Star Fleet Character Classes

Star Fleet Characters receive 10 Hit Points + Con Bonus (if any) at level one, from level two onwards the use their Class Hit Dice.

• Command (d8 Hit Dice, Prime Attribute – Cha)
• Counsellor (d4 Hit Dice, Prime Attribute – Cha)
• Engineering (d8 Hit Dice, Prime Attribute – Con)
• Medical (d6 Hit Dice, Prime Attribute – Wis)
• Operations (d6 Hit Dice, Prime Attribute – Dex)
• Sciences (d6 Hit Dice, Prime Attribute – Int)
• Security (d10 Hit Dice, Prime Attribute – Str)

Star Fleet Personnel Experience Chart (Click to enlarge)

+ 250,000 XP per level required after 12th Level
*Hit Dice determined by Character Class, this number is the Total Hit Dice at that level.
** Maximum Combat Bonus

Career Placement

The easiest part of Character generation, is deciding what your characters position will be on the Ship. This determines their final level (don’t forget to roll for additional Hit Points).

Captain
Starts Play at Level Six

First Officer/Rank of Commander
Starts Play at Level Five

Head of Department/Rank of Lieutenant Commander
Starts Play at Level Four

Starfleet Officer/Rank of Lieutenant
Starts Play at Level Three

Next - Federation Races

New Blog

I've started a new Blog today, this time to help with my "Superhero Fetish" - its called "Pulp City Planet" inspired by one of the best (if not the best currently available) Skirmish Miniatures games on the market - Pulp City!

You can find it here - PULP CITY PLANET!

Starfleet Training, Skills, & the Seige Engine

If you are reading these notes, I am going to make the assumption that you are familiar with Castles and Crusades and the Siege Engine system.

There are little or no changes to the Siege Engine, and how it works – but there are benefits to being a trained Star Fleet Officer.

One of the main changes to the rules as written (an addition in actuality) is that a natural “20” always succeeds, and a natural “1” always fails.

Utilization of the rules below requires a reasonable amount of Games Mastering skill – do not be too generous with what constitutes a “Class Task”, by the same token do not be to strict over what comes under the heading of “Star Fleet Training”.

When performing a task that counts as a Class Task, twice (2X) the Characters Level is added to the roll.

Example – Captain Kurt is attempting to Negotiate Peace between the Anticans and the Selae – Negotiation counts as a Command Skill so he gets to add +12 (twice his level of 6) to the Roll.

When performing a task that does not count as a Class Task, but comes under Star Fleet training protocols – the Characters Level is added to the roll.

Example – Captain Kurt is attempting repair the Transporter Station, Chief Enginer “Taff” Jones is unconscious and Kurt needs to site to site transport himself onto the Bridge in an attempt stop the Romulan Pirates that have invaded his ship. Kurt is not an Engineer, but all Star Fleet personell have at least some training in this field so he gets to add +6 (his Level) to the Roll.

If the Task comes outside the province of Star Fleet Training altogether – but is still within the realms of possibility that the Character might “know” how to do such a thing, he may still attempt the Task – but with no bonus for his level applied to the roll.

Example – Captain Kurt attempting to beat a Ferengi at Tongo in order to get information out of the Ferengi, he is familiar with the game as he spent time stationed on a Deep Space Station. Tongo is a Charisma Based test the GM reasons, so Kurts base Challenge level is 15 + the Ferengis level of 3. The Ferengi passes his Tongo test, now its over to Kurt - should Captain Kurt roll 18+ he stays in the game for another turn, if the Ferengi had failed his Tongo test - Kurt would have won outright!

Next - Federation Character Classes

Medical Aid in the 24th Century

There are certain liberties taken with this part of the rules, the simple reason being to keep the game going – if characters end up dead or incapacitated after one fight – where’s the fun in that! So I’ve made healing (and thereby Medi-Kits and Doctors) rather more powerful.

All Healing and Medical Treatment are dependent on the Star Fleet Equipment at hand as well as the Skill of the individual using them. As I mentioned in the “Seige Engine and Star Fleet Training” section, a Doctor gets +2 on the Roll when attempting a Medical Procedure, whilst a Star Fleet Officer would just get +1 per Level – and wouldn’t be able to achieve as much as a Star Fleet Doctor could.

The Challenge Rating is ALWAYS calculated as following –

Hit Points = to the number of Hit Points you want to heal.

Life Points = to 2 x the number of Life Points you want to heal.

Modifiers

No Medi-Kit = +2 to the Challenge Level for Medical Staff, +4 for all other Star Fleet Personel.

Example – Captain Kurt wants to heal 7 Life Points to the Ferengi Spy to bring him around. There is no Medi-Kit. The GM rules its an Int based Task for Kurt. Luckily Kurts Int is Primary, so the Challenge Base is 12. +4 for No Medi-Kit, and +14 for the Life Points Kurt needs to heal. This gives a final Challenge Rating of 30! Fortunatley in these rules a 20 always succeeds (and a 1 always fails) so Kurt needs to roll a Natural 20 to revive the Ferengi! But if he rolls a natural ‘1’ the Ferengi could be in a lot of trouble . . . .

Medi-Kit = +2 to all Medical Rolls

Runabout or Long Range Shuttle Medi-Bay = +4 to all Medical Rolls

Starship/Starbase Sick=Bay = + 8 to all Medical Rolls.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Its my Birthday today, so the chances of me posting anything more than an apology for not posting anything (like this LoL) is slim at best!

I hope everyone has a great Weekend!

Drew

Hit Points, Life Points, Combat, & Death

We all know about Hit Points in RPG’s, and in Star Trek there is little difference – they represent the characters durability and resiliance.

Reduction to your hit points can take many forms - Fatigue, Malnutrition, Grazing hits in Combat, or even some gribbly Alien Disease (Andorian Shingles for example).

In this set of rules we also have "Life Points" - they are important in this Star Trek RPG as they help draw the line between "Grazes" and "Hits".

Life Points are exactly that, the “Life” of the Character. Your Life Points are equal to your Characters Str+Con+Dex divided by three – plus your Level.

Example – Captain Kurt is 6th Level, and has 52 Hit Points. His Str is 14, his Con is 16, and his Dex is 18. 14+16+18 = 48, 48/3 = 16. 16+6 (for Kurts Level) = 22. Captain Kurt has 22 Life Points. When he advances to Level 7 he will have 23 Life Points.

Combat & Damage

Both Close Combat and Ranged Combat are worked out slightly differently in these Star Trek Roleplaying Notes, mainly because of the lethality of 24th Century Weapons – but partly due the the lack of Armour and therefore an Armour Class.

If the intended Target of the attack is aware that the attack is coming, you roll to hit as usual (applying all the usual modifiers for range, level, skill etc – you roll to hit, and the intended victim then rolls a standard Combat Based Reflex Test (Reflexes Score + 1D20).

If the Attacker rolls a “1” to hit, the Attack automatically misses.

If the Target rolls equal to the Attackers roll, they take a “graze” and the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon – the Victim of the attack takes that many Hit Points of Damage to their Hit Points.

If the Target rolls higher than the Attackers roll, they successfully avoid the attack – and take no Damage.

If they fail the Roll, they take “Hit” Damage and the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon and the Damage is applied directly to your Characters Life Points (see -10 HP and Death).

If a natural “20” is rolled, not only does the Victim take Life Point Damage – but he is also “stunned” for a number of Rounds equal to half the Damage taken. Medical Aid can reduce this.

If the intended Target is unaware of the Attack, the Attacker instead rolls against the targets Reflexes.

If the Attacker rolls a “1” to hit, the Shot automatically misses.

If the Attacker rolls equal or lower than the Targets reflexes score - the victim of the Attack takes a “graze” and the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon and the Victim takes that many Hit Points of Damage to his Hit Points.

If you roll more than the Targets Reflexes, the Victim takes “Hit” Damage - the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon and the Damage is applied directly to the Characters Life Points (see -10 HP and Death).

If a natural “20” is rolled, not only does the Victim take Life Point Damage – but he is also “stunned” for a number of Rounds equal to half the Damage taken. Medical Aid can reduce this.

The above rules also apply to attacks/effects that target an Individuals Toughness (in the case of Radiation, Explosions, and Diseases) and Willpower (in the case of Psychic, Illusionary, and Fear based attacks) as well.

Stun Attacks

Weapons which stun ALWAYS affect the targets Life Points, this is only temporary damage and should be noted on the sheet as such. Stun Damage is recovered at a rate equal to the characters Con Bonus +1 each round (with a minimum of 1 point recovered each round), when this temporary damage is reduced to Zero the character recovers conciousness. Medical Aid can speed this recovery.

If the intended Target of the attack is aware that the attack is coming, you roll to hit as usual (applying all the usual modifiers for range, level, skill etc – you roll to hit, and the intended victim then rolls a standard Combat Based Reflex Test (your Reflexes Score + 1D20).

If you roll a “1” to hit, the Attack automatically misses.

If you roll equal or lower than the intended victims roll, the Stun "grazes" the target and the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon – the victim makes a Toughness Save with a Challenge Modifier equal to the amount of Stun Damage Rolled. If passed the target is not stunned and takes no effect from the shot, if failed the victim takes that many Points of temporary Stun Damage to his Life Points.

If the intended Target rolls higher than the Attackers roll, they have successfully avoid the attack – and take no effect from the Shot.

If the Victim fails the Roll, they take Stun Damage with no way of avoiding it - and the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon and the temporary Damage is applied directly to the Characters Life Points.

If a natural “20” is rolled, the Stun Damage is doubled.

If the intended Target is unaware of the Attack, the Attacker instead rolls against the targets Reflexes.

If you roll a “1” to hit, the Attack automatically misses.

If the Attacker rolls equal or lower than the Targets reflexes score, the Stun "grazes" the target and the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon – the victim makes a Toughness Save with a Challenge Modifier equal to the amount of Stun Damage Rolled. If passed the target is not stunned and takes no effect from the shot, if failed the victim takes that many Points of temporary Stun Damage to his Life Points.

If attacker rolls more than the Targets Reflexes Score, the Victim take Stun Damage with no way of avoiding it - and the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon and the temporary Damage is applied directly to the Characters Life Points.

If a natural “20” is rolled,
If attacker rolls more than the Targets Reflexes Score, the Victim take Stun Damage with no way of avoiding it - and the Attacker rolls the Damage rating of the Weapon and the temporary Damage is applied directly to the Characters Life Points - and the Stun Damage is doubled.

-10 HP & Death

In a lot of D20 based RPG’s, normally when a Character reaches -10 Hit points he dies almost immediately. In these Star Trek notes its somewhat different . . . .

When a Character reaches Zero HP he is battered and exhausted, after that point – all Damage is applied directly to the characters Life Points rather than applying “graze” Damage to his Hit Points.

Losing Life Points

When a character takes Damage to his Life Points there are consequences, these are listed below.

If a Character is reduced to half his Life Points (or less) he must IMMEDIATELY make a Constitution Saving Throw – the difficulty is ALWAYS 18 regardless whether the Characters Constitution Score is Primary or Secondary. If it is failed, the Character passes out. If it is passed, the Character stays Conscious – and must continue making Constitution Saves every Round until his Life Points are healed and passes the Consciousness barrier (more on healing later).

If the Character continues taking Damage, and reaches Zero Life Points he must make another immediate Constitution Save (again Difficulty 18 regardless) and if failed the Character expires and must be resuscitated within minutes or the Character Dies permanently. If passed he must continue making Con Saves each round. However, the difficulty of the Save increases by 2 each time he passes (the poor fellow is dying after all) until the he receives medical aid or finally expires.

Death Saves Table

Initial Save vs. Death – 18+
After1 additional Round – 20+
After 2 additional Rounds – 22+
After 3 additional Rounds – 24+
After 4 additional Rounds – 26+, and so on . . . . .

Next - Medical Aid in the 24th Century

Star Trek RPG Notes Part Two - Armour Classes & Saving Throws

Armour Classes are gone (especially as most weapons in Star Trek could vaporise almost any Armour), and is replaced with a characters “Reflexes” Score.

Note - As a “rule of thumb” Federation Training NEVER leaves a Cadet with a Dex Attribute ranked at less than Secondary.

Standard “Fantasy” RPG saves are Illogical in the Star Trek Setting – so more applicable saves are required - The "model" is take from 3.5 D&D.

Reflexes
Reflexes is calculated as following -

“Base” + your character level + Dex ‘Base’ + Racial Bonus (if any)

Choosing Dex as a Primary Attribute yields a base Reflexes of 12, whereas choosing Dex as a Secondary Attribute yields a base Reflexes of 10, and choosing Dex as a Tertiary Attribute yields a base Reflexes of 8.

Toughness
Toughness is calculated as following -

“Base” + your character level + Con ‘Base’ + Racial Bonus (if any)

Choosing Con as a Primary Attribute yields a base Toughness of 12, whereas choosing Con as a Secondary Attribute yields a base Toughness of 10, and choosing Con as a Tertiary Attribute yields a base Toughness of 8.

Willpower
Willpower is calculated as following -

“Base” + your character level + Wis ‘Base’ + Racial Bonus (if any)

Choosing Wis as a Primary Attribute yields a base Willpower of 12, whereas choosing Wis as a Secondary Attribute yields a base Willpower of 10, and choosing Wis as a Tertiary Attribute yields a base Willpower of 8.

As per the standard C&C Rules all saves can (and generally are) modified by Challenge Ratings, opponents level, and encountered creatures hit dice.

Next - Hit Points, Life Points, Combat, & Death

Expanded Attributes, Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary

Presented over the next few Blog Posts will be the “bare bones” of the System, it uses Castles & Crusades at its core – and makes particular use of the “Seige Engine” Mechanic.

Star Fleet Personnel

It is the intention of these notes that the Game "Group" be centered around Teams of Star Fleet Personnel – Star Fleet produces some of the finest Officers, Explorers, and Scientist in the Star Trek Universe. If there seems to be sufficient interest I may do rules for civilian characters too.

How you “set up” your Games is entirely up to you, your Players could be the Bridge Crew of a Starship – or maybe made up of the Command Team of a Deep Space Station on the very Edge of Federation Space.

Attributes

Star Fleet Personnel are generally healthier and in better condition than most in the 24th Century, that combined with the fact they don’t train Half-Wits means character generation will be slightly different.

All Attributes are generated on 2D4+10 giving a range of 12-18, this yields much higher scores than the standard 3D6 of C&C – but is a more realistic treatment of the 24th Centuries finest in my humble opinion.

Expanded Attribute Chart

With the Alien Races, better Nutrition, and impeccable Health Care of the 24th Century, come (possibly) higher attributes - hence an expanded attribute chart.

Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary Attributes

In Castles & Crusades the Primary Attribute concept is introduced, challenges associated with a Primary attribute are set at 12+. All other attributes have the base challenge levels set at 18+.

There are no averages, no middle ground - you are either talented at something or you struggle - base challenge level being set at 12+.

This “no middle ground” really doesn’t sit-well for Star Fleet Personell – they are better trained that that! So here we introduce the idea of Tertiary Attributes.
The idea behind this is simple - rather than all other attributes being set at 18+, Secondary attributes have a base challenge level of 15+, and Tertiary have a base challenge level of 18+.

All Star Fleet Personnel pick three Primes, two Secondary’s, and one Tertiary. Civilians pick two Primes, three Secondary’s, and one Tertiary. This way Star Fleet Characters are as well trained as they should be, and you get a better “spread” of numbers, further exemplifying Star Fleets training program.

However, ONE of your choices still has to be the Prime of the Class you have chosen.

So, to sum up –

• Star Fleet Personnel – 3 Primes, 2 Secondary’s, and 1 Tertiary.
• Civilians – 2 Primes, 3 Secondary’s, 1 Tertiary.
• One of your Primes MUST belong to the Class chosen.
• Prime Challenge Level – 12+
• Secondary Challenge Level – 15+
• Tertiary Challenge Level – 18+

Next - Armour Classes & Saving Throws

Star Trek

A while ago I expressed a desire to write some rules for Star Trek Roleplaying, after writing a STUPIDLY detailed and OVERLY complex set of character generation, background creation, and skillset rules I realized that had all been done before.

So, I re-thought everthing . . . .

Why have a seemingly endless list of skills when Castle & Crusades SEIGE Engine facilitates everything. Characters in the Star Trek Universe are remarkably well trained, if you give them a Bonus for their "Field of Expertise" (Engineering, Life Sciences, Medicine, Security, etc), allow them to attempt Tasks involving Starfleet Training/Operations with no penalty, and only really penalize them on rolls involving Non-Starfleet Tasks you not only make things a lot simpler (allowing for more roleplaying rather than "roll" playing) but actually replicate the "high-end" skill levels of such well rounded and extremely well-trained individuals.

Of course I had to change combat a little, Armour Class is gone - with Phasers, Disruptors, and other high-energy weapons; personal armour becomes pointless. Now there is a Reflexes Stat, which not only covers Reflex saves (much like 3rd Edition D&D) but serves as the "target number" for all attacks.

So, over the next few weeks I will be posting these rules on my Blog - if they prove popular I may even do a website for them!

Next - Expanded Attributes, Primary, Secondary, & Tertiary

Another Great Man Gone

Frank Frazetta, who was widely respected and appreciated for his Fantasy and Science-Fiction Art has passed away - he was 82.

Frazetta was famous for his works on book covers, movie posters, and other commercial works - including those of the Conan the Barbarian series. He was also known for his illustrations of Edgar Rice Burroughs characters such as Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.

His style of painting (which I adored personally) became one of the milestones of Fantasy and Science-Fiction art.

Yet another great and talented Man gone, he will be missed.

NoticingThings and Perception Checks

In Castles & Crusades Where a character, and not a player, has had an experience that could impact upon present circumstances - a Wisdom based attribute check is often involved.

Wisdom checks often help resolve unclear circumstances through hunches or gut feeling. Wisdom is also used to determine surprise, and when allowed - to spot something not normal about a situation.

This is one of the rare instances where the 12/18 (Primary/Secondary) rules (sorta') fall down.

This means that EVERY character (and always Clerics and Druids) with Wisdom as a Prime Attribute will always be at an advantage in these sort of situations.

It is an easy problem to resolve however, if you look at these sort of Perception checks in a slightly different way.

A Character (Fighter, Ranger, Cleric, Wizard, Thief or whatever) has training in such things - whether it be spotting potential threats, noticing subtle things about an opponents demeanor, or sensing an ambush - and such training would 'stem' from the Characters Prime Attribute.

So, the simplest method to adopt for resolving such tests would be to use the Classes designated Prime Attribute - Wizards would use Intelligence, Clerics would use Wisdom, Fighters would use Strength - and so on.

This way every Character would be on an equal footing with no one having a distinct advantage (beyond their Attribute Scores) over anyone else.