Prime Directive d20

[thegreyelf]

So I've been curious about this one for awhile and when I saw it at Half Price Books I had to pick it up.

I have never played Starfleet Battles (SFB) because (a) I'm not a miniatures guy, and (b) it's WAY too freaking complicated for my tastes, so I knew little about the SFB Universe.

I found the game to be intriguing. The background of the SFB is fun, though not the tack I might have taken given the limitations of ADB's license - the Klingons in particular seem weird to me (even ignoring all the stuff that was done with them in the movies and later shows). I had to laugh at the "Why Is Everyone Always Fighting All the Time?" section, as yeah...why IS this universe so dead-set on perpetual war? It's very counter to the idea of Star Trek.

That being said, there's some cool concepts in here that are uniquely gameable, particularly the idea of Prime Teams, which solves the "landing party" issue of Star Trek and open up lots of opportunities for adventures.

Overall I'm enjoying it for its 1970s gonzo take on Star Trek, based solely on TOS and TAS. Even this d20 version, published in the early 2000s, feels like it was produced in the 70s.

Will I ever play/run it? Not sure. But it certainly has me looking at the sourcebooks on ADB's website and seriously considering loading up.

[Falconer]

That’s about as far as I ever get with it: intrigued and somewhat influenced. I will say I like the SFB ship designs and nomenclature (at least the “early” and “middle” years before things get too baroque) better than the FASA ones. I like that there’s a d20 version because I can at least grok things like racial modifiers, and borrow them in my game which uses the (actual) 70s Star Trek rules.

The one thing I really like and have borrowed is their take on Alpha-Centaurans. A planet of humans transplanted there from Ancient Greece, their society evolved to be matriarchal.

[thegreyelf]

Mar 5, 2023 17:36:54 GMT -6 Falconer said:

That’s about as far as I ever get with it: intrigued and somewhat influenced. I will say I like the SFB ship designs and nomenclature (at least the “early” and “middle” years before things get too baroque) better than the FASA ones. I like that there’s a d20 version because I can at least grok things like racial modifiers, and borrow them in my game which uses the (actual) 70s Star Trek rules.

The one thing I really like and have borrowed is their take on Alpha-Centaurans. A planet of humans transplanted there from Ancient Greece, their society evolved to be matriarchal.

I am intrigued enough to consider picking up their entire d20 Modern line, which includes sourcebooks on the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans as well as the core rules. If nothing else, as you say, it's a jumping-off point for a potential campaign. Again, I particularly enjoy the concept of Prime Teams, which solve the inherent problems of role playing in the Star Trek universe (what is there to do when you're not playing a senior bridge officer?), and which mimic the TV series trope of the same people going on every single landing party.