we really take advantage of the multiple characters (supporting or otherwise). We have players that are very very excited about making the supporting cast. Making sure that everyone gets a chance to participate for the full session and not just sit idly by. also the change of personality and role really is a hit with some players. (many background characters have become absolute favorites , and similar to beloved NPCs, but they are actually PCs.
Love the bridge, captain! Your ship looks splendid. Great overview of the system! You boiled down the heart of the game to its essence and explained it very clearly and concisely. Aside from the little mixup with Momentum, which Jim has already pointed out, this is pretty much all new players need to hear before jumping into their first game. Nicely done! Looking forward to watching the rest of the series!
getting used to the momentum system and that the system is really "what is is worth to you to succeed" was a difficult think to get my head around. but it really does play like the show where say Dr Crusher restarts the warp core, but has a hell of a time playing it. And i do like that you mention that the momentum is a churning resource.
I've been slowly reading the solo RPG book until I was distracted and started reading like 3 others ( _I made it to page 130_ ). But this, the way you describe it, sounds so fun to me and so easy to just take the rules, and put it anywhere else, very basic. Fun ideas in my head.
Correction on Momentum: In STA the group Momentum pool caps at 6 total, not 2 per player. You may have more in a given scene if you get bonus Momentum, but bonus Momentum cannot be saved. Cap remains at 6. A gamemaster gets 2 points of Threat per player character at the start of most adventures. There's no cap to how much Threat can be in the gamemaster's Threat pool.
Really enjoy your videos. With that said, I would like to see a video about combat in second edition. The 2e core rulebook is fabulous but the section on combat was a head-scratcher.
I love your video Guy! I always struggled a bit with the 2D20 system and I was wondering if I should get the new STA 2.0 rulebook. You explained it perfectly and I have placed my order! I look forward to your future videos in delving more how to play this game. Thank you for all of your hard work in putting these videos together. 💗
I love the threat/momentum System as it makes it more heroic. You are probably going to make that roll, but how much are you willing and able to spend to get it. Also traits! Traits are OP. It gives mechanical weight to narrative elements. So when I say "that's a Class 2 Nebula" my players know that it will increase the difficulty of navigational and sensor task by 2. And it will also be a difficulty 2 task to compensate for it.
I'm debating picking this up... I bought Captain's Log because these days I only play solo, but I want more granularity than it provides. Though you call it rules-light, I still find it a bit more complicated than it needs to be but that's because I am more accustomed to narrative games these days. I kind of wish they had made the official game using Fate Core.
Fallout is a 2D20 game. There are a good amount of differences though, as Modiphius tailors the system to best emulate each setting they apply it to. So it isn’t a universal system like Savage Worlds, and you can’t easily take critters from one setting and just drop them in another.
I'm okay for more STA 2 videos. I hope it can convince me the flaws of the first one were ironed out because it really killed my enjoyment of the game. I really love the Star Trek universe, but man have I difficulties playing 2d20. I don't like the momentum mechanics because it is a snow balling mechanic. Without it your crew just plain suck. With it your team just faceroll everything. Whenever I played a 2d20 games we never were able to find the sweet spot for the table, either we're drowing in momentum point and can have bonus dies on every roll, or have a complete drought 80% of the time, frustrating players. And Threat is a mechanic that send the player in the "Us versus the GM" mind space and I don't like where this leads. What's worse is even if I started playing RPG with d20 (and I still love that system, especially Chronique Oubliées, a French d20 game) I find that 2d20 feels way to heavy as a system. It grinds everything down to a crawl.
My first review for StarTrek Adventures v1 was similar to what you are saying. I truly believe STA v2 has resolved that. Will cover more in detail later.
I am curious which 2d20 games you were playing where you experienced the characters “just plain suck” without momentum to spend. With the notable exception of Fallout, the games I own all have very competent characters from the get go. As far as threat goes, if your gm is using it to try to beat the characters instead of to challenge them for a better story, I would think such a gm would be no fun regardless of the system.
@@fwbean119 The latest game I played where it happenned was in fact Fallout (I was PC in that one). I had the issue as a GM on STA. Maybe it's because I'm not a fan of pointless dice rolls, so the players couldn't get easy Momentum. But that group of player barely had any Momentum through the game. As for the mind set, it's not the GM (me) who had, it was a couple players. "I'm not giving you points to screw with us down the line".
@@Sinebeast ah, so they were afraid you were going to be the antagonist. Ok, I can see that happening. The books generally advise the gm on how to handle threat in a way to tell a better story, increasing tension when needed and such, but that is in the gm section, so they don’t really advise the player to not fear giving threat to the gm.
I feel it prevents GMs from being vindictive (if they so inclinded) but mainly I feel it's an excellent tension builder. The threat is public knowledge, so a skilled GM can use it to give the players a hell of a ride. It can also act as a reminder to the GM to sometimes ramp things up.
I felt the same way when I was just getting started. But it does raise the tension, it is STAs version of rolling dice behind the GM screen. I spend threat, and everyone knows something is going down. At the same time it makes the players gamble. Sometimes they can buy something with threat to help them now, and in doing so risk me using it for later. It is an amazing tension builder, but it kind of makes my players feel the extra challenges are fair, since instead of it being a GM throwing something random. There is now a cost for it. But I had the same thought when I first started my campaign three years ago. Since then I have grown to really enjoy it. That being said, it doesn't stop you from building challenging encounters with scripted surprised to amp things up. It just gives me the justification to fairly amp it up at random. Less Rocks Fall and Everyone dies, and more. I dump 10 Threat, and the Borg are here. ( maybe don't do that last part. )
This is the latest iteration of the 2d20 system, and is super slick. I haven't officially looked at the Fallout version but as was mentioned, this was specifically tailored for Star Trek which I think makes a huge difference.
The 2d20 system takes a while to learn if you’re used to a d20-type system. My wife had virtually no RPG experience before playing STA and she picked up the game better than me. I had 40 years of D&D to get past before I got the hang of it. And all I told her was to bring her Star Trek knowledge to the table. That also helped her immensely. (She knows a lot, esp. DS9. Our first campaign was the Shackleton Expanse, now in a whole new campaign in a Lower Decks setting.)
![[STAR TREK] Character creation](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OVOgD74KG7g/mqdefault.jpg)
![[STAR TREK] Character creation](/img/tr.png)
we really take advantage of the multiple characters (supporting or otherwise). We have players that are very very excited about making the supporting cast. Making sure that everyone gets a chance to participate for the full session and not just sit idly by. also the change of personality and role really is a hit with some players. (many background characters have become absolute favorites , and similar to beloved NPCs, but they are actually PCs.
Love the bridge, captain! Your ship looks splendid.
Great overview of the system! You boiled down the heart of the game to its essence and explained it very clearly and concisely. Aside from the little mixup with Momentum, which Jim has already pointed out, this is pretty much all new players need to hear before jumping into their first game. Nicely done!
Looking forward to watching the rest of the series!
Perfect timing. I have been debating on jumping to 2e. Very nice video.
I would love to see some more star trek 2nd edition content. Thank you for showing me they have an ttrpg!
I came for Guy, but stayed for Star Trek!
getting used to the momentum system and that the system is really "what is is worth to you to succeed" was a difficult think to get my head around. but it really does play like the show where say Dr Crusher restarts the warp core, but has a hell of a time playing it.
And i do like that you mention that the momentum is a churning resource.
I've been slowly reading the solo RPG book until I was distracted and started reading like 3 others ( _I made it to page 130_ ).
But this, the way you describe it, sounds so fun to me and so easy to just take the rules, and put it anywhere else, very basic. Fun ideas in my head.
Correction on Momentum: In STA the group Momentum pool caps at 6 total, not 2 per player. You may have more in a given scene if you get bonus Momentum, but bonus Momentum cannot be saved. Cap remains at 6.
A gamemaster gets 2 points of Threat per player character at the start of most adventures. There's no cap to how much Threat can be in the gamemaster's Threat pool.
This is true for STA1, is it still true vor STA2?
@@egomane3 Yep
Thanks for that. I must have read it wrong. Will double check again :)
The game master gets two threat per player.
This system seems really interesting and would love to play a few games of it
Will you be playing the new system for us to see? Would love that
Yes! Watch this space!!
Love this! I’m a huge Star Trek fan! ❤
I'm playing Dune: Adventures in the Imperium, and I'm interested in a deep dive into this system, and the differences, if possible?
I haven't play 2E yet, but I loved playing all previous versions, 1E as well. Its good system that did need stream-lining.
Really enjoy your videos. With that said, I would like to see a video about combat in second edition. The 2e core rulebook is fabulous but the section on combat was a head-scratcher.
I love your video Guy! I always struggled a bit with the 2D20 system and I was wondering if I should get the new STA 2.0 rulebook. You explained it perfectly and I have placed my order! I look forward to your future videos in delving more how to play this game. Thank you for all of your hard work in putting these videos together. 💗
I was wondering how you get more than 2 successes without resorting to luck. The momentum pool answers that question.
You could also roll critical successes on dice without spending momentum, or by using a focus to change the critical success range.
Guy covering Star Trek 2E! Nice!
I love the threat/momentum System as it makes it more heroic. You are probably going to make that roll, but how much are you willing and able to spend to get it.
Also traits! Traits are OP. It gives mechanical weight to narrative elements. So when I say "that's a Class 2 Nebula" my players know that it will increase the difficulty of navigational and sensor task by 2. And it will also be a difficulty 2 task to compensate for it.
Yes yes yes to more Star Trek
I am not a big scify fan but I like to listen to your thoughts. Keep it coming :)
Good video, thanks for the support, Guy!
I love ALL How to be a Great GM videos!!!! ❤
More Star Trek, yes!
Maximum Momentum for apps in the pool is 6… for the NOCs, Threat pool is max’s at # of player characters x 2
I'm debating picking this up... I bought Captain's Log because these days I only play solo, but I want more granularity than it provides. Though you call it rules-light, I still find it a bit more complicated than it needs to be but that's because I am more accustomed to narrative games these days. I kind of wish they had made the official game using Fate Core.
Coud you do a walk through of an adventure so as to understand how to GM a Star Trek game? That'd be super useful.
Hell yeah! More STA2 content! Great video :3
The 2D20 is very similar to the Fallout RPG.
Fallout is a 2D20 game. There are a good amount of differences though, as Modiphius tailors the system to best emulate each setting they apply it to. So it isn’t a universal system like Savage Worlds, and you can’t easily take critters from one setting and just drop them in another.
I’m still interested how VATS works in the TTRPG.
@@ocularpatdown It gives the person capable of using it automatic hit location without penalty.
Psssst: star trek rules, pass it on.
I am intrigued ♥♥
are gonna make combat video of star trek rules and your opinion?
I would be very much in favor of a ground combat, injury and healing example of play
Anyone know a discord or something where I can play this with others, my town has no active gaming groups.
🖖
Your pips are too far apart and it's driving me up the wall.
Sadly the uniform came with the pips riveted in place. I can't move them!!
I'm okay for more STA 2 videos. I hope it can convince me the flaws of the first one were ironed out because it really killed my enjoyment of the game.
I really love the Star Trek universe, but man have I difficulties playing 2d20. I don't like the momentum mechanics because it is a snow balling mechanic. Without it your crew just plain suck. With it your team just faceroll everything.
Whenever I played a 2d20 games we never were able to find the sweet spot for the table, either we're drowing in momentum point and can have bonus dies on every roll, or have a complete drought 80% of the time, frustrating players. And Threat is a mechanic that send the player in the "Us versus the GM" mind space and I don't like where this leads.
What's worse is even if I started playing RPG with d20 (and I still love that system, especially Chronique Oubliées, a French d20 game) I find that 2d20 feels way to heavy as a system. It grinds everything down to a crawl.
My first review for StarTrek Adventures v1 was similar to what you are saying. I truly believe STA v2 has resolved that. Will cover more in detail later.
@@HowtobeaGreatGM I'm looking forward to it. Thanks :)
I am curious which 2d20 games you were playing where you experienced the characters “just plain suck” without momentum to spend. With the notable exception of Fallout, the games I own all have very competent characters from the get go. As far as threat goes, if your gm is using it to try to beat the characters instead of to challenge them for a better story, I would think such a gm would be no fun regardless of the system.
@@fwbean119 The latest game I played where it happenned was in fact Fallout (I was PC in that one).
I had the issue as a GM on STA. Maybe it's because I'm not a fan of pointless dice rolls, so the players couldn't get easy Momentum. But that group of player barely had any Momentum through the game.
As for the mind set, it's not the GM (me) who had, it was a couple players. "I'm not giving you points to screw with us down the line".
@@Sinebeast ah, so they were afraid you were going to be the antagonist. Ok, I can see that happening. The books generally advise the gm on how to handle threat in a way to tell a better story, increasing tension when needed and such, but that is in the gm section, so they don’t really advise the player to not fear giving threat to the gm.
Why does a GM need metacurrency? If you need to amp things up, why can't you just do it?
I feel it prevents GMs from being vindictive (if they so inclinded) but mainly I feel it's an excellent tension builder. The threat is public knowledge, so a skilled GM can use it to give the players a hell of a ride. It can also act as a reminder to the GM to sometimes ramp things up.
I felt the same way when I was just getting started. But it does raise the tension, it is STAs version of rolling dice behind the GM screen. I spend threat, and everyone knows something is going down. At the same time it makes the players gamble. Sometimes they can buy something with threat to help them now, and in doing so risk me using it for later. It is an amazing tension builder, but it kind of makes my players feel the extra challenges are fair, since instead of it being a GM throwing something random. There is now a cost for it.
But I had the same thought when I first started my campaign three years ago. Since then I have grown to really enjoy it. That being said, it doesn't stop you from building challenging encounters with scripted surprised to amp things up. It just gives me the justification to fairly amp it up at random. Less Rocks Fall and Everyone dies, and more. I dump 10 Threat, and the Borg are here. ( maybe don't do that last part. )
WAT COUD TROI DO?!? 😂
This sounds just like the Fallout RPG system. Got to say, I've tried out Fallout and I really am not a fan.
They're both built on the 2d20 system (as is Dune and John Carter of Mars) but tailor the system to the specific IP.
This is the latest iteration of the 2d20 system, and is super slick. I haven't officially looked at the Fallout version but as was mentioned, this was specifically tailored for Star Trek which I think makes a huge difference.
The 2d20 system takes a while to learn if you’re used to a d20-type system.
My wife had virtually no RPG experience before playing STA and she picked up the game better than me. I had 40 years of D&D to get past before I got the hang of it. And all I told her was to bring her Star Trek knowledge to the table. That also helped her immensely. (She knows a lot, esp. DS9. Our first campaign was the Shackleton Expanse, now in a whole new campaign in a Lower Decks setting.)