Star Trek/Star Wars STGOD?

[The Romulan Republic]

Right now I'm throwing this out more as a question/matter of curiosity than as a serious proposal, but on the off-chance that anyone's interested I suppose it could go somewhere.

Basically, I'm curious as to why, with so many general sci-fi STGODs, their has never been an STGOD or RPG set specifically in the Star Trek or Star Wars universe, and also weather anyone besides me would be interested in such a thing.

[Rogue 9]

There's too much power imbalance in the established canons of both franchises, is my guess. If you ran an STGOD in the GFFA, what happens? Who do you play? The Empire/Republic, depending upon era, wins, end of story.

Star Trek doesn't have this problem so much, but there's not enough established powers to go around in the Alpha Quadrant, and throwing in the Dominion once again introduces power imbalance. That, and I don't think anyone wants to be stuck with their retarded infantry options.

[DarthShady]

I would be interested in playing such a game, preferably the Star Wars version. I hear they have a Wars STGOD on Spacebattles, but I never bothered to check it out. Perhaps something similar could be done here.

[The Romulan Republic]

I would be interested in playing such a game, preferably the Star Wars version. I hear they have a Wars STGOD on Spacebattles, but I never bothered to check it out. Perhaps something similar could be done here.

Well, I haven't hung around Spacebattles in ages, so I wouldn't know.

As far as imbalances are concerned, I think Star Wars would work better than Star Trek in that sense at least, because in Star Wars everyone's using more or less the same tech level. Everyone's got hyperdrives, turbolasers, etc. Now take Star Trek, where you have stuff like the Kazon at one end of the interstellar power scale, and stuff like 8472 or even the Q at the other. Its far less consistent. On the other hand, Trek has many small, comparably powerful factions, which might fit this kind of thing better than the one or two powers usually controlling Star Wars.

[Ryan Thunder]

I think it'd be fun to do Beta Quadrant Star Trek, so we could make up a bunch of shit and then steam roll the Alpha Quadrant powers with militaries that actually have a modicum of thought put into them.

[The Romulan Republic]

I think it'd be fun to do Beta Quadrant Star Trek, so we could make up a bunch of shit and then steam roll the Alpha Quadrant powers with militaries that actually have a modicum of thought put into them.

You could just as easily set it in the Alpha or the Beta Quadrant for that. Aren't the Romulans pretty solidly Beta quadrant, as are the Klingons? And yet neither Quadrant has been fully explored.

[Ryan Thunder]

I think it'd be fun to do Beta Quadrant Star Trek, so we could make up a bunch of shit and then steam roll the Alpha Quadrant powers with militaries that actually have a modicum of thought put into them.

You could just as easily set it in the Alpha or the Beta Quadrant for that. Aren't the Romulans pretty solidly Beta quadrant, as are the Klingons? And yet neither Quadrant has been fully explored.

I wouldn't know beyond the hand-waving level, unfortunately. I always thought they were Alpha quadrant, and that Alpha had been largely explored while Beta had not.

Alternatively, maybe the other one (Gamma?). I don't think anything has been done there...

[The Romulan Republic]

One word: Dominion.

But why not? If you want an uncharted region of space, then you can use any quadrant. Going of of canon warp speeds we probably haven't seen most of any of them. Nor would the Dominion control most of the Gamma Quadrant.

[Ryan Thunder]

One word: Dominion.

Oh, right. XD

Well, my knowledge of Trek pertains mostly to the Federation because of the main site.

[The Romulan Republic]

Actually, the Gamma Quadrant does appeal to me somewhat. It is mostly unknown, and you could have the Dominion lurking as a threat on the edges of known space. Sounds kind of cool.

Really, though, I'd still prefer Star Wars.

[DarthShady]

Actually, the Gamma Quadrant does appeal to me somewhat. It is mostly unknown, and you could have the Dominion lurking as a threat on the edges of known space. Sounds kind of cool.

Really, though, I'd still prefer Star Wars.

I like this, It could be quite interesting. And we can always use the wormhole(or a random new one) to interact with the Alpha Quadrant(or others).

But I too, would prefer Star Wars.

[The Romulan Republic]

Actually, the Gamma Quadrant does appeal to me somewhat. It is mostly unknown, and you could have the Dominion lurking as a threat on the edges of known space. Sounds kind of cool.

Really, though, I'd still prefer Star Wars.

I like this, It could be quite interesting. And we can always use the wormhole(or a random new one) to interact with the Alpha Quadrant(or others).

But I too, would prefer Star Wars.

If enough people are interested to make it worth doing, we could put it to a vote: Gamma Quadrant or Star Wars.

[DarthShady]

If enough people are interested to make it worth doing, we could put it to a vote: Gamma Quadrant or Star Wars.

Works for me. But I think we would need at least 10 people to make an interesting game.

[Coyote]

The Star Wars game over at Space Battles is called "Star Wars: Rebuilding of Empires", and I play in it regularly.

The background was like this-- basically, an alternate history where everything up to tjhe Emperor Reborn happened just like in the established EU. Except this time, everyone came out of the woodwork to support him: Zsinj, Thrawn, Isard, etc. Against him, the fledgling New Republic put everyone they had: Luke, Han, Liea, Lando, etc. They ended up destroying one another and thus the slate was wiped clean of heroes and the two contesting powers collapsed with no strong leader personalities to rally behind-- basically, small minor-faction warlords and governments all over.

So there were Imperial Governors here and there, or Admirals, and Republics scattered all over, various independent warlords, old-school Confederacy types trying to revive their thing, and so on. Everyone picked 2-3 worlds to start with and a couple dozen ships of various sizes and we started posting in-depth and reasonable posts as to why one or another planet would join our faction, etc. So everyone was rebuilding their empires, hence the name.

I took Naboo & Chommel Minor, allied with the twi'lek of Ryloth out of concern for pirates hired by Hutts. From there I built a few planets here & there, sometimes by diplomacy, sometimes being doing them favors, sometimes through saving their bacon from others, and one or two occasions by outright conquest.

We got a little too "spammy" with ship-building, so I came up with a rule system where worlds, based on their standing, had certain point values (Homeworlds worth the most at 600 points, down to Major Worlds, Average, Minor, and Colony/Major Station). Then you added up the worlds points and bought your fleet with that base don how much the ships cost in points.

We voluntarily cut back on the number of worlds we had by using the Vong arc as a plot device to trim back on some of our past acquisitions. Now we're mopping up the Vong and going back to game play I like-- politics, diplomacy, shifting alliances of convenience, small-scale and special-ops combats, brinksmanship, etc.


We tried a similar one with Trek, but it only lasted awhile. In that one, it was called "Star Trek: the Omega Protocol" and the idea behind that one was the Dominion was making their big push to Earth and the Feds, Klingons, and Roms used their "last-ditch weapon": billions of mines spread throughout the Quadrants that detonated and filled the area with "Omega Particles" that essentially froze the ability to use warp drive. The "Omega Effect" lasted for 25 years before it starte dto wear off and ships could start traveling at warps 1-5 again.

It was pretty fun; Bajor was independent, the Maquis were using the 25 years to claw their way out of near-Medieval existence at the Jem'Hadar/Cardassian rampage... my favorite plot device that I didn't get to use much before the game folds (I was the GM) was the Gorn. During the 25 years of warp shutdown, the Borg tried to scout their way around the fringes of the effect and ran into the Gorn, who stormed the Cube Ship and fought them hand-to-hand at great loss, almost seeing their civilization destroyed. After some 20 years, they were using Borg technology and had partially, voluntarily Borg-ified themselves into a perfect tactical-command hivemind and they were going to start scouting into nearby space to take back territory lost to "Federation Imperialism".

During the 25 years of no warp, the governments collapsed and the 'homogenous' Federation was broken up into enclaves that established their own little cultures, many of them based on old Earth cultures with some alien twists. So there were sme Stalinist types, some trying to restore the Federation, some had gone militarist, etc.

In the long run, most of the people were just more interested in the Star Wars story than the Trek one. Still, it had potential.

[Master_Baerne]

I'll participate in either STGOD, but I'd prefer a Wars one, just because I know a great deal more about the universe.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'd be cool with either Trek or Wars. As far as rules are concerned, I'd prefer as few as possible, as always. Of course, this requires that people not be too concerned about weather things match canon too closely and that people behave in an intelligent manner in general, but I think that's true anyways, and things always require some balancing for games.

For rules, I'd say something simple. Details could change of course, but I'll submit the following for everyone's approval as a basic guideline:

For Trek:

Systems:

Each player gets one major system and ten colonies. The main system is worth 500 points, while each colony is worth 50. The main system gets a shipyard, and each colony gets a small outpost. New ships can only be produced at the shipyard. Additional ones can be purchased at a cost in points. Stations have the same combat power as a ship of equal point value excluding Shipyards, which require additional defenses.

Outpost=20 points.
Shipyard=100 points.
Starbase=200 points.


Fleets/ground troops (obviously players would design their own forces and may decide what points they're worth within reason; these are provided by way of example and to provide a sort of benchmark):

1 division of 100 Federation security=1 point.
1 division of 10 lightly shielded tanks with phaser canon=1 point.
1 planetary defense system consisting of an orbital defense battery (like the Dominion ones at was it Chintoka?)=10 points. An equivalent ground battery costs half as much, but enemies must come in range of planets before it can open fire.
Mining low orbit around a planet=10 points.

1 warp capable one man fighters or basic Federation shuttlecraft=1 point.
1 basic colony ship or small science ship=10 points.
1 Defiant class escort (heavy destroyer/light cruiser level)=40 points.
1 Galaxy class starship (Heavy cruiser level)=200 points.
1 Sovereign Class (battleship/battlecruiser level)=400 points.
1 planet Destroying superweapon (ie, Genesis device)=400 points.
1 system destroying superweapon (ie, sun-blasting torpedo from Generations)=1,000 points.

A ship or station's fighter/shuttle/probe compliment is included in its point value, along with crew and security/marines.

Psychic/telepathic beings: Have the same point value as the number of troops they are able to destroy/control.


Other rules: no changing the timeline, rapid reverse engineering of captured tech, Deus Ex Machina/Q saving your ass.


I'll try to put up a Star Wars one tonight or tomorrow. Then if enough people are interested we can cast a vote. Still need to think of a good era for Star Wars (Any ideas?). Trek, I'd prefer post-DS9. I could come up with a nice backstory around that. Maybe the Dominion is trying to recoup material losses/suppress rebellion from members who sense weakness by going on a conquering spree. So there's this big threat on the edge of known space (Presuming we do Gamma Quadrant). Unless that contradicts DS9 in some way (I never watched the end). Also, any comments on the above would be appreciated. Obviously, I'm doing a fairly small-scale thing in terms of territorial size and power. I'd probably multiply the system numbers by ten at least, now that I think about it.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I would prefer a Star Wars environment, though I might model mine along Warhammer 40K lines with Space Marines and such, though capital ships Star Wars style.

[DarthShady]

I like Coyote's thing, it seems quite interesting, perhaps we could work out something similar for our own game. Like I said, I would prefer Star Wars, but I'll play Trek as well.

The Romulan Republic, I like your rules; but perhaps we could increase the number of worlds a bit. Also, how many points does a player get at the beginning? I'm thinking something like 10000 points or more.

[The Romulan Republic]

I like Coyote's thing, it seems quite interesting, perhaps we could work out something similar for our own game. Like I said, I would prefer Star Wars, but I'll play Trek as well.

The Romulan Republic, I like your rules; but perhaps we could increase the number of worlds a bit. Also, how many points does a player get at the beginning? I'm thinking something like 10000 points or more.

Points were by worlds. 500 for main system and 50 for each colony. So 1,000. Numbers would go up as I increased number of worlds.

As for Star Wars, we need to settle on a time period, and then vote. Similar rules could be used for both, with some numbers adjustments. But we also need more people. We have five who seem interested, ten committed would be good.

[DarthShady]

Points were by worlds. 500 for main system and 50 for each colony. So 1,000. Numbers would go up as I increased number of worlds.

Considering the proposed cost of ships, I think that's too little.

As for Star Wars, we need to settle on a time period, and then vote. Similar rules could be used for both, with some numbers adjustments. But we also need more people. We have five who seem interested, ten committed would be good.

Well Coyote's story seems good, perhaps we could use that? And yeah we need more people.

[Ryan Thunder]

Well, count me in, in any event.

[The Romulan Republic]

Points were by worlds. 500 for main system and 50 for each colony. So 1,000. Numbers would go up as I increased number of worlds.

Considering the proposed cost of ships, I think that's too little.

I prefer smaller scale to a point, but I'm inclined to agree. I did say in the post in question that I might increase it by ten times at least. Though I would point out that by my system, you could still purchase any one of the following:

1,000 fighters.
100 science ships/colony ships.
25 Defiants.
5 Galaxies.

Which is a significant fleet by Trek standards. Not on the level of the Federation by any means, but a decent regional defense force, perhaps.

[DarthShady]

I prefer smaller scale to a point, but I'm inclined to agree. I did say in the post in question that I might raise it by ten percent at least. Though I would point out that by my system, you could still purchase any one of the following:

1,000 fighters.
100 science ships/colony ships.
25 Defiants.
5 Galaxies.

Which is a significant fleet by Trek standards.

You're right, but I would still prefer a bit more points. If only so that we can afford some of the more exotic stuff(like Genesis Devices), for story telling purposes.

[The Romulan Republic]

You're right, but I would still prefer a bit more points. If only so that we can afford some of the more exotic stuff(like Genesis Devices), for story telling purposes.

Well, I want the player to actually have to make strategic choices. Its too easy if you can just spam Genesis devices. Also, this way, it is mathematically impossible to hit ever system in an enemy's territory with Genesis devices, which means that wars won't simply degenerate into WMD spam.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I think the cost of a planet destroying superweapon has to be increased to make it exorbitantly more expensive than a Sovereign type battlecruiser.

However, thanks the technobabble, some weapons might actually cost nearly as much as a battlecruiser, what with trilitium being able to destroy whole stars.