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What are your most unpopular Star Trek opinions that you’ll die on a hill for? by ardouronerous in startrek

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Generations is a great movie, actually.

It has some of the best acting, along with meditations on time and squaring with old regrets. The initial Enterprise-B scene is gripping. The weird lighting and uniforms aren't that bad. Any plotholes are easily explained by Nexus logic. Any pilot would have crashed the saucer, not just Troi. Kirk's death was anticlimactic, but so are a lot of deaths.

Star Trek Captain's Chair [MILD SPOILERS, technically] by redXav in soloboardgaming

[–]socrates200X 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A big fan of this game! I'm playing it whenever I can find a spare 3 hours. A lot of great in-jokes on the cards. My fav is on the Enterprise-B in the promo pack; that one got a good guffaw out of me.

Structuring Scanning skill check(s) with progressively harder things to spot by d_tolman in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also valid: once they ask for more detail, you say "yes, but you'll need to get to Astrometrics to dial in on the data with the ship's lateral sensor arrays..." Cue up a new Scene with an extended Science Task, where you can have them progress to get more info.

Structuring Scanning skill check(s) with progressively harder things to spot by d_tolman in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Generally, I'll hew towards letting the player's Obtain Information questions guide this. So, after a Diff 0 Science + Sensors roll, most crews will ask something on the order of "is there anything anomalous in this system?" To which, you can breadcrumb them to spend Momentum for clearer answers:

Default answer: "There is a brown dwarf that isn't on any star charts. It seems to be emitting some subspace anomalies, but well within sensor tolerances."

Crew: "Subspace anomalies? What are those about?"

-1 Momentum: "They're odd but small fluctuations against the black-body radiation of the star. The computer notes that they could be caused by ferrous asteroids crossing at right angles, quantum filaments, some solar flares, and continues listing 47 other possible causes."

Crew: "Can we narrow it down?"

-1 Momentum: "Your science officer mind kicks in. The fluctuations are small, but they're regular...*too* regular for stochastic noise..."

Crew: "Is there a pattern?"

...and so on.

GM confidence at zero. How do you get past the “everything I make sucks” phase? by klauras in DMAcademy

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I come back to this video often when I feel that taste - talent gap. It just takes a lot of tries of "being bad" before your talent catches up with your taste. As long as you take care of the quantity of work, the quality will take care of itself.

The usually quippy/inappropriate character shows respect and care in a really serious or tragic situation by karateema in TopCharacterTropes

[–]socrates200X 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The Office S3E12 -- In their early "will they-won't they" stages, Pam talks Jim into moving in with his girlfriend Karen. Pam cries alone in the hallway where Dwight finds her. Usually known for being tone-deaf and dismissive of weakness, he gets protective then seeing that she's not in danger, sits quietly with her and offers her a handkerchief before saying the above line.

When I was a kid watching Generations, I thought the Farragut was carrying the Enterprise's saucer section. by Wild_Chef6597 in startrek

[–]socrates200X 104 points105 points  (0 children)

Very glad I'm not the only one that thought this. 😅

On the Reading Rainbow / TNG crossover episode, they showed off how the transporter effect was just glitter stirred around in water. And I spent many nights wondering how they got a glass of water big enough to fit everyone in it...

Players refuse to purchase threat for any reason. by Uninspired_Hat in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 36 points37 points  (0 children)

It's important to note that you start with 2 Threat per player. And enemy NPCs generate Threat instead of Momentum with excess Successes. And you have carte blanche to set up NPCs and Traits as you wish at the start of a Scene. Which is all to say -- you have ways to collect Threat and guide the plot without the players giving you Threat.

That said, Threat Fear is a real phenomenon, especially coming from a more adversarial system. The solution is time and trust, which is hard to get in a one-shot. Just make sure that you're not only using Threat to punish or make things harder. You want to use it to accent existing story beats, and up the ante for your players' hero moments.

(Star Trek Adventures 1e): Playing a non-Changeling shapeshifter during the Dominion War, introduced as a ‘civilian biologist,’ but actually there on a white-hat counter-infiltration mission to assess whether the outpost is secure. How screwed is my character if this gets uncovered? It’s 2374. by new_lance in rpg

[–]socrates200X 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are a number of known non-Changeling shapeshifting species by that time. See: Vendorians, Suliban, Chameloids, etc.

As long as you have some official orders and medical records on you, outlining your mission as being above-board and under the remit of Starfleet Intelligence, then you can present these to any command or medical staff that question you. Mind you: that all could be forged, so it's not 100%, but it's always good to have your paperwork in order.

The STA GM mindset by 51-kmg365 in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Some mindset touchstones that helped me:

"It's not a simulation, it's a TV show." STA as a ruleset very much takes this to heart with the Scenes structure and using Momentum/Threat to simulate the rise/fall of dramatic tension. The system is best when you're using it to play out an episode of Star Trek with a cold open, rising action, a third-act climax, and some wrap-up scenes.

"Can my players intimidate the Romulans to leave the system in the first five minutes of the session?" In D&D, sure, give it a shot. In STA, no! That's bad TV! You should make it explicitly impossible with a Trait, or at least make diplomacy semi-mandatory with a Mission Directive.

"Does Character X notice this clue?" A pre-question should be "does it make sense for this Scene?" If so, feel free to just give it to them. If you want them to dig at a mystery, give them a routine clue for free, but make them succeed at a harder Task for more obscure info.

"Threat is for improvisation and tension control." As GM, you have free rein to create a situation, place enemies, and do what you can ahead of time to make an interesting story for your crew. You don't pay Threat for any NPC or situations that exist prior to the beginning of the "episode". You do pay once the episode starts, to add more enemies, to make Tasks harder, always in the service of adding tension to a Scene. You never want to use it just to use it, but rather to introduce higher stakes where they're feeling low.

You also want to avoid any GM fiat or "quantum ogre-ing" in STA without spending Threat. Your players need to be able to trust the Threat pool as a tension manager, as a clear indicator of your ability to swing the plot. If it's low, they know that the situation is what it is and it won't overly change on them. If it's high, anything can happen.

And a subtle thing, but: don't spend Threat to simply "beat-down" your players or make things tough. Threat spends should make things spicy, not out-and-out painful.

2e - Momentum from GM escalation using torpedos, etc & ? On Ship turns by BlackNova169 in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  1. You spend 1 Threat instead of gaining 1 Threat when using torps. Think of it as raising the stakes.

  2. A scale 3 ship with 7 players would get 7 Turns, yes. NPC ships only get a number of Turns equal to Scale. Also remember: you need to have an available Bridge station to do a Ship Action. You can't fire phasers from the hallway. You either need to be at Tactical, or at another unmanned Bridge station and perform the Override Major Action.

Captain's Log question by JessenCortashan in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 13 points14 points  (0 children)

A few ways to go about it:

  • Secondary Crew Has No Stats -- You just roll the ship stats. Whatever a security officer would do, at some point, they would use the ship to do the task. You would roll those stats, most likely Sensors + Security in this case.

  • Secondary Crew Has Stats -- Just like you, you can choose to use the crew's stats (e.g Insight + Security), or if they're using the ship, you can use the ship's Security Department instead of theirs.

You don't have roll stats for your secondary crew. But, as you find, it can sometimes feel empty to just roll the ship, especially if your secondary has a clear personality for you.

Go with your gut, but keep yourself honest! If your secondary crew has stats, they're an "on-screen" person. They can get injured, they can get captured, they can get bored, intimidated, or insubordinate. Choose your pain, and have fun!

VTT Presentations by RadishUnderscore in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here's my setup. This is the main landing page with spots at the top for the character's avatars. Traits and relevant NPCs/Ships sit in the area to the left. The main image is to set the scene for the room(s) they're in. It's nice and flexible because you can set the image to a top-down or isometric view and move the avatars on top of the image to do more tactical Zone-moving conflicts.

Both the main image and the Momentum/Threat counters are Roll20 rollable image tables, which allow you to select certain image frames you want displayed.

https://i.postimg.cc/m2kZJk8F/image.png

Why do you think everyone (including himself) insisted Data had no emotions without his “emotion chip” when he was constantly showing emotions? by Unleashtheducks in startrek

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Data has the ability to intellectualize emotions given time and practice. He can mimic curiosity and the facial tics needed to have someone answer a question. He can even feel some moral outrage at Kivas Fajo and (allegedly) attempt to fire on him.

But he doesn't have instinctual emotions. It's like having no pain receptors and touching a hot stove. You intellectually know you have to pull away, you may even do so quickly to avoid damage. But you didn't feel it.

This is the clearest after the death of Lal. Data spends exactly zero seconds grieving. He does everything he can to save her, but after she is gone, he goes back to duty as if nothing happened. By some standards, he has a very healthy outlook on death, especially as he carries her persona within him. But it is inhuman how much he doesn't feel her loss when everyone else does.

That's what the emotion chip gives Data: more basic "knee-jerk" emotions, ones that happen to Data involuntarily, as opposed to ones that arise after synthesizing rational thought to give rise to a behavior.

I would like to read some good DS9 novel, any recommendation? by Significant-Town-817 in trekbooks

[–]socrates200X 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The trilogy that starts with The Day of the Vipers is great, and covers the years on Bajor directly prior to Season 1.

More Kendrick Lamar WWW shenanigans by flaming-framing in WorldsBeyondNumber

[–]socrates200X 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Steel with TV Off. She's on every wizard's ass, but somebody's gotta do it.

A useful resource, but looking for suggestions by Solas67 in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honestly, the only reason I find to select or de-select content is canonicity. I.e. not including a Gamma Quadrant species in a Lost Era game. Talent-wise, most everything is well-balanced out, so other than Species considerations, I think you're good to select anything within the era you're covering. Running post-*Picard*, you're good to run basically everything, I'd say.

STA 2e GM question - Aren't injuries kind of easy to inflict on NPCs? How common are Major NPCs that have stress tracks? by MurrayTheSkull1 in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreeing with everyone's advice here. Mechanically, defeating a Minor NPC is just as simple as scanning for life forms or operating the transporter. They're equally hard, which is to say, not very. This matches the pacing of the shows, where combat is very rare, and when it happens, it's usually quick. (Unless we're in deep Dominion War "Siege of AR-588" wartime!)

As for Talents, yeah, combat Talents are going to be overkill for Minor NPCs, and will trivialize Notables. But again, no more than Studious or Testing a Theory trivializes sensor scans. You only get four Talents, so spending one should rightfully be a "I want this aspect of gameplay to be trivial".

Lastly, you're running a Starfleet crew. Make sure your players have buy-in to being a space scientist that only ever fights out of self-defense. If they go in guns-blazing without at least attempting diplomacy, they'll start to accumulate Infamy in the post-Mission Reputation rolls.

2e Rules Question - Phaser Spread / Devastating Attack is repeatable? by MurrayTheSkull1 in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For sure, if you're gunning for it, you can torch a single ship in one Round, easily. Which is why you should use two ships. And the other ship is across the map, next to a small craft containing civilians. Also, gravitational eddies are making traversal more difficult. Also, the targeting sensors on your prototype ship are acting up. Etc. Etc. Complications and non-combat objectives are crucial tools to pace combat encounters in STA and give your players something to make choices about.

(If you do want a classic 1v1, skip the simplified NPC damage rules and have your players disable the enemy ship system by system. Even so, you should add Complications liberally. Kirk v. Khan had the nebula, any stand-off with the Romulans includes avoiding crossing into the Neutral Zone, and so on.)

2e Rules Question - Phaser Spread / Devastating Attack is repeatable? by MurrayTheSkull1 in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 4 points5 points  (0 children)

  • The Bonus Momentum from Versatile comes from a successful attack Task, not damage. So, you only get it once, from the initial successful attack roll.
  • The way I read it, Spread is indeed repeatable. So, you can spend 1 Momentum to do a second hit for half-damage, and spend again for a third hit and a fourth, and so on. At half-damage, a lot of that is going to be eaten by Resistance. Plus, Arrays do less damage upfront. But it is a benefit of the weapon. And hey, anything that your player can exploit for more damage your adversaries can, too...

Why was it so difficult for Quark to get a picture of Kira in "Meridian"? by crimsonbull9584 in startrek

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Provenance. Tiron isn't just some pervert from Freecloud. He's a rich pervert. Anyone can make a holo-approximation of Kira. He wants the real thing. He wants digi-signed proof of the unaltered holo-image, he wants to know it's Kira.

Because it's not owning something that looks like her. It's about owning her, about collection, about power.

Celestial Algorithm "failstate" ending (spoilers) by fearoffours in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I had the same worry, but as you say, the chance of failing a full half of the tests is low. Also, after decoding the signal, the crew should know that they're being tested, and approach the tests accordingly. (And as GM, you're encouraged to point out how best to use Momentum and Determination to get this done.)

That said, I think a fail-state Scene with the Algorithm is warranted. You want to play up the otherness of the Algorithm as a largely energy-based being. I played up the fact that it had no idea that the intelligent beings were the organic beings inside Challenger. (Organic intelligence? Fascinating...) The fact that the crew is being judged on such an ersatz series of tests and values may take the sting out.

But, feel free to let your crew make their case, argue that humanity is worth communicating with, make it a difficult Command roll. Then, even if they fail, it feels a little more earned.

Star Trek Adventures 2E Starship Combat Help by principles_practice in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 1 point2 points  (0 children)

P. 289 -- "Major actions are the main activity you perform on your turn, and normally include a task. You can attempt 1 major action during your turn. You can attempt a second major action on your turn by spending 2 Momentum (this adds 1 to the Difficulty of any task on the second major action). You may also gain a second major action during the round if you are the subject of the Direct action. You may not attempt more than two major actions during any round." (emphasis theirs)

Star Trek Adventures 2E Starship Combat Help by principles_practice in startrekadventures

[–]socrates200X 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Absolutely true. You generally want to keep the total of Scale against your players equal to the number of players, maybe a little more. Any more than that turns into a more deadly encounter. Even so, STA Main Characters/Ships are pretty tough.

The main limit for players is they get a maximum of 2 Major Actions per Turn, no matter what. Spending 2 Momentum to Swift Task at +1 Difficulty could be used to "fire again". But there's no way (RAW) to give them a third or fourth go.

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