“Try Before You Buy” is an occasional segment of Astral Projections. It spotlights free (or nearly free) supplements, quick-start rules, and modules for various RPGs. Today we look at the free Star Trek Adventures Quick Start, available from Drive Thru RPG.
I was excited to hear about STA when it was announced by Modiphius Entertainment and reading through the beta core book (my review here) just whetted my appetite for more. Plus our group already had plans to play. So I was a ready customer. But perhaps you’re a Trekker (or have Trekker players) who would like to try RP in this setting, or maybe you’ve played one of the previous versions and want to see how this one compares. Yet you’re reluctant to spend your limited gaming budget on yet another system, something you may only play once, or never. There’s a free STA Quick Start for that.
What’s inside the STAQS? There are three chapters. Chapter 1 starts with a short introduction, covering what you need to play (only the typical RPG basics). Most of it is about the dice, particularly the Challenge dice, which are unique D6s. Since a group trying out the game is unlikely to have invested in the special dice, which I consider a little pricey, there is a very good table to convert everyday D6 results. Those of you who played the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire beta may recall how hard the dice conversions were. I can tell you, from firsthand experience, these conversions are much easier in play.
Chapter 2 is the Away Mission (module), “Signals.” I opted not to read it, because it is very likely I will be playing it at some point. I can say that the core book module, which our group played a couple months ago, was very good. That module was designed to teach the game and it did a good job. I suspect “Signals” is also designed as a teaching module, from a few quick glances at the pages which showed lots of NPC statblocks and a generous number of GM instructions and read-alouds.
Chapter 3 is the 6 pre-gens for the module. These make up a familiar Trek landing party: First Officer, Conn, Engineer, Security Chief, Science Officer, and Medical Officer. Each is a different species, so everyone should be able to find a PC they’ll want to play. I could have a good time playing any of them. Of course, if you have the full core book, you can make your own PCs as well, using either of the methods in the “Reporting for Duty” chapter.
If you’re a Star Trek fan, as well as an RPG’er, definitely grab this Quick Start and try it out with your friends. Or if you already have the core book, you’ll have another adventure with no cost beyond some prep time. I think you’ll enjoy going where no gamers have gone before.
Linda Whitson
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