Post by Falconer on Jan 12, 2010 23:35:09 GMT -5
| Title: | Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier |
| Aliases: | The Final Frontier, STAGFF |
| Author: | Michael J. Scott |
| Publisher: | Heritage Models |
| Date: | 1978 |
| Pages: | 39 |
| Title: | “Beyond the Final Frontier” |
| Alias: | BtFF |
| Published in: | Different Worlds #18 |
| Author: | Paul Montgomery Crabaugh |
| Publisher: | Chaosium |
| Date: | 1982 |
| Pages: | 7 |
| Ability Scores 3d6? | Yes |
| Races? | Yes |
| Classes? | No |
| Alignment? | No |
| Experience Points/Levels? | No (Yes in BtFF) |
| Skill System? | No (Barely in BtFF) |
I have finally gotten my hands on this, the original Star Trek RPG, and spent some time reading through it. If you combine the original publication and its expansion from Different Worlds, you get a total page count of 46. Considering that that total includes the covers, maps, and two scenarios, to say that this is a rules-lite game is an understatement. My initial impression is this: the game is indeed Old School, and more than adequate in the areas that it covers; however, it seems to cover only a limited percentage of the possibilities that Star Trek offers.
As a side note: one reason for the low page-count that is reinforced throughout both the base game and the expansion is that it assumes that you are using the Star Fleet Technical Manual really as the base sourcebook for your game. This has been my assumption for some time now, so it comes as no surprise.
Character Generation
Let’s cover a few specifics before musing about the overall value of the RPG. The six Abilities are just as in OD&D, with Wisdom renamed to Luck (well, this covers saving throws like Wisdom in OD&D, and it gives a defensive modifier in combat like Dexterity in OD&D) and Intelligence renamed to Mentality (this affects figuring out alien devices, and psionics). Thus:
| OD&D | STAGFF |
| Strength | Strength |
| Intelligence | Mentality |
| Wisdom | Luck |
| Constitution | Constitution |
| Dexterity | Dexterity |
| Charisma | Charisma |
Again, as in OD&D, they are generated by 3d6 (“the range of 3 to 18, with the average rolls being 9 thru 12, is a very realistic bell-curve for describing the range of human abilities”—love it!). Also, “this may vary with some aliens”, for example, Vulcans get Strength +3, Dexterity +2, Mentality +2, and Constitution +4. Woah! I can see how this is justified from what we see of Mr. Spock, however, even among Vulcans he was “a legend” (Amok Time), and shouldn’t he have a comparably significant negative to his Charisma for looking like the devil (The Apple, The Omega Glory) and for his coldly logical manner being so off-putting (The Galileo Seven)?
It is implied (though not spelled out) that each stat is rolled in order. Presumably, in those days they wouldn’t have had to spell out whether or not they could be rearranged to taste, either because that idea wasn’t common or because it is well within the competence of the referee (here called the Mission Master, by the way) to allow it.
Unlike OD&D, in which these six ability scores actually affect the game mechanics as little as possible, and then tangentially, in The Final Frontier most rolls in the game seem to be “ability checks” of the “roll 3d6; a result equal to or lower than your [ability] means success” sort, or, “roll a certain number of dice and add or subtract your modifier for one or more relevant abilities”. Although it is never spelled out this way, the “modifiers” come up so often that it is handy to make a table:
| 18 | +6 |
| 17 | +5 |
| 16 | +4 |
| 15 | +3 |
| 14 | +2 |
| 13 | +1 |
| 9-12 | 0 |
| 8 | -1 |
| 7 | -2 |
| 6 | -3 |
| 5 | -4 |
| 4 | -5 |
| 3 | -6 |
As you can see, your exact ability score is very important!
A seventh attribute is Size, which is your race’s base size plus a die roll; and the eighth is Movement, which is your race’s base Movememt plus/minus your Strength modifier. The ninth is Hand-to-Hand Class. It is never explained how this number is generated, but it seems to be a mini, informal Level-like mechanic which can be improved over time. It’s basically a bonus to attacking and defending. Sulu is Class 3; Chapel is Class 0; most characters are Class 1.
For most characters, then, 9 numbers plus equipment carried are the sum of their character sheet, hence “3x5 cards are ideal”. Three pages are given over to pregenerated characters: the eleven regulars from TOS and TAS, the Koloth and Korax the Klingons from The Trouble with Tribbles, Tal the Romulan from The Enterprise Incident, Chuft Captain the Kzin from The Slaver Weapon (TAS), and standard Klingon, Romulan, Gorn, Kzin, and Starfleet security/soldiers/warriors.
Combat
Instead of Hit Points, you just use your Constitution score. Rather than me spelling it all out, I’m just going to tell you now that each and every roll involves adding/subtracting modifiers from relevant attributes. Each phase, each individual declares his action, initiative (“initiation”) is rolled for each individual, and actions are resolved one by one. In a Hand-to-Hand attack, the attacker and defender each roll a d6, and the positive difference is applied as damage. A Ranged attack is more complicated: basically, it’s the same idea except there is a penalty based on your range, and once a successful hit has been determined there is a separate damage roll, which is based on your weapon or the setting you’re using on your phaser.
There are a couple of tables which are very simple and basically just have to do with weapons ranges and the amount of energy used up depending type of weapon and phaser setting. There is an Advanced Combat section with longer lists of weapons and variants on everything that is presented in the Basic section. In short, the level of complexity is roughly comparable to OD&D (without magic). Again, there is a LOT of use of modifiers, but after minimal practice this will become automatic. Without testing, I’d guess that combat between characters of comparable abilities would be long, and combat between characters of very inequal abilities would be short and fatal to the weaker individual.
In other words, what is basically dependent on level and class in OD&D is basically dependent on Dexterity, Luck, and Strength (in that order?) in The Final Frontier. To me, OD&D is definitely preferable in this regard, as it is a lot more fun to feel improvement over time rather than feel stuck with that one roll you made that one time at the beginning of character generation. This is not the last indicator we will see that STAGFF is perfectly fine for one-shots but not really conducive to ongoing campaigning.
The other obvious factor is that it obviously only covers man-to-man (or man-to-monster) combat. Not ship-to-ship. This is not the last time we will see that the author envisions a D&D-style party on D&D-style adventures.
Psionics
Psionics covers the gamut of mental powers presented in Star Trek, from Gary Mitchell’s telekinesis (Where No Man Has Gone Before) and the Talosians’ telepathy (The Menagerie), to Spock’s mind meld and mind control, to the ability to absorb another person’s wounds and then heal self (The Empath). It is as if all the mental skills presented in Star Trek add up to the equivalent of a magic system! The difference is that each character can have only one skill (if any—they are supposed to be very rare), and if you’ve got it you can seemingly use it at-will, pending, of course, a pass/fail roll adjusted by your Mentality score. This section is interesting and can use some expansion.
Equipment
A whopping 6 pages is devoted to a list of equipment and weapons. I say whopping because each item is described by a mere one or two lines of text, so six pages of it is quite a lot of weapons. I love this section because it is very OD&D-like in that it gives you a lot of ideas but very little detail (basically no numbers), thus prompting the imagination. There is a nice mix between ideas that come from the show and ideas original to the RPG.
Species
Another strength of this book is how it deals with alien species. There are three pages detailing “Familiar Star Trek Life Forms” in format very similar to Equipment: 2-3 lines per entry. I think it covers just about every possible alien from TOS and TAS (leaving out those that are just exactly like humans). In addition to a short description, all are given a base size and movement rate (unless they are the same as human). Humanoid races are also given bonuses to ability scores. Non-humanoid creatures are instead given a simple “Ability Rating” which stands in for all six ability scores. Nice and simple.
Even better is another three pages devoted to “Creating Alien Creatures”. The author correctly understands that Star Trek isn’t about rehashing established lore but rather about exploring ever new frontiers. This section is basically five tables for rolling up an interesting alien, that I can’t wait to try. It’s not quite Gygaxian but it’s a good start. One thing I will note is that this section is very “TASish”, that is, most of the aliens will NOT be Humanoid. Tinker with the table to increase the likelihood of the alien being Humanoid, if you prefer a more “TOSish” feel!
One thing I found strange was that, while many species-specific special abilities were mentioned, I can’t find the Vulcan Nerve Pinch anywhere!
The Scenarios
There are two full scenarios given. I say full, but basically each one consists of an 8.5x11 hex map and a two-page key with a short introductory setup. Both involve a landing party on a planet, a simple objective (finding a Dilithium cache in one, finding a Slaver Box in the other), and just a lot of walking around simple mazes fighting monsters and humanoid aliens. While I don’t mind any of those things particularly, and while these can possibly be taken simply as sample scenarios to give you just a very basic idea of how things work, these are definitely the major downers of the rulebook. It is very difficult to judge the entire rulebook according to the limits of the imagination that are evident in these two scenarios.
The problem is not simply that the two scenarios are “D&D-like”. That would be an insult to D&D scenarios. Temple of the Frog or Steading of the Hill Giant Chief or the Holmes sample scenario are all more sophisticated by leaps and bounds than The Final Frontier’s scenarios.
There is another page entitled “Creating Your Own Scenarios” which, while it’s basically just advice that anyone here could do with or without, provides a little more insight into what the author thought this RPG might be about. Sure enough, “dungeon crawling” seems to be the main implied activity, with the added idea that it could be aboard some sort of space vessel rather than a planet. While there is some mention of diplomacy and moral dilemmas, essentially the focus is exploration. The Mission Master draws a map and populates it, and away you go.
Is it really a RPG?
Do I have a problem with that? No, of course not. A Star Trek RPG does not have to cover every single aspect of Star Trek. You can surely use Star Fleet Battles to simulate starship combat to your heart’s content; and you can surely use STAGFF to simulate landing party adventures to your heart’s content. Despite the lame scenarios, which do indeed make it seem like just a miniatures combat game, I know no referee who would allow his imagination to be so stifled, but could easily use STAGFF to recreate nearly any scenario in the show if he wanted to, or (more likely) new ones akin to it. Old School and Evolved gamers alike enjoy spending time sitting around the table discussing strategy or moral dilemmas, whether or not the game has rules for it. And any STAGFF referee, like any OD&D referee, would not hesitate to add new rules and change or reinterpret printed ones as he sees fit.
The Expansion
Once such competent and imaginative referee was Paul Montgomery Crabaugh, who wrote a seven-page rules expansion entitled “Beyond the Final Frontier”. I was initially very excited about this from Robert’s reports which, while terse, were very enthusiastic, even going so far, if I recall correctly, as to state that this expansion is what makes STAGFF a real RPG. As I said above, I think STAGFF is a real RPG by itself. However, it IS lacking in two areas: character advancement (a must for campaign play) is missing, and, for some reason STAGFF never imagines role-playing taking place aboard the Enterprise (or other starship), let alone treating the PCs as crewing a ship rather than simply a party of adventurers beaming from planet to planet. BtFF fills both these holes.
BtFF takes the ranks listed in the Star Fleet Technical Manual and maps them onto experience points to act as OD&D Levels. I.e., you start as an Ensign with 0 experience, and when you hit 1000 “EP” you are promoted to Lieutenant, and so on. Each rank has an associated salary and maximum responsibility associated with it. I have to say, this appeals to me because I think players like to have goals, and what could be better than climbing in rank? The problem is that what would most likely end up happening is that all the PCs would climb in experience at the same rate—indeed, it would be desirable from a game balance perspective. But that would mean that at first you would have a campaign in which no PC is Captain, and later on you would have a campaign in which every PC is a Captain. While it is not impossible to envision a campaign according to this model, it is not desirable to be straightjacketed into that model.
Indeed, many of the new rules and tables given in BtFF are actually limiting rather than increasing possibilities. One feature that I think neither Old School nor Evolved gamers will own is the idea of a player rolling to find out what race he is, or what department he is assigned to. Or the referee rolling to discover what type of ship the PCs will be crewing! What is this, a tournament?
But most of BtFF is just good stuff. There are rules about how to generate and improve your Hand-to-Hand Class (i.e. when you advance a rank), which was missing in the base game. You also improve your main ability scores when you level, which is certainly necessary in a game where everything depends on them. There is also a Special Skills system, which is basically a list of 36 skills that you can acquire and improve. It is a very cool list, and fortunately (in my opinion) you basically just have them or you don’t (they are more like AD&D’s Secondary Skills than CoC Skills, for example). And, best of all is this line: “lack of appropriate knowledge should not be penalized, in view of Starfleet’s ‘jack of all trades’ approach to education.”
There is an extensive price list of things you might buy with your salary, and how many credits each cost, which is neat. (More motivation for the players.) Next, for the referee a neat bunch of tables for generating interesting and unique planets and their populations. Finally, a table of how long it would take to travel any given distance using any given warp speed.
It is worth mentioning the races BtFF suggests for PCs: Human, Vulcan, Andorian, Caitian, Edoan, Tellarite, and Skorr, with a note that Tellarites are probably rare in Starfleet due to their argumentative nature. Overall, BtFF definitely assumes you are a Starfleet Starship crew. Which is interesting, because STAGFF itself several times suggests you play a Klingon crew!
Is this the “OD&D Star Trek” I’m looking for?
Not really. OD&D oozes excitement from every pore as it overhastens to share the boundless possibilities that it presents. Star Trek, too, tends to excite passionate fandom to an insane level, as everyone knows, and I think we have seen a very small portion of that here on this board. How can it be that The Final Frontier is so uninspired and workmanlike? I can only imagine it was a rushed product. Not one interior illustration? Granted that the Star Fleet Technical Manual can satisfy most of your graphics needs, but I would even have taken some crude Arnesonian sketches of a mugato, a phaser firing, Spock with raised eyebrow... Can it be that, already in 1978, there was a sense that publications ought to be mainstream and respectable?
Given that TOS is a show about stand-alone episodes, each one bringing something new to the table, rather than “about itself,” I prefer a RPG that facilitates creativity more than it rehashes established Star Trek lore. STAGFF gets that, to some degree, but doesn’t go far enough in inspiring the reader.
I prefer a RPG that has levels built in from the beginning, rather than grafted on later. That means that a PC’s skills would be more directly related to level rather than directly related to ability scores (which may be adjusted by leveling). Basically, I would be perfectly happy just using D&D combat for man-to-man situations.
I definitely prefer a RPG that has PC Classes. I haven’t said much about that, since STAGFF just doesn’t have them. But I certainly feel the lack.
At the end of the day, I view this RPG as a great mine for ideas, tables, lists of equipment and species. If I were running a one-shot landing-party adventure, would it be my go-to? Absolutely, especially since it’s so rules-lite that I could tinker with however I liked. But is it “the one?” I think I’ll keep looking.
Well, that’s my review. I hope you liked it. Please reply to the overall review in this thread, but if addressing to a specific topic like “Combat,” please start a new thread, and begin by quoting the relevant section from my review. Thanks!
