lyle.spade
Adventurer
I decided to start a new thread, despite there being a few long(ish) ones, because all those already up were primarily, if not entirely, based on the playtest rules and materials and not the full, final release.
I picked up the PDF the day it was released, and will certainly get the physical copy when my FLGS stocks it. I've read just about the entire book, and a number of parts a few times over, in addition to having read the entire playtest rules a few times. I have run one session of the game thus far. And here's what I think...
The Good
The Bad, or rather, What Needs to be Improved
I loved FASA's stuff BITD, however in looking at it all now I can see where it was overly simulationist, and in so doing the system overshadowed so much of the narrative and theatrical aspects that make ST so unique. LUG's stuff was beautiful and well-written, but I thought the Icon system was a dog. I have no experience with the Decipher version. I think this is a great game - a really great game, in fact, one that I'm excited to play more. I'm also excited about community-created resources, which I hope to contribute to over time.
What say you?
I picked up the PDF the day it was released, and will certainly get the physical copy when my FLGS stocks it. I've read just about the entire book, and a number of parts a few times over, in addition to having read the entire playtest rules a few times. I have run one session of the game thus far. And here's what I think...
The Good
- The system, despite seeming overly crunchy and with too many moving parts as presented in the playtest, is actually really easy and flows quickly at the table. I ran it for four players, three of whom had played 2d20 a few times before, and one who'd never heard of it, and we felt no need to check the rules, nor did we ever feel slowed down while trying to figure out how to do this or that.
- We avoided starship ops intentionally, from a desire to get to know the system and have a good session - better to do less, and do it well, then shoot for more and do it all poorly. I used a short adventure found in the back of FASA's STIII Sourcebook Update, which involved the crew of a TOS movie-era ship (I decided on a Miranda class) encountering the lost USS Republic (Constitution class), missing for 15 years in a nearly starless expanse. The antagonists were a form of those little flying jellyfish buggers from the TOS episode Operation: Annihilate!, meaning I had to work up stats for those and modify NPC crewman stats for the infected crew of the Republic. It was really easy, and resulted in a fun session.
- The mechanics provide for a solid foundation, with lists of Tasks and Minor Actions one can take, as well as a great deal of flexibility when coming up with ways to adjudicate for things not explicitly covered by those lists. Yeah, sure, I know I hand-waved some stuff in the interest of keeping the action moving, but when I went back later to see where I strayed from the rules I was never that far off.
- Everyone, myself included, felt like it FELT like Star Trek. We're all fans, but our group was made up of folks who don't know each other all that well, and while we all did our individual parts to contribute to the vibe, the system eased that work a great deal.
- The book (PDF at this point) is beautiful and easy to navigate - very well organized.
The Bad, or rather, What Needs to be Improved
- I felt a little out of my depth in determining uses, beyond the purely mechanical, for Threat, and for coming up with relevant and interesting Traits for scenes. I am not a FATE player at all, and so that approach is still very new to me - the FATE players at the table immediately got it, though. I'd like more examples of Advantages than what I've seen in the book thus far. Perhaps that'll just come through familiarity with the system and time playing the game.
- I'm not hip on the advancement system, which makes actual character improvement a long and seemingly arduous process. That's from a reading of it, however, and not experience with it. We'll see.
- I'm not hip on the mechanical parity between characters supposedly right out of the Academy and long-serving Veterans. Again, that's from reading and not experience playing, so maybe I'll change my tune there.
I loved FASA's stuff BITD, however in looking at it all now I can see where it was overly simulationist, and in so doing the system overshadowed so much of the narrative and theatrical aspects that make ST so unique. LUG's stuff was beautiful and well-written, but I thought the Icon system was a dog. I have no experience with the Decipher version. I think this is a great game - a really great game, in fact, one that I'm excited to play more. I'm also excited about community-created resources, which I hope to contribute to over time.
What say you?