Just wanted to point out something, there seems to be a kind of Split in Star Trek Adventures. There’s the Enterprise-era play (Captain Archer in the 22nd century!), TOS-Era play (Captain Kirk), and TNG-Era play (Pickard, Sisko, and Janeway). But has anyone tried setting a campaign in the Movie Era (specifically movies II-VI?) Seems like there are more than enough vessels to choose from (Oberth, Constitution Refit, Miranda, Excelcior, Constellation, centaur), and it’s practically wide open. You could do a lot of stuff without being constrained by canon. Plus those red uniforms look snazzy.
Always been my preferred period for gaming, for most of the reasons you’ve given. Also plenty of material (if you’re happy to put up with or fix the non-canon elements) from the FASA game.
And I think it’s one of the easiest eras for casual fans to grok: most have seen The Wrath of Khan, and it’s no big hassle to watch the other three*. It’s no accident that that’s the period that Zap Brannigan and Kif are riffing off in Futurama.
Movies 1–6? Let me count…
1: The Movie. 2: Wrath of Khan. 3: Search for Spock. 4: Voyage Home. 6: Undiscovered Country. And parts of Generations. Acknowledged.
@Astronut would probably contest “The” Movie as one of the other three as it is prior to Wrath of Khan?
As someone mentioned, that’s the era where most of the old FASA modules were set.
My original campaign was set in the Triangle, on a Chandley class frigate, but when you start having more polities, it becomes more difficult to have them all interact.
Not entirely sure I get the question, but the OP specifically listed II-VI, so joking aside, that’s TWoK, TSfS, TVH, TFF and TUC. Personally, I tend to consider TMP as the finale of TOS, as it feels much more like part of the TV series, whereas the “Monster Maroon” movies seem to form a subset of their own in look and feel.
My campaign is set 2 years after Khitomer - Starfleet is just getting going with the exploration again following the “peace dividend” after four decades of cold war. The era seems ripe with possibilities!
Yay, the Triangle! Loved that supplement, even if it doesn’t feel so much like Trek these days. Brilliant for a civilian-focussed game or something along the lines of intelligence or law enforcement. And (with some adjustment) it still fits on the canon map - you just have the threat of the Nausicaans hanging over those tiny interstellar governments. I wish I could fit FASA’s version of the Orions in so easily…
functionally, TMP era play ought to be basically TOS era play but with a different set of uniforms and described visuals. especially since the game already includes write ups for the most of the ships that appear in that era and many of the TOS era ships and enemies should still be around to encounter as well.
now, if you progress to after ST6 and into the “lost years” between TOS/TMP and TNG, you run into a bit more trouble over all, given the lack of official material for those eras, be it in the show or the game.
My current campaign is set in the “Dark Time”. It gives me some creative freedom, and I can still reference characters, ships, planets and situations which are easy to recognize and learn, assuming you’re new to Trek.
I tend to divide Federation history into roughly fifty-year blocks, in terms of era of play.
Early 21st Century: present day to World War III.
Late 21st Century: post-WW3, First Contact, reconstruction of Earth with Vulcan aid, early interstellar trade and colonisation.
Early 22nd Century: United Earth as a client state of the Vulcan Confederacy, Warp 1/Warp 2 trade with nearby worlds and nascent Earth colonies.
Late 22nd Century: first human Warp 5 vessel launched (NX-01 “Enterprise”) following Broken Bow incident. First contact between humans and Andorians. Xindi crisis. Formation of the Coalition of Planets (Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar Prime, Denobula, Rigel V, Coridan, and associated colonies). Klingon Augment Crisis. Earth-Romulan War. United Federation of Planets founded (Earth, Vulcan, Andoria, Tellar Prime, and associated colonies). Early expansion of the Federation.
Early 23rd Century: Federation grows and consolidates during an era of unprecedented peace. Almost no contact between the Federation and either the Romulans or the Klingons.
Late 23rd Century: Federation-Klingon War. Adventures of the U.S.S. Enterprise under Captains Pike (2250-2265) and Kirk (2265-2270). Federation-Klingon Cold War. First encounter with Romulans since the Earth-Romulan War. V’Ger Crisis. Praxis explosion. First Khitomer Accords. (covers Discovery, Strange New Worlds, TOS, and Movies I to VI).
Early 24th Century: “Lost era”. Treaty of Algeron signals start of another fifty years of Romulan isolationism. Early stages of hostilities with the Cardassian Union. Strengthening of alliance between Federation and Klingons. Early contact with the Ferengi Alliance.
Late 24th Century: Ongoing Federation-Cardassian War. Brief war with the Tzenkethi. Renewed contact with Romulans. Klingon civil war. First encounter with the Q Continuum. First contact (officially) with the Borg. Battle of Wolf 359. Peace treaty with the Cardassian Union. Cardassians withdraw from Bajor, Bajor applies for Federation membership. Bajoran Wormhole discovered, and exploration of the Gamma Quadrant begins. First encounters with the Dominion. Destruction of the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D. U.S.S. Voyager lost. Klingon-Cardassian War. End of Federation-Klingon Alliance. Second Federation-Klingon War. Cardassian Union joins the Dominion, beginning the Dominion War. Battle of Sector 001. Return of U.S.S. Voyager. Romulan supernova. Synthetic rebellion and attack on Utopia Planetia. (TNG, DS9, Voyager, Picard, and Movies VII-X).
That in mind, the movies are part of the TOS era… otherwise the TOS era is just five years long.
I’m starting a new ST:A campaign set in 2272, just after the V’Ger incident. The ship will be the FASA-created Ranger-class scout, with a crew of 35. Using the deckplans Owen Oulton created for the ship. She’ll be assigned to border duty along the Klingon border near the Triangle.
We’re using the ST:A rules, but pulling heavily from FASA canon with the dates altered to fit a bit better. The loss of Epsilon-9 has put a hole in the Federation’s listening capabilities, and the Klingons have just started to probe the Federation border to see if the Organians are still enforcing the treaty. Our ship will be pulling “patrols” much like a WWII fleet sub, and along with several other scouts and an old Anton-class cruiser will be trying to cover the blind spot, react to Klingon maneuvers, respond to emergencies, assist civilian traffic, make courtesy calls on planets and stations… should be quiet, mundane, boring duty. Unless of course stuff happens.
Currently running in the mid 2280s, roughly current with Wrath of Khan. Crew is on a Ptolemy class that has undergone some refits, and while they get into more trouble than you’d expect a transport to the XO is complaining (mostly out of character) about it being U-Haul Trek. If they manage not to severely anger Starfleet Command in the final session of the season they’ll get a new(ish) ride for season 2, likely spending time keeping the Klingons (and a few others) from getting too nosy about events in the Mutara Nebula while likely asking too many questions themselves.
Ran a group that was on a Constellation class in 2286. The campaign centered around supporting colonies that were near the Klingon border. The colonies were unknowingly built over the top of the ruins of another interstellar empire, and the players had to deal with the robot helpers that were going nuts without their masters.
I really enjoyed running it, as I’m a fan of the movie era. You get that mix of updated aesthetics with classic antagonists.
Currently running a campaign set during the time Kirk is Commander Star Fleet. Apologies, my notes are at home, and I have a memory for dates like Swiss cheese. I plan on having my crew explore the area towards Tzenkethi space, and Cardassian territory. Since there is no firm date for First Contact with the Cardassian Empire, it could form a diplomatic challenge for my Captain and crew. To date they have rescued a Klingon warship that encountered a huge threat (think TOS era) and are thereby instrumental in bringing the Klingons and the Federation closer, similar to the Battle of Nerendra 3, and Captain Rachel Garrett. She will, of course get full credit, but my crew has opened the door.
That’s my opinion, though it has crept into the official books in places (mainly the Eras of Play sidebar in chapter 5, as that’s one of the chapters I wrote).
I have not yet played in that era, but it’s on my wish list. I’m not quite sure whether I’d set it contemporaneous with Wrath of Khan or maybe around Undiscovered Country, my two favorite Star Trek films.
One thought I had was to give the PCs a Miranda (alias Reliant-class to my fellow FASA veterans) and have them be another ship seeking a suitable planet for Project Genesis. Who says only Terrell & Company were assigned that task? Naturally they’d run into any number of exciting situations while on the lookout.
Another thought, if the right players were found and they were receptive to the idea, was to run the adventures of Captain Sulu and the U.S.S. Excelsior.
(To date I’ve played a bit of the original TV series era, set contemporaneous with the 3rd season with the PCs manning a sister ship of Enterprise, and some Next Generation-era set right about the time of the episode “Ensign Ro.” We discount any “canon” events that have not yet occurred: they may happen, but then again they may not.)
