Far Trek Play Report: Star Date 2017.18.8

Star Date: 2017.18.8

I ran the "Be Not Afraid" adventure by Roger Taylor II at my FLGS. This is the second time I've run this adventure. The first time was at Palm Con 2016 ( you can find the prior write up of it here on the blog). This time around I had five players, only my daughter had any prior experience playing the game. I tailored the Pre-gens a little to some requests and off we went to the Stars!

Argo Crew

Crew of the USS Argo (L to R)
Navigator - Maxine "Max" Holt , Lt. JG                  Player: Selina
Chief Medical Officer - Salec (Vulcan), Lt. Cmdr.   Player: Karen
Commanding Officer - Cade Grim - Captain            Player: Zachary
Exec.\Science Officer - Vesara Tes (Trill), Cmdr.    Player: Tahlia
Comm. Officer - Tsun Capri, Lt. Cmdr.                  Player: Josh

Friday Night Far Trek: Players

I gave a quick run down of the rules, set up the Crew on the Bridge of the Argo and started the Opening Scene. I printed out the the image below on a standard sheet of paper to use as our Bridge.

Bridge of the Argo

(8-hour bridge ambient sounds playing)

Our Captain read aloud his Log entry which I typed up from the adventure and gave him. The Argo dropped out of warp at the edge of the system and headed for Tannos IV. Captain Grim asked Mr. Capri to hail the colony while Vesara pulled up the System & Planetary Profile from the computer. As the crew reviewed the log, communications revealed that there was heavy interference causing issue with hailing the colony.

Then the first shear hit! everyone failed to save but only by 1-2 points so no one was injured, but they were rattled. They quickly determined what happened and the Captain ordered Lt. "Max" to plot a course to avoid further issue. The Navigator has a little trouble getting the ship set and a second shear rattles them sending the Doctor off to Sick Bay to oversee injuries sustained by NPC crew. There was a remark about only having a "Learners Permit" before Maxine set in a course that brought the ship safely through to Tannos IV.

Once in orbit the crew set to work trying to contact Madsen's Hope, only to discover that the Gravimetric disturbances are messing with scans and comms! Mr. Capri is able to get a lock on the colony beacon so a landing party can beam down safely.

Captain Grim leaves Helmsman #1 in command of the Ship and orders the the others to the Transporter Room.

-COMMERCIAL BREAK-

Scene 1 - Transporter Room / Planetside

The Landing party are assigned Type II phasers, communicators and appropriate Tricorders. A single security "Red Shirt" ensign Tar'get joins the party as well. Stepping up on the pads the Captain looks to the transporter chief and says "Beam us down."

The Landing Party materializes within walking distance of the Colony ( Space wind sound effect is played ) and they begin a search & scan pattern as ordered by the Captain. Team 1 consisting of the Captain, Salec and Tar'get search the exterior grounds and supply sheds, while Team 2 led by Vesara, with "Max" and Tsun enter the Admin building to look for colony members.

Just about the time the crew are getting very worried about the state of things ensign Tar'get screams! The Captain and Salec are faced with the apparent disappearance of the "Red Shirt"!

Scans are taken, clues are found, Mr. Capri discovers the strange state of the duotronic memory chips. Salec worries that not only are there no life-signs, there aren't even any bodies. The Captain is about to call the ship when he gets hailed and informed of an approaching Klingon D-5 Raptor Class ship.

I.K.V. D-5 Raptor "puQmo'taj"

He orders the Argo to Yellow alert and for Comms to open a channel to the Klingon ship. After a few moments of silence he enters into a dialogue with the Klingons. The player makes a couple of really good rolls and convinces Commander D'kar that they should work together to solve the mystery surrounding Tannos IV.

The Klingons arrive planetside and are standoffish with the crew. They haphazardly search the area and their Commander blatantly accuses the "Federation" of being up to something and that he is watching their every move! Captain Grim is able to placate the Klingons with diplomacy while keeping his crew alert for treachery.

First Officer Tes locates the source of the gravimetric emanations only a few kilometers east of the colony, so the two groups set off on foot to find out what is going on.

-COMMERCIAL BREAK-

Scene 2  - Planetside / Ruins

The crystal mounds 

About halfway to their intended destination the groups find the body of Ensign Tar'get! Salec determines the man is not dead, but very near it. Medical scans show he is suffering from the effects of exposure to the vacuum of space! Captain Grim gets the Commander D'kar to agree to allow the crewman to beamed back to the Argo for medical attention. At this point the Captain decides to get a "Measure of a man" on the Klingon Commander.

Soon the parties come upon an area of ancient alien ruins, in the center are three 1.5 meter tall crystal mounds in a loose triangular pattern. A tipped over colony issue tractor and some digging tools are scattered about here as well. The two groups fan out about the scene and begin looking for clues and scanning with tricorders. Mr. Capri gets a gut feeling the Klingons are about to pull something and is able to alert his Captain of this without the Klingons noticing.

Meanwhile Salec and Vesara have approached the crystal mounds and two of them have begun flashing with a beautiful spectrum of lights emanating from within. They also realize this is the source of the eerie wind noises. Salec is intrigued with the concentric rings of what appear to be shards of glass hovering above the crystals. Vesara determines the crystals are not native to the planet and each one is like a giant icicle in shape speared deeply into the crust of the planet. The five Klingons are maneuvering into position to attack the crew, while D'kar and Captain Grim stare each other down.
 "It doesn't have to go like this." says Grim.
 "If you want to surrender then lay down your phasers, the Empire will have these crystals." sneers D'kar!

Salec decides to swing his tricorder at the rings above a crystal and causes a massive shockwave that blows everyone off their feet! No one is knocked out, however Vesara has disappeared and the Klingons are no longer under any pretense of being peaceful.

Vesara discovers herself in a region of extreme cold and wind. A quick tricorder scan reveals she has been displaced to the northern icecap of Tannos IV! She also sees a few feet from her a two-dimensional rift in space-time through which she can see the events back at the crystal mounds playing out. With not a moment to spare she decides to attempt to dive through the rift and hopefully re-join her crew!

-COMMERCIAL BREAK-

 Scene 3 - The Showdown

Tannos IV Ruins

Vesara is gone, the Klingons are scrambling to get up after the shockwave but the crew reacts faster! Captain Grim holds D'kar at phaser point, "Tell your men to stand down D'kar!"
Mr. Capri and "Max" both take cover behind a low rock wall and draw phasers on the brutish Klingon Klag, whom they see is drawing aim on either their Captain or perhaps his own! Salec has taken position near the Klingon science officer holding him at phaser point while working his tricorder with the other hand. The Doctor thinks he can set the device to emit a focused sonic beam that might knock out the Klingons.

Mr. Capri and "Max" both fire upon Klag with their phasers on heavy stun and drop the big Klingon like a sack of tribbles! The two Klingon warriors level their disruptors to fire upon the Captain and Salec when just at that moment Vesara pops out of a rift and drops one of the warriors with a phaser blast! The remaining warrior fires at Vesara and she suffers a severe disruptor wound to her left arm. As the warrior draws down on the Science officer with the intent of finishing her off Salec points his tricorder in their direction and KO's him with a high-pitched sonic blast!

At the same moment D'kar lunges at Captain Grim only to take a heavy stun blast right in the face!

The Klingon science officer reveals he wants to defect to the Federation, and has a plan to get the Klingons back up to their ship, but the crystals must NOT fall into the hands of the Empire. The defector sets an auto-recall on the Klingon communicators that causes them to beamed back up to their ship, but not before he throws his communicator away. Captain Grim then has the landing party plus one beamed back on board the Argo!

-COMMERCIAL BREAK-

Scene 4 - Finale

USS Argo

The Klingon defector is escorted to the brig by Salec, while the rest of the party return to the bridge.

The Captain orders Vesara to lock on the coordinates of the crystals for a full spread Photon torpedo barrage, and for "Max" to plot a course to a safe distance at emergency warp 8 to be implemented just prior to impact. The crew make their rolls, the Captain gives the order "Fire Photon torpedos!"

With the crystals destroyed, the Tannos system is safe to navigate and the Argo is able to do a thorough scan of the entire system. They are able to locate and rescue twelve missing colonists, but find no trace of the puQmo'taj. Was she destroyed by the final gravimetric shear that tore through the system when the crystals were destroyed, or did the Klingons get away?

-END CREDITS-

We are looking to make this a Once a month thing, so look for more adventures of the Crew of the USS Argo!

Galacta: Warbots of the Galaxy

Galacta 25 update: At long last the Warbots of the Galaxy have arrived! Though there are many types of standard size warbots and armed robots used by both the Galactan Empire and the Rebel forces, we are focusing today on the Ultimate in battle technology used by both sides in this conflict.

Galactan Empire Warbot:

RB-1 Warbot & Tech

RB-1 Warbot (Robbie)
Move- 6"   Save- 6+  / *Repair-7+
Close Fighting- 7+
Weapons:
x2 Blast Cannon: range 24" / 7+Hit

 The RB-1 can mount two weapons. Warbots can move without penalty outdoor and through rough terrain. A weapon mount can can be replaced with the Jammer effect (see Jammer bot).

Rebel Forces Warbot:

B9-AT Warbot & Tech

B9-AT Warbot
Move- 6"   Save- 6+ / *Repair 7+
Close Fighting- 7+
Weapons:
x1 Blast Cannon: range 24" / 7+Hit
x1 Repeater laser cannon: range 20" / 8+Hit, fires twice, targets within 4" of each other.

 The B9-All Terrain Bot was a heavy duty workhorse that was quickly converted by Rebel forces to match the power of the Empires RB-1. A weapon mount can be replaced with the Jammer effect as well. Sometimes the B9 can be found at Rebel bases being used for construction and general purpose work. Instead of weapons it will have Anti-grav lifters or possibly bore drills depending on the job.

*Repair 7+ - This secondary Save only comes into play if a figure has been assigned to the Warbot as a Technician. If the Warbot is knocked out of commission by an failed Save, the Technician can make a Reapair save to get the Warbot back online. If this Repair save fails the Warbot is destroyed.

Far Trek RPG: stuff to make your game awesome!

So in a few days I will be running a Far Trek game for some first-timers. My last game was at Palm Con 2016. This post is really just about some of the stuff I use in my Far Trek games and how you can too.

Aquarium plants

Let's start with Terrain. So you want some quick and easy planetary terrain? Look no further than the aquarium section at Wal-Mart. You can get a bag of those plants pictured above for under $5 bucks. They are many others to choose from but I liked the three pack, I ended up buying 3 packs over the course of a few months. There are also little bags of clear plastic colored rocks, the best part is NO WORK needs to be done to them. Place on table and you are ready!

Plastic dishware & asst. crap

Nothing beats a few Plastic cups and bowls from the $1 Store. Add in an Ink Cartridge package, a shaving creme bottle cap, and half of a clear plastic ball and you have more items to make Installations or whatever out of.

Enemies & Creatures!

If you aren't using the Star Trek Paper Miniatures made by David Okum, you should! Unless you don't use minis then who cares. Little finger puppet monsters from The Party Store are great too!

Player Characters & more..

Besides Federation Crew, there are Klingons, Romulans and various creatures (Mugato / tribbles etc.). In the picture above you can see three beads that could be used for all kinds of things; alien lifeforms, weird plants or crystal formations. There are tons of things lying around your house you could use o jazz up you game without spending a dime.

If you already have miniature terrain for Fantasy or Sci-fi then by all means use that stuff as well. However if you don't have the time/space or money for the official terrain items then by all means go Cheap! It still looks cool!

Some other simple things I did was to get three sets of mini-poker chips in Blue/Red/Yellow. I use those to keep track of Fate points. Also color coded Six sided dice add to the flavor!

Until next time, set your Phasers for FUN!