By Al Spader, Star Trek™ Adventures Contributing Writer
Art by Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo
With the release of the second edition of Star Trek™ Adventures, it’s worth taking the time to present how the new ruleset interacts with The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign and what, if any, adjustments need to be made for a smooth transition.
For the six species presented in the book, a few tweaks need to be made to align with second edition. First, Aenar have been updated in the new core rulebook; the other species need simple changes to adapt special abilities and talents. Note that the following are suggestions until such time as these species are fully updated for use in second edition; feel free to adjust to personal taste.
- Arcadians gain “Rapid Data Assimilation” as Species Ability and “Immense Self-Discipline” becomes a species talent.
- Ariolo get “Powerful Frame” as Species Ability and “All in Due Time” is a species talent.
- For the Betelgeusians, “Strength of the Elders” is the Species Ability, and “Verbal Warfare” is a species talent.
- Coridanites add “Radiation Resistant Anatomy” as Special Ability and “Intention Detector” is a species talent.
- Megarites get “Thick Skin” as Special Ability and “Masters of Aquatic Engineering” becomes a species talent.
Most of the new talents presented in the tactical campaign book work without needing adaptation when converting to second edition; only four of them need minor adjustments:
- Answer for Everything: Instead of rerolling challenge dice, inflict 1 additional Progress on social extended tasks.
- Finesse Strikes: Instead of rerolling challenge dice, the talent allows the character to reroll a d20 per combat encounter.
- Improvised Weapon Training: Treats the object as a bludgeon until the end of the encounter.
- Saboteur: This talent now allows the character to increase the Severity of attacks against objects, structures, or stationary vehicles by spending 1 Momentum instead of 2.
The only role benefit that needs to be tweaked is the Armory Officer. Instead of rerolling challenge dice, this benefit now allows the character to, once per attack, increase the severity of ship weapon attacks by 1 for 1 Momentum instead of 2.
In the optional rules sections, a few new rules need adjusting:
- Dive for Cover: Instead of providing additional cover dice against a ranged attack, the character gains 1 Protection against the attack.
- Variable Initiative Score: Instead of rolling challenge dice, the character rolls 2d20 and adds the following depending on their Insight or Fitness rating, whichever is higher:
| FITNESS OR INSIGHT RATING | INITIATIVE BONUS |
|---|---|
| 7–8 | +1 |
| 9–10 | +2 |
| 11–12 | +3 |
- Pursuit: Instead of rolling challenge dice for pursuits, the winning character or ship inflicts their Conn rating as Progress on the pursuit track.
- Bonus Pace: The winning character or ship may add 1 additional Progress on the pursuit track by spending 2 Momentum.
- Reroll Pursuit: This option is removed for second edition play.
Next, the weapons and gear section requires three tweaks to work for second edition:
- Set Phasers to Stun: Instead of challenge dice value, a number of targets equal to the severity of the weapon are rendered unconscious.
- Hot Loading: On a successful task, the torpedo’s severity value is increased by 1.
- Planetary Defenses in Game: In this case, the severity should range between 4–6 for the Federation and 5–7 for Klingon defenses.
Lastly, second edition brings some interesting tweaks to the advancement system. Because of this, the scars and accelerated advancement systems need to be tweaked as well. When a character calls back to a time one of their values was suppressed due to a scar for the second time (instead of a third time), they may choose to either remove the scar or to gain the benefit of a character arc.
Aside from these specific changes, the ships, NPCs, and adversaries presented in the missions and chapters can be adjusted using the tools provided in the core rulebook. The amazing part about the campaign overlay itself is that it is unchanged by the rules for second edition, so it can be ported in without any trouble, allowing for you to easily bring war to the new edition!
You can order a copy of The Federation-Klingon War Tactical Campaign now, in print or digital formats.
Also, order your print copy of the second edition Star Trek Adventures core rulebook now in standard format or one of three limited edition covers! And order a print copy of the second edition Game Toolkit as well, to expand your options for exploring the final frontier.
2nd Edition Core Rulebook (Command):
2nd Edition Core Rulebook (Sciences):
2nd Edition Core Rulebook (Operations):
All print orders will also receive the digital versions right away.
If you want to ‘try before you buy’, download the free quickstart and play through the included adventure with the provided pregenerated characters. And if you’re eager to run the game but want a longer game experience with a ‘game in a box’, look no further than the new Starter Set, which contains everything you need to run your group through an epic three-part story that could easily expand out into a full season’s worth of game experiences.
Thanks for reading this article, and thank you for your interest and support of Star Trek Adventures! Keep frequencies open for news about other upcoming Star Trek Adventures product releases. Live long and prosper!
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