confuzzle me. Mind you, I have already been well-versed and experienced with their more simple combat system of BattleTech.

When my old group was playing FASA-Trek, we decided on one phase equals one turn, simple and BT like. OF course, there is good in it. The system provide station panel sheets for each PC to man: Engineering, Helm, Weapon, etc. It allows PCs to work together and make the ship function as it should in the heat of the battle. Though I wonder if true roleplayers can handle the wargame-like session.

 

[KaosDevice]

Can some one tell me in non-SFB fan dummy speak, how these games skip around the intellectual property rights of Larry Niven and Paramount? I don't see how they do it.

 

[wingsandsword]

Can some one tell me in non-SFB fan dummy speak, how these games skip around the intellectual property rights of Larry Niven and Paramount? I don't see how they do it.

Simple, Grandfather Clause.

Star Fleet Battles was licensed to use the Star Trek setting by Gene Roddenberry back in the early 70's, in the earliest days of Trek fandom when it was still largely considered a flop except to a dedicated fan base and Roddenberry himself managed licensing issues instead of Paramount. A group of fans wanted to make a wargame based on the TV show, and Roddenberry gave them the license fairly easily. It was a fairly limited license, limited to what had already been produced at the time: The original TV series, the animated TV series, and the Star Fleet Technical Manual by Franz Joseph Schnaubert. Paramount tried to sue them for infringement later on when they took over dealing with licensing, but their license held up in court, and was broadly worded enough that they couldn't revoke it. Simply put, they can't use the name "Star Trek", or anything based on or derived from anything made after the mid 70's, nor can they use the USS Enterprise itself (but Constitution Class ships are A-OK) or the actual named characters from the show.

They get around the Larry Niven stuff because the Kzin were actually in one episode of the Animated Series (which is considered non-Canon by Paramount, probably because of this episode and licensing issues with it). Larry Niven himself wrote the episode actually (The episode name was "Slaver Weapon"). Thus, since Star Fleet Battles was licensed at the time to make a derivative wargame based on the Animated Series, the Kzin as an enemy of the Federation and Earth was allowed.

 

[KaosDevice]

Simple, Grandfather Clause.
<snip exhaustive answer>
.

Well, I wish somebody who was actually familiar with Trek would have answered my question.

Thanks, wow that is rather Byzantine...I would have thought Paramount would have fought to their grave to get that license revoked. It's nice to see the little guy win one every now and then.

 

[Ranger REG]

Thanks, wow that is rather Byzantine...I would have thought Paramount would have fought to their grave to get that license revoked. It's nice to see the little guy win one every now and then.

Nope. Paramount and then Task Force Games simply came to a mutual understanding. They can use elements they don't deemed important to them and TFG (now ADB) will stay away from Paramount's more valuable trademarks. So, just think of it as an alternate universe with no Kirk and Spock.

 

[KaosDevice]

So, just think of it as an alternate universe with no Kirk and Spock.

Huh, that must be a Trekkie suspension of disbelief thing. I don't think I'd want to play, for example, a game set in the Bab5 universe, where we all had to agree Babylon 5 didn't exist.

Might just be me though.