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Post by lstyer on Apr 20, 2010 13:00:05 GMT -5
Tonight I'm meeting up with a group I haven't played with in about a year to do character generation for a TOS game. We're going to use the FASA system with a few variations.
The first variation will be a simplification of the combat system; I plan to skip over the whole "Action Point" thing and replace it with something like "2 actions per round." The whole Action Point thing looks a little heavier than I think Trek calls for.
The second variation is that since it's a percentile-based system anyway, I'm going to do character advancement in the Chaosium BRP manner. As a player I always enjoyed making skill checks at the end of a session.
Finally, I'll probably use the percentile dice-rolling convention from Unknown Armies. I've heard it called "Price is Right" because the higher you roll without going over your target number, the better you do. I think that's pretty convenient for opposed rolls.
I'm pretty excited about getting this going. I've been itching to run a TOS game for a long while, and I think it'll be fun to play with a group I haven't played with in a while. Sometime later in the week I'll try to post a little about the characters we come up with and maybe even some kind of actual-play updates, too.
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Post by Falconer on Apr 20, 2010 13:49:22 GMT -5
Cool, I hope it goes well!
The FASA system is not my cup of tea—too complex for my tastes—but I can see the allure of using it, since it has so much support material. Fortunately, it is pretty easy to make things less complex. In my experience of AD&D, I threw out 90% of the by-the-book combat rules, and it was great.
Tell us about the basic premise of the game—will the PCs be the ranking officers (Captain, etc.) of a Federation Starship? Crewmen working their way up through the ranks? Klingons? Pirates? Will their adventures be a series of one-shot “episodes,” or will there be more of a continuous story? Are you using published modules, or do you have homebrew material prepared? I think these are the most burning questions I have about how to approach a Trek game.
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Post by lstyer on Apr 20, 2010 16:02:04 GMT -5
Cool, I hope it goes well! Thanks, man! Well, stripped down to just a bunch of percentage skill rolls and some damage rolls as necessary, I don't think it'll be too complex, but that combat system, as written, is too complex for my taste, too. And support material that is, for the most part, "untouched" by TNG and its successors, to boot. Yeah, but more like a Federation starship -- I'm leaning toward something smaller than a Constitution class, maybe a pre-refit Miranda class, because I just think those look cool. I'm hoping to pull off a nice mix of both. I don't have any homebrew stuff prepared yet, but knowing this group, I can't easily count on published stuff to totally get me through. So I'll likely end up using published modules as jumping off points. And now I'm off to the game store. I think these are the most burning questions I have about how to approach a Trek game.[/quote] |
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Post by Falconer on Apr 20, 2010 18:51:02 GMT -5
Yeah, but more like a Federation starship -- I'm leaning toward something smaller than a Constitution class, maybe a pre-refit Miranda class, because I just think those look cool. That is cool! I never really paid much attention to the Miranda-class because of the refit elements, but when you un-refit it, it is actually pretty nice. Other options would be the Saladin-class Destroyer (SFTM) or the Texas-class Light Cruiser (OSFB). But the latter is kind of blah, and the former looks cool in a fleet but kind of goofy by itself. Anyway, have fun, and definitely keep us posted! |
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Post by blackbat242 on Apr 21, 2010 5:02:32 GMT -5
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Post by lstyer on Apr 21, 2010 9:54:25 GMT -5
Thanks for the pics, Blackbat! Those models pretty much seal the deal, because the TOS style Miranda class looks super cool.
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Post by lstyer on Apr 21, 2010 16:03:35 GMT -5
Character generation went well, I think. The coolest part of the FASA system, to my mind, is how it generates a career for a character. The results of the rolls for the cadet cruise and tours of duty produce a ready-made background, and coincidental rolls encourage connections between characters.
We generated a Captain, Seeley Booth, for whom the player "cast" David Boreanaz. That's apparently the name of his character on the show Bones, which I don't watch. Booth came up through Security, is a solid shot with a phaser and looks like he'll be able to hold his own in a fist fight, so I'm expecting a Man of Action in the center seat. No one else has been named yet, I believe.
Anthony Stewart Head has been cast as our Navigator. His skill set and character history suggest he's a transfer from the Sciences division.
We have a female Vulcan Science Officer with an emphasis on Biology and life sciences. No actress or name have been selected.
James Marsters is "cast" as a human Chief Engineer.
The Security Chief, thanks to some crazy good rolls is about 10 or so years younger than everyone else. He shot through the ranks serving on a Constitution Class ship, probably the Enterprise under Captain Pike. Originally Max Martini of The Unit was "cast," but the character's only 25, so I'm not sure I'll be able to find a picture of Martini in the right age range.
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Post by Inferno! on Apr 26, 2010 18:44:03 GMT -5
The coolest part of the FASA system, to my mind, is how it generates a career for a character. The results of the rolls for the cadet cruise and tours of duty produce a ready-made background, and coincidental rolls encourage connections between characters. I agree. I've always loved the char gen in the FASA system. FASA Trek is one of the few non-AD&D games my friends and I played to any extent. Like most people, the whole AP system left us cold. |
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Post by lstyer on Apr 26, 2010 19:12:53 GMT -5
Captain Booth:  Max Martini playing the as-yet-unnamed Security Chief:  |
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Post by kesher on Apr 27, 2010 8:24:41 GMT -5
Good lord---those pictures are excellent!
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Post by lstyer on Apr 27, 2010 16:24:52 GMT -5
Thanks, man!
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Post by lstyer on May 12, 2010 14:43:13 GMT -5
The campaign didn't end up going anywhere, but I did a few more player character photo manipulations that I can share: Mandy Patinkin as the ship's surgeon:  Anthony Stewart Head as the ship's navigator:  James Marsters as the chief engineer:  |
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