Hey Game Fans, we’re back with a brief review of a new offering from Modiphius. Today we’re going to take a look at the Alpha Quadrant Sourcebook for Star Trek Adventures. It’s a Sourcebook and details the major cultures and factions of the Alpha Quadrant and details how to bring them to life in your RPG adventures. Let’s take a closer look at this book.
The book has five chapters, and is organized as a briefing from a Starfleet officer recently assigned to the Alpha Quadrant and it works very well at that. Each chapter covers a specific area, but the core of the book is chapter 2. The introduction covers a rolling forward of the timeline of the Star Trek Adventures to just after the Federation Defense of DS9 from the Deep Space 9 show. The layout works nicely, mimicking the appearance of TNG computer displays. Some of the art assets don’t necessarily work, but overall the book works very well and feels like an artifact from Star Trek. I must admit, i read through mine on the computer, so it may be a different experience with a physical copy.
Chapter 2 is the meat and potatoes of the book. Featuring prominent Federation worlds (including Bajor) and the Cardassians, the Ferengi, the Tzenkethi, the Breen and the Tholians, chapter 2 is around 60 pages of details. I’m a lore fan, and i loved the details about prominent places to visit on each world and important details. Each culture is presented with an in-universe perspective (from the Federation representative who prepared it). There’s a lot to process and it feels authentic to the setting and true to the source material.
Chapter 3 adds life path options for the new races that are intended for player characters. Each race has lifepath options and they feel right for the setting. You’ve got the details for everything you need to add these to your game experience and while this chapter is short, it sticks the landing with what it delivers.
Chapter 4 adds the starships common to the major powers of the Alpha Quadrant. Each ship gets an extensive briefing, and stats for the game. Any variants are covered, like the Keldon R, and the special rules for the Breen and Tholian ships are covered. I have to admit, these are usually my favorite chapters in books like this, and this didn’t disappoint.
Chapter 5 covers Encounter ideas and things that you as a GM can spice up your game with. It covers three core aspects, The Demilitarized Zone, the Badlands, and the Federation Border. There are seeds for encounters in each aspect and NPC briefs for each. If there were anything i would want more of in a book like this, it’s more of this chapter.
Conclusions
For a sourcebook, especially one that covers as much ground as the Alpha Quadrant Sourcebook, it has to feel like it belongs to the setting. This book does that in a lot of good ways and overall it’s a solid addition to the lineup. I wish that the book had a few more pages to devote to encounters, but the details provided in Chapter 2 especially should give the GM and Players alike plenty of options to get involved in the mix. Overall rating, 4 out of 5 stars.
For a sourcebook, especially one that covers as much ground as the Alpha Quadrant Sourcebook, it has to feel like it belongs to the setting. This book does that in a lot of good ways and overall it’s a solid addition to the lineup. I wish that the book had a few more pages to devote to encounters, but the details provided in Chapter 2 especially should give the GM and Players alike plenty of options to get involved in the mix. Overall rating, 4 out of 5 stars.
(You can check out the Star Trek Adventures collection here )
No comments:
Post a Comment