For a media franchise so big in everyone’s minds, it’s no surprise that Star Trek has seen a few TTRPGs through the years. And, as we’re currently in the Neutral Zone between editions of Modiphius’ Star Trek Adventures, I thought I’d explore a few ways to play Starfleet, using this or other systems. For me, Star Trek is a brilliant genre to play in, especially for one shots, and I’d be very happy to see more of it offered at conventions.

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Firstly, it’s worth thinking what makes Star Trek such fertile ground for play:

• It’s episodic. The nature of the show means that we can fit it into TTRPG adventures / modules easily. It doesn’t even matter if we have different players for each session!
• It’s recognisable. It remained relatively consistent throughout its run on media. Everyone knows what a starship bridge looks like, what the Klingons are like, and the kind of thing that Star Trek people do – it’s an easy touchstone
• It’s relatively light on canon. Okay, I know there’s as much Trek canon as the worst of them, but there are some easy fixes. Run games in the rebooted Kelvinverse, or even just in the Original Series era, and you’re unlikely to get too many “well actually’s” at the table. While there’s still a bit of “what stardate is it?” when I run at conventions, players are much happier to hold loosely onto it than in, say, Glorantha or even Star Wars
• It’s different to D&D. You’re (ostensibly) the good guys, and you’re solving stuff without violence where possible. Money? We don’t need that any more. It’s recognisably sci fi, without being too inaccessible.
• You’re a crew. It’s got a nailed-on reason for players to work together, and an easy way for them to receive missions, too.

A few things you want to consider when you prep your Star Trek one-shot:

What Era to Use

While Next Generation, Discovery, or even Lower Decks are probably more recognizable for players, for a one-shot I don’t think you can beat the Original Series. There’s a bit more pulpy action in these, and you can break up the scientific puzzling with a fistfight with some Klingons without it feeling not-Trek.

Another option is the Kelvinverse of the recent films, or even the Animated Series – both mean that there’s precious little canon for anyone to worry too much about. There’s an awful lot of source material for any era, too – just start with an episode and steal the main plot. You’ll probably want to replace the subplot for something with a bit more action and less soap opera, especially for a one-shot. And if you don’t have time to watch an episode, there’s loads of summaries up on the internet you can use.

What Game to Use

Look, I’m a huge fan of 2d20 Star Trek Adventures. The sometimes clunkiness of 2d20 fits perfectly in a game where a lot of the time you’re making skill checks rather than combat, and the Extended Task system is great for doing “big science” like curing a Romulan plague or re-aligning the transporter field to trap a dangerous warp entity. It’d be my first choice – even starship combat is fun and playable. I’ve not checked out the 2nd ed quickstart yet, but from what I’ve seen I expect it’ll do well to smooth some of the crunchy bits down.

But if you want a few alternatives, there are plenty. Lasers and Feelings is a super rules-light one-page game that will let you tell engaging stories without worrying too much about rules. It’s actually a bit too rules-light for me, really – but if I had a group of Trek fans who’d never played before, I might hit them with this first!

For a really good near-trek that’ll play like 2d20 but less fiddly, Fate (in particular Fate Accelerated (FAE)) works really well. I played in a short campaign of this where the GM switched Fate’s normal approaches for the Attributes from Star Trek Adventures, and it solved one of the issues that I sometimes have with FAE – namely, that you can use your highest approach almost all the time. Contests also let you do extended tasks, and Fate has pretty resilient vehicle rules you can use for the starship bits.

Or if you want something story-based but with a few more rules, check out Endeavor. It’s a Paragon system game built on the same system as Agon, except you’re the crew of the ICS Endeavor going boldly into adventure. Filing the serial numbers back on will get you a neat episodic Trek game, and you get the great structured player-narration that Agon provides as well.

I know that there will be people suggesting using the Decipher, or FASA, or the other previous Trek game – and fair play to them. Personally, they’re all showing their age a bit now – but I’d definitely use their adventures for inspiration for my one-shots!

So, there’s some thoughts on boldly going – it’s a great genre for one-shots, as well as extended campaigns! Have you run a Star Trek game? What system and adventure did you use? Let me know in the comments!