Star Trek (movie) made me think of Star Trek RPG... so...

[Novem5er]

So has anyone been inspired to run 4e DnD with a Star Trek feel?

We have the Astral Sea. We have Planar Vehicles. We have old Spelljammer for inspiration.

Instead of the Star Trek species, we have dwarves, tieflings, and githyanki. Instead of home planets, we have Domains.

The real problem is that the vehicle combat rules, as written for 4e, are not detailed enough to capture that cinematic feel of ship-to-ship combat. Also, PC skills are not geared toward running a ship.

I'm looking at modifying the ship system from the d20 Skull & Bones pirate game. To solve the skill problem, I'm thinking about creating an additional skill list that players can select training in. These skills would be in addition to the standard skill list, so players will have an "away team" set, and a "ship" set.

My only real problem is how to delegate ship duties to different PCs. What do you do when nobody wants to follow orders? Especially from other players? Every ship needs a captain, but an RP group usually rejects authority Hmm...

 

[Korgoth]

Take for example Starfleet Battles, a very influential vision of what Star Trek is all about -- in this game (first developed in the latter 70s) there is s strong emphasis on combat, especially space combat. Starfleet is essentially a military venture with a science overlay. In addition Larry Niven's Kzinti are involved and Klingons and Romulans (pre-movie era for the most part) are entirely enemy forces with no chance of alliances. This would require a set of rules based primarily, although not entirely, on starship combat. The game would be generally battle-intensive, even for on-the-ground dealings.

That's what I love about the Star Fleet Universe (i.e. SFU, i.e. the universe of Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander)... if you've ever been watching the space battle sequences in Wrath of Khan and thought "I want to watch a Trek movie that is nothing but this!" then the SFU is for you.

 

[aramis erak]

...is there an official Star Trek RPG with updated releases etc?

I did some quick searches and there was a bit too much to wade through so I thought I would drop a line here.

I currently play 4e (run a campaign and play in 3 others). So, during the movie (the second time I watched it - with more friends who had not seen it), I was imagining playing it using the 4e system - 4e didn't seem to me like it would work as well as another (though nothing specific came to mind) but the idea of playing it was starting to sound pretty fun.

So that's it - is there an official Star Trek RPG out there? If not, I'm sure people manage somehow, and if so, how is that done? I'm primarily just curious because the movie made me think of it, but if there was something official out there I might be interested in taking a peek.

Thanks!

There hasn't been an official one tied to the main continuity since Decipher shuttered their RPG line in 2008, and their most recent product was copyrighted in 2005...

LUG Trek died in 2000, when Decipher took over.

That said, there are 4 published Trek RPGs with licenses. All of them are part of the variant (and more militant) Star Fleet Universe setting, and all are published by Amarillo Design Bureau under a non-expiring (but extremely limited) license from Paramount.

Prime Directive 1E is only available in PDF. No new material in over a decade. Dice pool system, read only best die, exploding d6's.
GURPS: Prime Directive. It's GURPS. The SFU gets bent to fit GURPS, not the other way 'round.
Prime Directive d20 is based upon the d20 SRD.
Prime Directive d20M is based upon the d20 Modern SRD.

All of the Prime Directives are restricted to the TOS derivative SFU, smooth headed klingons, no ferengi, and have Kzinti.

If you're looking for a full support for the new continuity - you're going to be looking for fan adaptations, because (to quote a designer who looked into it) "They [Paramount] say they lose money on the RPG deals. Costs more to approve than they make."

 

[lastActionHero]

Actually I'm also looking for same !!!