Whenever you attempt a task and generate more successes than the Difficulty, extra successes become Momentum, a valuable resource allowing you to improve on your success or save for the group. You don’t begin a mission with Momentum—it only comes from taking action!
Spending Momentum
The normal use for Momentum is to improve the outcome of a successful task, such as gaining more information from research, inflicting more damage with an attack, or making more progress with an ongoing problem.
When you succeed at a task, the gamemaster describes what happens. You can then spend Momentum to improve what happens, or to gain other benefits.
Momentum used in this way doesn’t need to be declared in advance, and each point can be spent one at a time as required. For example, you may spend 1 Momentum to ask the gamemaster a question, and then decide if you want to spend any more Momentum for more information once you’ve gotten an answer. Thus, Momentum cannot be wasted by being used on something that wasn’t necessary.
Once a task has been resolved, any unspent Momentum is added to the group’s pool, as described below. Momentum that cannot be added to the group pool— because the group pool is already full or because it is bonus Momentum—is lost if it isn’t spent.
Common Momentum Spends
Momentum Spend Effect
Create Opportunity (buy d20s) (Immediate, Repeatable)
Before you attempt a task (but after the gamemaster sets its Difficulty), build your dice pool, starting with 2d20. Add bonus d20s granted from talents and other game effects. Add more d20s by spending Momentum or adding Threat. The first bonus die costs 1, the second costs 2 more, and the third costs 3 more. You can't roll more than 5d20 on any task attempt.
Create a Trait
You can spend 2 Momentum to establish a new trait in the scene (see Establishing a Scene, page 250) or to change, increase the potency of, or remove a trait currently in play.
A trait you create must relate to the task you just passed, and it must be something that would result from your actions.
Keep the Initiative (Immediate)
After taking a turn in an action scene (see Chapter 8: Conflict), instead of handing the action to the opposing side, a character may choose to Keep the Initiative. To Keep the Initiative, the character who has just completed their turn may spend 2 Momentum and then hand the action to another character on their own side.
Once one side has opted to Keep the Initiative, nobody on that side may do so again until the opposition has taken at least one turn of their own. Both player characters and NPCs may use Keep the Initiative.
Obtain Information (Repeatable)
You can ask the gamemaster a single question about the scene by spending 1 Momentum. The question must be related to the task attempted, and the gamemaster must answer truthfully but doesn’t have to give complete information.
If there’s no information your character could determine, the gamemaster may answer “you don’t know,” but they must refund the Momentum spent for that question.
Reduce Time
You can spend 2 Momentum to reduce the time it takes to complete the activity represented by the task, typically taking half the normal amount of time. You can’t use this option during an action scene. See also Timed Challenges, on page 333.
Swift Action
During your turn in an action scene, you may spend 2 Momentum to take an additional major action. However, any task roll attempted as part of this action increases in Difficulty by 1.
Extra Minor Action
During your turn in an action scene, you may spend 1 Momentum to take an additional minor action. Each minor action may only be performed once per turn.
Common Momentum Options
The following options are the most common ways to spend Momentum in Star Trek Adventures. These options are likely to cover most things that you’ll want to achieve with your Momentum during normal play.
Some Momentum spends can be used immediately when they are required, rather than waiting until a successful task. These spends are referred to as Immediate, and they can be used at any point in play, though most will specify when they are used. When you use these options, you may spend Momentum directly from the group pool or you may pay for them by adding to Threat instead, one for one—however much Momentum you’d normally spend, add the equivalent amount of Threat.
Most uses for Momentum can only be used once on a task, or once in any given round in a conflict. Some Momentum spends are Repeatable, which means they can be used as many times as you want and have the Momentum available to spend.
Note that some Momentum spends can be both Immediate and Repeatable.
Bonus Momentum
Some situations, items, and talents grant a character bonus Momentum under specific circumstances. This is added to the amount of Momentum the character may spend in that circumstance. Something which grants bonus Momentum may specify that it may only be used in a specific way, such as buying d20s, increasing Difficulty, or some other purpose.
Regardless of how it is granted, bonus Momentum can never be saved: if it is not used when it is granted, it is lost.
Other Uses for Momentum
Instead of using a listed Momentum spend option, be creative when using Momentum. When you succeed at a task and generate a lot of Momentum, think of how that incredible success might affect the task’s immediate results, or how it could affect what happens next.
Together with your group, you may invent ways to spend Momentum if they make sense in the context in which you generated that Momentum. Any option you and your gamemaster agree upon is feasible. Of course, your gamemaster can veto proposed Momentum spends that do not reflect the scene.
The Ebb and Flow of Momentum
At the end of each scene, remove 1 Momentum from the Momentum pool if possible; Momentum cannot be saved indefinitely.
Saving Momentum
Any Momentum you don’t spend is saved to a group pool, which can be added to or used by any player in the group, representing the benefits of your collective successes. This pool cannot contain more than 6 Momentum at a time. Any Momentum that cannot be added to the group pool is lost if it isn’t spent immediately.
After succeeding on a task, you may spend Momentum from the group pool in addition to those generated during that task. Momentum only needs to be spent as needed, so you don’t have to choose how much Momentum you’re spending from the group pool until you spend it, nor does it need to be spent all at once.