Interlude: Five Parsecs From Starfleet

And… in my never-ending quest to adapt the best possible rules for Star trek ground actions, I have been tinkering with the Five Parses family of inter-compatible games to see what I can make work. Now, I think I have finally got it figured out. I am using the Five Parsecs: Bug Hunt rules as the core, but adding the Encounters section from Salvage Crew, and the three new mini expansions Officer Down, Patrol Missions, and Salvage Missions.

Five Parsecs From Starfleet

Being an adaptation of “Five Parsecs From Home” for the Star Trek Universe.

Generate the characters as per Five Parsecs: Bug Hunt. These rules will also be the foundation for the various teams that accompany the characters on their missions.

Within the context of Starfleet, there are only two ranged weapons that seem omnipresent, the ubiquitous phaser and phaser rifle. Bug Hunt presumes two kinds of pistols and six variety of rifles, as well as two support weapons. To reconcile this, we can assume different people have skills with their phaser pistols and rifles. Maybe Jeff shakes a lot so he doesn't shoot as effectively or as far as Patricia; he counts as having a "colony rifle" while she has a "combat rifle." And the melee weapons are really just degrees of unarmed skill; both Spock's nerve pinch and Kirk's double-handed overhead swing could be a good "power claw" equivalents. So, for simplicity's sake, record what the character is equipped with. and simply represent it with a phaser pistol, or a phase rifle, or good old-fashioned clenched fists!  

To reflect the various duties a Star Fleet crew might be required to engage in, roll on the following table to determine the Mission Assignment:

2d6      Mission Assignment

2-3       Bug Hunt

4-9       Salvage Mission (optionally, use the old Salvage Crew instead)

9-11     Patrol Mission

12        Officer Down

Using Salvage Missions with the Bug Hunt rules:

For “story” purposes, a Salvage Job should be labelled “exploration mission.”

Create the Combat Team as described on Page 11 of Five Parsecs: Bug Hunt. During the Play out a tabletop battle phase of the Campaign Turn, generate the Encounter as described on page 6 of Salvage Missions, starting in the second section labelled Determine Opposition.

Each non-Contact Point Of Interest cleared adds +1 Rep.

Credits are earned normally

Using Salvage Crew with the Bug Hunt rules:

For “story” purposes, a Find should be labelled an “exploration mission,” and a Contract should be labelled a “security mission.”

Create the Combat Team as described on Page 11 of Five Parsecs: Bug Hunt. During the Play out a tabletop battle phase of the Campaign Turn, generate the Encounter as described on page 49 of Salvage Crew.

Each Point Of Interest cleared adds +1 Rep.

The Karyllian Stand-Off option is always used. There is no limit to the number of Enemies that can be encountered. Only Large Bugs, Haywire Robots, Vent Crawling Alien Critters, and Ripper Beasts will attack other Enemies. All others will gang up on Our Heroes.

Using Patrol Missions with the Bug Hunt rules:

Create the Combat Team as described on Page 11 of Five Parsecs: Bug Hunt. During the Play out a tabletop battle phase of the Campaign Turn, generate the Encounter as described on page 4 of Patrol Missions.

Each Patrol Mission adds +1 Rep.

Using Officer Down with the Bug Hunt rules:

An Officer Down Mission Assignment uses only the Major Characters of the Campaign. During the Play out a tabletop battle phase of the Campaign Turn, generate the Encounter as described on page 6 of Officer Down. The Major Characters are considered to be Deputized. The two local helpers described on page 5 of Officer Down are available if desired.

Each Officer Down encounter adds +2 Rep.

Five Parsecs From Home and the supplements are available here.

If you have enjoyed this rules adaptation, you may download it for free here.