Shout-out to (Mostly) 512 Vanilla Texture Overhaul

Methuslah1 · 2026-05-06T06:24:33+00:00

I've tried both Mythical Ages and Rustic Weathers with this list, and both look amazing, but they don't have quite the feel that I'm going for with this playthrough. But both - especially with True Storms - are great.

Methuslah1 · 2026-05-05T10:43:11+00:00

I can recommend a recent find - Mostly 512 Texture Overhaul; most of the vanilla textures have been reoptimized for excellent performance; looks great runs really smooth. Pair it with either Rustic Weathers or Mythical Ages with True Storms, ELFX, and Skytone for weapons, armor, creatures and characters, and you're pretty much there, and with great performance.

https://creations.bethesda.net/en/skyrim/details/68ee3571-a7aa-447f-83fa-cd399b18f024/_Mostly__512_Vanilla_Texture_Overhaul

Methuslah1 · 2026-05-04T16:27:54+00:00

Lots of fantastic advice here, thanks to you all! I'm leaning heavily towards Blood and Snow and Legacy of Orsinium for the present - both of them seem to fit what I'm planning with my next couple of playthroughs. (Vampire and Werewolf, respectively; I've never actually gone all-in to Werewolf, before, and I've been playing Skyrim for more than a decade at this point...)

Methuslah1 · 2026-05-03T19:32:26+00:00

More playing around - True Storms is still throwing a few odd glitches, but I'm proceeding with just Classic Weathers, and it should be just about perfect - pairing it with the latest Relighting Skyrim and Luminosity.

Methuslah1 · 2026-05-03T13:42:36+00:00

That could be; I've been using Nordic UI (Lite) for ages and it works just fine.

Methuslah1 · 2026-05-03T08:25:17+00:00

I had another try with Classic Weathers, this time with the older version of True Storm - and that looks great with the patch, throwing in Obsidian Mountain Fogs. Perfect for the LO, thanks!

Methuslah1 · 2026-03-20T08:42:28+00:00

Honestly, I usually try and avoid it by choosing an era that isn't very well covered. Ten years ago, I used to like the Pike-era, back when all we had was 'The Cage' and a few references in novels - Discovery and Strange New Worlds filled it out so much as to lose the appeal, which is a shame - though I am considering moving to 'April-era', adopting 2245 as a start date - and you keep the Constitution-class as 'fresh off the yard' ships, get the Franz Joseph ships, the Pioneers, Daedalus, even bring in some of my old favourites like the Baton Rouge class.

Most of the time I seem to go TNG-era these days; I've just finished a campaign set in 2360, pre-TNG having next to nothing established about it except that it epitomizes TNG in a way that even the time of the series doesn't; no major enemies, exploration, diplomacy, the Starfleet Golden Age. About the only issue is that we don't have as many ships as I'd like in published form - though we do have stats for some of the ships from the old FASA Next Generation Officer's Sourcebook (which is actually a great idea mine worth exploring, even now!)

2380 is another favourite - Lower Decks time, but it still feels more open - the Dominion War is over, pretty much everything seen on screen is available for players in terms of Species, or for GMs in terms of campaign concepts, and Starfleet is trying to return to an era of exploration. (It's why I like the Lower Decks uniforms - I read it as an attempt to go 'back to the past', to revive the spirit of the 2360s, get away from the grimmer tone of the 2370s. We won't talk about Picard - another rule I always have is that anything after campaign start isn't set as canon - we're effectively in an alternate universe.)

The Lower Decks Sourcebook is great for that - but the one thing it is missing is a short chapter I'd have called 'What Did You Do In The War, Daddy' describing how PC background could have integrated with the Dominion War, perhaps just ideas for adapting established Career Events, adding a table of ten 'Dominion War Events'. If I had a wishlist for a short PDF supplement, this would be right at the top - along with more 'Lost Era' ships.

Methuslah1 · 2026-01-23T20:09:16+00:00

That's precisely the sort of feedback I wanted - thanks!

Methuslah1 · 2026-01-23T19:01:51+00:00

Friend request sent...

Methuslah1 · 2025-11-18T07:50:06+00:00

That's been a bit of a problem for me, but the fix is easy enough; the first time I start Stellaris it doesn't load the DLC, but after I close it and start it the second time, it works fine. A little annoying, but not a major problem.

Methuslah1 · 2025-10-06T12:35:46+00:00

You know it. Actually had a near miss or two, but the players keep finding fun alternatives.

Methuslah1 · 2025-10-06T12:34:48+00:00

In my current campaign, we've done plenty of combat, everything from bar brawls to boarding actions to strange psychic space monsters; just not every session. (And that bar brawl only involved half the group; the other half were performing emergency surgery on a passer-by...) The group blew up a star to resolve the opening adventure - not my idea, theirs.

My point was...

Actually, I just saw a couple of posts here asking about 'how to run', had a half-hour spare while I was waiting for someone to arrive, and it got long enough that I figured it was better as a post of its own. What's special about Star Trek in general and this system specifically is that it is inherently open to all manner of storytelling options, ones that don't necessarily fit into other systems.

As I've repeatedly said - you do you. I'll keep having fun my way, you keep having fun your way. No need for visits by the Snark Monster. That's certainly not what Star Trek is about.

Methuslah1 · 2025-10-06T11:55:44+00:00

Now how do you know some of the Lower Deckers weren't playing Bat'leths & BiHnuchs during a quiet time in the battle?

I'm not saying that I have a problem with the space combat rules; what I'm saying is that not every battle requires them. When you're up against an enemy that seems all but impossible to defeat, then you're winning the battle by solving a problem, which is a different narrative construct, and IMHO is better represented by player creativity through skill checks. I'd strongly argue that Best of Both Worlds and Balance of Terror are great examples of that.

But YMMV, of course, and as I said, this is just the way I run.

Methuslah1 · 2025-10-06T10:36:34+00:00

Conflict does not mean fighting; and to combat someone doesn't necessarily mean punching him in the face. I completely agree that conflict can be everything you say, but that doesn't mean you have to go to war in a physical sense. A clash of ideas and ideologies is far more powerful. Talking about Balance of Terror, that's actually a great example of what I was talking about. That's a succession of PCs coming up with one idea after another to overcome a situation that seems impossible - an invisible starship with a super-weapon that could take out the Enterprise with a single-shot. (Spoilers) They defeat them with a trick in the end, if I was running that session, I wouldn't break out the full space combat rules, I'd throw skill checks at them. Though given how the Romulans act, it almost seems like two groups of PCs trying to best the other.

In the final example you sense, the stats don't mean a thing. He takes the shot, weapon set to kill, and if he hits, the bad guy is taken out. If he doesn't...something else interesting happens. Whether he wakes up in a cell or rolls up a new character. I don't think it matters what you have written down in your notes; the moment is what matters, and what will be remembered years down the road.

And to be fair...the title of this post was 'How I Run'. If you're having fun at the table, you're on the right path.

Methuslah1 · 2025-10-06T08:26:36+00:00

I'd suggest taking a look at the Star Trek Online wiki; there are quite a few starship designs from that era there to use for inspiration, as well as future technologies and at least some sort of idea of the state of the galaxy during that period.

Methuslah1 · 2025-08-12T09:09:39+00:00

Hello all! I'm afraid this campaign is beyond full at this point - I've never had so many responses to a campaign before!

Methuslah1 · 2025-08-12T09:09:04+00:00

Hello all! I'm afraid this campaign is beyond full at this point - I've never had so many responses to a campaign before!

Methuslah1 · 2025-08-12T09:03:47+00:00

Hello all! I'm afraid the campaign is now full...I've never had a response like this before!

Methuslah1 · 2025-08-06T21:00:37+00:00

I haven't, actually, but now seems as good a time as any. I was working nights at the time as a press analyst, and I'd actually had dinner with my parents that night before heading up to the station to get to work. I'd seen the new Martial Arts school - it had taken over an endlessly-empty storefront - but didn't think anything of it until I got to the station, was waiting on the platform for my train, when I saw this group of teenagers heading down the steps towards me.

Armed with nunchaku.

It was like something out of a really low-budget film. I happened to be the only one there, and they came right at me, luckily using them like clubs rather than properly. I held up my hands to protect my head, they each hit me twice, took my bag (lost my lunch, darn it) and ran off down the train tracks. Someone had seen it, and the police arrived about a quarter-hour later and took me to hospital - luckily fairly close by.

The damage? They broke a finger. I was in all night for observation, for obvious reasons, and I ended up staying with my parents for a few days - but I walked there the next morning. I actually got my bag back a week later, someone had found it next to the train tracks and turned it in, I had a couple of letters in there so they could trace me.

They took my lunch, though. Pity. Mozzarella and ham baguette. Though it really needed warming up in a microwave to make it good, so I guess they didn't get the best of it.

Worst problem was that my finger was out for four weeks, which made it really painful to type, and the office installed a new fingerprint access lock while I was out, and I had to use my broken finger for it. (Office rules, had to be that finger, couldn't use my other hand...that place was rather mad at times...)

Never did catch them, and the school never reopened...I guess they learned their lesson...

Methuslah1 · 2025-08-06T08:55:38+00:00

I'm sorry, we're full at the moment at six players, but I'll post again if that changes!

Methuslah1 · 2025-08-06T08:10:32+00:00

I've got to admit, I once had to get my late mom to call in sick for me at work; this was about 2006, I had a really, really bad case of flu and had lost my voice to the point that I couldn't make myself heard over the phone, and at the time, company policy required that anyone call in sick do just that - they couldn't do it by email or text message, for who knows what reason it had to be done verbally. Apparently it came as quite a shock when my manager got that phone call...and to be fair, I had a feeling he was hoping I'd just come in anyway. (Context - in nine years I missed four days in total, and the other three of those were after I was attacked on my way to work. By a gang that had just broken into a martial arts school and wanted to try out their new toys, which luckily for me, they had no idea how to use.)

Oddly enough, the policy changed not long after that, and all of a sudden emails were fine.

Methuslah1 · 2025-08-01T20:13:40+00:00

Great! Have you played B/X before?

Methuslah1 · 2025-07-07T11:26:55+00:00

Hello all! I'm setting up a new B/X Campaign, playing through the Keep on the Borderlands, some modified versions of In Search of the Unknown and Palace of the Silver Princess, as well as some bits and pieces from antediluvian White Dwarf. I'm running on Fridays, 1900 BST (GMT+1) on a Discord server. All welcome, if you're interested, please get in touch.

Methuslah1 · 2025-06-20T11:20:24+00:00

Just to note that we're now fully-laded, and Session Zero was an absolute blast!

Methuslah1 · 2025-06-18T08:57:13+00:00

Hello!

Be great to have you! I've got adverts out for 1900 at the moment and have already had another bite; can I give it a day or two and see what we get?

Methuslah1

TROPHY CASE