I've been a fan of Star Trek adventures since its release in 2017. A beautiful set of books with world building that is consistent with what we see on screen
I have many of the volumes in my collection. For a while I regularly played with a group at Geeks Headquarters in Chesterfield they still play regularly but frustratingly post COVID changes to public transport mean its no longer viable for me to attend.
I'm a novice to GMing, and I have wanted to run a game of STA, however, there are many issues - finding players, sourcing a venue, coordinating everyone's availability, not to mention the need to know the system off by heart, it proved difficult for me to coordinate.
Happily and out of nowhere, Modiphius have found a solution- the Star Trek Adventures Captain’s Log. A single volume that let's players experience a solo version of the game.
There are 4 beautiful covers, I went for the DS9/Voyager variant.
The rules are a scaled back version of the main game, despite the years since I properly played, they are immediately familiar. In a nuttshell the game is a series of tests using the 2D20 system. Unlike D&D you play to meet or go below a threshold, not above.
You get to create characters and ships from any era of Trek currently covered by the STA license (Kelvin, SNW and Prodigy being the current exceptions) however you can homebrew anything that isn't licensed.
You create the scenarios by rolling against probability matrices to determine everything from the mission types to the environment to the disposition of the NPCs.
The beauty of the system is that although you can play Solo you can also play in a group. I do both - I record my solo adventures on this blog here. https://guardianrpg.wordpress.com/ You can pick up and play the game anywhere.
Group wise, the GM of my online Pathfinder sessions has had a couple of circumstances where he has been unable to prep or even attend, so we have run some group sessions with me as a GM, Again low prep is needed but it has salvaged three games nights.
Those looking for a hard-core gaming experience may be better served with the full game, however novices to Trek or gaming have an excellent starting point. Like Voyagers EMH you can plug in your character into a larger STA adventure then transfer them back to Captain’s Log.
With the strikes continuing in Hollywood this may be a key source of new Star Trek, well, adventures.
Highly recommended 5/5
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