By John Kennedy, STA Contributing Writer
Art by CBS Studios, Inc.
What’s Star Trek without being able to get out among those stars? Working on the Utopia Planitia Starfleet Sourcebook was fun for me, but also a bit of a challenge. For my sections, I got to tackle Starfleet’s legacy from how it formed to how it shaped the events of the Galaxy. With only so many words to work with, how do you tackle something so grand in scale? After consulting the sage advice of the project manager, Jim Johnson, and many frequent conversations with my dog Dewey, we were able to figure out the right way to go with it. (Hey, when you’re a professional writer, sometimes your pet becomes your writing coach!)
It was a ton of fun in the end both to write and to think about. Can you imagine thinking of how the Coalition of Planets formed? Thinking about how the separate founding fathers of the Federation came together and created the formidable force that would become the unified Starfleet? I got to write about Andorians, which is always a plus for me, but also getting to imagine how Tellarites put aside their differences with the Vulcans and others.
I also got to step out of the eras where I usually write about and got to have fun with the 22nd century onwards. I feel Enterprise doesn’t get talked about enough in the fandom and being able to talk about the Romulan war all the way up to the Dominion was pretty cool. But it wasn’t just about the conflicts! Talking about how the Federation survived its cold war with the Klingons and its dedication towards its age-old ideals of seeking out new life and new civilizations made it a pretty enjoyable assignment.
I also got to check in on our old pals, the Romulans. They’re the perpetual boogeymen of the Star Trek universe with them always being up to something on their side of the Neutral Zone. Being able to explain the Romulan War in more detail while also providing gamemasters with some more information to pepper into their story is a definite plus in my book, but what can I say? I’m pretty biased towards them. I know how their story shapes out in Star Trek: Picard but that doesn’t change my love for them as they’ve slowly evolved as villains.
I also got a sneak peek into the rest of the book thanks to my fellow writers, and it’s going to have some pretty cool things in it for those interested in the workhorses of Starfleet, the ships! It’s not just describing the many different kinds of pesto that the officer’s replicators can make, but focuses on how to incorporate the ships into your campaign and how to explore the Galaxy with them. We had some talented writers on this project and you are going to be excited to see some of their work.
Until next time this is Kennedy hoping you live long and prosper (and Jolan Tru to my Romulan friends!)
Preorder the Utopia Planitia Starfleet Sourcebook now and receive the final PDF immediately as part of your order. The print editions are expected to ship in late Q4 2022.
Original Series Collector’s Edition:
The Next Generation Collector’s Edition:
Thanks for reading this article, and thank you for your interest and support of Star Trek Adventures! Keep frequencies open for news about additional STA products in the coming months. Live long and prosper!
