Characters in Star Trek Adventures are specialists in their chosen fields, with enough breadth of training and practical experience to ensure they can solve problems and overcome obstacles as a matter of course. However, there are situations where a character’s success is in doubt or where failure or mishap are interesting.
The game presumes that, given sufficient time, the correct tools, and the ability to concentrate, a character will be able to succeed at just about anything they set their mind to. Failure is not a matter of inability, but rather of insufficient time, inappropriate tools, or some manner of obstacle or interruption. A course of action may be deemed impossible not because the character cannot do it, but because they don’t have the means to do it at that moment.
A task begins with either the desire to achieve something or the desire to avoid something. A player states what they want to accomplish, and how they intend to get it. The gamemaster then judges, based on the situation, whether the character can achieve that goal. The gamemaster then answers in one of three ways:
YES: The character can achieve that goal without effort or challenge.
NO: The character cannot achieve that goal, at least, not right now.
MAYBE: The character might be able to achieve their goal, but success is uncertain.
The first two answers are easy enough to handle: the player states their intent, the gamemaster says “yes” or “no,” and play continues from there. The third answer is where dice come into play. Because there’s doubt as to the outcome, a task attempt determines what happens.
Attempting a Task
A task roll involves a character’s attributes, departments, and focuses, and requires rolling two or more d20s. Attempting a task follows a specific process (see page 257). The gamemaster may choose to change the combinations of attributes + departments on a case-by-case basis if a situation seems like it should use a different combination, or if a player comes up with some ingenious approach that would use a different combination.
TASK DIFFICULTY
When the gamemaster calls for a task attempt, they set a Difficulty for that task. Unless otherwise noted, most tasks have a basic Difficulty of 1, though more routine or straightforward tasks may have a Difficulty of 0, and more complex or problematic tasks have higher Difficulties. After this, the gamemaster then considers if there are any other factors in the current scene and environment, or affecting the characters involved, which would alter this basic Difficulty. The factors which affect a task’s Difficulty are commonly represented by traits in the scene.
The players should always know the Difficulty of tasks. This allows players to determine what they’ll need to do to have the best chance of success.
Re-Rolls
Many circumstances allow a character to re-roll one or more dice. When re-rolling dice, the player chooses the number of dice to re-roll. They roll those dice, and the new result replaces the original score. The new results stand, even if they’re worse than the original results.
Some situations allow for a specific number of dice to be re-rolled, while others allow all the dice in a pool to be re-rolled. Players may always choose how many dice they wish to re-roll, up to the number of dice listed—in essence, you may always choose not to re-roll a die if you wish to keep that result.
Difficulty Zero Tasks
Certain circumstances may reduce the Difficulty of a task to 0. At other times, a task may be so simple it does not require a dice roll. These are simple tasks. If a task is Difficulty 0, it does not require dice to be rolled: it is automatically successful with 0 successes, with no risk of complications. However, because no roll is made, it cannot generate Momentum—even bonus Momentum from talents, particularly advantageous situations, etc.—and the character cannot spend any Momentum on the task. In essence, the gamemaster declares you complete the task, no dice are rolled, and you move on with the game.
At the gamemaster’s discretion, you may roll the dice against a Difficulty of 0 and can generate Momentum as normal (because 0 successes are required, every success generated is Momentum), but this comes with the risk of gaining complications.
Rounding
Any time you need to round an equation, round up.
Example Difficulties
Difficulty Description
0 Researching a widely-known subject. Shooting a training target with a phaser or disruptor. Performing routine maintenance and repairs.
1 Researching a specialized subject. Striking an enemy in hand-to-hand combat. Rerouting power during an emergency.
2 Researching obscure information. Shooting an enemy with a phaser or disruptor. Repairing a transporter pad while under fire.
3 Researching restricted information. Shooting an enemy with a phaser or disruptor in poor light. Altering a subspace antenna to overcome interference, without the proper tools.
4 Researching classified information. Shooting an enemy in a defensive position, in poor light. Attempting to integrate technology with the incompatible technology of another species.
5 Researching a subject where the facts have been thoroughly redacted from official records. Shooting a small, fast-moving target in poor light. Attempting a transport while at warp, to another vessel also at warp.
IMPROVING THE ODDS
Even the most dedicated cannot give their full effort a hundred percent of the time; in tense situations, they need to conserve their energy, capitalize on opportunities, and be willing to take risks to triumph. Thus, the game provides several ways for you to improve your chances of success, by buying additional d20s to roll on a task. Extra dice allow you to score more successes, and thus succeed at tasks with higher difficulties or simply generate more Momentum. However, these extra dice always come with a cost, and which options a character chooses depends upon what costs they are willing and able to pay.
MOMENTUM: The Create Opportunity (page 260) spend allows characters to buy additional dice, representing coordination, teamwork, and building upon prior successes. The first extra die bought costs 1 Momentum, the second costs 2 Momentum, and the third costs 3 Momentum.
THREAT: The Create Opportunity spend can be paid for by adding to Threat (page 264) instead of spending Momentum, representing taking risks or acting recklessly. The first extra die bought adds 1 Threat, the second adds 2 Threat, and the third adds 3 Threat.
DETERMINATION: Determination doesn’t add extra dice, but it does make the existing ones better. When spending Determination before rolling, the character chooses one d20 in the dice pool: that die is considered to have already rolled a 1 (therefore scoring a critical success, counting as 2 successes).
Alternatively, if you spend Determination after rolling, you may re-roll any number of d20s in your dice pool. Determination may only be spent in certain circumstances, as described on page 262.
TALENTS: A few talents state a character may reduce the cost of buying additional d20s, sometimes even to 0, but these dice still count towards the number of additional d20s that can be purchased.
In the gamemaster’s case, when buying bonus d20s for NPCs, there are fewer options—the gamemaster may spend points of Threat to add dice to a NPC’s task roll. NPCs typically do not have Determination.
TEAMWORK AND ASSISTANCE
If the situation allows, several characters can work together when attempting to perform a task. When more than one character is involved in a task, one character is the leader, and the other characters are assistants.
You may accept one assistant at no cost on any individual task. However, you may have additional assistants, but each extra person involved creates the potential for error: each assistant after the first either costs 1 Momentum or adds 1 Threat.
To assist with a task, the player must describe how their character is assisting the task’s leader. If the gamemaster agrees, then each assistant rolls 1d20, using their own target number and their own focus (if any), to determine if any successes are scored. The assistants’ dice can generate complications as usual.
If the task leader generates at least 1 success, all successes generated by the assistants count toward the task. If the task leader does not score a success, the task fails, no matter how many successes their assistant(s) scored.
Assistants do not have to use the same attribute, department, or focus as any other character involved in the task; indeed, assistance can often be best provided by someone contributing something different. Assistants may only ever roll 1d20 while assisting. In combat or other encounters, assisting a task is considered to take up a character’s turn.
Opposed Tasks
When you are attempting a task against direct opposition, like swinging a bat’leth at a foe who is trying to dodge out the way, or trying to move stealthily when someone is searching for you, you attempt an opposed task. The character attempting to do something is the active character, and the other character seeking to resist or avoid the first character’s attempts is the reactive character.
When you attempt an opposed task, the reactive character first rolls to set the Difficulty. They gather a dice pool, rolling against their own target number as if they were making a task roll. However, they are not rolling against any specific Difficulty; just count how many successes they score.
After this, the active character makes their task roll. The Difficulty of this roll is equal to the number of successes the reactive character scored. If the active character succeeds, they achieve their desired goal, and can spend any Momentum generated to improve that outcome as usual. If the active character fails, however, the reactive character generates 1 Momentum for each success fewer than the Difficulty scored—i.e., if they set a Difficulty of 4, and the active character scored 2 successes, the reactive character gets 2 Momentum—and they may spend this Momentum immediately, as if they had succeeded at the task.
After all this has been resolved, any complications suffered by either side are handled by the gamemaster.
EXTERNAL FACTORS IN OPPOSED TASKS
The procedure for opposed tasks assumes both sides are on roughly equal footing, and that neither side has any real advantages or hindrances beyond their own abilities. This isn’t always the case.
If the opposing character has any factors which would make things harder for them, each such factor reduces the Difficulty they set by 1, to a minimum of 0. In essence, fewer of their successes translate into difficulty for their opponent.
If the active character has any factors which would affect the Difficulty of their action other than the opposing character, then adjust the final Difficulty up or down as normal.
In either case, characters in an opposed task may accept assistance from other characters on their side.
It Just Might Work
One common element of the successes of player characters is a tendency to employ creative, often bizarre strategies to resolve seemingly impossible situations.
Consequently, the gamemaster should not only expect, but encourage, plans that seem illogical or unwise; though even if an illogical or unwise plan is possible, that doesn’t mean it should be easy. The listed combinations of attribute and department may not necessarily apply to these unusual approaches, so the gamemaster should feel free to use a different combination if the situation calls for it. Similarly, the gamemaster should entertain players’ suggestions for Momentum spends and traits.
Observation
One of the most common reasons players may ask to attempt a task is to see if their characters notice or find something that isn’t immediately obvious. These tasks will most commonly use Insight or Reason, as those attributes are the most associated with awareness and comprehension. However, which department is used should vary based on the situation.
The Difficulty of an Observation task should be low, with success providing the bare minimum information; Momentum can be spent to improve upon this (see Obtain Information, page 260). For vital information, use the Success at Cost rules (page 259).
Attempting a Task
1 Select an attribute and department, as well as any applicable focus. Add the ratings for the selected attribute and department. The total is your target number.
2 The gamemaster sets the task’s Difficulty. This is a number, usually from 0 to 5. The Difficulty represents the number of successes the player must roll to complete the task.
3 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 cannot roll more than 5d20 on any task attempt.
4 (Optional) Improve your chances by asking for assistance, from either another character or the ship (if applicable). Assistance is described on page 255.
5 Roll your dice pool. Each d20 that rolls equal to or less than the target number scores a success. § If one of your focuses applies, then each die that rolls equal to or less than the department you’re using is a critical success, scoring 2 successes.
If none of your focuses apply, each die that rolls 1 is a critical success.
Each die that rolls a 20, or falls within the complication range, causes a complication (see “Complications,” page 258).
6 If the number of successes scored equals or exceeds the task’s Difficulty, the task attempt succeeds. If the number of successes is less than the Difficulty, the task attempt fails. If you scored more successes than the task’s Difficulty, each extra success becomes 1 point of Momentum (see “Momentum,” page 259).
7 The gamemaster describes the outcome of the task, and if the task was successful, the player may spend Momentum to improve the result further. Then, apply the effects of any complications.
Complications
When attempting a task, each d20 that rolls a 20 creates a complication, which comes into play once the task has been resolved.
If you roll a 20, and you don’t want to suffer a complication, or the gamemaster doesn’t want to impose a complication at this point in the scene, the complication can instead be ‘bought off’ by adding 2 Threat (see page 265). In essence, this turns an immediate problem (the complication) into a problem for later (more Threat).
COMPLICATION RANGE
Some circumstances can make a task more uncertain, though not necessarily any more difficult. These factors increase the complication range of a task, making it more likely that complications will occur.
A task has a complication range of 1 normally, meaning whenever you roll a 20 on a d20, you generate a complication. Increasing the complication range by 1 means complications occur on the result of a 19 or 20 on a d20. Increasing the complication range by 2 means complications occur on an 18, 19, or 20, and so forth, as summarized in the Complication Range table.
The complication range can never be increased to more than 5.
The gamemaster may freely rule on what complication range applies to a given task attempt, but there should always be some justification given. A trait may provide sufficient reason to increase a task’s complication range, as could the gamemaster choosing to spend Threat to represent something that distracts or interferes with the task.
Complication Range
Complication Range Complication Occurs On…
1 20
2 19–20
3 18–20
4 17–20
5 16–20
Success at Cost
Some tasks can’t really be failed outright—rather, there is uncertainty as to whether the task can be completed without problems. Your gamemaster may allow characters to Succeed at Cost, either stating this before the task is attempted, or providing the option after the dice have been rolled. If this option is provided, you can choose to succeed at a task and suffer one automatic complication, in addition to any caused by 20s rolled. These complications function exactly as those generated by rolling a 20, including being able to remove them for 2 Threat, or using them to create other effects.
Though the task has technically been successful, you can’t spend Momentum to improve the outcome of a task that succeeded at cost—Momentum can only be spent if the task was truly successful.
In some cases, the ‘cost’ can be increased further, at the gamemaster’s discretion, causing your character to suffer more than one automatic complication on a failed task. This should be made clear when the option to Succeed at Cost is presented.