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I've always thought that the design of adventure scenarios tells you a lot about the way the creators of a game believe their game should be played. Given this logic, it's no wonder that I continue to be impressed by Last Unicorn Games and their Star Trek: The Next Generation Roleplaying Game. The first published book of adventures for ST: TNG RPG is A Fragile Peace: The Neutral Zone Campaign, Volume 1. Despite its rather unwieldy name, this 96 page book is very easy to use and just what a beleaguered Narrator needs to keep his campaign fresh. Believe me, I know. Having run an enjoyable ST: TNG campaign since shortly after the game's release last August, I've sometimes found myself at a loss for ideas.

In general, I don't like to use canned adventures, since they rarely have the depth and specificity that I put into my home-brews. That's not a problem with this supplement. Picking up where the introductory adventure "Shakedown Cruise" (included in the core rulebook) left off, A Fragile Peace details the Arteline Sector, an area of space on the contentious border between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. The book begins with a brief introduction to the planets and outposts of the sector, with special attention to the "super-power politics" that dominates region. There's also a collection of new alien races and description of important NPCs. I wasn't overly impressed by the aliens of Arteline Sector, but they're not frightfully unworkable. They're just typical Star Trek aliens, albeit without the budgetary constraints that necessitate attaching seafood to their forehead. The NPC descriptions are quite nice in that they contain thumbnail roleplaying notes that help to make each character distinctive. This is very helpful and a good way to distinguish this Starfleet officer from that Starfleet officer.

The meat of the book is a collection of four interrelated adventures dealing with a plot hatched by the dreaded Romulan intelligence service, the Tal Shiar, with the assistance of a megalomaniacal Romulan senator. While the adventures work together to form a story arc (all the rage in SF these days), they can be played separately. Indeed, I'd recommend interspersing other unrelated adventures between them. Otherwise, I expect that the players will quickly tire of yet another Tal Shiar machination against the Federation. To be fair, the adventures are sufficiently different from one another that they could be run one after the other. Given the strategic position of Arteline Sector, it wouldn't be implausible to go toe-to-toe with the Romulans often.

The first adventure, "Aiding and Abetting," deals with an Orion merchant ship in distress. Naturally, few things, including the merchants' cargo, are exactly what they seem. This scenario is a nice introduction to the sector and its politics. It's also gratifying to see the Orions return. The second adventure, "Marie Celestial," is a mystery that involves the discovery of a Romulan warbird whose entire crew has been killed by some mysterious cause. As a fan of mysteries, I like this adventure very much. It's also a good scenario to foist on players who treat Romulans as stereotypes. In true Star Trek tradition, "Marie Celestial" allows even villains like the Romulans to show multiple facets. I can't wait to spring it on my campaign, one of whose characters is the ship's doctor with an intolerance of the Romulans. The third adventure, "Blinded by Science," details an attempt to develop sensors capable of penetrating Romulan cloaking devices. The final installment, "Armistice," is a kind of conclusion to the cycle. It revolves around the admission of a former Romulan colony world into the Federation and the Tal Shiar's attempt to stop it from happening.

The scenarios are all of good quality, although some will appeal to Narrators more than others. This is really a question of taste and focus, however, as all the adventures are well-constructed. I am especially pleased with the troubleshooting sidebars scattered throughout the book. Printed in blue, these sidebars provide assistance to Narrators whose players act other than the most obvious way. In each case, the sidebar offers suggestions and hints on how to get the scenario back on track, as well as ways to modify the outcome should this prove unfeasible. This is a nice touch and should help to alleviate one of the more common fears about using pre-written adventures. Each scenario ends with a list of sequel options, ways to continue the story beyond what is included in the book. This too is a nice touch and one worthy of inclusion.

Despite my approval of A Fragile Peace, the book is not perfect. My biggest beef is the art in the book. Much of it is not very good in my opinion. At the very least, it is not very appropriate to Star Trek. The art accompanying "Aiding and Abetting" is quite good and has a lot of flavor to it. That in the remainder of the book is fairly standard fare and not to my liking. The same is true of the cover of the book –– a rather uninspiring and graphically uninteresting of a model from the series. Likewise, the text used on the back cover is quite hard to read. Appended to the book is a similarly uninteresting map of the sector and some deck plans. Given the small size of the deckplans and their lack of a scale, I'm not entirely what purpose they serve. Still, these are small quibbles in an otherwise excellent book.

Overall, Last Unicorn has produced a fine addition to their very promising line of Star Trek roleplaying materials. Like the core rule book, A Fragile Peace shows a fine grasp of both the Star Trek ethos and the television paradigm on which it depends. For these reasons, I can't recommend it highly enough. Even if you don't choose to set your series anywhere near the Neutral Zone, this book can teach Narrators a thing or two about how to construct solid scenarios in the Star Trek universe.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

A Fragile Peace: The Neutral Zone Campaign, Vol. 1
Author: Barth, Isaacs, Long, Schmid, Stolze, and Walton Category: game Company/Publisher: Last Unicorn Games Cost: $15.00 Page count: 96 ISBN: 0-671-04002-2 Capsule Review by James Maliszewski on 03/24/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Space	I've always thought that the design of adventure scenarios tells you a lot about the way the creators of a game believe their game should be played. Given this logic, it's no wonder that I continue to be impressed by Last Unicorn Games and their Star Trek: The Next Generation Roleplaying Game. The first published book of adventures for ST: TNG RPG is A Fragile Peace: The Neutral Zone Campaign, Volume 1. Despite its rather unwieldy name, this 96 page book is very easy to use and just what a beleaguered Narrator needs to keep his campaign fresh. Believe me, I know. Having run an enjoyable ST: TNG campaign since shortly after the game's release last August, I've sometimes found myself at a loss for ideas. In general, I don't like to use canned adventures, since they rarely have the depth and specificity that I put into my home-brews. That's not a problem with this supplement. Picking up where the introductory adventure "Shakedown Cruise" (included in the core rulebook) left off, A Fragile Peace details the Arteline Sector, an area of space on the contentious border between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire. The book begins with a brief introduction to the planets and outposts of the sector, with special attention to the "super-power politics" that dominates region. There's also a collection of new alien races and description of important NPCs. I wasn't overly impressed by the aliens of Arteline Sector, but they're not frightfully unworkable. They're just typical Star Trek aliens, albeit without the budgetary constraints that necessitate attaching seafood to their forehead. The NPC descriptions are quite nice in that they contain thumbnail roleplaying notes that help to make each character distinctive. This is very helpful and a good way to distinguish this Starfleet officer from that Starfleet officer. The meat of the book is a collection of four interrelated adventures dealing with a plot hatched by the dreaded Romulan intelligence service, the Tal Shiar, with the assistance of a megalomaniacal Romulan senator. While the adventures work together to form a story arc (all the rage in SF these days), they can be played separately. Indeed, I'd recommend interspersing other unrelated adventures between them. Otherwise, I expect that the players will quickly tire of yet another Tal Shiar machination against the Federation. To be fair, the adventures are sufficiently different from one another that they could be run one after the other. Given the strategic position of Arteline Sector, it wouldn't be implausible to go toe-to-toe with the Romulans often. The first adventure, "Aiding and Abetting," deals with an Orion merchant ship in distress. Naturally, few things, including the merchants' cargo, are exactly what they seem. This scenario is a nice introduction to the sector and its politics. It's also gratifying to see the Orions return. The second adventure, "Marie Celestial," is a mystery that involves the discovery of a Romulan warbird whose entire crew has been killed by some mysterious cause. As a fan of mysteries, I like this adventure very much. It's also a good scenario to foist on players who treat Romulans as stereotypes. In true Star Trek tradition, "Marie Celestial" allows even villains like the Romulans to show multiple facets. I can't wait to spring it on my campaign, one of whose characters is the ship's doctor with an intolerance of the Romulans. The third adventure, "Blinded by Science," details an attempt to develop sensors capable of penetrating Romulan cloaking devices. The final installment, "Armistice," is a kind of conclusion to the cycle. It revolves around the admission of a former Romulan colony world into the Federation and the Tal Shiar's attempt to stop it from happening. The scenarios are all of good quality, although some will appeal to Narrators more than others. This is really a question of taste and focus, however, as all the adventures are well-constructed. I am especially pleased with the troubleshooting sidebars scattered throughout the book. Printed in blue, these sidebars provide assistance to Narrators whose players act other than the most obvious way. In each case, the sidebar offers suggestions and hints on how to get the scenario back on track, as well as ways to modify the outcome should this prove unfeasible. This is a nice touch and should help to alleviate one of the more common fears about using pre-written adventures. Each scenario ends with a list of sequel options, ways to continue the story beyond what is included in the book. This too is a nice touch and one worthy of inclusion. Despite my approval of A Fragile Peace, the book is not perfect. My biggest beef is the art in the book. Much of it is not very good in my opinion. At the very least, it is not very appropriate to Star Trek. The art accompanying "Aiding and Abetting" is quite good and has a lot of flavor to it. That in the remainder of the book is fairly standard fare and not to my liking. The same is true of the cover of the book –– a rather uninspiring and graphically uninteresting of a model from the series. Likewise, the text used on the back cover is quite hard to read. Appended to the book is a similarly uninteresting map of the sector and some deck plans. Given the small size of the deckplans and their lack of a scale, I'm not entirely what purpose they serve. Still, these are small quibbles in an otherwise excellent book. Overall, Last Unicorn has produced a fine addition to their very promising line of Star Trek roleplaying materials. Like the core rule book, A Fragile Peace shows a fine grasp of both the Star Trek ethos and the television paradigm on which it depends. For these reasons, I can't recommend it highly enough. Even if you don't choose to set your series anywhere near the Neutral Zone, this book can teach Narrators a thing or two about how to construct solid scenarios in the Star Trek universe. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

A Fragile Peace: The Neutral Zone Campaign, Vol. 1