Where’s the Fun in That?

Sometimes a new roleplaying game comes out and you look at it and think, “Who’d want to play that? What do you do in that game? How would you even run adventures for it?” Early in roleplaying history, most games were made up out of whole cloth. Sure, the creators borrowed from this author and that artist to base the ideas for their game world on, but it wasn’t an exact copy. Dungeons & Dragons certainly owes a lot to J.R.R. Tolkien, but it also owes a debt to Jack Vance, Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and many more. Despite borrowing inspiration from different sources, D&D’s creators didn’t copy a specific setting. That changed in 1978 when Heritage Models released the Star Trek Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier roleplaying game.

A number of other licensed games followed in its wake, such as Call of Cthulhu from Chaosium, Middle-earth Role Playing from I.C.E., James Bond 007, Conan the Barbarian, and Marvel Super Heroes all from TSR, and DC Heroes and Star Wars from West End Games, among others.

At the heart of the matter; when a new game is released a common reaction is, “What do you do in this game?” Often, it’s simply because the system is unique and un-tested, but in the case of licensed games, players instinctually question that the main story of that setting has already been (literally) written, which means the player characters are, by definition, not the main heroes of the setting.

For some, that’s an immediate turnoff. In most games, the players want to create their own legacy – that they’re the heroes of the setting and the center of the story that’s unfolding over the course of the campaign. But, that’s not entirely true in a licensed game with heroes that are already established and destined to save the world, defeat the big bad guy, destroy the artifact, or whatever else the main thrust of the original story was.

So Why Play Licensed Games?

Given all of the above, why would anyone want to play in a licensed setting?

Frankly, because it’s awesome!

You get to play in a fully realized universe that players are familiar with and comprehend without reading pages upon pages of a rulebook’s setting background. You have access to character, places, and things that resonate with you and your players. You can easily find art and photos of people, things, and locations to breath vivid life into. Most importantly, the worlds of most licensed games are expansive, with lots of history — which also means plenty of plot hooks that you, as the GM, can tap into to create adventures for your players.

A quick sidebar: It’s interesting to note that roleplaying game publishers and players realized the potential for additional stories in established settings before anyone else did. Of note, Star Trek the Original Series had a cartoon based on it, but little else before Heritage Models’ game. Similar licenses immediately followed suit for all the reasons outlined above.

Why Are We Talking About This?

Well, for one, it’s interesting. For another, there are a number of licensed games out there on store shelves, including a couple of new ones from Modiphius, including Star Trek Adventures and Conan. The latter has been out for a while and we’ve discussed it here before, but the former is a very recent release. We haven’t discussed about it previously and now they’ve released a 160+ page collection of adventures, Mission Compendium Volume I: These are the Voyages, which should be a great resource for getting a new game up and running.

As discussed in previous columns, adventures are great because they give you an idea of how to structure your own adventures for that specific game. Even if you never use an adventure as published, there’s still a lot to glean from them.

In the case of Star Trek Adventures, these missions will definitely help you to get your game started, but also be a big help with changing your thinking about adventure design. After all, Star Trek has classically been more of a thinking man’s science fiction, and even the most high-energy films of the franchise wouldn’t be considered anywhere near the genre of ‘hack and slash’—always the easiest way to run any roleplaying game. Instead, Star Trek games involve a lot more diplomacy, political maneuvering, and problem solving, even if part of that includes exploration, sneaking, and all-out combat.

Geek All the Way Out!

A great thing about licensed games is that if you’re a fan of the original material, you’ll already be familiar with the setting, but you’ll find so much more you didn’t know about it as you read through the roleplaying game and its supplements.

Even if you’re a huge fan of Star Trek, you may not know every little corner of its universe. After all, the franchise has been around for nearly 50 years! The writers of the roleplaying game and supplements are fans, too, and have gone through great lengths combing through the programs, books, and other media to find and then consolidate that information into sourcebooks that are excellent game and reference material.

The maps of Alpha and Beta Quadrants in the Star Trek Adventures core rulebook are a great example of this. These maps may exist in print elsewhere, but now you don’t have to go digging for them because they’re practically at your fingertips. The same is true of more technical matters and even for determining what’s canon and what’s not. For example, in the introduction to the first adventure in These Are the Voyages, entitled A World with a Bluer Sun, there’s a sidebar that discusses Romulans and cloaking devices. In it, the author leads off by saying that in the Original Series episode, Balance of Terror, it was implied that Romulan vessels of the 22nd century didn’t have cloaking devices and goes on to site the specific reasons why. He also explains why the Romulans the player characters encounter in this adventure don’t have access to cloaking and then goes on to reference the Star Trek: Enterprise episode, Minefield, in which the Romulans used cloaking on small mines, but still weren’t able to cloak ships. This level of detail and specificity is exactly the sort of thing fans who get into the minutiae appreciate—and for everyone else it makes the game’s setting seem more real and representative of the shows, movies, and other source material

Go For It!

As is obvious from the treasure trove of source material that has been created around the Star Trek universe, there’s plenty of adventure to be found. Whether you’re talking about the action and adventure of the most recent films, the cerebral approach to the Original Series, the political thriller of Deep Space 9, and so on.

Find an aspect about Star Trek, or whichever licensed game you’re interested in running, and put your own personal spin on it. Maybe combining Star Trek and horror, or merging Star Trek with elements of the TV series Lost intrigues and appeals to you. The setting can clearly handle a wide variety of genres and themes even as it remains concretely rooted in science fiction.

Take It to the Tabletop

So, what do you think of running a Star Trek game? Are you a fan? Are your players? What sort of story would you like to tell in that universe that couldn’t be told in any other? Those are the sorts of questions to ask yourself as you plan your campaign and read through the rulebook and adventures.

If you’re passionate about Star Trek, definitely check out Star Trek Adventures. If your interest is casual, this game will go a long way toward making you a fan. Now, hunker down, watch some movies and TV shows, and tap into the inspiration.

Jon Leitheusser is a writer, editor, and game developer. He published the Dork Tower comic book, was the HeroClix game designer for years, was a content designer for Champions Online and Neverwinter, was the Mutants & Masterminds game developer for Green Ronin from 2008 to 2016, and freelances for a number of different companies. He cut his gaming teeth on Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and still games twice a week with his friends online or in person. He lives in Renton, Washington, but will be moving soon!