What To Expect In Star Trek Adventures 2nd Edition

Earlier this year, Modiphius announced that a new edition of its 2d20-system powered Star Trek Adventures TTRPG would be launched at Gen Con in August. This week, system developer Nathan Dowdell unveiled a few more details.

• Cleaned up rules presentation
• Guidance on use of traits
• No challenge dice
• More character options
• Revised talents
• Updated advancement and reputation rules
• Revised starship rules

You can read the full update on Modiphius' website.

 

[Reynard]

I don't know. the closer to Fate it gets, the less interested I am. Not because I don't like Fate, but because I already have Fate and could run Star Trek in Fate if I wanted to.

 

[Reynard]

Is it just me, or are traits really fuzzy, design wise, in the quickstart?

 

[Scribe Ineti]

Is it just me, or are traits really fuzzy, design wise, in the quickstart?

It's a quickstart. Full details on traits aren't needed to get through the introductory adventure.

 

[Reynard]

It's a quickstart. Full details on traits aren't needed to get through the introductory adventure.

That doesn't track. They are part of the system and it is clear they are supposed to impact difficulty. Why wouldn't the quickstart tell you how they are meant to do so?

As I understand it, they are used in Dune (which i do not own). How do they work there? Are they like Fate Aspects and require spends to activate or do they have inherent difficulty modification, or is it fiat based?

 

[Scribe Ineti]

Like I said, for the purposes of the quickstart it wasn't necessary to go into full detail on every game element. The QS is intended to give players a good taste of the game. The full ruleset is in the core book.

 

[overgeeked]

Like I said, for the purposes of the quickstart it wasn't necessary to go into full detail on every game element. The QS is intended to give players a good taste of the game. The full ruleset is in the core book.

Am I to understand that you work for Modiphius and you are speaking from actual authority on this? So the Traits are presented as loose free-form in the Quickstart but will be more locked down in the Core?

 

[Scribe Ineti]

Am I to understand that you work for Modiphius and you are speaking from actual authority on this? So the Traits are presented as loose free-form in the Quickstart but will be more locked down in the Core?

I'm the project manager for STA. Full details on traits are in the core book.

 

[overgeeked]

I'm the project manager for STA. Full details on traits are in the core book.

Ah. Good to know. Will they remain free-form or will they be more defined and locked down?

 

[robowieland]

If they work like they do in more recent 2d20 releases, traits can raise or lower difficulty by one if they affect the die roll. So if the scene has the darkness trait and you're trying to shoot someone, it's going to be a higher difficulty. But if you're trying to hide from someone it will be lower.

Traits can also have numerical ratings to reflect potency. So total darkness might affect difficulty by 2 and supernatural darkness might be worth a 3.

 

[Scribe Ineti]

Ah. Good to know. Will they remain free-form or will they be more defined and locked down?

Traits are traits. They represent something specific in a location, about a character, about a situation, or about a piece of equipment. So in that respect they're defined--they are a truth about a thing. How that trait impacts gameplay will depend on the context it's created, modified, or used in a scene.

A trait might make something possible that was impossible before, something that was possible impossible, provide a -1 to Difficulty, or provide a +1 to Difficulty. Really depends on how and when it's used.

You'll have to decide how that fits your parameters for 'free-form' or 'defined and locked-down'.