![]() Cover | |
Designers | Christian Moore, Ross Isaacs, Kenneth Hite, Steven S. Long |
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Publishers | Last Unicorn Games |
Publication | 1998 (Next Generation) 1999 (Deep Space Nine and Original Series) |
Genres | Science fiction (Star Trek) |
Systems | Icon system |
Star Trek: The Next Generation Role-playing Game is a role-playing game set in the fictional Star Trek universe, designed by Last Unicorn Games (LUG).[1][2] Due to licensing issues, LUG did not release the game as a single core rulebook and setting supplements for the various series, but instead intended to release a corebook for every series.[3] The Star Trek license was lost to Decipher before a Star Trek: Voyager rulebook could be released.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Role-playing Game received the 1998 Origins Award for Best Role-playing Game.[4]
Last Unicorn Games was one of the first roleplaying companies to utilise the concept of releasing additional pages for published books via the web. LUG dubbed these "Icon Links," in reference to their overall "Icon System" game mechanics (the term Web Enhancement hadn't been invented yet). Unlike current web enhancements, which are simply additions that can be added to the end of a book, LUG took a unique approach, by planning the enhancements ahead of time, and printing a small Icon symbol at various points in a given book, informing the reader that additional material on the subject-at-hand was available on the company's website to read or download and print. These enhancements are now being stored online, and can be downloaded from Memory Icon, under the Icon Links section.
Many additional books and supplements were planned, and quite a few had various chapters already written, in varying degrees of completion. LUG's former writing pool has been extremely generous and supportive of the fan-movement to keep the game alive and expand on it. In support of this, much of the unpublished material has been released for the fans.
S. John Ross has posted his unfinished manuscripts on the Untaken Treks pages of his website.
Steve Kenson has posted his unfinished manuscripts on the Star Trek: The Lost Episodes pages of his website.
Of all the LUG writers, Steven S. Long has been the most active amongst the fan movement. Not only did he dust-off his unfinished materials for the fans, he opted to finish them on his own time, for no pay. Even more, he continued this work beyond the originally envisioned volumes, to ultimately present the fans with seven whole new books, absolutely free.
And the Spacedock Series:
They can be downloaded in PDF form from Memory Icon, under the Spacedock section, and are suitable for printing.
The reviewer from the online second volume of Pyramid stated that "The ST:TNG RPG (how's that for an abbreviation?) captures the feel of the Next Generation television show right off. The cover is striking and the graphics throughout impressive, done in the "Starfleet" style of icons created for the series."[5]