 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(February 2008) |
 Cover | |
| Designers | Michael Scott |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Heritage Models |
| Publication | 1978 |
| Genres | Science fiction (Star Trek) |
| Systems | Custom |
Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is a role-playing game set in the fictional Star Trek universe. The game was published and edited by Heritage Models from 1978 until Heritage Models dropped the Star Trek gaming license.
Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier is set on unexplored planets within the United Federation of Planets Starfleet. Most player characters are members of Starfleet engaged in planetary exploration missions. The game is set in the original TV series era (a.d. 2260s) and Star Trek: The Animated Series TV series.
In 1978, Paramount Pictures licensed Heritage Models to produce the first official Star Trek RPG and figure line based on Star Trek: The Original Series and Star Trek: The Animated Series.
The rules are split into a “Basic Game” using pre-generated characters from the series and an “Advanced Game” with full character creation and additional combat rules like random initiative.
The basic rules includes a section on preparing to play, explanations of six characteristics, movement, hand-to-hand and ranged combat rules, sequence of play for the “action phase,” and a list of twenty personalities along with their characteristic values. It also includes brief descriptions of Star Trek equipment and an example of play.
Characters have six attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma, Luck, and Mentality) generated by 3d6 rolls modified by race. The rules include a hand-to-hand class bonus but no other skills or experience rules. Players resolve melee combat in a single damage step. The attacker rolls 1d6-6d6 (depending on weapon) plus Strength, Dexterity, and hand-to-hand class modifiers. The defender subtracts 1d6 plus Luck and hand-to-hand class modifiers from this total to determine damage. Ranged combat requires a 1d6 roll under a hit number which depends on range and the attacker's Dexterity.
Most humanoid characters from the original Star Trek TV series or animated series are playable character types. These include: Humans, Vulcans, Tellarites, Andorians, Orions, Klingon, Caitians, Edoans, and Romulans.
Using the basic rules, players use the pre-generated bridge crew from the show, including Captain Kirk, Mr Spock, Lieutenant Uhura, Yeoman Janice Rand, M’ress, and Arex from Paramount's Star Trek: The Animated Series.
About twenty pages of information charts and rule expansions allows for more advanced play. The advanced section contains rules for creating original characters, a list of lifeforms and their characteristics from the TV series, advanced combat rules, and a list of equipment.
The rules included descriptions of alien races, including Larry Niven's Kzin, an equipment list, tables for randomly generated aliens, and two introductory scenarios.
The game offers no starship rules, as adventurers participate in landing party missions using rules for personal-level roleplaying.
“Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier” was written by Paul Montgomery Crabaugh and appeared in Different Worlds #18 (the January 1982 issue) published by Chaosium, Inc. The article was seven pages in length with fifteen small tables (pages 10–16). Here is the brief editorial blurb from the beginning of the article: “Written to supplement Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier role-playing rules, this variant covers a wide range of topics including Experience, Skills, Aging, Salaries, Price Lists, The Referee’s Role, Chain of Command, and World Generation.”
The author's influences were stated up-front: Paramount's Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, and Franz Joseph's Star Fleet Technical Manual. Crabaugh stated that he did not use Star Trek: The Motion Picture because there was more useful gaming material available in the TV episodes and their novelizations.
“Kirk on Karit 2: A Star Trek Scenario Report” was developed by Emmet F. Milestone for use at DunDraCon IV. The intended players were a mix of “old dungeon-mates” and some non-gamer Trekkies who were interested in finding out about role-playing.
Emmet F. Milestone played the out the game scenario with miniature figures, since their visual appeal added so much vitality. He wrote: “I could only afford a couple of packages of Federation figures and an equal number of Klingons at the time, so I pulled some Star Guard miniatures from my shelves and an idea for the scenario began to crystallize. ... My attention wandered across to a horde of Dreenoi. What could be heavier than swarms of the all devouring insect warriors? I got busy writing stats.”
Emmet F. Milestone provided the details of how he constructed the scenario using an old dungeon map (not provided in the article), the Star Trek Blueprints, and the statistics he devised for the Star Guard Dreenoi.
In addition to the scenario, Emmet F. Milestone also added some romance rules.
Different Worlds #18 included an article under its "Metal Marvels" section entitled "Star Trek Figures from Citadel" by John T. Sapienza, Jr. This three page review included pictures of the miniatures and included a footnote by Yurek Chodak (assistant editor) stating "We have learned that both Heritage's Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier role-playing game and the Citadel line of Star Trek figures have been discontinued."
White Dwarf #18 (April/May 1980) included an article entitled "Star Trek- The Motion Picture: Miniature Rules and Scenarios" by Tony Yates and Steve Jackson. Although not directly affiliated with Heritage Model's Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier, the rules, adventure, and painting guide revolved around the use of Citadel Miniatures, Ltd. Star Trek- The Motion Picture miniatures.
Jerry Conner reviewed Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier in The Space Gamer No. 30. [1] Conner commented that "The game is fair, but only recommended to Star Trek fans with a background in role-playing games. Both are necessary for a complete understanding and appreciation of the game." [1]
Star Frontiers is a science fiction role-playing game produced by TSR from 1982 to 1985. The game offered a space opera action-adventure setting.
David Lance Arneson was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's early work was fundamental to the role-playing game (RPG) genre, pioneering devices now considered to be archetypical, such as cooperative play to develop a storyline instead of individual competitive play to "win" and adventuring in dungeon, town, and wilderness settings as presented by a neutral judge who doubles as the voice and consciousness of all characters aside from the player characters.
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming in which military units are represented by miniature physical models on a model battlefield. The use of physical models to represent military units is in contrast to other tabletop wargames that use abstract pieces such as counters or blocks, or computer wargames which use virtual models. The primary benefit of using models is aesthetics, though in certain wargames the size and shape of the models can have practical consequences on how the match plays out.
The Star Trek franchise has produced a large number of novels, comic books, video games, and other materials, which are generally considered non-canon.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 1978. For video games, see 1978 in video gaming.
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and tabletop role-playing games published in 1982. For video games, see 1982 in video gaming.
Star Trek: The Role Playing Game is a role-playing game set in the fictional Star Trek universe published by FASA Corporation from 1982 to 1989.
Battlesystem is a tabletop miniature wargame designed as a supplement for use with the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game. The original Battlesystem was printed as a boxed set in 1985 for use with the first edition AD&D rules. For the second edition of AD&D, a new version of Battesystem was printed as a softcover book in 1989.
The history of role-playing games begins with an earlier tradition of role-playing, which combined with the rulesets of fantasy wargames in the 1970s to give rise to the modern role-playing game. A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. Traditionally all the participants but one take on characters and determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization and the actions succeed or fail according to a system of rules and guidelines, and one of the participants takes on the role of game master who narrates the story, plays all the non-player characters and determine the challenge rating and the outcome of various actions. Within the rules, the participants may improvise freely; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games.
Polymancer was a magazine covering roleplaying games and related hobbies such as miniatures, wargaming, and LARPs. The magazine was published in Canada by Polymancer Studios Inc. It was distributed across the United States, across Canada, in the UK, in Australia, and in New Zealand, as well as having hard copies archived with Archives Canada. The first issue was published in 2004 and it ran for 32 issues.
Amarillo Design Bureau is a company which specializes in tactical and strategic board wargames. The company is a successor to Task Force Games, and is owned and operated by Steve and Leanna Cole, with partner Steve Petrick, and based in Amarillo, Texas. The company created and developed the series of games set in the Star Trek-based Star Fleet Universe, under license from Paramount Pictures, which includes the tactical combat games Star Fleet Battles and Federation Commander, the strategic-level game Federation and Empire, the card-based tactical game Star Fleet Battle Force and the role-playing game Prime Directive. They also produce a large series of miniatures under the Starline 2400 and Starline 2500 label, as well as the biannual Captain's Log magazine.
Starfleet Voyages is a science-fiction adventure role-playing game of planetary exploration based on the Star Trek television series.
Recon is a military role-playing game where players assume the role of American soldiers during the Vietnam War. The first edition featured a wargame with role-playing elements, somewhat like Behind Enemy Lines and Twilight 2000, then gradually evolved into a full role-playing game.
Starfleet Wars, a space battle game by Superior Models, Inc.
Heritage Models was an American game company that produced role-playing games, metal miniatures, and game supplements.
Strategos is a military wargame developed by Charles A. L. Totten for the United States Army, and published in 1880.
Richard Fretson Halliwell was a British game designer who worked at Games Workshop (GW) during their seminal period in the 1980s, creating many of the games that would become central to GW's success.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Role-playing Game is a science fiction role-playing game published by Last Unicorn Games (LUG) in 1998 that is based on the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series. Critical reception was good, and LUG planned to publish other games based on the Star Trek franchise, but lost the Star Trek license in 1999.
Barton, William. "Capsule Reviews: Starfleet Voyages." The SpaceGamer: The Magazine of Adventure Gaming, May/June 1983. 33–34.
Beattie, Robert. “The Courier: America’s foremost Miniature Wargaming Magazine Presents ‘A Timeline of the Historical Miniatures Wargaming Hobby.’” The Courier <http://www-personal.umich.edu/~beattie/timeline2.html>.
Crabaugh, Paul Montgomery. Reviews. “Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier.” Different Worlds: Magazine of Adventure Role-Playing Games, January 1982. 10–16.
GAMA. Game Manufacturers Association. “2005 Academy Hall of Fame Game Professional: Duke Seifried.” 2 July 2005 <https://web.archive.org/web/20051212091507/http://www.gama.org/news2/2005-hall-of-fame-inductees-announced-2-july-2005>.
Kim, John H. An Encyclopedia of Role-playing Games. <http://www.darkshire.net/~jhkim/rpg/encyclopedia/index.html>.
Milestone, Emmet F. “Kirk on Karit 2: A Star Trek Scenario Report.” Different Worlds: Magazine of Adventure Role-Playing Games, January 1982. 9–11.
Sapienza, Jr. John T. "Star Trek Figures from Citadel." Different Worlds: Magazine of Adventure Role-Playing Games, January 1982. 18–20.
Scoleri, Joe. "Game Article Index: S: Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier- Heritage." The Maverick's Space and Fantasy Gamer's Guide, 1999. 313.
Swenson, Anders. Reviews. “Starfleet Voyages.” Different Worlds: Magazine of Adventure Role-Playing Games, June 1983. 43.
White, Damon. “A close look at licensed RPGs and the companies who create them.” Licensed to Produce. GamingReport.com. Posted 2003-08-21 21:03:53 <http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=9805>.
Yates, Tony and Jackson, Steve. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture- Rules for Adventure in the Final Frontier." White Dwarf: The Science Fiction and Fantasy Games and Miniatures Magazine, April/May 1980. 8–11.