Star Trek : The Next Generation
Revised Role-playing Character Generation Rules
I’ve been an avid fan of Star Trek Role-playing, and the Star Trek : The Role Playing Game in particular since its British edition was introduced by Games Workshop in 1984. To be brutally honest, I became a Trekkie because of the game, and not the other way around, and consequently I have a slightly more generous attitude to the game than most "serious" Trekkies do, who seem to regard it as a work of pure evil. So much for Gene Rodenberry’s message of tolerance …
I collected the supplements, as they were imported, bought the scenarios and adapted them to form a campaign for the intrepid officers of the USS Niwen, and a few house rules were adopted along the way. And then in 1987 we started to here about this new series over here, and started salivating at the thought of a new set of supplements. In early 1988, the series began to be released on video in the UK, and was avidly rented by all the devoted. And then we got the Officers Manual. It was devoured and appreciated, and then we all noticed there wasn’t actually any character generation rules in it … There was a half hearted set of descriptions for Star Fleet Academy’s course requirements, but that was about it. The follow First Season Supplement actually introduced new character types, but was frankly, a mess. At this point I started adapting these (to balance out the skill point allocations as per the original character generation rules (these Next Generation types were very short changed in some specialities)) and took on board a few ideas from an article in Challenge (issue currently eludes me).
As more and more of the series was shown on here (We didn’t even get it on TV until … 1990!) It became rapidly apparent to me that you didn’t go to Academy and say - "I’ll be a helmsman" and after 4 years, that was all you could do. The officers of the Next Generation and, it would seem, the Original series and Films were in fact broadly educated. They could fill in for each other, but they had particular leanings.
Geordi could fly, had command training, but his real forte was Engineering (and Technobabble). Picard was a helmsman with a huge scientific and archaeology interest. Dr Crusher had command training, and could fly a shuttle and was handy with her fists, whereas Dr Pulaski doctored and that was it and conspicuously could not fly a shuttle. Clearly, the last two were not from the same mould. You could just about tweak a character to get this kind of interest out of them, but then how do you take into account things like Dr Bashir’s Engineering extension course and flight skills. Evidence accumulated that Star Fleet Academy was more like a University, rather than a Military Academy, with all Cadets taking a four year course, excepting MD’s who took 8, where there were a lot of optional courses, and that the emergent officers could be qualified for multiple shipboard positions. Additionally, the release of Mike Okuda’s Star Trek Chronology was a real eye opener. The wealth of extra information that I gleaned from that made me rethink a few things, and eventually led me to write these character generation rules that I have used (with constant revisions) over the last 4 years.
I have tried to accommodate the following "facts"
Academy is attended for 4 years (8 for MD’s) It is possible to do more years (probably due to re-sit years)
Academy is a course based institute
It is possible to attain rank within the Academy (Kirk was a junior Lieutenant at academy, Saavik was a Lieutenant before she graduated)
It is possible to be assigned to ships whilst nominally at the Academy (Kirk was aboard the Farragut, and was at the signing of the Treaty of Axanar)
Additionally to this, I could flesh out the on board positions. Medical technicians and orderlies became possible, as did JAG officers, quarter masters and more as I needed to make positions up. I have added a few skills to the list, which had been previously been subsumed in others, but come the Next Generation environment seemed more appropriate.
New Skills
Cybernetics
The study of creating artificial systems, that may, to a greater or lesser extent mimic biological systems. Bionics is an allied skill that governs their interfacing with biological systems. Nanites would be developed using this skill, as would Lt Commander Data.
Engineering Procedures
The basic ability to perform routine engineering tasks, following protocols without necessarily knowing the ins and outs of the system being maintained or modified.Fusion Systems Technology
The Fundamentals of adjusting, designing and maintaining Fusion power systems, including EPS conduits, Fusion reactors and Impulse engines.Management/Logistics
This is best thought of as the Business equivalent of Leadership.Non Verbal Communications
The study of communications methods that are not vocalised. It would allow the study of body language to indicate state of mind, etc.Research
This is the co-ordination of effort and resources to produce new information, or discover associations of information that had not been previously obvious.Space Sciences/Warp Physics
The science of the Warp drive. Whilst Warp Drive Technology gives some degree of knowledge in this area, the ins and oust of Subspace domains, and their interaction with the regular universe are covered by this skill, if only in a purely theoretical manner.Starship Architecture
A very specialised skill, which governs the design methodology behind starships and space stations. It is the theoretical equivalent of Astronautics, and primarily used by Fleet Architects, at facilities such as Utopia Planitia.
Revised Role-playing Character Generation
Starfleet Officers
1. Attributes
STR |
END |
INT |
DEX |
CHA |
LUC |
PSI |
BP’s |
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Basic Attributes |
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Racial Modifiers |
To these, then add the modifiers for the desired race for each attribute, or if an alternate die system is given, substitute that given for the attribute. Bonus points may be added to any attribute but no more than 30 in any one attribute, none may be added to PSI, LUC may not exceed 100, and no other attribute may exceed 100 + attribute modifier. |
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Human |
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Andorian |
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Bajoran |
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Benzite |
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Betazoid |
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Caitian |
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Edoan |
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Tellarite |
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Vulcan |
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Pre Academy Skills |
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Educational Background |
Personal Development |
Computer Operation *Language *Life Sciences First Aid *Physical Sciences *Planetary Sciences *Social Sciences *Trivia |
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2. Pre Academy Skills
The Total number of skill points available is equal to INT, half must be allocated to skills from the Educational Background and the others to those from Personal Development. Skills marked ‘*’ must have the relevant sub-skill selected.
Characters wishing to enter Academy at age 16 or 17 rather than 18 receive 10 or 5 skill points less than their INT would suggest.
3.0 Starfleet Officers Ranks
Upon entry to Starfleet Academy, the Character becomes a Midshipman. During their Starfleet career, they will progress up the ranks as given below.
Rank |
Brief Description |
Insignia |
Midshipman |
Academy Cadets only |
No Pips |
Ensign (Junior Grade) |
Academy Cadets or promoted enlisted personnel only |
One Hollow Pip |
Ensign |
Typical Rank for Fresh Academy Graduates |
One Solid Pip |
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) |
Most bridge personnel |
One Solid, One Hollow |
Lieutenant |
Most Department heads on Starships, Typical Recent Graduate Doctor |
Two Solid |
Lieutenant Commander |
Department head on larger vessels, First officer on smaller vessels |
Two Solid, One Hollow |
Commander |
First officer on larger vessels, captain on very small vessels |
Three Solid Pips |
Captain |
Commanding officer aboard most vessels |
Four Solid Pips |
Commodore |
Commanding officer on fleet flagships |
Five Solid Pips |
Admiral |
Work-a-Day Admiral |
Oblong surrounding 3 Pips |
Flag / Vice Admiral |
Fleet commanders and heads of Staff |
Oblong surrounding 3 Pips |
3.1 Academy Skills
Starfleet Academy is a Four year course (Eight years for Medical Personnel aiming to become Doctors). During this time, the Cadet chooses courses equal to 4 or 8 years. Availability is restricted as follows;
· A First Year Cadet must take Academy Core Curriculum
· Each course must be taken in order. For example Medicine 2 has Medicine 1 as a prerequisite, and may not be taken in the same year.
· The following courses have Engineering as a pre-requisite; Starship Sub-Systems, Starship Systems, Starship Architecture, Defence Systems Technology and Propulsion Systems and Small Spacecraft Maintenance.
· Officers wishing to become Doctors (as against Medical Personnel) must take the Following courses; In the first 5 years Medicine 1-4, in Year 8 Medicine 5 and in years 6 and 7 one tour each year of Placement Duty is compulsory. Note that any personnel re-sitting a course during the first 4 years will not be allowed to continue on to become Doctors and will graduate with only 4 years of training.
· Each course may only be taken once. The exceptions are Placement Duty, (which is only available only after the first year), which may only be taken once per year, Racial Law (1 & 2) and Racial Language and Culture (which may be taken once only per Race).
· Racial Law 2 has Legal as a prerequisite. Racial Law can be taken as "Federation", in which case the language is a Federation founder race’s, such as Vulcan, Andorian, Tellarite or Alpha Centauran (Ancient Greek).
Academy Courses
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For each year of Academy, the Cadet receives INT/20 1d10 rolls which may be freely allocated to any skills, including acquiring new skills. Not available to Officers reassigned to Academy Training |
3. Academy Experience
Placement Duty |
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1d100 Roll |
Modifiers |
Note that for compulsory Placement Duty, a result of "None Available", indicates a non-descript placement earning no particular benefits. |
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Academy Yearly Progress |
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1d100 Roll |
Modifiers |
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Academy Graduation |
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1d100 Roll |
Modifiers |
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For each year, a performance report must be established. Roll 1d100 and consult the "Academy Yearly Progress" chart.
Note that in the case of a repeat year, the Cadet must re-sit the same courses, but will not gain the increase in rating normally given for those courses, but experience rolls for that year will be given. In addition, a Cadet re-sitting a year will treat a result of "Good" as "Average" and any "Inadequate" result as "Poor" - the fact they are re-sitting does count against them, but it is assumed that there is only one allowed attempt at re-sitting a year - any character that would then be thrown out of Academy obviously would not be entering play aboard a Star Fleet vessel as one of its crew…
After the final year of Academy, the "Academy Graduation" chart is consulted. This will effect the Graduate’s first tour assignment and possibly Rank.
Note that During Academy no Cadet may be promoted past Lieutenant JG or below Midshipman. At graduation, there is an automatic promotion to Ensign (Unless the cadet holds a higher rank), and any cadet holding the rank of Lieutenant JG may be promoted to Lieutenant if a One Grade promotion is indicated.
Number of Tours Served |
Base Number = 1d10/2 |
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Post Academy Experience
Upon graduation, the number of tours that must be served is determined. If the number of tours should be determined to be 0 or less then the character takes the Destined assignment as the first assignment. If the character is to be promoted, then there must be at least one tour served to before the destined assignment.
Tour lengths depend upon the assignment;
"Top of the Line", Exploration, Tactical, Colonial, Transport and Starbase duties are 1d10/2 (round down not less than 1) years in duration and Terraforming is 1d10 years in duration. Starfleet Academy will be one year, filled with Academic courses not previously taken (no placement duty allowed, and do not receive the normal INT/20 skill rolls) or 1d10/2 round up if an Academy Tutor.
Officer Efficiency Report |
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Tour Assignments |
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Total Modifiers |
Modifiers |
| Assignment -25 or less -10to -20 -5 to +5 +10 to +20 +25 or more "Top of the Line" 01 - 30 01 - 20 01 - 10 NA NA Exploration Command 31 - 50 21 - 40 11 - 20 01 - 10 NA Tactical Command 51 - 70 41 - 60 21 - 30 11 - 20 01 - 10 Colonial Operations 71 - 75 61 - 70 31 - 60 21 - 50 11 - 50 Transport Command 76 - 80 71 - 80 61 - 80 51 - 90 51 - 90 Star Base Command 81 - 90 81 - 90 81 - 90 91 - 00 91 - 00 Starfleet Academy 91 - 00 91 - 00 91 - 00 NA NA Starfleet Academy Duty Colonial Operations Academy Tutor 51 - 00 Terraforming Command 76-00 |
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Skill Advancement |
All rolls are 1d10 |
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5. Character Age
Characters generally enter academy at age 18. It is possible to enter at 16 or 17. To this add the number of years spent at academy and the number of years spent on tours.
6. Requirements for Shipboard Positions
Positions on vessels require certain prerequisites for them, these being gauged from Academy courses taken.
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A Note on Skill Ratings
And How to Stop Them Getting Too Gross
Contrary to the normal STRPG rules, skills may exceed 99, but skills at this level are generally only achieved through play. However, due to the fact that it is stated that Doctors take eight years at Academy rather than the normal four, by careful choice of courses Doctors could end up with very gross levels in skills. With this particularly in mind, and to encourage diversification of skills in general consult the following table.
Course Skill Points to Increase Skills |
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Skill Currently In Range |
Skill Points to Increase by One |
00 — 60 61 — 80 81 — 90 91 — 100 101 + |
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Random skill increases (such as for Placement Duty) are applied at all times at full value - there is no better teacher than experience. Games Masters may want to use this method to control increases given through play.
Revised Role-playing Character Generation
Starfleet Enlisted Personnel
1. Attributes
The same Races, and hence attributes are available as Enlisted Personnel as are Officers.
2. Pre Enlistment Skills
These are determined in the same manner as Pre Academy Skills for Officers.
3.0 Starfleet Enlisted Ranks
Upon entry to Starfleet Academy, the Character becomes a Crewman. During their Starfleet career, they will progress up the ranks as given below.
Rank |
Brief Description |
Insignia |
Crewman |
Newly enlisted personnel have this rank. |
None |
Crewman First Class |
Personnel with some experience. |
None |
Warrant Officer |
Responsibilities for some organisation and crew management. |
One solid pip |
Petty Officer |
Departmental responsibilities and duties analogous to an Officer of Ensign or Lt jg rank. |
One solid, one hollow pip |
Chief Petty Officer |
Major departmental responsibilities and treated very much as an officer of Lt rank. |
Two solid pips |
Senior Chief / Ensign Junior Grade |
Promotion from CPO is into the ranks of the officers and though this leads to an effective diminishment in rank, seniority does count for a lot. |
One hollow pip |
3.1 Enlisted Personnel Training Skills
Starfleet Enlisted Personnel Training School is a Two year course. Skills are generally more restricted than for officers, resulting in characters with a less broad base of abilities. Courses are taken to a total of two years, availability is restricted as follows;
· Basic Training must be taken in the first year.
· Each course must be taken in order. For example Medicine 2 has Medicine 1 as a prerequisite, and may not be taken in the same year.
· The following courses have Engineering as a pre-requisite; Starship Sub-Systems, Starship Systems, Defence Systems Technology and Propulsion Systems and Small Spacecraft Maintenance.
· NCO Training can only be taken when a character receives a promotion to Warrant officer. The character receives another 6 months of courses as per retraining.
· Each course may only be taken once. The exception is Racial Language and Culture (which may be taken once only per Race).
Enlisted Personnel Training Courses
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In addition, the Crewman receives INT/10 1d10 rolls which may be freely allocated to any skills, including acquiring new skills. Not available to personnel receiving retraining. |
4. Experience
Number of Tours Served |
Base Number = 1d10/2 |
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Upon graduation, the number of tours that must be served is determined. If the number of tours should be determined to be 0 or less then the character takes the Destined assignment as the first assignment. If the character is to be promoted, then there must be at least one tour served to before the destined assignment.
Tour lengths depend upon the assignment;
"Top of the Line", Exploration, Tactical, Colonial, Transport and Starbase duties are 1d10/2 (round down, not less than 1) years in duration and Terraforming is 1d10 years in duration. Retraining will be one year, filled with courses not previously taken. Characters receiving a promotion to Warrant Officer spend one year retraining, taking the NCO course and any others not previously taken to make up to the full twelve months.
At the end of each tour, check for Crewman Efficiency, and then for Promotion. Note that the retraining associated with promotion to Warrant Officer is not counted as a Tour, but is counted as a year of service. If the character has failed to be promoted to Warrant offer by the end of its tours of service, than they will become one (with the necessary training just before their current assignment) if they are to be an NCO.
Crewman Efficiency Report |
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Tour Assignments |
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Total Modifiers |
Modifiers |
| Assignment -25 or less -10to -20 -5 to +5 +10 to +20 +25 or more "Top of the Line" 01 - 30 01 - 20 01 - 10 NA NA Exploration Command 31 - 50 21 - 40 11 - 20 01 - 10 NA Tactical Command 51 - 70 41 - 60 21 - 30 11 - 20 01 - 10 Colonial Operations 71 - 75 61 - 70 31 - 60 21 - 50 11 - 50 Transport Command 76 - 80 71 - 80 61 - 80 51 - 90 51 - 90 Star Base Command 81 - 90 81 - 90 81 - 90 91 - 00 91 - 00 Retraining 91 - 00 91 - 00 91 - 00 NA NA Colonial Operations Terraforming Command 76-00 |
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Skill Advancement |
All rolls are 1d10 |
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Promotions |
Promotion roll is 1d10, Promoted on a roll of 10+ |
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5. Character Age
Characters generally enter training at age 18. It is possible to enter at 16 or 17. To this add the two years for training and the number of years spent on tours. If the character is an NCO, add the extra year for NCO Training
6. Requirements for Shipboard Positions
Positions on vessels require certain prerequisites for them, these being gauged from courses taken.
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Copyright and Stuff Like That
I suppose a lot of the terms used her are copyright/registered trademarks to Paramount and FASA but they’ve been used without permission with no intent to defraud so "Sorry". This lot has been prepared by Paddy Sinclair, Bellfield View, Dickson Lane, Milton of Balgonie, Fife KY7 6QG, mainly for my personal use, but if it’s been useful to other people then all the better. Don’t pass it off as your own work, but do tell me of any comments, improvements etc. you can think of. I’m E-Mailable as
frobisherSPAMM@cix.compulink.co.ukPaddy Sinclair, June 23, 1996