In this playtest report,  I cover the first ever session of this game played with another human ( as opposed to me and my dog.) This occurred in May 2021.

We will call the player in this playtest by a single letter, [R] - this person is a friend of mine who's a master electrician. I coaxed them into playing a single game based on the simple fact they loved Star Trek. We agreed the premise would be that their starship was pretty close to the Enterprise from the Original Series (or TOS as most people call it) - and we were off and playing.

They seemed quite excited at the idea of being in charge of Engineering, but needed a little convincing to play the Commander of the SS Venture. I explained it was the only mandatory role, and the rest of the ship's crew would be created together. They could tell me what the Engineer was like, and we would fill the other CO roles as needed. They happily agreed, smiling as if they might've got one over on me (this was the kind of grin between friends where we both know they wanted to be Commander the whole time, LUL).

I knew they had never created a character for a roleplaying game in their life. I decided to step them through their character's history the way a movie might do. I read the intro text in the PDF, then said: "Ok, Commander. You were entrusted with the safety of this ship and its crew by the United Flotilla, but let's talk about what got you there. What's on your dossier when Flotilla Command pulls you up? Specifically.. are you a human or not?" This made them hum and haw for awhile, and after they made several faces, I realized they really never thought like this before, and probably needed more direction. I eventually asked instead: "Well, maybe its easier to think about it this way. Are you from Earth or not?" and this got them to smile and declare excitedly "No!"

"Okay, so how about your character is a protomagnus, from a distant planet? or maybe they're a verdan - a species from a planet closer to Earth? Here's a list. Just pick a name to get us started." I asked. 

[R] again looked pensive, but this time they said.. "The second one. What did you say it was again? Birdman?"

Me: "Uh, sure. That one. The verdan." 

[R]: "The What?" 

I said it louder this time so they could hear it better. "The verdan. That's a person whose biology traces back to the planet Verda. Is that you?"

"Hm. Maybe so. What's that like?" [R] smiled and looked at me playfully, expectantly. I realized then that this was going better than I thought it would.

Me: "A fine question. But you actually to get to tell me that: name some detail about the Commander's early life. Maybe something about your parents?" With some prodding via questions and answer format, we got through the character creation for Commander "Bones." 

Apparently, they listened really well to my intro, because they asked me (with zero prodding) if they could be good with something "photonic" at one point, to "deal with the alien's sun-eating machine" so they wrote that as their specialty, and I explained they should remember to do stuff that involves light and radiation beams too, it might help them there as well. This brought on some discussions about "extra dice means extra chances to roll a 6" and they seemed to getting excited to pick up the dice I laid on the table by the end of the creation process. They chose the upgraded weapons for their ship, and I created a character super quick. I didn't stop to talk about each choice so much. I just circled on the page, and since he and I talked at length about their favorite Treks at length before the game, I felt quite prepared to draw upon this knowledge to deliver what I felt captured that spirit. I made a Science Officer, his old friend from the academy. (Something I inserted in at the last minute: but hey I should probably just make that kind of connection building part of the process. Like, each of the COs shares a bond with at least one other CO, either in former service or the academy)

So we launched into the starting situation: I described the nebula with some tiny specks representing star systems, to paint a vivid picture with a grand scale. Then I turned to their starship, which I pointed to on their starship sheet as I slid the playbook sheet over to them. I made sure to indicate the two upgrades they already had, plus the two we both chose. Then we picked out the things that would be visible from the exterior "camera pan" I was describing. 

Next, I zoomed in. "You're on the bridge of the starship Venture now. And before you on-screen is the nebula. A junior science officer reports: 'Sir: I've picked up a ship on sensors, far away from us, but very near the nebula.'

I then explain: "The weapons and targeting systems might be active, but they won't know without a scan. This is the part of the TV show where something happens. What do you do, Commander?"

They look at me, and they sheepishly reply that "We should stay on course and see what happens."

I then describe the enemy ship's targeting lasers sweeping the area nearby them using something that is concealing its signals. Then a hail from the enemy ship. The crew looks to their captain, and I narrate my Chief Scientist sending a private communication to ask "What do we do, sir? Their weapons systems are powered, but don't they seem to be doing anything. This feels dangerous already. Maybe you should answer?"

[R], playing as Cmdr. Bones answered: "Put 'em on-screen."

I partially described the scene for them to get a mental picture, but left room for them to imagine things: "You see a mostly empty bridge of a starship that looks like its been badly damaged. Maybe by a lightning storm and a rocket from the looks of it, but it also looks like it was later repaired with bits of leftover parts. Some of those metal bits are jagged and placed haphazardly, some are completely seamless replacements. Blackened areas remain in various locations that are visible, and there no crew to be seen. Instead, there dangling wires, sparking and swaying. And in the middle of it all, lit by flickering shadow, a single cylindrical machine about 7 feet tall. It has one elongated arm and sixteen digits on that arm which form a crazy contraption hand. Like a wrench-gripper thing. The thing has a dome like 'head' thing that turns to 'face' you - if you can call it that. You only can tell because a single blinking, white light seems to rotate within a thin, black glass casing. You see the light flash slowly, right where some eyes might have been. And instead of a mouth, no openings - just a bundle of transmitters behind a glass bubble on its chin. The blinking light turns red once it reaches center view, and a bunch of garbled noise pours through the radio, causing any technicians a brief startle. The dampeners quickly filter out the noise, but you sense this might be a good time to attempt to interrupt. What do you say?"

[R]: "I insult them! I say whatever I can to provoke them, and tell Tactical to get ready!"

Me, as GM: "Well then, that sounds pretty bold to me! But wow: that also sounds a bit unlikely to do much to divert them from noticing a frontal assault. Let's say you can give them some pause, revealing information useful for a specialized attack, but regardless that's gonna be +2 trouble to say what you do, unless you think your character wouldn't suffer that?"

"They understood all that? Ok then: nah, I let it ride. Captain Greensides doesn't back down. I tell them to get closer and prepare weapons."

"Oh, right - so that's what you want. My fault: okay form a dice roll which we are going to roll." And I proceeded to hold up one die at a time, and tell them - okay, your department can help, you're the commander. That means you get 1 for that. What about your background on Verda?

"Yea, I think so.. 

Me, as Chief Tactician: "Yes sir, we know their ships are more maneuverable than the Venture - it will be difficult to hit them at this distance. We need to get closer, scan them better, or just try to avoid them I think."

[R], as Commander: "Let's get closer, and try to distract them with random communications. Let's just.. see what happens."

Me, as GM: "Ok let's have you roll to see if you can give them pause for you to move a significant distance closer. I am going to say you are 4 ticks away, represented by this clock, called Attack Range" I then draw a clock on this card. I then continue: "When you fill this, you are able to attack effectively. Let's say one tick goes, and then they train their targeting systems on you. Your sensors technician says 'Sir, looking good! We are getting closer and then seem to be distracted by something else!' To be clear, the risk is something like.. they get closer to where the hiding ship is hiding, unbeknownst to both your ship and the enemy ship. And either way, they will be shooting at you as you approach. They give no fucks about shooting at your vessel."

[R]: "Good. Let's do it."

At this point, I described the mechanics in slightly more detail than I will here, to guide the rules interactions. They got their dice pool together, taking +1d for the assistance of the Science department, and they began their first attempt to close the distance. Rolled a 4/5, so the SS Venture closes the distance to attack range and manages a light hit on the enemy ship, but in return the enemy ship manages to land a hit on the Venture's shields which also injured a Science officer by the name of Clark. The shields were given 1 additional power at that point to keep them online. 

Sensors were then powered up to try and find a weakness.  Which I explained was going to be hacked by the enemy if they failed. They got a 4/5, so they found a weakness, but it would cost them. So I relayed that while scanning the enemy, they missed an important detail - that they were being hacked. 

The next exchange was even worse (1-3), causing their ship to get hacked (serious complication), directing all their power to the warp coils in an attempt to overload and detonate the reactor. Suddenly [R] started weighing retreat options. I explained they could resist, which they understood, but chose not to do - instead preferring to take stress during actions to improve their chances at getting a success. I started a clock for the countdown to reactor meltdown, called "BOOM! Reactor," and ticked it once (I was honestly feeling bad for [R] at this point, despite their continued smile).

They rolled for the ship's crew to get into the escape pods and quickly leave the starship, but they failed and realized that this was going to take way too long. And so they made the fateful decision to warp back to the nearest starbase. They hoped to escape certain death, with a rapid jump to warp, but without plotting the coordinates properly first. I revealed the anomaly situation would further complicate warping out in a hurry like this, making it a seriously Bold move. They didn't seem concerned though and quickly rolled the dice, rolling another 4/5! NOT GOOD. Warp mishaps alone can be pretty nasty. But in this case, they were mid-combat and had been damaged. So I hit them with a complication that the damage they took before caused something to come off the ship when it came out of warp, sending the ship into a lateral spin. The Venture hit the starbase before sending space debris raining down on the Alliance planet it orbited. They would be surely questioned about this decision later by fellow UF commanders.. perhaps even assigned to a new ship! They described smoking sacred herbs on the starbase, and we closed the game not knowing if "Bones" would get in trouble for the questionable order they gave to depart like that. 

Questions to Consider

• Do you agree the initial exchanges should have been Bold? 
• Should the escape pods have been an easier task? 
• Should they have been delayed in going to warp on the 4/5 at the end there? 
• What else could have gone wrong when they rolled that final 4/5?