Star Trek Reviews: Early Trek

Before I start my journey into the Star Wars, I should probably do some reviews of some other things I’ve binged recently, beginning with Star Trek. I’ll split this across a couple posts, one for each “stage” of Trek:

1. Early Trek (TOS, TAS)
2. TOS Trek Movies (ST MP through ST VI)
3. ’90s Trek TV (TNG, DS9, Voyager)
4. TNG Trek Movies (Generations through Nemesis)
5. Enterprise
6. Trek Reboot Movies
7. Streaming Trek (Discovery, Picard, Trek shorts)

But first, a brief look at my ranking system.

• A or B: Above Average, Worth more than one watch. Anything with an A rating is of exceptional quality, but B is pretty good, too.
• C: Average. It’s OK. Wouldn’t call it an essential re-watch.
• D: Below Average. Might be bearable at least an object of mockery, but otherwise, not something worth watching.
• F: Bottom of the Barrel. So badly made it can’t possibly be recommended except as an example of bad craft.

First time I rated Trek stuff on social media, I ranked each film and series (not individual seasons or episodes) relative to each other, then figured out which tier was “average” for me. I’ve tinkered with my ratings since then. Films start with a base letter grade and then get a + or - if it has a couple moments that really stand out as better/worse than the movie as whole. I rate a series as a whole, then give it a + or - if there’s a substantial number of episodes that are better/worse than the typical episode.

Spoiler Alert: I didn’t rank any Trek show or movie D or F, although judging by the rage I got on Facebook/Twitter, you’d think I had. I could give individual episodes a D grade, but no Fs. It’s actually pretty rare for me to give something an F. Even Ed Wood or Coleman Francis movies get at least a D.

Star Trek: The Original Series

Rating: A-

This is what I grew up with. I think I actually saw bits and pieces of TOS when it originally aired, but I was so young that all that stuck in my mind was the face of Balok at the end. But when it went into syndication, I was definitely watching, and I was a devoted fan.

I don’t watch it as much any more, and I’ll admit it sometimes feels a little creaky in places nowadays, which is why I’ve lowered it from my original A rating. But many of the episodes are solid TV and good storytelling that moves at a good pace. When we criticize TOS, it’s the hammy speechifying and some of the outdated attitudes that stand out, not the quality of the stories themselves.

I’ve said more than once that the first ten or so episodes stand out for me. They hadn’t established The Federation in their world-building, and not many alien races had been added yet. This is a human-dominated “United Earth Space Agency” that has traveled to the edge of the galaxy, but perhaps hasn’t explored 90-95% of the territory within their range. Most of the galaxy is a big mystery, and to a certain extent, the crew is out there alone. As later episodes filled out the background, adding the Federation, adding several alien races, adding trade routes and alliances, the galaxy seemed less empty. People famously refer to TOS as “Wagon Train to the stars”, but the earliest TOS episodes are more like Lewis and Clark than Oregon Trail.

There are a few inferior episodes: “Turnabout Intruder” is a D episode, worse even than the quintessential “bad” episode “Spock’s Brain”. People sometimes claim all of third season is bad, but there’s a couple A and B episodes in that season, like “All Our Yesterdays” and “Is There In Truth No Beauty?”

Star Trek: The Animated Series.

Rating: C

I remember being very excited when I heard the news: there was going to be a new Star Trek show! A Saturday morning cartoon! With the original cast!

And I enjoyed it as a kid, but looking back at it, it’s not so great. Certainly higher quality than most other Saturday-morning fare. But it’s the usual cheap animation. The character are also “off”: Kirk is more violent and Spock is more of a stubborn jerk, and the interaction between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy seems fueled more by anger than friendship.

The feel and tone of early Trek gets completely lost in TAS. They zoom from one end of the galaxy to the other regularly, even outside the galaxy, and there’s no real sense of scale. Fortunately, none of the later Trek offerings take the same approach.

The stories are mostly so-so, with a few good episodes like “Yesteryear”. The most amazing thing is that they accomplish more in half an hour than any of the hour format shows do. The quality actually doesn’t vary that much; it’s a fairly consistent series, with not many episodes outside the C+ to C- range. “The Practical Joker” is probably the worst episode, worth a D rating, but it does have the distinction of introducing the holodeck.

Next Post: We’re going to the movies.

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In Lair, Or Not?

There’s been a big discussion about how to use the “% In Lair” stat from Monsters & Treasure (table on pages 3-4) and in other books. A lot of it is a series of very detailed arguments, some points being based on references in other sources like Arneson’s First Fantasy Campaign, which in my opinion is not official rules, but Arneson’s “Here’s how I do it” book. There are no official rules on how to place and stock lairs, because it’s up to GM taste and the needs of the group.

So, I don’t think “% In Lair” is meant to be anymore complicated than “Are the PCs exploring the lair of the monster? Is the monster home right now, or out hunting?” But I have some ideas on how to handle random lair placement, which I thought I’d repeat here.

First: If you have a special lair to place on a map, place it first. It’s like placing special rooms in a dungeon vs. randomly stocking other rooms. You want to figure out where Castle Greyhawk and the Tomb of Horrors are before you decide where the den of a random wolfpack is. I don’t even count typical dungeons as “lairs”, even though they technically are the lairs of the monsters that live in them.

Second: How many lairs are in the area? Assuming you’re rolling up the contents of a hex or wilderness area, you’d want at least a few lairs, but no need to go crazy. I’d set the base number of lairs as d6/2, dropping fractions, to get a range of 0 to 3, with 1 or 2 being the most common result.

I’d actually roll two dice. In rural areas or anything else close to civilization, I’d pick the lowest roll. In true wilderness, I’d pick the highest.

Third: Where are the lairs? Any place that looks usable, actually. Since I consider lairs to be smallish, not necessarily worthy of a map, it’s more a matter of terrain and monster preferences. Basic lair types are:

Dice Roll		Lair Type
0 to 1		Natural Shelter
2 to 3		Modified Shelter
4 to 5		Cave (1-4 “rooms”)
6+		Structure

Natural Shelter could just be a shallow hole inside a thicket, a spot between two boulders, or a hollow tree. The modified form is basically a multi-chamber burrow, a nest, or a campsite for bandits or other intelligent groups. Structures may be newly made, abandoned and repurposed by wild animals, or just the ruined remnants.

Either pick a suitable area on the map that matches the monster type or roll: d6/2 for plains, desert, swamp, or forest, d6 for hills/mountains (+/- 1 based on closeness to civilization, current or historic.)

Fourth: Is the encounter in the lair? If it’s a wandering monster, no, but you could roll a d6: on 5+, it has a lair nearby. Otherwise, it’s looking for a new lair. If the party finds the lair first, rather than the monster, that’s when I’d make the “% In Lair” roll to see if it’s home or out hunting. I’d roll again periodically as the PCs explore the lair, to see if it returns.

How do PCs find lairs? Usually by tracking creatures, or backtracking where a dead creature came from, if they encounter the monster first. If there are people living nearby, they might have clues as to where to look. There’s always magic, too. But if we’re not talking about wandering monsters, it’s mostly a matter of dumb luck: PCs see something they want to explore, perhaps to set up camp, and it turns out to be occupied. If it’s the lair of bandits or the like, PCs might see smoke from a campfire and head towards it. If the PCs are following a treasure map, the map destination may now be occupied.

Finally: What happens when PCs clear a lair? Monsters pick lairs because they need shelter or a place to store their stuff. If the monsters are killed, any other creatures looking for a lair may move in. I’d use the same 5+ on 1d6 chance to determine if a lair has a new occupant when PCs revisit it later. If the new occupant gathers treasure, it probably won’t have much of anything when it first claims the lair. A good guess: after one month, a monster will have acquired 10% of the usual treasure for its type, plus 10% per month. If you want a roll, use either a flat d10x10% or 2d6x10% roll (treating 6s as zero,) but cap the result based on the number of months.

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Blog Post of Note: Element Generator

The Weird & Wonderful Worlds blog has a Javascript-based Element Generator that is worth a look. I would probably tinker with the tables, for my own use, but it's a solid way of generating a random element or three for a distinctive fantasy world, or as the basis for a unique elementalist class.



I may have more to say on the concept later.

How to Watch Star Wars Follow-Up

I thought I’d follow up my How to Watch Star Wars post requesting help on how best to give the Star Wars storyline a fair chance. Thanks, everyone, for the suggestions. I compared the lists of Joseph, Troy, and Big McStrongmuscle to make some decisions on how to go about this, which I will get to in a moment.

But first: I think people may have missed some important points about my project.

• I’ve already seen the original trilogy and even a couple newer movies. So, spoilers are not an issue. I already know who Darth Vader is and who Luke and Leia are, guys. Not gonna be a surprise, no matter what order I choose.
• I don’t plan to be a completionist. I don’t care about tracking down every piece of Star Wars media. I’m mostly concerned with giving the emotional and artistic elements their due. I’m not interested in filler for the backstory.
• This is not really about watching Star Wars. It’s about getting my money’s worth out of Disney Plus. That means I’m not paying extra for anything, nor will I spend time tracking down bootleg cuts that don’t include later changes.

I’m not a Star Wars fan. I thought that was obvious, but maybe people didn’t realize what this means. I’m not going to be affected by the same things fans are. For example, I’ve seen both the “Han Shot First” and “Han Shot Second” versions of A New Hope and didn’t really notice who shot first either time. It also means I’m not going to follow the Machete Cut just to skip over movies some fans object to.

If you can make a good case for re-arranging the order, that’s different. If the emotional impact is better if you start with Machete order (4, 5, 2, 3, 6) and then finish with the other movies, that’s worth thinking about. But I will watch #1. Will watching #1 after #6 make it a better movie? Or does it not matter when I watch #1?

After looking over the suggested order list, I’m now considering two possible orders:

1. Strict Chronological for Live-Action Theatrical Releases. followed by The Mandalorian, then a sample of others, depending on interest.
2. Chronological by Arc, resembling release order with some modifications. Start with Rogue One, move on to films 4 to 6, then to films 1 to 3, then Solo, then films 7 to 9, followed by The Mandalorian.

Note that I’m going to pass on a lot of the animated material. I checked out some reviews/criticism of the Clone Wars material and decided to do a hard pass on the CGI theatrical film, but might try the first two episodes of each animated series until I get bored or take an interest in one.

When I start watching, I plan on doing a review of each film as I finish, from the viewpoint of someone who isn’t a fan, but giving each film my full attention and judging it on its own merits.

Oh, and after I finish all the theatrical films, I might consider picking up some of the RiffTrax “Just the Jokes” releases for them and giving them a rewatch, so I can review the riffs.

A TSR-D&D Venn Diagram

Here’s my Venn diagram illustrating the definitions and concepts behind some of the names for TSR-era D&D. Most of you will probably already know this, but it may still be useful for discussion.

The red circle is Original D&D (OD&D.( This starts with the woodgrain (brown) box that hardly anyone has seen in person and moves into the whitebox era and its supplements (Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry, and Gods, Demigods and Heroes.

The yellow circle is Classic D&D. This is a name that evolved in early online discussions like on the Dragonsfoot forums or the Usenet news groups and it describes the various “Basic” editions that descend from OD&D, distinct from AD&D. Basically, everything that Arneson was awarded a share of as a result of the lawsuit. OD&D material is compatible with Classic, but there are changes and additions to Classic that were not in the original, so it can be considered its own distinct thing.

The orange intersection of those two circles is Holmes Basic. It was created as an introduction to OD&D and is almost completely identical to those rules, but there are a few minor unique points. It also fits the definition of “Classic”, though, so it is sometimes considered OD&D, sometimes considered Classic, sometimes both, and sometimes its own thing.

The blue circle is Advanced D&D (AD&D.) This is the D&D rewrite begun by Gygax to be distinct from OD&D and Classic and thus not something Arneson deserved a share of the profits for. The first edition of the Monster Manual still adheres to some OD&D dice guidelines and so can be used with OD&D without much problem, which explains the overlap. The rest of the first edition books have enough changes to the rules that they are not fully compatible with either OD&D or the Classic line, although they are close enough that you could create conversion guidelines. However, you will encounter people who use “Classic” in a much looser sense of “anything from the early days”, which is what the ghostly dotted pseudopod labeled “1st Ed.” refers to.

The Survival Guides are in their own subset loosely connected to the first edition group. These start adding material that marks a distinct stage in the development of AD&D that some people call “1.5 edition”. Oriental Adventures and Unearthed Arcana could arguably be included here as well, but I didn’t want to make the diagram into an unholy nightmare, so I just suggested that there was some kind of minimal divergence from early first edition AD&D.

“2nd Ed.” is a rewrite of first edition that incorporates the “1.5e” changes and later complicates things further with the “kits” approach. At this point, AD&D and the basic lines have diverged so much it would be hard to justify calling 2e “Classic”, so I moved it to the bottom area of the diagram, to visually suggest its conceptual distance from those versions of D&D.

All of this is TSR-era D&D. WotC-era D&D shares some terminology and a few structures/mechanics that might be recognizable as being descended from OD&D/AD&D, but in the same way that Tunnels & Trolls or Palladium’s games are descended from them. Adaptation is still possible… because adaptation is always possible. But they obviously are not compatible.

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How to Watch Star Wars

Not really RPG related, but what the hell… I need some help. I’m planning on giving Star Wars another chance.

I did not see Star Wars when it first came out. Couldn’t go to many movie theaters back then. Saw it on VCR and Laser Disc, of all things. And I thought “Eh, it’s OK, I guess.” It never really struck a chord with me. And as a result, I never really got into the craze that followed.

Naturally, I didn’t try to see any of the other movies, because I just didn’t care. But I did see most of them. Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, when they showed up on TV. Attack of the Clones in an actual theater, because my friends wanted to see it and I like my friends. Rogue One and The Force Awakens on VOD. And good chunks of Phantom Menace, Revenge of the Sith, and even the animated Clone Wars thingie. And so far, I haven’t really liked any of it except the holiday special, and that’s because of the RiffTrax version.

(On the good side, this means that I don’t hate the same movies that the fans hate. I honestly can’t tell the difference in quality between them. They all feel kind of meh.)

But I recently paid for a year of Disney Plus, because I had some extra money and really wanted to watch Avengers Endgame, which Disney has been hoarding away, as well as any Marvel movies/shows I missed (Currently working my way through Agent Carter.) And since I’ve got access to all this material, I’ve been thinking: Maybe should give Star Wars another chance? Try to watch them all again all the way through, in the proper order, from Phantom Menace to Rise of Skywalker?

But here’s where I need the help. I’m not sure where to put some of the auxiliary material. I know the basic order should be:

1. The Phantom Menace
2. Attack of the Clones
3. Revenge of the Sith
4. A New Hope
5. (Rogue One)
6. The Empire Strikes Back
7. Return of the Jedi
8. The Force Awakens
9. The Last Jedi
10. The Rise of Skywalker

Now, I’m not entirely sure where to place Rogue One. Before A New Hope, or after? I’ve seen them both and know part of it happens before, part during. Not sure what position would be best for maximum impact on a rewatch, though.

And I know Solo goes before both of those. Is 3.5 a good location?

Not sure whether I will actually try to watch the animated stuff or not, but if I did, where would it go? 2.5?

Where does the holiday special go? Before Empire, or after? Should I watch it unriffed, if available?

And I don’t even know where The Mandalorian goes in this sequence, although I’m thinking I might want to delay it if it’s too early. I don’t want to get bogged down in a series that relies heavily on fan knowledge while I’m trying to make my way through the basic Star Wars starter course.

Which raises the question: are there any other changes I should make to the proper order for pure aesthetic effect, to increase impact?

Haven’t even checked what else is available on Disney Plus. I probably will skip any cartoons, but is there anything that is a real must-see, as far as you true fans are concerned?

I want to give Star Wars a decent chance this time. Really focus on the material, without distractions, and try to see its true spirit and understand why fans love it so much. If you love Star Wars, what do you think is the best way to learn to love it?

Blog Post of Note: The Top Ten Emblematic D&D Monsters

Today, I'd like to point people to this blog post: False Machine: The Top Ten Emblematic D&D Monsters. I would agree with many of the rankings on that list, but more important, I understand them. The list is a mix of monsters every player faces, especially at the beginning, and those that are unique to D&D and well-known.

I don't think I have much reason to comment further on it. Just read the post.

XP: Treasure vs. Monster

In the original books, there's this line:

Gains in experience points will be relative; thus an 8th level Magic-User operating on the 5th dungeon level would be awarded 5/8 experience.

(Men & Magic, p. 18)

 A lot of people ditch the level multiplier completely. Those that don't usually apply it uniformly to both XP for monsters slain and XP for treasure brought home from the adventure, because that's actually what the rules say.

But I'm thinking "Screw it. Reduce monster XP, keep treasure XP unmodified."

It makes treasure way more important. It's already more important than monster XP (about 80% of all XP earned, some people have calculated.) But I say: Let's go farther.

When a starting adventure kills a bunch of goblins and then tells stories about it in the taverns, it sounds impressive. That's where the XP comes from. But when adventurers keep killing goblins, it becomes less and less impressive each time. XP for repeat kills should count less and less, as the local tavern dwellers are going to say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you killed some goblins. We've heard that before."

The easiest way to make repeat kills matter less and less over time is to adjust monster XP based on character level. OK, it might be easier to just keep track of which monsters a character has already slain and not count them again, but that's way more bookkeeping.

I'm thinking maybe a simpler method than multiplying XP by a ratio might be to compare character level to monster level and subtract half the monster XP per level of difference, so that 1st level monsters become worthless when the character is 3rd level, but I'm not sold on that method yet.

Attack Severity and Special Effects

Previously, I introduced the idea of a severity roll that can be integrated with Delta’s Target 20 System, a d20 roll-under system, or even standard D&D (with a little bit more math than the first two.) The basic idea is that any attack with a Severity rating of 4+ is a critical hit with a special effect.

Severity effects can be expanded into a table:

Rating	Severity	Detailed Explanation
0-1	Almost Missed	Attacker’s weapon is weakened if damage = 5+.
2-3	Solid Hit	No special effect, just deduct damage from hit points.
4-6	Critical Hit	Look up damage roll on Special Effect table.
7-8	Super Critical	As critical hit, but apply max damage to hit points.
9+	Ultra Critical	As critical hit, but add max damage to damage rolled.

All results assume the attack is successful, dealing standard damage at a minimum: 1d6 for most weapons, 2d6 for a spear when charging or setting spear for a charge, 3d6 for spear set for a charge against a fast and heavy monster, or other damage results for things like cannon or firearms. Always roll the damage, even if applying max damage to hit points. The damage roll is used in three ways:

1. As a deduction from hit points (Standard damage rules.)
2. As a test for whether a weapon is weakened (5 or more points of damage weakens weapon.)
3. As an index when looking up results on the Special Effect table. (Use the unmodified roll for this.)

Weakened Weapons and Armor

On an Almost Missed result, there is a chance the attacker’s weapon is weakened. This has no immediate effect, just note somewhere that it is a weakened weapon. You can disregard this result if the opponent is wearing light armor (leather, cloth, heavy furs) or is not wearing armor, unless the opponent used a shield to block or a weapon to parry. Any damage roll of 5 or more weakens the weapon.

Weapons and armor can also be weakened when struck by a ferocious blow. Check this the same way (damage of 5 or more = weakened,) but only if the attack is Super Critical or Ultra Critical. Again, you can ignore the weakened test for Light armor or if the attacker’s weapon is a soft, non-rigid material (bullwhip, bare fists, garrote.) If blocking or parrying, only the shield or weapon is tested, not the armor worn.

Any weapon or armor that is already weakened will break if weakened again. Or, to put it another way, it takes two Almost Missed results with damage 5+ to break a weapon, or two Super Critical/Ultra Critical results to break armor.

Cheap weapons and armor, if available for sale, count as weakened, as do rusty weapons and armor. A curse can also count as a weakened effect on either the cursed piece of equipment or on all equipment, if the curse is on the person or location. Weakened equipment can be repaired, but not cheap equipment.

Special Effects for Critical Hits

Consult this table for the base special effect caused by a critical, super critical, or ultra critical hit.

d6		Special Effect
1-2		Painful Blow, injured next action.
3-4		Injured for rest of combat.
5-6		Crippled until healed.
7+		Permanent Injury.

Being injured reduces Move to 3 and reduces effective level to 1 for the duration (next action, rest of combat, until healed, or permanently.) The reduction of level normally only applies to attacks, but if a blow is aimed, the injury will affect that body part. Injured limbs can affect physical skills, an injured head can affect mental skills or spell casting.

In addition to this base effect, each weapon may have a unique special effect based on form of attack.

• Slashing with Sharp Weapons causes bleeding (treat as a mild poison that does 1d6 additional damage every turn after combat unless bandaged.)
• Hacking with Sharp Weapons causes bleeding, but also any permanent injury means a body part is severed.
• Piercing with Sharp Points causes bleeding. If the attack was not aimed at a limb, permanent injury means immediate incapacitation and eventual death.
• Smashing with Heavy Weapons stuns weaker or smaller opponents for 1 to 4 rounds, knocking them prone on 5+. Also, on an Almost Missed result, an attacker using a heavy weapon can be pushed back or knocked prone if they themselves are weaker or smaller than their opponent.

Design Notes

This is basically a redesign of the weapon damage tables replacing multiple tables (one for each weapon type) with a unified Special Effects table and adding more variety via the severity levels. I should in the future revisit that material, especially the unarmed combat material, and update it to this format.

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