Reaching the End, At the Beginning!: Star Trek RPG (FASA)

I’m gonna be up front right here, right now with you guys. Of all the official systems that have cropped up over the years to play Star Trek inspired games of the imagination, the FASA system is the one that I’m least familiar with. I only got the core book about a month ago. Part of the reason it’s taken me so long to get into this system is because it’s pretty old, and also it’s really highly regarded by players. Also, there’s just so much stuff! Granted the game was published for seven years, but in those seven years over fifty books were published! I think it goes without saying that it’s kind of difficult to figure out where to start with this system. However, some good friends of mine found a great deal at a yard sale on a copy, and knowing my affinity for all things RPG related, gave me the mad hook ups. It’s a touching story really. Worthy of film adaptation, but only if Michael Bay directs. But seriously, this leaves me a little bit fuzzy on some of the finer points of the system so bear with me as we muddle through a look at where Star Trek RPG playing all began…

The year was 1982, and Star Trek was living the high life with the release of The Wrath of Khan. Things were on the rise for the franchise, and Paramount was looking for ways to capitalize on the up-and-coming popularity of the property. There had been an action figure line to coincide with the release of The Motion Picture, but no such thing for TWOK. However, there was a company that was making a line of Star Trek tabletop wargaming figures. Since 1979, Armadillo Design Bureau had been producing its Star Fleet Battles line of miniatures, which it still produces to this very day. In much the same way as Dungeons and Dragons had gotten its start as a tabletop wargame, Paramount felt that a similar approach could work for Star Trek. Afterall, people who play tabletop wargames are already used to convoluted, difficult rules with an over abundance of math and book keeping so, why not? Thus, Paramount approached FASA Corporation to develop a new RPG system that fans could use to act out their own adventures in the Star Trek universe.

FASA had already made a name for themselves in the RPG community as they had been publishing the Traveller RPG since 1980. Hence is was in 1982 that FASA released Star Trek: The Roleplaying Game. And then in 1983, they released a second edition. I’m told that the differences between the two editions are miniscule, but that an emphasis was put on making the starship combat portion of the game its own thing with the second edition. Whatever. So how does the game work. Well, we’re back to rolling attributes, or should I say we started out rolling for attributes. Honestly, the setup is not terribly dissimilar to what you saw with Decipher’s system. The only real difference is in the types of dice you roll. FASA’s system utilized two d20s that only had the numbers 1 - 0 printed on them twice. Two of these were used to run a percentile based system wherein players designated one die to represents the 10s spot, and the other to represent the 1s spot, then rolled, and tried to roll under whatever their score happened to be. It’s one of the most generic, and potentially simple resolution methods out there.

Mechanically speaking, the system is pretty unremarkable. However, where FASA really scored a homerun was in universe building. I know I just got through singing the praises of LUG on this same point last week, but imagine that FASA was working with even less canon material at the time. To their credit, the drew from every official source that they had at the time so you got material based on the Original Series, material that drew from the movies, and, in a unique, and singular situation, material that drew from the Animated Series. Let me reiterate, FASA is the only system thus far to openly draw mythology from the Animated Series. That fact alone makes this a gem for Star Trek RPG players. On top of all that, they were actively and consistently adding with their own mythology in order broaden the game, and make it more immersive.

Now, as I already mentioned, the offering of material for this game is massive, and unlike the previous two systems, there isn’t quite as much rhyme or reason to the releases so let’s look at a few notable entries to get an idea of what was published. I think one of the best places to start is with some of the culture building material, specifically, the boxed set that FASA made about the Klingons:

I find this boxed set particularly tantalizing because we got a Romulan counterpart with the LUG system, and a Klingon boxed set was planned for the LUG system, but never got published. As such, this may well be the most comprehensive look ever given to Klingon society, culture, and politics in print form. I don’t own this, but from what I’ve been able to gather, it’s extensive. It also ended up not conforming to what was eventually developed, but considering the handful of episodes, and one movie that the authors had to go on, that isn’t surprising. There are maps of Klingon territory, sections about their history, culture, military structure, and government. There’s also a pretty extensive section about Klingon ships. This is a particularly interesting section because these non-canon ships bear some pretty sweet designs. Look it up! They’re cool!

The next entry in our review might have slipped into obscurity if not for a certain infamous fan film production. Axanar took probably several pages from our next entry to craft their tale, and politics aside, did a bang up job with what they actually accomplish. I’m referring to this:

The Four Years War is a fascinating little nugget that’s been mined in this supplement, but that finds its origins in a one line comment during the Original Series episode Whom Gods Destroy. The line is spoken by former starship captain Garth, who is insane, and gives us a scintillating glimpse into the, then non-existent, historical lore of Star Trek. The Four Years War covers a period before the Original Series when the hostilities between the Federation and Klingons was approaching a boiling point of open conflict. Although I haven’t read this particular book, I can easily imagine that this build up and some mitigating factors as what led to the forced Organian treaty from TOS. There are some intriguing gaps to be filled, and I commend FASA for making the attempt!

 

I next want to look at the movie tie-in supplements that FASA made. There are only two of them because FASA lost their license before they could make one for Final Frontier, but I’ve got the one for Voyage Home, and it is amazing! You wouldn’t think that there would be much to discuss when one is only looking at a single movie, but I was thoroughly impressed with how much lore there is in this offering! Since Voyage Home ties up the unofficial trilogy, and since it was a pretty big deal during the film, there’s quite a bit of information pertaining to the relationship between the Federation and Klingons after the Genesis incident. There are also about a dozen updated races to be played, information about the state of the Federation as of this film, guidelines on diplomatic characters in the universe, and some Starfleet security procedures to add that extra bit of immersiveness to your games. I gotta say, for having so little to work with, the authors really came up with a lot!

It would be pretty tragic if we didn’t take a look at the harbinger of doom for this system! FASA had done pretty well with their license up to this point, but their penchant for universe building in ways that contradicted the canon eventually led to their demise. I guess Paramount was fine with their antics until it started conflicting with a show that was in current production. That’s understandable. There was an Officer’s Guide to go with this one, and I’ve heard through the grapevine that it’s so comprehensive when it comes to Starfleet practices and regulations that several fan clubs use it as a guideline for their fictional regulations. However, that’s only anecdotal. I do own the First Year Sourcebook. I can’t speak highly enough about this supplement! What I found most astonishing is that the ‘supplement’ could almost be used as a core book for running games. The core rules are discussed almost thoroughly enough to give players the ability to actually play! Beyond that, there’s all sorts of setting information specific to the TNG era, character bios, new alien species, and a brief starship guide for the bulk of the ships that had been featured in the first season of TNG. For a book that’s less than 50 pages long, there is a ton packed into this tasty tome! It just goes to show that Trekkies are an enterprising lot!

This system is by far, the simplest to play of the lot. It offers a lot of great variety to enhance gameplay, and stimulate the imagination. While there wasn’t a lot of canon material to go on at the time, FASA did an exemplary job of populating the universe with fun and exciting elements to completely immerse players in the experience. I can’t praise this system enough! With simple play mechanics and a wealth of fluff from which to draw, this is the perfect starting point for anyone who wants to begin their RPG trek into the Final Frontier! If you can find it, give it a go! You won’t regret it! We have a binary surprise next week so stay tuned to see what we’ve got in store!