In addition to momentum, players have access to a special resource called Determination. Determination reflects the fact that the player characters are the game’s protagonists, Starfleet officers or others with ambition, drive, and grit beyond that of most beings. Such individuals make their own luck and shape the Galaxy around them through their actions and decisions. Whatever their inclination, the player characters are naturally prominent and influential people.
Determination can be used to pull off exciting stunts, provide an edge during tense situations, or otherwise help to advance the story. You gain and spend Determination from acting in accordance with your beliefs, represented by the character’s values. When your values aid you in what you’re seeking to achieve, you may spend Determination; while you gain Determination when your immediate goals and your values conflict with one another.
Values are short phrases or statements describing the attitudes, beliefs, and principles of your character, while Directives represent the orders and instructions provided by your organization and by your superiors.
Each player character begins each mission with 1 Determination and cannot have more than 3 Determination at any time. Any excess Determination is immediately discarded.
When you want to spend Determination, you can only do so if one of your values—or one of the mission’s Directives—aligns with the action you’re undertaking. Your values and Directives bolster your resolve, allowing you to draw strength from your beliefs, so you can push yourself further in battle or focus during an intense challenge.
Values can also hinder your character’s judgement, making them biased, blinding them to possibilities, or otherwise impairing their ability to confront a problem effectively. These situations can cause you problems, but also present opportunities to gain Determination.
Determination Spends
Determination Spend Effect
Moment of Inspiration You may spend Determination on a task roll, after the dice have been rolled, to re-roll any number of d20s in your dice pool.
Perfect Opportunity You may spend Determination on a task roll—before any dice are rolled, but after you’ve purchased any extra dice—to select a single d20 in your dice pool and set it so that it counts as having rolled a 1 (and thus scoring a Critical Success).
Special Technique Your character immediately gains the use of a single talent they do not possess. This talent remains for the rest of the current scene. You must meet the prerequisites for that talent, and the gamemaster may veto talents which make no sense for a character to suddenly obtain for a short while. This might represent some incidental knowledge or training the character possesses which isn’t normally relevant, or the benefits of a piece of equipment or other circumstantial factor.
Spending Determination
When you attempt a task, or are otherwise in a difficult situation, and one or more of your values (or one of the mission Directives) would be helpful in your current situation, you may spend Determination.
When you spend Determination, choose one of the benefits detailed in the Determination Spends table.
Gaining Determination
When you attempt a task or are otherwise in a difficult situation, and one or more of your values would make your situation more difficult, the gamemaster may ask you to either challenge your value, or comply with it:
CHALLENGE: You choose to go against your value. You cross out the challenged value, as it is no longer as vital to the character as it once seemed, and then continue to resolve the current task or situation. Once finished, gain 1 Determination. At the end of the mission, alter the crossed-out value to reflect the change in your character’s beliefs. This is described more in CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT page 166.
COMPLY: You choose to give in to your value, suffering a complication as a result. This complication may make your chosen course of action more difficult, or it may even prevent you attempting that action, instead requiring you to try something else. Discuss with your gamemaster how this should play out. Once finished, gain 1 Determination.
During play, you do not have to rely on the gamemaster to provide prompts to gain Determination; you may suggest a situation might be a test of your character’s values.
Values and Directives
Values are short phrases or statements that describe the attitudes, beliefs, and convictions of a character. For more on values, see page 87.
Directives are not linked to a single character, but rather apply to the group as a whole for the duration of a single mission. Each Directive represents a guiding principle of the fleet, such as Starfleet’s General Order 1, also known as the Prime Directive, specific mission orders or restrictions, or the limitations imposed by treaties or orders. The gamemaster chooses the Directives for each mission (though pre-written missions include their own Directives).
Similar to values, Directives can be used positively to spend Determination or they can impact a character negatively and allow a character to regain Determination:
Using a Directive positively allows a character to act with the confidence they have the support of their organization behind their actions.
Suffering a complication from a Directive reflects a reluctance to go against orders.
Challenging a Directive reflects a character knowingly disobeying orders for a meaningful reason, and being willing to face the consequences of that choice.