By Michael Dismuke, STA Contributing Writer
Are you afraid to become a gamemaster? Do you have plenty of stories, plots, and ideas swimming around your head but you don’t know how to translate them into an adventure for your friends to enjoy? Maybe you wonder how to organize your friends into a gaming group. Balancing personalities and creating a good code of conduct around the gaming table may be other challenges that keep you from taking up the mantle of gamemaster.
Or are you’re just too embarrassed to tell your friends you are a Trekkie? You may have a deep passion for the franchise and genre, but you can’t imagine your family or diverse set of friends ever being interested in playing a tabletop RPG with you.
If any of the above obstacles sound familiar, then the Star Trek Adventures Gamemaster’s Guide is the book for you!
I have been a gamemaster for over 30 years. It is lonely being the god of my own universe; watching as my friends get to play the game. How many nights did I sit up wishing someone else would take the reins so that I could enjoy playing a player character!
This guide simplifies Star Trek Adventures for all gamemasters. But it is also meant to spawn a new generation of gamemasters. This is beyond thrilling for me! I was able to contribute chapters on how to be a good gamemaster, how to balance player personalities, and how to run the various types of campaigns we see in the Star Trek television shows and movies.
One of the biggest joys was introducing the vigilante element to Star Trek. Sure, we have seen Kirk go rogue in the movies and an episode or two about Starfleet officers breaking rules to get the job done. But Star Trek: Picard is the first show dedicated to ex-Starfleet officers and galactic rogues going off on their own to save the universe. How does a gamemaster run a game like that? It’s all in the Gamemaster’s Guide! In addition, I contributed to chapters on running deep space, far from home, and spice of life campaigns—or how to mix it up and give your players a little bit of everything.
Do you have trouble coming up with provocative extended tasks or creative encounters? Enjoy the story seeds that I got to work on. These prompts promise to spark the imagination.
I wish I had this book growing up. I may have converted a few of my players into hardcore gamemasters. I hope that this is what this book does for you. I was able to work with some of the game’s best writers to create a guide to make gamemastering easier. But you can also use this to spread the love and help others become gamemasters.
Star Trek Adventures is getting better and better every year. Admittedly, the pandemic revived TTRPG in phenomenal ways. Now the Gamemaster’s Guide and its companion Player’s Guide will take it to the next level. I hope you come along for the ride.
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!