All the Franz Joseph fans from the ‘70s were in for a treat with the first episode of Strange New Worlds — the Saladin-class!
Nope…this is the Gral-class starship USS Archer, NCC-627. Fanhome dropped their latest model of the ship this month and the wee booklet that came with it describing the design process and thinking buffs out what we know about her: she’s small, has a crew of three, and is “more of a runabout than a starship”. There’s no mention of if it is armed, but if the Class C shuttlecraft had phasers, this mot likely does, as well — if only a bank or two.
She’s described as 110.47m long, 58m on the beam (making the saucer 77ish meters from bow to stern), and a draught on the dish of 10ish meters. The guide claims one deck, but the thickness suggests there could be two. The bridge is supposed to be at the bow (so that’s a window), and the slits along the sides also windows. That makes it about the size of two super-yachts side-by-side…more than enough space for a standard crew of 25-50 by SNW standards (with Enterprise having a crew of 210.)
So here’s my take on the Gral — your lightyears may vary:
This build assumes these are used for covert missions in denied areas — either watching pre-warp alien cultures in secret or scouting the edges of the Neutral Zone. For our game, I’m assuming two decks, with most of the engineering areas in the space under the central raised section on the dorsal hull, and a crew of 25-30 standard, with the senior staff typically being lieutenant commanders.
Here’s my 2nd Edition take on the Bellerophon-class U.S.S. Farragut, N.C.C. – 1647. I’ve noticed the general consensus on the internet is that she is considered an “Unlucky Ship”, so I put that in as a trait. Following the suggestion in the Core Rulebook, I also added “Earth” ship — as that was the main crew complement of the vessel. Also assume it most likely would have had a few years service and a single refit by the time we see it in Strange New Worlds.
Image is copyright of David Metlesits (thefirstfleet) over on DeviantArt.The copyright for 2d20 system is Modiphius, 2019. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios inc. All Rights Reserved and no infringement is intended.
I saw this lovely design online — the USS Atlantis, Kusanagi-class by Diogo Vincenzi (here’s the ArtStation link) — and decided to stat it up for Star Trek Adventures 2.0.
It looks like she should be running thirteen decks or so and the pontoons would give her a length similar to that of Enterprise from the era. I’m assuming a smaller crew, so perhaps between 250-300. Using the Miranda as a base, I threw this together using BC Holmes’ excellent website:
Launch Year: The hull numbering suggests this was post Miranda and pre-Excelsior, so I’m thinking 2275 for the initial run of the vessels.
Overview: Resurrecting spaceframe design queues from the original NX and the Walker-class, the Kusanagi-class was initially designed for patrol and combat, similar to the older Miranda class. Like the Miranda, this series was build with a rapid-firing torpedo pod, but where the Miranda were build with large shuttle bays to accommodate planetary landings by troops and materiel, the Kusanagi was built with speed in mind and naturally lead these to be outfitted for long-range reconnaissance and pathfinder missions. Like the Miranda, these vessels were seen operating well beyond their original expected service life, some seeing combat in the Dominion War.
Suggested Mission Profiles: Multirole Explorer, Pathfinder and Reconnaissance, Tactical Operations.
Naming Conventions: Many of these vessels took their names from mythological or Japanese naval vessels like Yamato and Musashi, Shahrat and Argo. Registry numbers range from 1900 to the 1990s. Notable examples: USS Atlantis, NCC-1933 and USS Yamato, NCC-1966.
Traits: Federation Starships, Kusanagi-class
Talents:
IMPROVED REACTION CONTROL SYSTEMS: Whenever the ship attempts to move through difficult terrain, reduce the Momentum cost of the difficult ter- rain by 1, to a minimum of 0.
HIGH-RESOLUTION SENSORS: The vessel’s sensors can gain large amounts of accurate data, though they are extremely sensitive. While the vessel is not in combat, any successful task assisted by the ship’s Sensors gains 1 bonus Momentum. Bonus Momentum may not be saved.
IMPROVED WARP DRIVE: Whenever the ship takes the Warp major action, roll a d20; if you roll equal to or under the ship’s Engines, you do not spend reserve power for the ship.
The copyright for 2d20 system is Modiphius, 2019. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios inc. Image copyright ofDiogo Vincenzi. All Rights Reserved and no infringement is intended.
Suggested Era: Any, but Strange New Worlds, is best.
Spotlight Characters: Science officers
Directives: Confirm health and welfare of survey mission, collect any new data.
SYNOPSIS
The ship receives a mission to survey a possible Class M moon of a gas giant around star SSC-1092, a dull F-class star. There are records that a civilian research mission was sent out forty years earlier, but they never returned. Investigate, look for new life, and catalogue.
OPENING LOG ENTRY
Science officer’s log: We have been dispatched to SSC-1092 to investigate long-range scans suggesting a Class M moon around the third planet. My research into the records show that this system has rolled up before as a prospective interest for Starfleet forthy years ago, but no action had been taken. Twenty years ago, a civilian research mission set out to investigate this world, but was never heard from again. We don’t even know if the vessel — S.S. Starview — even reached their destination.
MAJOR BEATS
1) Do the Science Thing
On arriving at SSC-1092, the captain can turn their operations over to the science officer with a “Let’s do the science thing”. Control+Command, Diff 1 to organize the different science departments to look for and collate data. Control+Conn, Diff 2 for the helm or tactical officer to start launching probes to the various major worlds — four gas giants and a solitary captured terrestrial on a highly eccentric orbit at 480from the ecliptic and on a sharp, long period hyperbolic orbit. There’s a wealth of data to collect, even though the system has ben remotely surveyed for decades.
Their primary target is SSC-1092c/4, the fourth moon of the third planet. Insight+Science, Diff 0 to glean that SSC-1092c, the gas giant their target orbits, is slightly larger than Jupiter and has a powerful magnetic and gravitational field that keeps it’s inner five moons warm. Momentum generated by extra successes can tell them that c/4 is barely Class M, but there’s a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere with 11.2 bars of pressure at the surface, .8g surface gravity, and a hydrosphere of 54%. The moon has it’s own strong magnetic field that is fed by massive, power flux tubes coming from the planet’s N/S poles — strong enough transporters aren’t a safe option. There’s heavy cloud cover, so surface visuals aren’t happening, however, there are indications of plant life from the spectroscopic surveys of the air, which is breathable. Temperatures are cool, but within safe for most humanoids (comfortable for Andorians).
With a Insight+Security or Conn, DIff 3, hampered by the strong magnetic field, they will pick up power and heat sources on the ground! the signature doesn’t look like a major area of habitation — perhaps a ship? A momentum spend will reveal that it looks like a structure made of tritanium, with a subterranean portion underneath.
The crew can beam down but the magnetic field makes it difficult: Control or Daring+Conn, Diff 3 to get down safely. They could fly down in a shuttlecraft with a Control or Daring, Diff 2, the weather’s not bad, but interference on their sensors and communications with leave them a disadvantage.
2) A Strange New World
The interference from the magnetic field of the moon is the main danger. If they go down in a shuttle, a failed test will require another Daring+Conn, Diff 3 to avoid a static discharge into the hull that will hit with a Intensity 2. Once on the ground, Reason+Science or Conn, Diff 1 to remember to discharge any static the hull has picked up before exiting the craft, or the first person to make contact with the surface and the ship will create a circuit to ground and hit them with an Intensity 3 shock.
They are now on the surface of the wind-ridden, rocky world. There’s a lot of plant life around, mostly rhizomatic plants that grow low and wide, as well as fungi. There are strange jellyfish-like polyps with gossamer wings sprouting from the heads moving in the air currents. The clouds are thick and they can smell the sulphur of volcanic activity. The signal came from an old Y-Type freighter. It looks to have landed properly and all the cargo pods are intact..
Insight+ Science, Diff 2: The plant life is mildly reactive to their movement and touch. A scan of them shows their replication is not DNA, but a polysaccharide chains with amyloid fibril-catalyst to cause replication. There are analogues to grass and squat, mushroom-like trees — they’re using massive mycelial networks to absorb nutrients. Momentum spend to learn they should avoid touching them with bare hands; they secrete an acid to break down polymers into monomers. Insight+Science or Security, Diff 2: to notice that the plastic of their boot soles is being dissolved, but very slowly. They’re in no danger soon, but they should clean up afterward.
3) Starview
The team finds the ship is poor repair. There are vines and mushrooms growing all over the landing legs, sprouting here and there on the hull. ONly one of their two long-range shuttlecraft Starview launched is here. The access ramp to the airlock is down and the outer door open. A scan will show the life support and main power are still online, although the warp drive is shut down.
The inner hatch isn’t locked; they can get in without issue. Almost immediately, they will meet a slim, stoner type — Morrison — who will welcome them. They didn’t call for Starfleet; this is an independent colony. What are they doing here? He will insist, but in a friendly, calm manner that they don’t need any help…still they should talk to the boss.
If they ask about their mission, Morrison will tell them Starview landed 21 years ago and started their survey of the moon. They quickly realized the potential of this place. Those that didn’t want to stay left in the long-range shuttles a few years later. They should have been able to get back to Earth or Vulcan without issue. He will note that its unfortunate they didn’t get home, but he doesn’t seem emotional about it. Insight+Medical or Command, Diff 2: Morrison seems perfectly normal, but he’s definitely not showing signs of empathy.
There’s more of the crew here in the science module, four more of them. In addition to Morrison, who is the pilot for the ship, there’s Hailey, their biochemist; there’s Fitch, botanist; Welborn, another from the flight crew, Chu, the quartermaster; and Denton, the engineer. All of them seem pretty content, if a bit inebriated.
They’ve been doing their work for decades, and to fund themselves and keep supplies they can make here coming in, they’ve been trading with the Orions. They produce a bunch of medicinal materials from the local life, but what they were really known for was “the soup” — a hallucinogen that they produced for the Orions and other markets. It’s a calming psychotropic that has excellent results in treating anxiety, traumatic stress, and other mental diseases. Tweak the mix and it’s a beautiful ride. The security officer, if present, can test Reason+Security, Diff 2 to know “the soup” is a popular drug with some species out there, but can have serious side effects and can be deadly.
They will dispute that the soup is dangerous. The side effects that some worry about are fungal infections, but that’s part of why it works. The trick with everything here is to neutralize the amyloid; if you don’t they can wreak havoc on your nervous system. Some of the folks out there tinker with the soup and try to replicate or modify it; that’s what causes issues. They certainly don’t want to hurt anyone. Insight+Command or Medicine, Diff 3 — success tells them they aren’t completely truthful.
Chu will mention that the soup really puts you in touch with the universal mycelial network. It’s not really mushrooms, of course; it’s allegory for the energy patterns that connect the universe. There were a couple of guys that came through here a few years back — she’s not sure of when — but they had this idea about using these networks to create a drive system that you could use to run along these energy potentials faster than warp drive. What was the guy’s name… Stametz? The problem was the sheer number of possibilities made navigation nearly impossible beyond a few AUs.
While they don’t seem dangerous, they’re wrong somehow. If they try to take a tricorder reading, they react by asking them not to. If the crew insists, the crew of Starview may get hostile. The issue is simple: none of these people are people, anymore. Their DNA has been rewritten by the amyloid fibrils and they are…local fungi pretending to be people.
If the characters can chart their way, diplomatically, they will find out from these replicas of the Starview’s crew that over time, the soup and other material the colonists ate infected them with bits of the life forms here. Many died, a few fled in the shuttle. Once the planetary network realized that the crew were sentient, and that the local flora had killed them, they attempted to reconstitute them. they were only successful with the ones that hadn’t died. It also gave the life of this moon access to some of their memories, knowledge, and personalities.
If the crew pose a danger to the collective of life on the moon, they will respond with a subtle release of spores to try and control the characters. They must test against a Control+Command, vs. an opposed test with the creatures or be open to suggestion. These replicas will suggest that they report the planet’s flora hostile to colonization, that the original survey team had died, and that they should move on. If a character fails, they suffer an Injury at Intensity 3. They will have to make a second test at the end of the scene, if they have not received medical treatment, or have the fungi start to slowly replace their body until they are eventually, a perfect replica. Only the sharply different physiology of the Andorians (or Bolians) will be immune the effects.
Any violence will make the Starview replicas believe they have no choice but to act in their defense. The whole of the ecosphere is connected, and fed by the heady magnetic field of the planet. If need be, they can reach out and… tweak the moon’s magnetosphere. They would not wish to, but they could destroy the characters’ ship with a thought.
If it comes to this, they will attack with a Control 10+Security 4, Diff 2, and the effect of Plasma Discharges is like Plasma Torpedoes: Short (only if they are in orbit), Damage 7, Persistent. After the first hit, the ship can attempt to do evasive maneuvers, but if it doesn’t leave orbit, they will continue to be attacked until the characters can convince the aliens to stop.
CONCLUSION
If the crew can find a diplomatic solution, they should be able to get their people back from the surface. If not, they may have to stage a desperate rescue attempt with a disadvantage for the Moon’s Magnetic Field and Sentient Biosphere.
The copyright for 2d20 system is Modiphius, 2019. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios inc. Image copyright of Adobe Stock. All Rights Reserved and no infringement is intended.
This design’s been floating around since at least the early aughties. If took a bit of digging to find the page for the guy, Atolm, on DeviantArt . He had a habit of taking strange shapes and crafting unique designs. This one, the Chariot-class, broke the mold by flipping the traditional long horizontally-oriented secondary hull and flipping it vertical. The result — to my eye — is magical.
The Chariot-class was an attempt to get back to an exploration-focused fleet. With an unconventional hull design more centrally-placed warp nacelles, and better positioned center of mass, these ships were designed to be maneuverable, with a wide placement of sensor pallets to allow for better, high-resolution scans. Dual-environment cabins and locations, coupled with extensive redundant systems were aimed at more representation of member races aboard ship, and to improve survivability of the spacecraft; the addition of an emergency medical hologram likewise the survivability of the crew. Modular laboratories allowed the ships to pivot their focus as needed.
Designed as a multi-role explorer, Starfleet did not ignore the increasing severity of the threat landscape. The Chariot carries the latest phaser arrays the 360 degree coverage on all axes, plus photon torpedo systems upgraded to fire either photon or quantum torpedoes.
Auxiliary craft include 6 Type 6A or Type 11 Shuttlecraft, 6 Type 9 shuttlecraft, and 10 workbees.
The copyright for 2d20 system is Modiphius, 2019. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios inc. Image copyright of Chris Reyes aka AtolmAzel — check out his stuff on DeviantArt. All Rights Reserved and no infringement is intended.
A couple of the NPCs in our Star Trek Adventures campaign are Caitian — the Chief Engineer and one of the lead security officers. Whilst using BC Holmes’s excellent website to build characters, I noted that the Species Talent options were “prehensile tail” and “disarming nature” — both from STA 1.0 and they would have been just fine. However, I seem to remember Caitians as possessing fangs and claws, something that was confirmed in the prison break episode of Star Trek: Prodigy when the cute Caitian kid below rips up the baddie pretty spectacularly.
The nice thing about Talents is they don’t pull from the other talents you get to choose. So I dropped one in of my own: Tooth & Claw as a species talent, seen below.
Species Profile: Caitian
Eras: Originial Series, Next Gen era, Picard era, 32nd Century (?)
The Caitian are a bipedal felinoid species with a strong history of service within Starfleet. Their homeworld of Cait is a pleasant Class-M planet with extensive grasslands that support sprawling city complexes that integrate seamlessly into the environment, for which the Caitians have great respect. While known to be extremely effective and proud warriors, the Caitian culture holds artistic and philosophical endeavors in extremely high regard. Following their acceptance into the Federation in the late 22nd Century, Caitians have come to serve at all levels of Starfleet – to include high-ranking flag officers as well as often being elected to serve on the Federation Council. On average, Caitians tend to be slightly smaller than most other humanoid species. While this often results in Caitians being somewhat weaker than Humans, they more than make up for this in their balance, agility, and dexterity. Caitians are one of the few species actively serving within Starfleet that possess a tail – which requires alterations to standard Starfleet uniforms.
Example Values: War is Instinct, Conflict is an Art
ATTRIBUTES: +1 Daring, +1 Fitness, +1 Insight
TRAIT: Caitian. Caitians are all slightly smaller in both height and weight than average humanoids – with most reaching between 1.5-1.7 meters. They have retained the retractable claws of their evolutionary ancestors along with a flexible tail. Caitians are carnivorous and prefer uncooked meat. While they evolved from predatory felines, the Caitians are regarded as some of the greatest poets and philosophers within the Federation.
TALENTS: The character receives access to the following Talents:
DISARMING NATURE
REQUIREMENT: Caitian, or Gamemaster’s permission. Despite their reputation for being fierce warriors, Caitians are extremely sociable and adept at putting others at ease. Whenever you are engaged in a Social Conflict, you reduce the Difficulty of any Test to make your target relax or to trust you by 1.
PREHENSILE TAIL
REQUIREMENT:Caitian, or Gamemaster’s permission. While most Caitians have some functional control over their tail, characters with this Talent have worked to increase their control over the appendage to the point of it becoming fully functional. This provides the character with the ability to hold and operate an additional piece of equipment, like an additional hand. In addition, the character gains a bonus d20 to any Fitness Test to maintain balance or to climb.
TOOTH & CLAW
REQUIREMENT:Caitian, or Gamemaster’s permission. While all Caitians have claws like a Terran cat and sharp fangs, characters with this Talent have learned to use these to great effect in combat. This provides the character with the ability to turn an Unarmed Combat melee attack into injury type deadly, not just stun. The character may choose either type of injury, although moving to deadly is an Escalation 1.
NAMES: Caitians derive their names from their familial units, to which they have strong connections. Their names often have a near-musical quality, though most humanoid species have difficulty pronouncing them correctly – as the species generates extremely low frequency vibrations that are at the far range of Human hearing.
Most of this verbiage comes from the Star Trek Adventures, Alpha Quadrant sourcebook, copyright for 2d20 system in Modiphius, 2019. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios inc. All Rights Reserved and no infringement is intended.
The ship is doing a survey sweep through an unremarkable system when they encounter a space-borne life lifeform.
OPENING LOG ENTRY
Science officer’s log: We are doing a sweep of system SSC-0913. The parent stars are a pair of unremarkable M4V main sequence stars of similar size. Both are 0.8 the size and brightness of Sol and are circling a barycenter 3AU from each star. Survey probes have been launched to map the system.
MAJOR BEATS
1) Do the Science Thing
While moving through the system, the flight control officers can set up courses for the probe with a Reason+Conn, Diff 2 to create an advantage of “Probe Data” for the science officer. The science officer can scan the system with a Insight or Control+Science, Diff 2 to gather information.
The system has a pair of red stars circling each other at roughly 6AUs with a barycenter that is littered with asteroids and gas in a bar-bell shape where the stars are pulling on them. Each star has a J-class gas giant companion at half an AU and 1.1 AU, respectively, with a T-class superjovian orbiting the pair at 12AUs out. But the real surprise: they note an anomalous vector change on one of the asteroids. It’s a bit smaller than their vessel and looks like it had an outgassing of material. It’s weirdly shaped — almost shrimp-like, and with a momentum spend of 1) it’s warmer than the surrounding rocks with a crust of nickel-iron, and the material expelled is a curious mixture of elements; another 2) the rock appears to have an extensive system of caves and is pinging back EM and heat signatures, as well as chemical signatures that indicate life. Lots of it!
They can reorient the probe to have another look or bring the ship in. As they get close, they can take another look. Insight+Science, Diff 1: their scans look to be making the rock outgas again, changing course and moving away. Whatever it is, it’s alive and responding to their scans. A momentum spend will also confirm there appear to be multiple life forms inside the network of caverns; some kind of ship? Ant attempt to communicate will not get a response, but the transmissions also seem to make the rock thrust away from them.
2) Beachhead
Control+Conn, Diff 2 to beam the landing party into the cave system. The extensive life signatures mean locking in on the party to return them will require a Control or Insight+Conn, Diff 3 to bring them back. (If they take transporter signal repeaters with them, this gives “Signal Repeater” trait that will give an advantage to this test.) The initial scan suggests a toxic atmosphere; they’ll need space suits.
As soon as they beam in, the creature will react to their transport and start to move away from the ship, requiring a Control+Conn, Diff 2 to stay in transport range, but not cause the creature to react.
Having beamed into one of the outer areas, they will find it has a more organic quality and are smaller than they were ready for. There’s no gravity, either. There are critters moving around the “corridors” and avoiding the team. Insight+Science, Diff 2: there’s everything from microorganisms up to creatures that are person-sized. Some of these look to be cleaning plague off of the corridor walls. If they have used their tricorders or set up signal repeaters (Control+Conn or Engineering, Diff 1), this counts as an Escalation 1. (What they don’t know: the radiation signatures of their equipment has drawn the attention of the creature’s immune system.)
Exploring the interior will require a Control or Daring+Conn, Diff 2. The Spacewalk trait knocks this down to Diff 1. As they explore, a Insight+Science or Medicine, Diff 2 to note there are areas of damage — the walls of the corridors have collapsed exposing musculature and vascular material. A spider-like creatures is appears to eating the damaged tissue, like a maggot, then excreting material to “fix” the damage. A momentum spend or second test using Reason to determine it’s either had some form of disease or injury. With a +2 momentum spend — it’s damage. It looks like something has eaten its way through the flesh? If they scan — or have the ship scan — the creature, Insight+Science or Medicine, Diff 3 to locate the reason: the creature has some form of parasite. It’s a nematode of some sort, but big — ten to twenty meters long.
As they’ve worked their way into the interior, their comms get more and more spotty from interference. They’ve found a sort of energy plexus, where energy is surging through massive conduits through a central spine. Reason+Science or Medicine, Diff 2: the “digestive” system, maybe? What is it “eating”? Could it be absorbing radiation and channeling it through this system? Is it eating rocks?
3) Immune Response
The team’s communications and scans will attract the attention of the creature’s immune system and they will be aggressed by some kind of critter — an ameboid like thing with tentacles/cilia. It’s main target is the repeaters (the radiation is being deemed a threat.) Reason or Insight+Medicine or Science, Diff 1 to realize there is something about the repeaters the creatures are responding to. It will attempt to eat them. Using phasers will be an Escalation 2 and will bring more immune response.
Beaming out could be difficult. If they left a team with the transport repeaters, they will also be attacked — the leucocytes are going after the repeaters. They’re not interested in the crew — just the stuff that is transmitting. If they left them alone, the repeaters have been eaten; Control+Conn, Diff 3 to beam the team(s) out.
4) Call a vet…
If they’ve found the parasite, they can either monitor the activity for science-sake, or they can attempt to help creature S-69281 by going in and killing it. (When I ran this, the doctor actually got creative and they used the transporter to beam the brain out of the worm.) Any use of transporters, phasers, etc. caused the creature to try and escape. Inside, any use of phasers or other energy weapons will bring the leucocytes within two rounds. If they can damage the worm, this will distract the leucocytes, which will attack the worm.
CONCLUSION
The crew should have assisted the creature and learned a little bit about it’s biology and behavior. If they monitor it for a while, they will also find that some of the asteroids in the system have the creature’s larvae inside. They eat the interior of the asteroids and wear them as a shell once they are large enough to set off on their own.
The copyright for 2d20 system is Modiphius, 2019. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios inc. Image copyright of Adobe Stock. All Rights Reserved and no infringement is intended.
The Black Campbell 