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Star Trek Adventures (Modiphius)

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Star Trek Adventures is a tabletop role playing game that is published by Modiphius Entertainment of London, England.

First released in August 2017 , the RPG uses Modiphius' 2d20 system and features a storyline partially developed by Star Trek authors Dayton Ward and Scott Pearson . It covers the various live-action series from Star Trek: The Original Series to Star Trek: Enterprise and the Star Trek films , with the exception of those set in the alternate reality . Since 2022 , the game has expanded to Star Trek: Discovery , Star Trek: Picard , and Star Trek: Lower Decks content.

A series of character miniatures were released alongside the core rulebook, in combination with map tiles to provide environments in which to use them.

The game was first announced on 21 June 2016 and registration for the "living campaign" play-test opened in August. The play-test, which commenced in December 2016, featured both 23rd century and 24th century settings. Pre-orders for the initial wave of releases began on 7 June 2017 . [1]

• 1.1 Rulebooks
• 1.2 Gamemaster Toolkits
• 1.3 Supplements
• 1.4 Campaigns and adventures
• 1.5 Player characters
• 1.6 Box sets
• 1.7 Dice sets
• 1.8 Tile sets
• 1.9 Miniatures
• 1.10 Magazines
• 2 International translations
• 3 External links

Releases [ ]

Rulebooks [ ].

• Core Rulebook (Standard or Collector's Edition, 2017)
• Quickstart Guide (PDF, 2017)
• Starter Rules (Starter Set, 2018)
• The Klingon Empire - Core Rulebook (Standard or Collector's Edition, 2020)
• The Klingon Empire - Quickstart Rules (PDF, 2021)
• Rules Digest (2022)
• Captain's Log - Solo Roleplaying Game (TOS, TNG, DS9/VOY, or DIS edition, 2023)

Gamemaster Toolkits [ ]

• Gamemaster Screen and Reference Sheets (2017)
• The Klingon Empire - Gamemaster Toolkit (2020)

Supplements [ ]

• The Command Division Supplemental Rulebook (2018)
• The Operations Division Supplemental Rulebook (2018)
• The Sciences Division Supplemental Rulebook (2019)
• Beta Quadrant Sourcebook (2018)
• Alpha Quadrant Sourcebook (2019)
• Gamma Quadrant Sourcebook (2020)
• Delta Quadrant Sourcebook (2020)
• The Shackleton Expanse Campaign Guide (2021)
• Discovery (2256-2258) Campaign Guide (Standard or Collector's Edition, 2022)
• Lower Decks Campaign Guide (2023)
• The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign (2024)
• Red Alert Skirmish Rules (PDF, 2018)
• IDW Year Five Tie-in Supplement (PDF, 2021)
• Player's Guide (2022)
• Gamemaster's Guide (2022)
• Utopia Planitia Starfleet Sourcebook (Standard or TOS/TNG Collector's Edition, 2022)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series Supplemental Guide (PDF, 2023)
• Tribble (playable race) (PDF, 2019)
• Alternate Starfleet Reputation (PDF, 2020)

Campaigns and adventures [ ]

• These Are The Voyages Mission Compendium Vol. 1 (2017)
• Strange New Worlds Mission Compendium Vol. 2 (2019)
• A Star Beyond the Stars Starter Campaign (Starter Set, 2018)
• The Sleeping Beast ( The Klingon Empire Gamemaster Toolkit , 2020)
• The Keyhole of Eternity ( Tricorder Collector's Box Set , 2022)
• Ends and Means (PDF, 2018)
• Remnants (PDF, 2018)
• Call Back Yesterday (PDF, 2018)
• The Gravity of the Crime (PDF, 2019)
• Trouble on Omned III (PDF, 2019)
• Nest In the Dark (PDF, 2019)
• A Forest Apart (PDF, 2019)
• Hard Rock Catastrophe (PDF, 2019)
• Stolen Liberty (PDF, 2019)
• Kobayashi Maru (PDF, 2020)
• Back to Reality (PDF, 2020)
• The Prize (PDF, 2020)
• Another Roll of the Dice (PDF, 2021)
• The Burning (PDF, 2021)
• Upsetting the Balance (PDF, 2022)
• Storms of Kiselia 7 (PDF, 2022)
• Unforeseen Consequences (PDF, 2022)
• Better Days (PDF, 2022)
• Native Soil (PDF, 2022)
• Incident at Kraav III (PDF, 2022)
• Eight Layers Deep (PDF, 2023)
• Lurkers (PDF, 2023)
• A Piece of Qo'noS (PDF, 2023)
• Children of the Wolf (PDF, 2023)
• A House by Any Other Name (PDF, 2023)
• Ghosts in the Machine (PDF, 2024)
• Alternative Truths (PDF, 2024)
• Synthetic Diplomacy (PDF, 2024)
• Conflict of Values (PDF, 2024)
• #001. Growing Pains : Tales from the Early Days of the Federation (PDF, 2021)
• #002. Disasters : Tales from The Next Generation Era (PDF, 2021)
• #003. Anomalies : Tales from The Next Generation Era (PDF, 2021)
• #004. Trade Ledgers : Tales from The Next Generation Era (PDF, 2022)
• #005. Starbase Adventures : Tales from The Next Generation Era (PDF, 2022)
• #006. Psychic Incursions : Tales from The Next Generation Era (PDF, 2022)
• #007. First Contacts : Tales from the 23rd Century (PDF, 2022)
• #008. Spacewrecks : Tales from the 2260s (PDF, 2022)
• #009. Mysteries : Tales from the 23rd Century (PDF, 2022)
• #010. Ancient Civilizations : Tales from the 23rd Century (PDF, 2023)
• #011. Lower Decks (PDF, 2023)
• #012. Starfleet Academy : Tales from The Next Generation Era (PDF, 2023)
• #013. Dangers in Space : Tales from Across the Star Trek Timeline (PDF, 2023)
• #014. Cold War : Tales from the 23rd Century (PDF, 2023)
• #015. Khitomer Accords : Tales from the Klingon Empire (PDF, 2024)

Player characters [ ]

• Starfleet Character Sheet (PDF, 2017)
• Klingon Character Sheet (PDF, 2020)
• The Original Series Player Characters (PDF, 2018)
• The Next Generation Player Characters (PDF, 2018)
• Deep Space Nine Player Characters (PDF, 2018)
• Voyager Player Characters (PDF, 2019)
• Enterprise Player Characters (PDF, 2020)
• Iconic Villains: Non-Player Characters (PDF, 2020)
• Discovery Season 1 Player Characters (PDF, 2022)
• Discovery Season 2 Player Characters (PDF, 2022)
• Discovery Season 3 Player Characters (PDF, 2022)
• Picard Season 1 Player Characters (PDF, 2022)
• Lower Decks Season 1 Player Characters (PDF, 2023)
• Lower Decks Season 2 Player Characters (PDF, 2023)

Box sets [ ]

• Borg Cube Collector's Edition Box Set (2017)
• Starter Set (2018)
• Borg Cube Box Set (2019)
• Tricorder Collector's Box Set (2022)

Dice sets [ ]

• Command Division Dice Set (3d20 red + 4d6 special, 2017)
• Operations Division Dice Set (3d20 yellow + 4d6 special, 2017)
• Sciences Division Dice Set (3d20 blue + 4d6 special, 2017)
• Command Division Dice Set (2d20 red + 4d6 special, 2021)
• Operations Division Dice Set (2d20 yellow + 4d6 special, 2021)
• Sciences Division Dice Set (2d20 blue + 4d6 special, 2021)
• Klingon Dice Set (2d20 red + 4d6 special with Klingon markings, 2021)
• Kirk's Tunic Dice Set (2d20 green + 4d6 special with Starfleet markings, 2022)

Tile sets [ ]

• The Next Generation Starfleet Deck Tiles (2020)
• The Next Generation Klingon Tile Set (2020)

Miniatures [ ]

• The Original Series Bridge Crew (8 figurines: Kirk , Spock , McCoy , Uhura , Sulu , Chekov , Scott , and Chapel )
• The Original Series Landing Party (10 figurines: Andorian , Denobulan , Tellarite , Vulcan , and Human – male and female)
• Iconic Villains (8 figurines: Khan , Borg Queen , Q , Locutus of Borg , Gul Dukat , Lore , General Chang , and Gorn Captain )
• The Next Generation (8 figurines: Picard , Riker , Data , Troi , Beverly Crusher , La Forge , Worf , and Yar )
• The Next Generation Away Team (10 figurines: Andorian , Denobulan , Tellarite , Vulcan , and Human – male and female)
• Klingon Warband (10 Klingon figurines: 1 captain, 3 lieutenants, and 6 warriors)
• Romulan Strike Team (10 Romulan figurines: 1 commander, 4 centurions, and 5 uhlans)
• Borg Collective (10 Borg drone figurines – male and female)
• Cardassian Soldier
• Jem'Hadar soldier
• TOS Klingon Warrior
• Iconic Villains: Lore (Alternate Pose)
• Iconic Villains: Borg Queen (Alternate Pose)
• Iconic Villains: Locutus of Borg (Alternate Pose)
• Iconic Villains: Khan Noonien Singh (Alternate Pose)

Magazines [ ]

• Getting There, Boldly ( Narendra Station & the Shacketon Expanse, 2371 – Dayton Ward)
• Dayton Ward on Board for Star Trek Adventures (Dayton Ward)
• A Vulture Among the Stars (adventure)
• Designer on Deck ( Rick Sternbach interview)
• The Ghost Writer (adventure)
• Modiphia #4 (PDF, Winter 2020)
• Modiphia #5 (PDF, Spring 2021)

International translations [ ]

• Jeu de rôle – Guide d'initiation (PDF, 2018)
• STA-01. Le jeu de rôle – Livre de règles (2018)
• STA-02. Kit du maître de jeu – Ecran et fiches de référence (2018)
• STA-03. Le dernier voyage – Recueil de missions - Vol. 1 (2018)
• STA-04. Le quadrant Bêta (2019)
• STA-05. La division du commandement – Supplément de règles (2020)
• STA-06. La division des opérations – Supplément de règles (2022)
• Personnages : Tribule (PDF, 2022)
• La fin et les moyens (PDF, 2022)
• Rappele-moi hier (PDF, 2022)
• Vestiges (PDF, 2022)
• La gravité du crime (PDF, 2023)

External links [ ]

• Star Trek Adventures – official website
• Star Trek Adventures at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek Adventures – Arkhane Asylum official website
• 1 Abdullah bin al-Hussein

The 7 Best Star Trek Tabletop Games

There are plenty of ways to immerse yourself in the Star Trek universe while gathered around a table. Here are some of the best.

A franchise as popular as Star Trek would have to include a whole section in any encyclopedia for tabletop games alone. There are several popular titles, such as Risk and Catan , that use Star Trek as a theme, something which is slightly different from the dedicated tabletop games that take place in the Star Trek universe and use its characters, locations, and storylines.

RELATED: Games Based On TV Shows That Get It Right

Players don't have to be a fan of the show to learn and enjoy these games, which include a variety of different features for a variety of groups. There are strategy, card, and dexterity varieties, and games that use miniatures. There's something in this vast universe for every kind of game night.

7 Star Trek: Expeditions

Star Trek: Expeditions is a cooperative game in which players have to work together to reach a common goal. Set in the Kelvin Timeline, the setting that was featured in the reboot movies released from 2009 onwards. It features the same four main characters, which each player takes as their own role .

Despite the alternative timeline, there's some interesting lore, and a storyline that includes the kind of details that a viewer of classic Star Trek would recognize. The Enterprise is dispatched on a mission to ascertain whether or not a certain planet is ready to join the Federation. Complications arise when the Klingons show up, and a civil war threatens to break out on the planet.

6 Star Trek: Ascendancy

This is the type of game that players can build as they learn, starting with the basic version and then adding a selection of possible expansions. These include scenarios like Borg Assimilation and Dominion War for a more action-based RTS type game, or something like Vulcan High Command for a slower, more logical game.

RELATED: The Best Star Trek Games, Ranked By Metacritic

Star Trek: Ascendancy can be about exploration, conflict, or diplomacy, depending on the type of game the players want. The ideal number of participants is three, with each choosing to represent the United Federation of Planets, the Romulan Star Empire, or the Klingon Empire.

5 Star Trek: Frontiers

One to four people can play this game, which means that a single player can take on the game scenario just as easily as four, but keep in mind that more players also mean more time is required to complete a full session.

The plot of this scenario revolves around an uncharted region of space, only recently discovered and accessible only via wormhole. Several different groups are vying for control of the region's planets and resources. Players have to build their crews and ships, and expand the Federation's influence.

4 Star Trek: Fleet Captains

Each player can take on the role of a Federation or Klingon captain in this tabletop game, which also includes the use of miniatures that are faithful to the classes of ships in Star Trek. The game is set in the Prime Universe, or the timeline that started with The Original Series and continued with The Next Generation and Voyager.

RELATED: Things About Vulcans That Everyone Forgets

The game is best with two to four players, and each one takes control of an opposing faction. This means it's the Federation versus the Klingons, if using only the base game. Expansions for Star Trek: Fleet Captains include the Dominion and the Romulan Empire.

3 Star Trek: Adventures

There are plenty of Star Trek games that include an RPG element of some kind, but this one is actually an official tabletop RPG based in the Star Trek universe. That means it's the same kind of setup as a game like Dungeons & Dragons, with a party and a dungeon master progressing through a storyline.

Star Trek: Adventures requires the players to use core rulebooks, generate unique characters of certain classes and races, and a module or scenario that explains their adventure . Like other RPGs that take place in an expansive universe, dedicated Trekkers can spend a lot of money on different accessories and campaigns, but it's possible to play with the more economical base game.

2 Star Trek: Panic!

Another game that uses miniatures and models, and in a creative way, Star Trek: Panic! takes players back to the days of The Original Series using characters and scenarios from that era. Roles available include Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk, making this an ideal choice for fans of TOS.

RELATED: Star Trek: Things About Captain Kirk That Make No Sense

The main objective is to defend the Enterprise from enemy attacks, but mission cards give the Captain different tasks to accomplish based on events from the classic show. It's a versatile game for a single-player or up to a group of six.

1 Star Trek: Conflick in the Neutral Zone

Just to clarify immediately, that isn't a spelling mistake . Star Trek: Conflick in the Neutral Zone is what's known as a dexterity game , which means that players have to flick discs that represent ships instead of moving them using dice or cards. The goal is to get the ships as close to certain resources and locations throughout the galaxy as possible.

The game isn't just about placing a variety of ships, from combat vehicles to tankers, and gathering resources, but also about space battles. Players have to maneuver their own ships into strategic positions to attack enemies, as well as to defend Federation interests.

NEXT: Star Trek: Best Episodes Featuring The Borg, Ranked

• The Original Series
• The Animated Series
• The Next Generation
• Deep Space Nine
• Strange New Worlds
• Lower Decks
• Star Trek Movies
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The core mechanics of this skirmish game aren’t overly complicated, as some other simulationist peers in the space can be. It’s a good balance between feeling empowered to do something interesting every time you activate a character, and the challenge of managing your Support and Mission card supplies. With your two decks there is a constant tension between holding on to future scoring opportunities and potent events or equipment, versus the immediate payoff of discarding to allow re-rolling dice or powering up skills.

Finding the right composition for your decks will be a long-term source of entertainment, as the variables to consider are numerous. How aggressive can you be in pursuing skill-based or combat-based missions? Do you go for quantity, or burn cards on re-rolls trying to score fewer high-value goals?

How many actions can you afford to spend harrying your opponents, reducing their ability to earn their own points by weakening a character’s rolls — or even removing them from the board entirely? The latest two expansions will also open up a new area in the deckbuilding space, as you’ll have two sets of Federation and Klingon cards you can mix and match to find the right combination for your team.

And speaking of the team, you’ll also be able to swap out Specialist characters of matching affiliations as well!

Storage for the expansions is one minus — as with the core set, the display window does a great job of showcasing the miniatures, but tucking the loose character cards into the box feels inelegant. There are more expansions on the horizon currently, though, so plan to budget plenty of shelf space as new teams join your collection.

The packaging is built to showcase the oversized miniatures for good reason, of course. My wife has enjoyed painting some of the commander characters already, and every character features a unique pose. That, plus the exaggerated, cartoony style they are sculpted with, makes it easy to differentiate every character at a glance when they might otherwise become lost in a visually busy play area.

The minis headline a set of solidly-built components, from character boards to point tokens, which will all hold up against regular wear. The only weak spot in this area are the health pips, which are small enough to be hard to manipulate and do not snap securely into the character cards.

While my playthroughs did find the rules for acting, moving, and scoring very intelligible from the get-go (and quite accessible with a handy quick start guide), it’s clear that this is a game that benefits from completing several sessions to really get comfortable with it. Each away team has a unique cadence to their gameplay, and brings a different balance to how you might deploy your cards and characters.

You only have three rounds to accomplish your goals, so choosing which missions to pursue is a crucial decision — often limited by variable card draw that can set you off on the wrong foot, searching for more achievable options. I found it can feel frustrating as you cast about for just the right move to make, with a bevy of actions available but not all equally productive in acquiring final victory.

You may not know how to modify your decks until you’ve gotten a few games under your belt. Happily, the included extra cards for each away team present a wide range of customization once you have dialed in what your iteration of an away team is best geared toward.

Whether you find the learning curve steep or gentle, there’s no question that Trekkies will find something to smile at in the course of every game. The folks at Gale Force Nine have shown time and again that they truly understand Star Trek , and Away Missions uses its cards to display that loving familiarity.

You can deploy a Support card to have Chief O’Brien beam your officers to new locations. The House of Duras gets up to no good with more than one nefarious deed committed in Crew Quarters, an otherwise under-utilized room. Picard can use some Earl Grey Tea (with the ‘Hot’ keyword, naturally) to rejuvenate a damaged character.

Can’t decide which commander you should send out to Wolf 359? Here is a breakdown of the affiliations from the base game and expansions – including the upcoming House of Duras and Picard sets, due to be released in December!

Commander Riker’s Federation away team is a well-balanced crew, with solid stats and particularly well-equipped to counter the Borg – their default opponent in the core set. You can’t go wrong with the basic hero party – and the upcoming Picard expansion presents the chance to swap LaForge in for Shelby (along with several compatible Mission & Support cards), which should make for an interesting new development.

The Borg are… everywhere. After a slower start, you’ll find them beaming in all over the ship and impeding your progress, adapting to learn how to corrupt Federation technology and assimilate your team members more rapidly to add to their already-impressive six-drone team. Locutus can also cause Borg characters to emit a menacing aura with the right cards, further eroding your chances at mission success.

The combat ability of drones is weak at first, but their ability to upgrade themselves and donate actions to other characters can quickly snowball with the right strategy.

This fall, two more groups joined the potential roster for your away missions. (They lacked a suggested starter deck, but those lists are available on Gale Force Nine’s website for Gowron and Sela if you don’t want to puzzle out your own set right away.) Gowron’s honor guard will not leave anyone wondering who is playing offense.

The Klingons are here to neutralize their opposition early and often, gaining Honor (and points, of course) from glorious battle to take out the competition before they have the opportunity to build up their own score. In a skirmish game that can easily (and uncommonly for the genre) avoid combat in many sessions, a new team ready to get its d’k tahgs dirty is an exciting addition.

Sela’s infiltrators feature Tal Shiar intelligence specialists who attempt to steal Federation secrets and Borg technology from the derelict ship. The Romulan squad has many cards that allow the player to interrupt their opponent’s actions and reposition their characters quickly, meddling in your momentum and disappearing before you can react. They also offer the opportunity to score big missions – with the caveat that the other player may be able to oppose certain attempts, so it behooves the Romulan player to sequence their attempts very strategically.

Rounding out the currently-detailed expansions are two groups due to be released in time for the holiday season! The Duras sisters, Lursa and B’Etor, lead another new faction that provides a new twist on the Klingon ethos. These scheming siblings mix Treachery skills, assassins who cannot gain Honor, and Arms Deals (sacrificing equipment cards for points) in addition to traditional Klingon incentives for straightforward combat.

Finally, a new Federation team led by Picard brings the rest of the beloved Enterprise -D crew into the mix, using diplomacy and empathy to slow enemies’ progress. This can come from forcing your opponent to make hard choices – granting you benefits if they want to claim a bonus for themselves, or discarding cards they might otherwise wish to keep in hand.

One of the core missions for Picard is to empty the Support decks for both teams through these machinations, spending the Federation’s resources to exhaust all of the other player’s options. This team also presents the opportunity for Picard to somehow face off against Locutus – perhaps this is all part of a holodeck therapy program, battling one’s inner demons?

You can pick up Star Trek: Away Missions at your local game store now, as well as parties led by Gowron and Sela. Picard and the Duras sisters will be hitting the shelves very soon to boldly go in new directions with your board game exploration.

Future expansions promise even more away teams led by Kirk and Scotty from the Original Series, and organized play kits which can  see none other than Q joining your crew.

You never know who is going to turn up when you beam down!

Star Trek: Away Missions is available online and in local game stores now.

• Gale Force Nine
• Star Trek Away Missions
• Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Star Trek Adventures Tabletop RPG

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Starfleet needs a new crew! Welcome to your new assignment, Captain. Your continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before. Star Trek Adventures is a Tabletop RPG where new discoveries await explorers of Starfleet. Browse below for the roleplaying game, miniatures, dice, character sheets, game tiles & boards, free PDFs and accessories.

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'Star Trek Adventures' Is the Franchise's Best RPG Yet

On Feb.11, 2018, the last episode of the excellent "Star Trek: Discovery" first season aired on CBS All Access. For 45 glorious minutes, I could enjoy a brand-new "Star Trek" adventure, full of action, drama, intrigue and classic, big-idea sci-fi. And then, just like that, it was all over. After 15 episodes, CBS wouldn't be providing any more "Star Trek" until 2019 .

And if CBS wouldn't make a "Star Trek" series for me, I had no choice but to make my own.

Last June, British publisher Modiphius released "Star Trek Adventures:" a tabletop pencil-and-paper role-playing game that lets enterprising players bring their own futuristic voyages to life. I hadn't played a tabletop RPG since 2012, and I hadn't played a "Star Trek" tabletop RPG since 2005. But in the past few years, I've fallen in love with the franchise all over again. After 741 episodes and 13 movies, wasn't it time to try making one of my own? [ 6 'Star Trek' Captains, Ranked from Worst to Best ]

The developers at Modiphius were generous enough to send Space.com a PDF copy of the rules. I realized quickly that I had a lot of work ahead of me if I wanted to make an adventure worthy of Gene Roddenberry's world — just working through the rule book and organizing my first session took about three months. But if you're patient, imaginative and have a fair amount of disposable income on your hands, you may find that the most memorable "Star Trek" adventure is the one you create with your friends.

What is "Star Trek Adventures"?

The Venn diagram of "people who like 'Star Trek'" and "people who play tabletop RPGs" probably has a pretty large intersection, but big, licensed games almost always draw in a new crowd. As such, it's possible that some Trekkies reading this piece have never played a tabletop RPG before. Here's how it works:

You and your friends gather together around a table, armed with some paper, pencils and dice. (Pizza and beer are optional, but highly recommended.) Three to five players take the roles of characters on a Federation starship. Perhaps one of them is an inquisitive Vulcan science officer, or a hardened Bajoran freedom fighter, or an even-tempered human captain; the rules allow for almost any kind of character you've seen on the shows, and then some.

The final player is called the Game Master. It's his or her responsibility to narrate the story, adjudicate actions, act out nonplayer characters and structure the overall adventure. In other words, the players are like the star actors, while the GM is like the writer, producer, director and supporting cast, all in one.

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In short, tabletop RPGs are half board game, half improvisational theater. The rules dictate the general actions you can take, like firing a phaser or piloting a starship, but how you tackle challenges and interact with your fellow crewmembers is up to you. RPGs are a form of collaborative storytelling, with game systems in place to keep things fun, unpredictable and fair.

While "Star Trek Adventures" is the newest "Star Trek" RPG, it's not the first by any means. Companies have been giving players the opportunity to sit in the captain's chair ever since 1978, with everyone from Heritage Models to the RPG publisher FASA trying their hand at game design.

I can't speak to the entire history of "Star Trek" RPGs, but I did play two of them back in high school: the 1998 Next Generation ruleset from Last Unicorn Games, and the 2002 "Star Trek" Roleplaying Game from Decipher. Without going into exhaustive detail about either one, I can say that "Star Trek Adventures" is — for the most part — a cleaner, simpler and more balanced experience than the games that preceded it.

"Star Trek Adventures" runs on Modiphius' signature 2d20 system. All you need to play, as either a player or a GM, is the core rule book ($59). As in most RPGs, any time you take an action whose outcome is uncertain (whacking a Gorn warrior over the head, flying a shuttlecraft through a stellar flare, persuading a hostile Romulan ship to stand down — standard Starfleet stuff), you'll roll dice to determine whether you succeed or fail.

To help determine success or failure, each character has six attributes: Control, Fitness, Presence, Daring, Insight and Reason. These represent a character's physical and mental traits. In addition, each character has six disciplines: Command, Security, Science, Conn (computers and piloting), Engineering and Medicine. These represent a character's Starfleet training. These stats, combined with rolling two twenty-sided dice, determine whether an action succeeds or fails. Characters can also "purchase" extra dice to improve their odds with a resource called "momentum," which they’ll gain and spend constantly throughout an adventure.

Now, here's the fascinating thing about "Star Trek Adventures" as opposed to, say, "Dungeons & Dragons": your Disciplines are not inherently linked to any Attribute. You can't "min-max" your stats, assuming that your tactical officer will need high Daring, high Security, and nothing else.

Instead, Attributes and Disciplines are both situational. For example, let's return to our hypothetical security officer. Daring + Security is indeed very useful for grappling with enemies in close combat. But to fire a phaser requires Control + Security instead. Interrogating a prisoner might require Presence + Security; investigating a crime scene could be Reason + Security; chasing down a fleeing Cardassian could be Fitness + Security. Both specialized and generalized characters are viable in "Star Trek Adventures," and that's a refreshing change of pace.

Between its approachability and its versatility, "Star Trek Adventures" won me over in a big way. Adjudicating actions is simple and clear, while just about every character will have a time to shine. Whether it's a doctor making a breakthrough cure for an alien plague or an engineer patching up a shuttlecraft just in time to outrun the deadly ion storm (both of these things actually happened in my game — in the very first session!), players will be able to do the same incredible things that their favorite characters do on-screen, right out of the gate. [ The Evolution of 'Star Trek' (Infographic) ]

Starfleet's finest

"Star Trek" isn't about making a character who can do exactly one thing impeccably; it's about making a character who's versatile and adaptable, like any good Starfleet officer. It's a good thing, then, that character creation is just as fun and approachable as the core game.

If you've ever made a character in D&D, or "Pathfinder," "Star Wars," or any other mainstream RPG, character creation for "Star Trek" will feel familiar, but with a few smart twists. The default setting for "Star Trek Adventures" is that a group of players act as the senior staff of a starship or starbase, just like one of the TV shows. As such, every character is either a Starfleet officer or a petty officer — anything between a yeoman and a captain.

You have two choices to make a character: Lifepath or creation-in-play. The latter lets you distribute some stats to start, then fill in the blanks as you play, and it's easily the less interesting of the two. Lifepath lets you build a character that's uniquely yours, through either purposeful construction or randomized rolls. While it might be tempting to craft the perfect Starfleet officer, my players and I actually had much more fun randomizing our Lifepaths. There are even period-appropriate randomized tables for choosing a race, since a Voyager-era game will have more playable races than an Enterprise-era one. It's that sort of attention to canonical detail that gives the book — and the game — a lot of its flavor.

From there, you'll choose your race (Andorian, Bajoran, Betazoid, Denobulan, Human, Tellarite, Trill or Vulcan), your upbringing, your Starfleet specialization and even two career-defining events, such as a transporter accident or a first contact procedure. As you go, you'll also develop Focuses, which help you get more successes on good dice rolls, as well as Values, which determine what's most important to your character. A Focus could be something like hand-to-hand combat or astronavigation, while a Value could be "Meticulous Pride in My Work" or "The Price of Peace Is Vigilance." Players are encouraged to make up their own Focuses and Values, which adds to the free-form and personalized nature of the game.

What's fantastic about the character creation system is that it's almost impossible to make a "bad character." Having moderately good attributes and disciplines across the board rather than a handful of specializations can actually be a good thing, since you never know which combinations will be useful in any given situation.

Another thing I absolutely adore about "Star Trek Adventures" is that the characters are balanced. In the "Last Unicorn" and "Decipher" worlds, a team of players representing a bridge crew would have wildly divergent skill sets. A captain would be a much higher level than an ensign and have a whole bevy of high-level skills, whereas an ensign might have only one or two useful abilities. It made it much harder for a GM to balance a game and for each player to take the spotlight.

Instead, "Star Trek Adventures" does away with extensive skill trees and "levels." All Starfleet officers are extremely proficient, and have a chance to shine in their chosen field, regardless of experience level. Young officers get a talent that lets them reroll failed dice; veteran officers get a talent that lets them create advantageous situations more easily.

Granted, this means that there are situations in which an ensign could have nearly the same skill level as a captain, but this didn't cause any issues in my game. After all, all RPGs are an abstraction, and in theory, a player who creates an ensign character didn't do so with the intention of staging an in-game coup.

Fire phasers!

While "Star Trek" as a series is very much about getting along, it's impossible to go more than an episode or so without the characters firing a phaser or throwing a punch. Besides, combat in RPGs is usually one of the most fun parts, where dramatic tension comes to a head and characters get to save the day through tactical thinking and strategic maneuvers.

The first thing to keep in mind about combat in "Star Trek Adventures" is that it isn't "Dungeons & Dragons." Your characters are not fantastical adventurers squaring off against impossible beasts. As such, combat is usually fast and furious. A standard phaser blast can tear away half of your character's hit points in a single shot, and an unlucky stroke of a bat'leth could put him in sick bay (if he's lucky) in even less time.

Still, I much prefer the combat in "Star Trek Adventures" to the "blink and you're dead" approach of Last Unicorn, or the "player characters pretty much can't die" approach of Decipher. Players have a pool of "stress" that represents how much abstract damage they can take in combat. Drain that (or deal a ton of damage in one go), and they sustain injuries. If a character sustains three nonlethal injuries, or two lethal injuries, he or she is dead. One injury will usually knock a character out, but there are ways to mitigate this, too.

In keeping with the free-form nature of the game, you won't have to worry about battle grids and turn orders and minutiae like that. There are rules for ducking behind cover, firing wide-range phaser beams and moving around the battlefield, but they're easy to keep track of with a piece of paper and some glass beads — or even just some colored pencils.

(I tried "theater of the mind"-style combat, without beads or paper, at first, but it's a little too hard to keep track of distances that way. "Star Trek Adventures" is not as demanding as combat-heavy fantasy RPGs, but it's still important to know whether you're in melee range of an enemy, or how far away you stand when you shoot.)

Combat itself is delightfully simple, with a couple clearly defined rolls for different types of attacks. Characters can actually take a whole lot more actions during combat, from aiming their weapons to setting up elaborate traps, but the rules for those additional actions tend to get a little complex and esoteric, particularly for players who may not have a copy of the rule book handy. This is something of a recurring theme with "Star Trek Adventures.” The basics are simple, but the specifics can get complicated — sometimes unnecessarily so.

The final frontier

You can't have a "Star Trek" game without starships, and "Star Trek Adventures" provides plenty of these. Just as the players create their own characters, they will also collaborate to create their very own starship, complete with a name and NCC number designation.

Creating a starship is, for the most part, just as smooth and interesting as creating a character. I was worried that my players might each have wildly conflicting ideas about their home in the stars, but within half an hour, they'd ironed out everything from its mission profile (border patrol), to its special abilities (versatile onboard laboratories), to its name and registry number (USS Kumari, NCC-1066.)

Like characters, there are plenty of ways to make your ship unique, from its space frame to its profile. You could have a Galaxy-class vessel like the Enterprise-D on a deep-space exploration mission or a Defiant-class vessel defending the Federation from the Jem'Hadar. When you take an action aboard a starship, the ship itself gets an extra die roll to help players out. Easy enough. [ The 15 Best Ships on Star Trek, from V-ger to the USS Vengeance ]

But things get complicated in starship combat. Honestly, what the rule book needed was an example of starship combat in play, from the beginning of the encounter to the end. What we got instead is about 20 pages of complicated rules, procedures and strategies. After reading through the whole section about three times, it still took an hour to run our first two rounds of starship combat (the Kumari against a Klingon battlecruiser), and my players weren't at all clear about which actions required them to take a turn (recharging shields), and which were passive (certain sensor sweeps).

In all fairness, after those two clunky rounds, we all had a much better understanding of how things worked. And battles in space feel exciting, dangerous and impactful; two rounds were enough for the players to disable the battlecruiser's engines, and for the Kumari to sustain threatening hull damage. Like ground combat, you can decide epic confrontations in just a few rounds — but space combat rounds take much, much longer.

It's also worth pointing out that while the core rule book has a generous amount of "Star Trek: The Next Generation"-era ships, it has only one original-series-era ship (Constitution class), and absolutely nothing for "Star Trek: Enterprise"-era games. The Command Division sourcebook fills in the gaps, but it's a bit disappointing that the rules claim you can play in any "Trek" time period, then all but require you to buy another book to make the most of some of them.

Structural deficiencies

I'm comfortable saying that "Star Trek Adventures" is the best of the three "Trek" RPGs that I've played. That doesn't mean it's flawless, however. The core rule book has two major flaws: its layout and its overwhelming focus on TNG-era games.

While most RPG core rule books start out with mechanical information and discuss lore later on, the "Star Trek Adventures" core rulebook front-loads background information, even though it's the sort of background information that most people who want to play a "Star Trek" RPG will already know.

After a brief example of play (and, again, more of these would be helpful), the book launches into 70 pages of extensive backstory about the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet . This doesn't really explain how to play, and while I understand that you need to present this information somewhere in a core rule book, front-loading it keeps players from getting to the meaty stuff right away.

Furthermore, the chapter on combat is separated from the chapter on performing basic tasks by character creation and a long, strange digression about exploring alien worlds. The whole book is a little like this; all of the information you need is in there, but facts that need to go together are often dozens of pages apart. At least the index is pretty comprehensive.

As stated above, there's also a ton of focus on the TNG era, without much consideration for what it'd be like to run a game in the time of Archer or Kirk. A few sidebars clarify how to deal with earlier eras, but a full section or chapter dedicated to it might have been helpful. Some of the sourcebooks delve into this information further, but they're expensive (about $40 per book) and prioritize lore information over mechanical additions.

Bottom line

In spite of a confusing layout and some unnecessarily crunchy rules, "Star Trek Adventures" is the most accessible, balanced and imaginative "Star Trek" game to date. Everything from creating characters to buying momentum incorporates a bit of unpredictability, resulting in adventures where the characters can succeed and fail in spectacular ways. Both the players and the GM have to play fair, and it's clear from the book's gorgeous design and informative sidebars how much the developers love the source material.

If you can find a few like-minded galactic explorers, you should at least try the free quick-start rules for "Star Trek Adventures." It'll take about 3 hours to pick up and play, and by the end of it, you'll know for sure whether you want to continue your explorations. My players sure did; we've been going strong since June fighting Romulans, solving murder mysteries, rescuing Federation scientists, rooting out spies, confronting moral dilemmas and more. I even wrote some theme music for the group.

Once you get comfortable with the rules, there are only two directives to follow: engage, and boldly go.

Follow us @Spacedotcom , Facebook and Google+ . Original article on Space.com .

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi. 

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Best Star Trek Board Games

By: Author Bryan Truong

Categories Board Games , Round-Ups

In a galaxy far, far away…

Just kidding, we’re boldly going where one franchise has gone before. We’re heading to the vastness of all things Star Trek, specifically we’re looking at the best Star Trek board games this side of the Milky Way. 

Engage warp drives and let’s jump in. Check out the 14 Best Star Trek board games below.

Our Top Picks for Best Star Trek Board Games

In a hurry? Check out our favorites below.

#1. Star Trek: Frontiers

Mage Knight was one of my favorite board games and probably the most fun I’ve ever had playing a solo-game . 

Star Trek: Frontiers takes the Mage Knight system and ruleset and transports it to the Star Trek universe. 

Star Trek: Frontiers uses a streamlined version of the ruleset so it’s easier to jump into the game. It includes solo, competitive, and cooperative scenarios as well as a host of fan-made content that will keep any Trekkie busy exploring the universe.  

Although Frontiers is a simpler version of Mage Knight, that’s not to say it’s not a massive world to explore. On top of that, there’s the Return of Khan expansion that adds Khan’s ship and a lot more content to the mix.

#2. Star Trek: Ascendancy

Star Trek: Ascendancy takes players out of the roles of their favorite captains and instead puts them at the helm of 3 iconic factions in Star Trek: the United Federation of Planets, the Klingons, and the Romulans.

Ascendancy is a strictly 3-player , 4X strategy game.

Players will need to eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate (4X) in order to win. It’s a much larger scale view of the Star Trek universe and gives the players a chance to run their own civilization. It captures a lot of the Star Trek lore by bringing in custom tech trees for each race and an incredible, explorable world to conquer. 

There’s an amazing amount of replay value but the only downside is that the game takes quite a while to finish… and it absolutely requires 3 players. If you have a consistent gaming group of 4, you can still play if you get the Borg expansion. It adds a semi-cooperative element to the game due to everyone having to fight off the Borg assimilation.

#3. Star Trek: Fleet Captains

Get ready for some ship-to-ship warfare. Fleet Captains is a nifty little miniatures game that uses a system similar to HeroClix, in which each model has a rotating base to determine stats and damage. 

Unlike a lot of other miniatures-based games, however, you won’t have to buy a ton of boosters to play a big ship battle. Everything you need comes in the box and you get a surprising amount of ships for the Federation and the Klingons. If you do want some other factions like the Romulans, you’ll have to get an expansion, though. 

The game is a little intimidating to set up but much easier after the first game or two. There’s a variable setup and ship-drafting mechanic so no two space battles will ever be the same, adding a ton of replay to your universe. 

#4. Star Trek: Attack Wing

Attack Wing… Now, where have I heard that name before? 

If you’re familiar with the Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game then you’ll be right at home. Attack Wing reimplements the same system that’s been altered for the Star Trek universe. 

Personally, I love the system that they use here and it makes for an awesome dogfighting, ship-to-ship combat experience. 

The miniature design is one of my favorites in the Trekkie universe and they look fantastic on the table. 

The only real downside is that the system is completely incompatible with any others, so you’ll never be able to see which fandom would win in a fight, Star Trek vs. Star Wars . 

#5. Star Trek: Panic

On the lighter end of the galaxy is Star Trek: Panic. It improves ( IMHO ) upon the original which is called Castle Panic . 

If you’re unfamiliar, the Panic series puts the players in a defensible position at the center of the board with a swarm of enemies constantly moving in from all sides. It’s your job to work together to stem the tides, repair your defenses, and survive the onslaught.

Star Tek: Panic improves upon the original system by having players defend the USS Enterprise. Players now can use character cards to gain roles and abilities from the original series and there’s even a mission-based system that adds more flavor to the game. 

Some of the other games in the Panic series were criticized for not staying true to the original ruleset but I think the new rules added to the Star Trek variant improve upon the original system. 

It’s a fun re-theme of a great game that’s great for families and the younger crowd. 

#6. Star Trek: Catan

Star Trek comes to Catan but instead of a cute little island with a handful of sheep, you’ll instead be sitting in space at an outpost that’ll never be upgraded because “KAREN”  won’t ever trade Oxygen!

Seriously though, it’s a very thematic Trek-themed version of Catan that includes a host of heroes from all across the series. Each one gives players a significant boost or ability in-game and it really changes up the gameplay. 

I’m a huge fan of Catan and the Star Trek version is another great way to get a quick Trek fix while playing a great game. 

To add more Easter Eggs to your Catan game, you can check the Federation Space Expansion that changes up the board by adding the map used in the show that displays all of the known federation space. There are also a few extra goodies and variants thrown in as a bonus.

#7. Star Trek: Chrono-Trek Card Game

A Star Trek-themed variant of Looney Labs’ Chrononauts . 

Franchises, especially Star Trek, like to revamp timelines and alter the very fabric of time to reboot a series. Chrono-Trek lets you sit in the writer/director’s seat and take charge of your own Trekkie timeline. 

Each player becomes a secret agent that needs to travel through the entire Star Trek timeline and create their own alternate realities to suit their own needs. It’s a very simple and quick game that lets you reminisce and relive a lot of the fun Star Trek moments that you know and love. Then you can change them all in a series of what-ifs.

It asks the important questions, like “What if the Federation was assimilated by the Borg?” 

Chaos, that’s what. 

#8. Star Trek: Deck-Building Game

Deck-builders have always been among my favorite games. They allow for a ton of customization and they’ve grown steadily in complexity and mechanics throughout the years while still staying true to the core game mechanics.

The Star Trek Deck-Building Game adds a bit more Trekkie flair to the genre by having players take on the role of captains on a salvaged ship. It’s the perfect platform for a deck-builder . You have an empty ship ready to be filled with iconic crew members and equipment from the Star Trek Universe.

There are 3 different stand-alone versions that can be combined with any others for a more mix-and-matched galaxy to explore. Each one represents a different Star Trek era from the Original Series or the Next Generation.

Each version comes with 3 thematic ways to play, free for all, teams, and cooperative. They’re all thematically linked to their respective eras, so you may be finding yourself fending off the Borg with Picard or picking up allies for your fight in a Klingon civil war.

#9. Star Trek: Fluxx 

Fluxx is a dumb game. It’s completely random, wacky and full of puns. So although it’s dumb it’s a ton of fun and easy to play.

Players start the game out with 2 simple rules: draw a card then play a card. That’s it. There’s literally no way to win yet. As the game goes on, new crazy rules will come into play along with goal cards that actually give the win condition.

It’s a super weird game but fun to play. If you enjoy it, there are also a ton of different thematic versions, like zombies , Cthulu, and even a generic Sci-Fi version that has even more Star Trek puns. 

#10. Star Trek: Conflick in the Neutral Zone

No that’s not a typo, the game is called “Conflick”.

Conflick is a dexterity game where players flick their pieces to into position on a board. Similar to shuffleboard, you can also knock away players’ pieces. 

I’m normally not a big fan of dexterity games because I’m as graceful as a moose trapped in a bedspread. Conflick, however, has some neat mechanics that go along with flicking prowess. Players need to manage resources, by positioning their ships near planets, while managing their number of actions. It makes for a rather exciting tabletop experience.

#11. Star Trek: Expeditions

Star Trek: Expeditions is based on the 2009 reboot of the series and thus uses all the fancy bells, whistles, and lense flairs you’ve come to expect from the new series. 

In Expeditions, the USS Enterprise is dispatched to a distant world that is under attack from Klingons, undergoing a civil war, and is about to say no to an alliance with the United Federation of Planets. Cue the “So you had a bad day” soundtrack.

Players have to work together to solve all three problems before things get out of hand and the Enterprise is forced to withdraw.

Expeditions is a very social game in which you’ll spend a lot of time talking with your friends and trying to solve this sad sack of a planet’s problems… and it’s really fun. 

The few downsides to this one are that there is a lot of randomness and luck involved and the name of the game should have been “Expedition”. There’s a bit of randomness to the sidequest but the overarching mission will always have the planet in a civil war, threatening to back out of the alliance and a Klingon war party on the horizon. It’s the same scenario every time you play. 

There is, however, an expansion that adds Scotty, Sulu, and Chekov into the mix along with a few new side missions to contend with, which does add more variety.

#12. Star Trek: Five Year Mission

Star Trek: Five Year Mission seems like a lightweight Pandemic / Party game . 

In Five Year Mission, players must choose whether to play as the cast of the Original Series or the Next Generation. Each player takes on the role of a crewmember from their respective ships and together they’ll need to solve casualties and alerts. 

How do you solve alerts?

Lots of dice . Five Year Mission relies heavily on dice to resolve alerts and therefore has a lot of randomness built into it. It can get very chaotic as crewmembers become injured while the Enterprise is burning down around you.

#13. Star Trek: Adventures

I always enjoy a good RPG system.

I’m one of the weirdos that spend their time reading the core rulebooks of various systems. It’s really fun to get lost in new worlds. 

The Star Trek: Adventures is a full-fledged pen and paper RPG that uses a 2d20 system. Players will be able to create their own stories as members of the Federation. 

The number of resources in the core rulebook is amazing. There’s a ton of information spanning the entire history of Starfleet. The artwork is pretty incredible too.

Being a traditional RPG, the stories and events are only limited by your imagination, but there are also several modules written by Star Trek veterans.

I personally can’t wait to play a game based on John Scalzi’s Redshirts.

#14. Star Trek: Road Trip

Star Trek: Road Trip is a very simple, family-friendly game. (Maybe even good for a family road trip too?)

Players are cadets of Starfleet completing the Enterprise Challenge. They’ll need to move around the board to collect tokens to move towards the center of the board. The player to return with all 4 tokens is the winner.

It’s not the most exciting game in the world, but it’s extremely simple and has a nice retro vibe from the Original Series.

After exploring the far reaches of the galaxy with us we hope you had fun exploring a universe and fandom that has inspired millions of people throughout the world. 

Did your favorite Star Trek game not make the list? Leave a comment below.  We’d love to hear about your favorite Star Trek board games!

Before starting GameCows with his wife Kendra, he used to teach English Language Arts in the US. He combined his love of gaming with education to create fun game-based learning lessons until he eventually decided to run GameCows with Kendra full-time. He’s known for pouring over rulebooks in his spare time, being the rule master during game night, and as the perma DM in his DnD group. Bryan loves board games, writing, traveling, and above all his wife and partner in crime, Kendra.

David Albin

Tuesday 7th of December 2021

There was a solo game called “Star Trek III” that had you either re-enact Robin Hood and his Merry Men, pick up and deliver trade goods, or try out the Kobyashi Maru challenge. Three separate games, hence the title. Check it out!

Tuesday 9th of June 2020

“The best diplomat that I know is a fully-loaded phaser bank.” —Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott

Star Fleet Battles (made in 1979) was one of our favorites! Take the helm of a Star Fleet vessel and engage the enemy at warp speed! Players command one or more ships from the Federation, Klingon, Gorn, Romulan, or Kzinti fleets, using weapons like phasers, disruptor bolts, photon and plasma torpedoes.

Bryan Truong

Friday 19th of June 2020

HEY CARKLY!

I'm glad you liked the article. I was trying to dig up some of the older editions of Star Fleet when I was writing this one. I just ended up getting lost in years and years of lore though. Do you still have the sheets of your Bruning Battlecruiser hidden away?

• Press releases

Star Trek Adventures Tabletop Roleplaying Game to Launch Second Edition

Press release, star trek: strange new worlds -themed core rulebook planned for gen con, starter set coming in the fall, your downloads.

Screen Rant

Star trek-style tabletop rpgs for fans of peaceful space exploration.

These tabletop RPGs have a Star Trek-style premise, where players are the crew of an space vessel exploring new worlds and making first contact.

There are oodles of space opera sci-fi tabletop RPGs in the style of Star Wars , with galactic empires, blockade-running frigates, and dueling psychic warriors, but there is also a surprising number of RPGs in the tradition of Star Trek . These games focus on members of a survey vessel crew seeking to " explore strange new worlds " and " seek out new life and new civilizations. " Many of these Star Trek -like tabletop RPGs still have clever rules for space battles, but they balance out their moments of conflict with mechanics for contacting, understanding, and reaching accords with new, alien lifeforms.

The universe of Star Trek , outside of the United Federation of Planets, is arguably a very scary place, filled with hostile aliens, expansionist empires, and godlike energy beings capable of warping reality with a thought.   Non-Star Fleet characters from  Star Trek  media  frequently see the Federation's goal of bringing peace and freedom to the galaxy through diplomacy and good will to be dangerously naive, and, considering the perils lurking in their galaxy, they aren't wrong to be skeptical.

Related:  Why Star Trek Changed TOS' Zefram Cochrane So Much In First Contact

The motto of Star Trek  - " to boldly go where no one has gone before " - arguably refers to more than just the act of space exploration. It also embodies an ethos of courageous optimism and a belief that, even in a reality riven by war, turmoil, and distrust, a genuinely better world can be built by hard-working people embracing diversity, kindness, and compassion. This ethos, first displayed in the original Star Trek series , still rings true today, particularly for tabletop gamers interested in an RPG setting where the goal isn't just to kill everything in sight.

Star Trek-Like Tabletop RPGs - Lasers & Feelings

Lasers & Feelings is a free, one-page RPG created by John Harper, designer of narrative RPG systems like Blades In The Dark and Agon . The game's title is taken from a supervillain parody song by folk group The Doubleclicks, but its style is that of a classic Star Trek  episode . The premise of Lasers & Feelings is that Captain Darcy, commander of the interstellar Scout Ship Raptor, has been incapacitated by a psychic entity, leaving their bridge crew to solve the randomly generated crisis threatening their vessel alone. Players' two main character attributes are Lasers, embodying talent with science, logic, and reason, and Feelings, representing emotional passion, empathy, and rapport.

Star Trek-Like Tabletop RPGs - Shock: Human Contact

" Everyone calls their home Earth " is the unofficial motto of Shock: Human Contact , a social sci-fi RPG about academic explorers venturing across the stars in ice-encased starships to reestablish contact with long-lost space colonies of humanity, grown divergent and strange in the ages since the collapse and recovery of civilization on Earth. As a work that both pays homage to and questions the premises of the Star Trek franchise , Shock: Human Contact is filled with interesting gameplay mechanics for creating solar systems, biomes, cultures, and thorny dilemmas for players to navigate. The lore of its far-future setting is also incredibly rich, with detailed entries about plausible future technology, tea and music culture, social ethics, spaceships, martial arts, and a system for creating alien languages and writing systems.

Star Trek-Like Tabletop RPGs - Stars Without Number

Stars Without Number is an extremely detailed space opera sci-fi RPG heavily influenced by the "Old School Revival" game design movement , with extensive rules for creating characters with technical, social, combat, and psychic abilities, designing custom spaceships, and exploring new, unfamiliar star systems in a twist on "hex crawl" gameplay. The setting of Stars Without Number  is a vast galaxy recovering from the effects of " the Scream ," a star-spanning cataclysm that caused the old Terran Mandate to collapse and rendered faster-than-light travel impossible for a time. As players and the factions they hail from venture out into a transformed galaxy once more, they can choose to form empires and rebel movements straight out of Star Wars  or to be peaceful,  Star Trek -like diplomats.

Related:  Tabletop RPGs With Space Western Settings & Themes

Star Trek-Like Tabletop RPGs - Together Among The Stars

In Takuma Okada's Alone Among The Stars  solo journal RPG , a single player takes on the role of a solitary space explorer, journeying from planet to planet and cataloging the discoveries they make in a Star Trek -style captain's log. An expansion of this RPG, Together Among The Star s, lets two travelers explore the stars and catalogue discoveries together. In the discovery phase, players roll a six-sided die and draw playing cards from a deck equal to that numbers, with each card suit representing a specific type of discovery, while the downtime phase uses similar mechanics to shape scenes of socialization and interaction between the two explorers as they journey to their next destination.

Next:  Tabletop RPGs Designed To Be Played Without Game Masters

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Tabletop Game / Star Trek Adventures

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The core setting is the Next Generation era: specifically 2371, during early season 3 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and shortly before the premiere of Star Trek: Voyager . In the Alpha Quadrant, the United Federation of Planets, still scarred from the Cardassian border conflict and the Borg incursion at Wolf 359, has been rocked by the dual blows of the Maquis insurrection and the bloody first contact with the tyrannical Dominion. In the Beta Quadrant, the secretive Romulan Star Empire glares daggers at the Federation across The Neutral Zone , while the fractious, feudal Klingon Empire is allied to the Federation on paper but still a frenemy at best. The Gamma and Delta Quadrants remain virtually unexplored.

Into this calamitous time, your dashing, intrepid crew of Badass Bookworm Starfleet officers are thrown.

The game system encourages prospective Game Masters to approach play in a format much like a Star Trek TV episode, with official missions broken up into "scenes"; some points pools replenish at the start of a scene. Skill checks, called Tasks, rely on six Attributes and six Disciplines , which are added together at GM discretion to create a range that a player must roll inside on 2d20 a given number of times to succeed. Tasks can be modified based on a given character's Traits (primarily their species), Values (a set of abstract statements about things the character has experienced or believes), and Focuses (skill specializations).

This game includes examples of the following tropes:

• Alien Non-Interference Clause : The core rulebook has an extensive discussion of the origins and history of the Prime Directive and its various interpretations. It is also cited in nearly every official mission and campaign.
• Armor-Piercing Attack : Weapons with the "Piercing" quality ignore a certain number of points of Resistance for each Effect rolled.
• Fictional Document : Sidebars in the rulebooks include quotations from a wide range of authors regarding events in Star Trek , usually but not always related to the topics on the page.
• Gender Is No Object : Justified by the Federation's emphasis on egalitarianism: a sidebar in the core rulebook specifically states that "characters in Star Trek Adventures may be of any ethnicity, religion, sex, gender, sexuality, and so forth, without limit or restriction."
• Humans Are Average : Humans uniquely get to pick where to put their racial bonus Attribute points.
• Justified Tutorial : The Starter Set includes a three-mission campaign, A Star Beyond the Stars , that is organized as a walkthrough for the Game Master on how to use the game system.
• Massive Race Selection : The core rulebook alone has stats for eight player races and seven NPC races. Add the supplements and the total is seventy altogether.
• The Quick to Action talent. During the first round of combat, the players can keep initiative for zero cost to their momentum. Since STA runs on a Players-Opponents-Players turn format this quickly results in the players essentially being able to do major damage to the opponent before they even get to start. A very common houserule amongst STA GMs is to limit it to one time.
• Anything with the Vicious Quality applies. For every effect rolled, the "effect" gained is an extra point of damage. On very high damage rolls sufficient effects can be One-Hit Kill .
• Phasers during space combat are significantly more powerful than Torpedoes due to the "Versatile" quality, which gains momentum per effect rolled. A very well rolled Phaser shot as a result can max out the momentum pool immediately and have overflow momentum that can used immediately for extra damage.
• In addition, the Talent Mean Right Hook gives melee combat the aforementioned "Vicious" quality, making it much easier to knockout an enemy despite the general lower damage output of hand-to-hand combat.
• General Melee Weapons are also very powerful in their own right despite coming with a Threat cost, but also have Vicious 1 quality and have higher base damage than unarmed strikes, meaning that while they minimally increase the GM's potential to fight back, the players have a significantly higher chance of giving the enemies a bad day.
• Hand Phasers "Charge" quality is also very popular though in a more Boring, but Practical way. As a minor action, a player can use a Charge to activate a stun or wide beam effect. If the player is lucky and rolls an effect as well the player can easily trigger a Wide Angle Stun Area of Effect .
• Related to this - Science Officers also get a bonus free Obtain Information anytime they do a scan with the ship's sensors, meaning that Science heavy ships frequently can acquire the required information immediately.
• P.O.V. Sequel : The Klingon Core Rulebook is a rewrite of the original core rulebook from the Klingon Empire's point of view instead of the Federation's.
• Pyrrhic Victory : Narendra III , according to Romulan Admiral Kylor Jerok in a sidebar. Yes, the Romulans won, but the destruction of the Klingon outpost and the Enterprise -C only reinforced the Federation-Klingon alliance, freezing the Romulans out of input into galactic events.
• Realpolitik : A Fictional Document from the Zakdorn Defense Institute (dating to circa 2360) recommends against Federation intervention in the Occupation of Bajor, arguing that ejecting the Cardassians from Bajor would require a proper war that the Federation can't afford, and that Gul Dukat's appointment as prefect is likely to stiffen the Bajoran Resistance and let them force the Cardassians out on their own.
• Characters have the Attributes (ranges from about 6 to a cap of 12) of Control, Fitness, Presence, Daring, Insight, and Reason, and the Disciplines (ranges from 1 to 5) of Command, Security, Science, Conn, Engineering, and Medicine.
• Ships have the Systems of Comms, Engines, Structure, Computers, Sensors, and Weapons, and the Departments of Command, Security, Science, Conn, Engineering, and Medicine.
• Skill Scores and Perks : Disciplines are essentially skill scores, while Talents are like Perks, giving alternative gameplay options in specific circumstances. Traits, Values, and Focuses can also be used to modify Tasks: an unfamiliar species Trait might make treating an illness more difficult, a Value that is applicable to a given situation allows a PC to spend Determination to gain an advantage, and rolling for a Task if a character has an applicable Focus scores an extra success.
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GAMINGTREND

Star trek adventures tabletop roleplaying game set to launch second edition, new worlds themed core rulebook planned for gen con.

Modiphius Entertainment Ltd. has announced their plans to publish a second edition of their popular Star Trek Adventures. Modiphius also announced plans to release a new core rulebook and a series of expansions later this fall. You can learn more about Star Trek Adventures below:

London, ENGLAND:  Monday 26th February 2024 Modiphius Entertainment Ltd. will publish a second edition of its award-winning Star Trek ™ roleplaying game, Star Trek Adventures , later this year with a new core rulebook and a series of game expansions to follow. The British publisher continues to enjoy a strong licensing relationship with Paramount Consumer Products, adding Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek: Prodigy to the license, allowing it to produce game material for both series alongside the rest of the franchise. A new core rulebook will premiere at Gen Con 2024, and a new starter set will be released in the fall. The core rulebook will allow players to create original characters and starships, immersing themselves in Star Trek stories of their own making. The second edition of the popular RPG will build on and refine the rules from the first edition, and is compatible with first edition supplements and expansions. The second edition of the game opens up the possibility for players to step outside the Starfleet-focused gameplay and tell stories with the well-known species of the Star Trek universe, including the Klingon and Romulan Empires, in addition to others present across the franchise. With the addition of Strange New Worlds to the license, the new edition will feature art themed around the popular new series. Speaking about the team’s work, project manager Jim Johnson said: “Phase two of Star Trek Adventures is giving us the opportunity to refine the award-winning ruleset, taking advantage of all we’ve learned and published for the game and for the 2d20 System over the last seven years. And, since Star Trek presented a diverse setting from the very beginning, I felt it important the core rulebook present a more diverse spread of character possibilities beyond just the Federation. You’ll see a selection of fully playable non-Federation species in the core, expanding your group’s gameplay possibilities right from the start.” Trending: Fallout TV series Season 1, Episode 1 review — Explosive introduction Modiphius has had the strongest-supported licensed Star Trek tabletop roleplaying game to date, with seven years of titles giving fans extensive coverage of the source material and gameplay options. A solo-play version of Star Trek Adventures entitled Captain’s Log released in 2023 and was an immediate hit with fans and retailers alike, giving players without a group or a gamemaster the ability to create Star Trek stories about their own original characters. Chris Birch, Modiphius founder and chief creative officer said, “You can see it in people’s eyes when they talk about their Star Trek Adventures games, that this RPG is really bringing something quite special to the table. Seven years ago we set out to tell a new story in the Star Trek universe, and to bring us all together to explore strange new worlds. So whether you’re a new crew coming to the table or old friends, I think you’ll find the second edition of Star Trek Adventures will be the beginning of your own five-year mission with all the wonder that entails.” Keep your hailing frequencies open and sign up to be the first to hear about Star Trek Adventures releases at modiphius.net .

Stay tuned to GamingTrend for all your gaming, tech, and entertainment news!

Richard Allen

Richard Allen is a freelance writer and contributing editor for various publications. While he enjoys modern gaming, he is a retro gamer at heart, having been raised on a steady diet of Contra, Mario, and Dragon's Lair.  Chat with him via @thricetheartist on Twitter.

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Star Trek Adventures Tabletop RPG Adds New Tactical Campaign Supplement

By Modiphius Entertainment

 Modiphius to publish The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

London, England: 7th February 2024

Publisher of tabletop games, wargames and board games, Modiphius Entertainment Ltd. has announced a new expansion to its popular Star Trek Adventures tabletop roleplaying game, The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign .

The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign book provides a six-mission campaign paralleling the Klingon War story arc depicted in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery. This tactical campaign enables you and your group to explore what was happening elsewhere in the Federation during this perilous time. With a plethora of additional rules variations to embrace the emotional toil of being thrust into a war, this campaign gives you the tools to build exciting narratives during the war.

This book also includes an all-new, procedurally generated campaign overlay that gives players the opportunity to take on the roles of admirals assigning assets to deal with Klingon threats across the Galaxy.

It also includes six new playable species, including Aenar, Arcadian, Ariolo, Betelgeusian,

Coridanite, and Megarite; optional rules, additional character talents, and more than 20 war-focused mission briefs including tactical, routine, exploration, and mission options.

Regarding the new release, Star Trek Adventures project manager Jim Johnson said: “With this release, we’re expanding the scope of Star Trek storytelling possibilities. It includes a long roleplaying campaign and a tactical campaign overlay that provides players the means to take on the role of admirals and manage resources and events at a larger scale. And, the tactical campaign component could be played by itself as sort of a mini-game, beyond the full roleplaying experience. I’m excited for gaming groups to get this to their table and create amazing Star Trek stories with it.”

Trekkies can now pre-order The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign at modiphius.net .

About Modiphius Entertainment

Modiphius Entertainment is a London, England-based entertainment publisher of tabletop games and related hobby merchandise. The company launched it's own IP, the Achtung! Cthulhu Roleplaying Game , in 2013, and has since released a huge range of tabletop games, including the Star Trek Adventures TTRPG with Paramount, the official Dune RPG with Legendary, The Elder Scrolls Skyrim The Co-Operative Board Game, the official Fallout: The Roleplaying Game , and Fallout: Wasteland Warfare miniatures game with Bethesda. The company has since launched new IP's Cohors Cthulhu and Dreams & Machines.

Keep your hailing frequencies open and sign up to be the first to hear about Star Trek Adventures releases at modiphius.net .

TM & © 2024 CBS Studios Inc. © 2024 Paramount Pictures Corp. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Star Trek Into The Unknown Miniatures Game Starter Core Set

If you love Star Trek and tabletop gaming, this looks to be one of the better set-up games we’ve seen for the IP. Obviously, we haven’t played it yet, but from the looks of everything so far, it’s looking promising.

The game looks very much to have an Armada vibe, and according to the pictures, the ships look quite massive and proportioned correctly to one another.

Plus, we know everything that will come in the starter set and the price from Wizkid’s latest previews.

Star Trek: Into the Unknown Core Set Miniatures Game Walkthough

Here is a walkthrough demo of the new Star Trek Into the Unknown Miniatures game from Paper or Plastic Sports and Games.

At the Alliance Open House, WizKids announced their new Star Trek Into the Unknown Miniatures game on September 8th, 2023.

Wizkids have had several Star Trek game releases in the past, with both Frontiers and Attack Wing, but those games are much more focused on a dogfight feel. This new game seems to be much more thematic with actual large ships!

While some players have given WizKids some grief for Attack Wing, the game did run for about ten years, so it’s not too bad for a game. Considering this is Star Trek, there will be more than just combat. With Diplomatic maneuvers to move along the campaign. But like most thematic games,  you can also play this as a single encounter game.

Now, here’s everything that comes in the starter:

Star Trek Into the Unknown Federation vs. Dominion Core Set:

Pictures from the event come from   Tales of a Tabletop Skirmisher.

Galaxy-Class starship, a Constellation-Class starship, a Defiant-Class starship, a Jem’Hadar Battle Cruiser, 2 Jem’Hadar Fighters, a rulebook, a learning guide, 12 custom dice, 3 acrylic range rulers, 15 acrylic system markers, 2 turning tools, 24 Mission cards, 30 Officer cards, 30 Damage Effect cards, assorted tokens, and 30 Equipment, Directive, and plenty of Unit cards. 

The game will retail for $149.99 , but you can often find some decent prices on WizKids products from Amazon and local stores. So, there’s a chance you can get it for less, as this is just the MSRP.

However, the game isn’t set to release until April 2024.

If you’ve wanted to battle in the Star Trek universe, this game might be right up your alley.  

What do you think about the new Star Trek Into the Unknown miniatures game from WizKids? 

Let us know in the comments of our  Facebook Hobby Group,  or our  new Discord server , and make sure you  enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!

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About the Author: Travis Pasch

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