Step Five: Experience
Choose how long the character’s career has been so far—are they young and inexperienced, a seasoned veteran, or somewhere in between? The character gains:
One value
One talent
At this stage, the player must decide if their character is a novice officer, an experienced officer, or a veteran with decades of experience?
This stage grants the character a value and a talent. This stage should always be chosen rather than rolled—if you’re creating your character randomly, default to the Veteran option.
Age
With the Federation’s medical science, people can live long, healthy, productive lives. The average life expectancy of a Human being is around 120 years, while some more robust species—such as Vulcans and Denobulans—can live far longer than that. With that increased lifespan and better health comes many years of vitality, allowing people to fulfil their ambitions and better themselves for many decades.
A character can be of any age in Star Trek Adventures, though this should be guided by the choice made in Step Five: Experience. A Novice is likely to be in their early 20s: old enough to have completed Starfleet Academy, but not old enough to have done much else. Most Experienced Officers working up the ranks are in their late 20s, or their 30s or 40s. A Veteran Officer should be in their 50s or 60s, or even older, remembering that people stay fit and healthy for a long time in the Federation. These numbers can be adjusted for species that live a particularly long time: a middle-aged Vulcan may be a century old, and as fit as a Human half their age.
Novice
You’re defined by your potential more than your experience. Your raw talent and expectations of what the universe is like have not yet been tempered by reality.
VALUE: The character receives a value, which must reflect the character’s inexperience and naïveté in some way. Examples include:
I can’t wait to see what’s out there
The Galaxy isn’t what I expected
I must prove myself
TALENT: The character receives a single talent: Untapped Potential, described below.
UNTAPPED POTENTIAL
REQUIREMENT: Novice (only available during character creation)
Select one of your attributes when you receive this talent. You’re inexperienced, but talented and with a bright future. You may not have or increase any attribute to above 11, or any department to above 4 while you have this talent (and may have to adjust attributes and departments accordingly at the end of character creation).
Whenever you succeed at a task for which you bought one or more additional dice (by any means), roll a d20 after the roll. If you roll equal to or less than the chosen attribute, gain 1 bonus Momentum; if you roll higher, add 1 Threat instead. While you possess this talent, you cannot gain any higher rank than Lieutenant (junior grade), or a higher enlisted rate than Petty Officer.
Experienced
You have many years of experience in your chosen field, and you’re enjoying a promising career. This is the default assumption for characters created using these rules.
VALUE: The character receives a value, which may be chosen freely.
TALENT: The character receives a single talent, which may be chosen freely.
Veteran
You have decades of experience in your chosen profession, and you’ve likely seen much of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, if not more of the Galaxy. Your judgement and opinions are highly regarded by those around you, even those who hold higher rank or status.
VALUE: The character receives a value, which must reflect the character’s years of experience and the beliefs they’ve formed over their long career. Examples include:
There’s not much that can surprise me anymore
You don’t survive this long without facing loss
I’ve trusted my instincts long enough to doubt them now
TALENT: The character receives a single talent: Veteran, described below.
VETERAN
REQUIREMENT: Veteran (during character creation, or at gamemaster’s discretion)
You’re wise and experienced, and draw upon inner reserves of willpower and determination in a measured and considered way. Whenever you spend Determination, roll a d20. If you roll equal to or less than your Control rating, you immediately regain that point of Determination. If you are Starfleet or military, you hold a rank of at least lieutenant commander, or an enlisted rate of at least chief petty officer.