The Inside Scoop on Gaming

It seems this book took forever to get here, and every Trek gamer I know has been waiting anxiously. I still wish it hadn't taken so lno, but I must say, I am not in any way disappointed.

The STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE RPG CORE GAME BOOK (subsequently identified as the DS9 Core Book)is part of LUG's family of STAR TREK RPGs. So far this line is divided into three product lines: the original STAR TREK series (TOS), STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (TNG) and now DS9. The boundaries between these product lines are somewhat fluid, which makes sense, since they are all Trek; many upcoming products (including the Klingon boxed set and a supplement detailing the Mirror Universe) will be intended to cross over between the three lines. That being said, there are some distinct differences between the lines, the primary difference being tone. LUG's original entry, the TNG Core Book, reflects the sophisticated but optimistic space adventure/exploration mode of the modern-era Trek, with Gene Roddenberry's optimism evident and pervasive; supplements to this line generally present this same worldview. In contrast, the TOS line depicts the more rough-and-tumble era of the original Trek, where Kirk ran around drop-kicking everything he didn't sleep with.

The DS9 tone, on the other hand, is one of moral ambiguity, where actions are often presented in shades of gray, and where the choices, and what side everybody is on, are not obvious. As part of this change in tone, characters in the DS9 game (as in the TV series it is based on) need not be members of Starfleet, and in fact, players are encouraged to portray characters who could never have made the cut at Starfleet Academy, or who would have never wanted to try. Rather than many of the familiar member species of the United Federation of Planets, the DS9 game focuses on peoples such as the Bajorans, the Cardassians and the Ferengi, as well as the Trill, a Federation species that became prominent on the DS9 TV show. Further, in place of Starfleet Officers, the DS9 Core Book emphasizes characters such as merchants, mercenaries, spies, colonists, freedom fighters, religious mystics and pirates/smugglers. The default setting of a DS9 campaign (or series, in LUGTrek terminology) is also different. Rather than living on a starship and traveling from adventure to adventure, in DS9, the characters will be based in a remote, relatively static setting (such as a space station, rebel base or rogues' den), and instead of seeking out "strange, new worlds, new life and new civilizations", the adventure will often come to them (in the form of visitors or invasion) or develop out of the setting (in the form of political intrigue or interpersonal relationships).

The DS9 Core Book uses the same Icon game rules that were presented in the TNG and TOS books; characters are based on Templates and Overlays (essentially, species and occupation packages) and defined by Traits including Attributes (physical and mental statistics), Skills and Advantages/ Disadvantages, and the results of their actions are determined by rolling a number of 6-sided dice based on the relevant Attributes. This system is presented again in this book, meaning those who already have the TNG and/or TOS books will be getting some repeated material (all the basic game mechanics). For the most part, this is really not a bad thing, for several reasons. First, most of this material is re-written or re-organized to reflect the different tone and emphasis of the DS9 line (just as was the case between the TNG and TOS Core Books). Second, it is useful to have the old material in the same place as the new material, for ease in character generation. Toward this purpose, the DS9 Core Book includes an appendix repeated (in condensed form) the rules for generating Starfleet characters originally presented in the TNG Core Book; as a bonus, this appendix corrects some typos from the original presentation. Aside from the ICON system, the DS9 Core Book also repeats some information on designing and running Trek adventures that is similar to what was presented in the TNG and TOS books, but again, this material is very useful (for both novice and experienced Narrators) and it is largely re-written, in many cases heavily, to emphasize the differences in tone and setting. For example, a lot of attention is given to promoting a "frontier" or "handle things on your own" mindset, as opposed to the discussions of Starfleet chain of command and the omnipresent Prime Directive that are presented in the TNG and TOS Core Books.

Toward generating and playing the new types of characters mentioned above, the DS9 Core Book presents new Templates and Overlays (reflecting the different species and occupations) and several new Advantages and Disadvantages (often reflecting interpersonal relationships or social status, for good [Romantic Attachment, Religious Rank]or ill [Exile, Marked Man]). There is plenty of other new stuff, including write-ups on many of the alien species first presented in DS9: some which could easily be player characters (including the Lurians, seen on DS9 in the person of barfly Morn), and many others more suited for opponents (including the Dominion mainstays, the Vorta and Jem'Hadar). Rules for Odo's species, the shapeshifting Founders, are also presented, but in a fairly cursory manner, as they are very strongly NOT recommended as player characters (for game-balance purposes - the same reason no rules are presented for portraying Soong-type androids like Data in the TNG Core Book). There are also new creatures, starship write-ups, a section on building starbases and space stations, and an adventure (discussed below).

Since characters are the core of any RPG, it is worth looking at the rules for new character types in some detail. The species Templates have produced some minor controversy on the TREKRpg mailing list, particularly in a couple of alien species being granted a benefit previously reserved for human characters, thus making humans somewhat special among the other species that are stronger or possessed of special mental or sensory abilities. The benefit in question is extra Courage Points, which in the Icon system can be used to alter one's die rolls. Humans receive two more Courage than other species...except the Bajorans, who receive the same number, and the Trill, who receive one. Some feel this diminishes humans too much, making them a less attractive option. IMHO, the Bajorans deserve this benefit - this is a species who have just survived decades of enemy occupation and partial genocide at the hands of the Cardassians, after all, a species who, through guerilla warfare and other forms of resistance, were able to drive off a heavyweight, brutal galactic empire. The Trill are a more problematic case, however, due to the game mechanics and TV specifics of that species. As the Trek fan already presumably knows, the Trill are a humanoid species with the ability to physically join with another species, the symbionts, thereby creating a combined being who can draw on the memories and experience of the long-lived symbionts. Since there are many more Trill than there are symboints, only a small percentage of the Trill people - the mental/physical/social elite, in effect - are ever joined. Thus, LUG presents rules for both joined and unjoined Trill...but let's face it, most players who decide to portray Trill will want to be joined, and rightly so, given that PCs will presumably be exactly the sort of elite Trill who are chosen for joining. The Trill Template portrays the generic, unjoined Trill, and includes an extra Courage point - pretty much just to balance the Template with others. Then the special rules for joined Trill come into play. Essentially, joining is an undefined Advantage, available only to Trill and not given a point cost or reflected on the Template. The game mechanic is interesting, and useful; in effect, it gives the Trill character access, at a very rudimentary level, to additional Skills reflecting the symbiont's previous joinings. The player can choose to develop these Skills with starting Development or Experience points, at a significantly reduced cost, and this can be a significant benefit in an ongoing series. There is some attempt to account for this, by defining minor medical problems related to joining, and the possibility of the joined Trill being disabled or killed by damage to the (relatively non-sturdy) symbiont, but I don't think those inconveniences balance the benefit of joining. And what Narrator running a game with any faithfulness to the Trek spirit would invoke character mortality as a game balance measure? IMHO, the ideal solution would be to take away the extra Courage point for joined Trill.

The other Templates are just fine, IMHO - I really commend how well they portray the sneaky Cardassians and make the Klingons powerful without being overwhelming. Now, I will admit, I am very much a Klingon fan, and part of what I have really waited for has been rules for playing Klingons. Essentially, the Template as written makes a Klingon warrior physically powerful and extremely sturdy and difficult to kill. This perfectly represents what we have seen on the DS9 TV series, particularly one episode in which Worf, a prisoner in a Dominion POW camp, is forced to fight a series of no-holds barred battles with fresh Jem'Hadar warriors (no pushovers, either). The template as written does not make the Klingon overwhelmingly powerful, particularly given the limited value of purely physical prowess in the Trek setting, but if you want a sturdy fighter type, this is it!

Now, one quirk of the DS9 Core Book is that the character generation rules as written produce characters somewhat less competent (ie, worth 18 fewer development points) than the Starfleet characters produced using the rules in the TNG and TOS books. Now, this is consistent with the idea that Starfleet characters are a cut above the norm, the elite of the Federation...but it is inconsistent with the character generation rules for non-Federation peoples presented in other LUGTrek products. Take, for example, the character generation rules from the Romulan supplement, THE WAY OF D'ERA (the single best LUGTrek supplement, by the way, a true standout in a very high quality game line). Romulan characters built using the Templates and Overlays in that product are equivalent, in points, to Starfleet characters....all Romulans, Star Navy and civilian. Maybe this explains why the Romulans are so arrogant. Now, in theory, I have no problem with the idea that the average Starfleet officer is better trained than the average colonist, Ferengi smuggler or Bajoran terrorist, but this is harder to justify in the case of Klingon warriors or, particularly, members of the Cardassian Central Command (military)or the dread Obsidian Order. Besides, player characters are not supposed to be the *average* member of their species or profession, and I have certainly never seen any evidence on the shows that Kira Nerys couldn't hold her own overall compared to, say, Hikaru Sulu or Geordi LaForge. In fairness, a sidebar does give the option of giving DS9 characters the extra points, in addition to their Template/Overlay, to balance them with Starfleet characters, but IMHO, the distinction was not necessary in the first place.

The adventure included in the DS9 Core Book, "Idol Threats", is a very good Star Trek game adventure - no surprise, as it was written by Robin Laws, whou could probably write interesting adventures for a BARBIE RPG - but it is sort of an odd choice for a DS9 adventure. After all the talk about atypical characters and playing people other that Starfleet officers, this is an adventure that revolves around large-scale diplomacy, and the Federation ethos of fairness - it is pretty hard to imagine how it would work well with, say, a group of smugglers or Maquis rebels. Don't get me wrong, it is a pretty darn good adventure, but, IMHO, not a great match for the tone of DS9.

Physically and in terms of graphic persentation, the DS Core Book is a beautiful product, in the fine tradition of LUG's other Core Books and hardcover supplements. The layout and overall graphic scene are attractive, sidebar placement is logical, convenient and generally unobtrusive, and the photo stills from the series are profuse, attractive, appropriate, and often exciting or funny. Most of the original illustrations are quite good - this has been an area of steady improvement for LUG overall - and the exceptions, in the 'Creatures' chapter, are thankfully few and small. The only other criticism I have relates to the visual clarity of the text. The print in the DS9 Core Book is, thankfully, not as small and faint as in the otherwise-wonderful TOS Core Book (and the page numbers are not microscopic this time either), but it is not as bold and easy-to-read as in the TNG Core Book. This is an issue for old gamers like me. Also, there are times when the sidebar text is printed on a particularly dark mottled-brown that makes it very difficult to read.

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

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine RPG Core Game Book
Author: Steve Long(with Bill Bridges, Andrew Greenberg, Stephen Kenson, Robin Laws and Christian Moore) Category: game Company/Publisher: Last Unicorn Games Line: Star Trek RPG Line Cost: $35.00 Page count: 294 ISBN: 1-88889533-09-2 SKU: LUG 35000 Capsule Review by Jeffrey W. Kramer on 12/29/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Far_Future Space	It seems this book took forever to get here, and every Trek gamer I know has been waiting anxiously. I still wish it hadn't taken so lno, but I must say, I am not in any way disappointed. The STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE RPG CORE GAME BOOK (subsequently identified as the DS9 Core Book)is part of LUG's family of STAR TREK RPGs. So far this line is divided into three product lines: the original STAR TREK series (TOS), STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (TNG) and now DS9. The boundaries between these product lines are somewhat fluid, which makes sense, since they are all Trek; many upcoming products (including the Klingon boxed set and a supplement detailing the Mirror Universe) will be intended to cross over between the three lines. That being said, there are some distinct differences between the lines, the primary difference being tone. LUG's original entry, the TNG Core Book, reflects the sophisticated but optimistic space adventure/exploration mode of the modern-era Trek, with Gene Roddenberry's optimism evident and pervasive; supplements to this line generally present this same worldview. In contrast, the TOS line depicts the more rough-and-tumble era of the original Trek, where Kirk ran around drop-kicking everything he didn't sleep with. The DS9 tone, on the other hand, is one of moral ambiguity, where actions are often presented in shades of gray, and where the choices, and what side everybody is on, are not obvious. As part of this change in tone, characters in the DS9 game (as in the TV series it is based on) need not be members of Starfleet, and in fact, players are encouraged to portray characters who could never have made the cut at Starfleet Academy, or who would have never wanted to try. Rather than many of the familiar member species of the United Federation of Planets, the DS9 game focuses on peoples such as the Bajorans, the Cardassians and the Ferengi, as well as the Trill, a Federation species that became prominent on the DS9 TV show. Further, in place of Starfleet Officers, the DS9 Core Book emphasizes characters such as merchants, mercenaries, spies, colonists, freedom fighters, religious mystics and pirates/smugglers. The default setting of a DS9 campaign (or series, in LUGTrek terminology) is also different. Rather than living on a starship and traveling from adventure to adventure, in DS9, the characters will be based in a remote, relatively static setting (such as a space station, rebel base or rogues' den), and instead of seeking out "strange, new worlds, new life and new civilizations", the adventure will often come to them (in the form of visitors or invasion) or develop out of the setting (in the form of political intrigue or interpersonal relationships). The DS9 Core Book uses the same Icon game rules that were presented in the TNG and TOS books; characters are based on Templates and Overlays (essentially, species and occupation packages) and defined by Traits including Attributes (physical and mental statistics), Skills and Advantages/ Disadvantages, and the results of their actions are determined by rolling a number of 6-sided dice based on the relevant Attributes. This system is presented again in this book, meaning those who already have the TNG and/or TOS books will be getting some repeated material (all the basic game mechanics). For the most part, this is really not a bad thing, for several reasons. First, most of this material is re-written or re-organized to reflect the different tone and emphasis of the DS9 line (just as was the case between the TNG and TOS Core Books). Second, it is useful to have the old material in the same place as the new material, for ease in character generation. Toward this purpose, the DS9 Core Book includes an appendix repeated (in condensed form) the rules for generating Starfleet characters originally presented in the TNG Core Book; as a bonus, this appendix corrects some typos from the original presentation. Aside from the ICON system, the DS9 Core Book also repeats some information on designing and running Trek adventures that is similar to what was presented in the TNG and TOS books, but again, this material is very useful (for both novice and experienced Narrators) and it is largely re-written, in many cases heavily, to emphasize the differences in tone and setting. For example, a lot of attention is given to promoting a "frontier" or "handle things on your own" mindset, as opposed to the discussions of Starfleet chain of command and the omnipresent Prime Directive that are presented in the TNG and TOS Core Books. Toward generating and playing the new types of characters mentioned above, the DS9 Core Book presents new Templates and Overlays (reflecting the different species and occupations) and several new Advantages and Disadvantages (often reflecting interpersonal relationships or social status, for good [Romantic Attachment, Religious Rank]or ill [Exile, Marked Man]). There is plenty of other new stuff, including write-ups on many of the alien species first presented in DS9: some which could easily be player characters (including the Lurians, seen on DS9 in the person of barfly Morn), and many others more suited for opponents (including the Dominion mainstays, the Vorta and Jem'Hadar). Rules for Odo's species, the shapeshifting Founders, are also presented, but in a fairly cursory manner, as they are very strongly NOT recommended as player characters (for game-balance purposes - the same reason no rules are presented for portraying Soong-type androids like Data in the TNG Core Book). There are also new creatures, starship write-ups, a section on building starbases and space stations, and an adventure (discussed below). Since characters are the core of any RPG, it is worth looking at the rules for new character types in some detail. The species Templates have produced some minor controversy on the TREKRpg mailing list, particularly in a couple of alien species being granted a benefit previously reserved for human characters, thus making humans somewhat special among the other species that are stronger or possessed of special mental or sensory abilities. The benefit in question is extra Courage Points, which in the Icon system can be used to alter one's die rolls. Humans receive two more Courage than other species...except the Bajorans, who receive the same number, and the Trill, who receive one. Some feel this diminishes humans too much, making them a less attractive option. IMHO, the Bajorans deserve this benefit - this is a species who have just survived decades of enemy occupation and partial genocide at the hands of the Cardassians, after all, a species who, through guerilla warfare and other forms of resistance, were able to drive off a heavyweight, brutal galactic empire. The Trill are a more problematic case, however, due to the game mechanics and TV specifics of that species. As the Trek fan already presumably knows, the Trill are a humanoid species with the ability to physically join with another species, the symbionts, thereby creating a combined being who can draw on the memories and experience of the long-lived symbionts. Since there are many more Trill than there are symboints, only a small percentage of the Trill people - the mental/physical/social elite, in effect - are ever joined. Thus, LUG presents rules for both joined and unjoined Trill...but let's face it, most players who decide to portray Trill will want to be joined, and rightly so, given that PCs will presumably be exactly the sort of elite Trill who are chosen for joining. The Trill Template portrays the generic, unjoined Trill, and includes an extra Courage point - pretty much just to balance the Template with others. Then the special rules for joined Trill come into play. Essentially, joining is an undefined Advantage, available only to Trill and not given a point cost or reflected on the Template. The game mechanic is interesting, and useful; in effect, it gives the Trill character access, at a very rudimentary level, to additional Skills reflecting the symbiont's previous joinings. The player can choose to develop these Skills with starting Development or Experience points, at a significantly reduced cost, and this can be a significant benefit in an ongoing series. There is some attempt to account for this, by defining minor medical problems related to joining, and the possibility of the joined Trill being disabled or killed by damage to the (relatively non-sturdy) symbiont, but I don't think those inconveniences balance the benefit of joining. And what Narrator running a game with any faithfulness to the Trek spirit would invoke character mortality as a game balance measure? IMHO, the ideal solution would be to take away the extra Courage point for joined Trill. The other Templates are just fine, IMHO - I really commend how well they portray the sneaky Cardassians and make the Klingons powerful without being overwhelming. Now, I will admit, I am very much a Klingon fan, and part of what I have really waited for has been rules for playing Klingons. Essentially, the Template as written makes a Klingon warrior physically powerful and extremely sturdy and difficult to kill. This perfectly represents what we have seen on the DS9 TV series, particularly one episode in which Worf, a prisoner in a Dominion POW camp, is forced to fight a series of no-holds barred battles with fresh Jem'Hadar warriors (no pushovers, either). The template as written does not make the Klingon overwhelmingly powerful, particularly given the limited value of purely physical prowess in the Trek setting, but if you want a sturdy fighter type, this is it! Now, one quirk of the DS9 Core Book is that the character generation rules as written produce characters somewhat less competent (ie, worth 18 fewer development points) than the Starfleet characters produced using the rules in the TNG and TOS books. Now, this is consistent with the idea that Starfleet characters are a cut above the norm, the elite of the Federation...but it is inconsistent with the character generation rules for non-Federation peoples presented in other LUGTrek products. Take, for example, the character generation rules from the Romulan supplement, THE WAY OF D'ERA (the single best LUGTrek supplement, by the way, a true standout in a very high quality game line). Romulan characters built using the Templates and Overlays in that product are equivalent, in points, to Starfleet characters....all Romulans, Star Navy and civilian. Maybe this explains why the Romulans are so arrogant. Now, in theory, I have no problem with the idea that the average Starfleet officer is better trained than the average colonist, Ferengi smuggler or Bajoran terrorist, but this is harder to justify in the case of Klingon warriors or, particularly, members of the Cardassian Central Command (military)or the dread Obsidian Order. Besides, player characters are not supposed to be the average member of their species or profession, and I have certainly never seen any evidence on the shows that Kira Nerys couldn't hold her own overall compared to, say, Hikaru Sulu or Geordi LaForge. In fairness, a sidebar does give the option of giving DS9 characters the extra points, in addition to their Template/Overlay, to balance them with Starfleet characters, but IMHO, the distinction was not necessary in the first place. The adventure included in the DS9 Core Book, "Idol Threats", is a very good Star Trek game adventure - no surprise, as it was written by Robin Laws, whou could probably write interesting adventures for a BARBIE RPG - but it is sort of an odd choice for a DS9 adventure. After all the talk about atypical characters and playing people other that Starfleet officers, this is an adventure that revolves around large-scale diplomacy, and the Federation ethos of fairness - it is pretty hard to imagine how it would work well with, say, a group of smugglers or Maquis rebels. Don't get me wrong, it is a pretty darn good adventure, but, IMHO, not a great match for the tone of DS9. Physically and in terms of graphic persentation, the DS Core Book is a beautiful product, in the fine tradition of LUG's other Core Books and hardcover supplements. The layout and overall graphic scene are attractive, sidebar placement is logical, convenient and generally unobtrusive, and the photo stills from the series are profuse, attractive, appropriate, and often exciting or funny. Most of the original illustrations are quite good - this has been an area of steady improvement for LUG overall - and the exceptions, in the 'Creatures' chapter, are thankfully few and small. The only other criticism I have relates to the visual clarity of the text. The print in the DS9 Core Book is, thankfully, not as small and faint as in the otherwise-wonderful TOS Core Book (and the page numbers are not microscopic this time either), but it is not as bold and easy-to-read as in the TNG Core Book. This is an issue for old gamers like me. Also, there are times when the sidebar text is printed on a particularly dark mottled-brown that makes it very difficult to read. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine RPG Core Game Book