So I’m wondering what people do with their ST:A games? There’s a couple groups styles I’ve come across myself but was wondering what people prefer/like. As an example, maybe your group really likes sticking to the setting as presented in the shows/movies/etc and other resources and doesn’t like going “off-script” so to speak, like if you had 50 constitution class cruisers in operation by the federation.
Or maybe your group likes the setting but doesn’t mind going off script where you could pretty much do anything as long as it was fun and felt star-treky.
Or maybe some other dynamic is going on? I’m curious. And how do these dynamics make you feel? Do you embrace them? How do you roll with it if it kinda goes against what you’d prefer?
All of the above. I try to make each “season” different. In season 1 the crew was part of a Nova class ship. They were pretty much restricted to being a small science vessel. Then things happened, and some were asked to leave Starfleet.
So in season 2, the crew now has an independent ship and can pretty much do whatever they want. Upgrading weapons, building a new shuttle, recruiting new crew etc. There is an overarching plot which they have to resolve, but they are responsible for their relations with Starfleet, the Ferengi and the Klingons.
For season 3, I plan to go back to Starfleet with a brand new ship. Since a PC will be the captain, I imaging there will be a lot of command challenges. This will be set in the late 2370s, so I have pretty much free rein story-wise.
All players are into Star Trek, so mostly they know what to do and what not to do. So they really don’t go “off-script”. I like to throw in episodes which really encourage going “off-script”.
For example, in one episode it turned out that the crew were actually all holograms in a Romulan simulation, so it was a challenge for the players to adapt their characters to that reality. I did not plan any resolution for the adventure, so they could do whatever they wanted.
Part of what I did was launch our game around the time Discovery started. I set it in-between the period of Discovery and TOS to both please the old school heads and those watching a new show. Our trek fandom ranges from mild to intense, but everyone has watched at least some significant portion of TNG as a young adult or now on netflix.
I very much prefer canonical television Star Trek as fitting with the feel of the rules and spirit of ST:A. So basically our galaxy is in synch with the shows except to the extent that player characters are creating new stories.
When I want to introduce non TOS Era concepts I have done so through the holodeck (yes they had them), time travel, or mirror universe stories. I had them meet the Borg that way.
The major shift we’re about to do now is being “within range” of flying to familiar space to now exploring the purely unknown as part of a 2.7 year journey.
Our game starts in 2266 and there is no Kirk so everything is open to be rewritten. I don’t have to worry about canon or be bound by it. I can introduce any alien species. Starfleet or the Klingon Empire doesn’t have to be definitively defined. I can use or change anything that fits. Peace with the Klingons will have to come from good old diplomacy, ingenuity or a right cross rather than the Organians putting a stop to things.
Worth hunting back through the forum: I posted a similar question a couple of months back and got some good replies!
Personally, I’m currently running through the 24th century part of the Living Campaign with the crew aboard a New Orleans-class vessel. I’m kind of constrained by running in 2-hour chunks at a local club, but am trying to get a monthly long-session game up and running. I’ve always favoured the movie-era, but like Discovery enough, i’d consider doing one set then. I do “corrected” canon - take the basics and smooth out the kinks…
My players prefer the TNG/DS9 timeframe, specifically the Dominion War ERA. I actually have a loose Campaign outline laid out. Campaign is titled Forging the Sword and follows the missions of the USS Damocles, an Akira Class vessel. Been running this since just after the core book was released. Sadly, due to the demands of my life, we meet erratically - once every 3 to 6 weeks, for a 5 to 7 hour session. Currently running an Orville-Star Trek crossover event - getting things to be on the lighter side for a bit.
Forgot to mention that the players use a scale 3 prototype tactical/military ship called the U.S.S. Achilles. There mission is essentially to “Serve and Protect,” and they act like policemen patrolling federation space. However, the ship does have some science capabilities so if they come across strange or unknown phenomena then it’s their duty to check it out.
We like a lot of action and I thought the ships mission was a nice change of pace from the usual seek out new life, etc.
So far they’ve encountered an alien species (think giant metallic like octopus) that lives below a planets surface, lays eggs and via wormhole feeds off the suns fusion reaction. As the eggs develop they too feed off the sun more and more causing it to become rapidly unstable and eventually leading to it’s destruction and destroying all life forms and colonies in the system while it dies. The eggs can infect life forms as a defence taking them over (Gary Mitchell style).
They also had their own version of “Balance of Terror,” so were the first ship to encounter the Romulans since the war.
Next game takes place on Andoria with the promise of an Ushaan.
I’m not sure: I’m still in the process of reading. I will play the Starter kit campaign and the free scenario. My players haven’t been (for the most part except for one player) really into Star Trek, still, since the new movie îterations (Into Darkness etc.) it has caught up their attention, and I’ve decided to take full advantage of it to introduce them to ST:A.
Myself, I’ve enjoyed TOS back in the days, I watched Voyager, DS9 (5 seasons or so, I should finish watching it), Enterprise and I’m currently watching TNG along with Discovery and the Orville (which I absolutely love ^^). My knowledge the ST universe is quite good, but nothing near the grognards on this forum ^^
I guess I’ll play with my troupe and we’ll decide on setting.
Does anyone plan to continue the TNG-era along the new Picard-show that was announced?
Because that is something I thought about. Among the group I intend to GM Star Trek next (currently, it’s D&D 3.5 – I know, HUGE change!) I am definetly the ‘biggest’ Star Trek nerd, followed by some who only saw the movies and now DIS and some without any Star Trek affiliation at all.
I, personally, would prefer the TNG-era (meaning the setting of TNG/DS9/VOY) but I’m afraid the group, especially the players completely new to Star Trek, would probably be more inclined to choose the Kelvin Timeline and/or DIS, because this, being more ‘modern’ in cineastic terms, is something they can relate to, easier.
So, logically, the new Picard show would be the perfect compromise: It will be filmed ‘in our time’ and be set in the TNG timeline.
But that is to be decided when my current campaign is concluded, which probably will take a while from now.
I myself haven’t had a group for a while so I haven’t gotten to play ST:A since I ran some beta scenarios during the playtest/beta. I suppose TOS-era is my favorite ‘window dressing’ for how things would look, but I don’t really care much if the specifics of the setting fit well with ‘cannon’. I think this more flexible mindset can open up more possibilities, especially if you don’t mind dipping into other sources like the SFU or even other SCI-FI like modified B5, Red Dwarf, whatever, for sources of aliens, encounters, stories, episodes, whatever.
I’m not playing an STA game now, but it’s always on my mental drafting table. I prefer to stick close to screen canon. I have a long list of loose ends and inconsistencies from the various series and movies that I can incorporate and take in new directions without changing what is known, and of course anything that hasn’t been brought up on screen is fair game.
I’m using the brilliant living campaign set during the TNG setting, throwing in original adventures as I get a wild urge to try a -what-if scenario. The players are mostly intense fans who far have more Trek cred than me the GM, and we’re having a wonderful time.
Garrett
I’m one of the players on this, but I think I can make a statement for our gaming group as a whole that we have an overall general preference for TOS era settings. One of the major alterations our GM has started on - and which I agree with entirely - is that our universe was, is, and always be James Kirk-less. This has opened up a huge number of potential plotline explorations, which a couple of games have already utilized. Here, the Klingons and Romulans will almost always be adversaries (at least to start with), if not villains; the potential exists for our gang to be the first to encounter the Ferengi, the Borg, and x-number of other potential species/individuals that the Enterprise and her crew preempted during TOS. I honestly believe that this sort of approach, irrespective of era, carries on Gary Gygax’s statement that “Books [or in this case television series] are books; games are games.” One does not translate directly to the other, and I hold the supporting fist up wholeheartedly for those who are futzing the TV series/movies/book universes around in order to accommodate what results in the best possible gaming universe situation - again, specific era setting notwithstanding.
Hmmm, interesting concept. I’m doing about 2268-9 (?). Kirk’s still out there, finishing his 5 year mission but TOS is now history from their point of view. That way I can run sequels to any of the episodes if I care to. One in particular is a return to the Horta planet from an old FASA module.
I also have a player that wants to play a Klingon so I was thinking of trying a Klingon based game in the same era.
