Goodbye, old friend...

[Don Mappin]

Last Thursday I played in what could be my last Icon game. The group I play with, who were also playtesters for Coda, have made the determination to convert our characters over. Mostly because we’re jazzed for the new system, are already familiar with it, and the characters convert over really well.

Although I’ve made my share of disparaging comments on the Drama Die—or as I like to call it, the “No Drama” die—I have a fond tale to tell of our last hurrah with Icon.

We were in a pitched battle, getting the snot beaten out of us by some Jem’Hadar fighters just outside a huge ion storm. As the Jem’Hadar (five of them) turned to flee and report our position, I was struck with a classic Star Trek technobabble solution to our predicament (I’m the XO). By polarizing the ship’s hull, we used the starship as a lightning rod to absorb and funnel energy from the ion storm and then release it out through the main deflector as a coherent energy beam. Basically, a Big Ass Gun.

Well, we did so and the ship was taking lots of damage and we had successfully destroyed two of the five fighters, damaging a third. Unfortunately our ship was so badly damaged itself that the trick of siphoning off energy from the ion storm was probably going to destroy us if we didn’t discontinue its use immediately.

Of course we pressed on.

The flight control officer was aiming the Big Ass Gun by steering the ship, hitting and destroying the two remaining Jem’Hadar fighters. The fifth and final vessel was getting away. With a multiple action penalty after already ‘firing’ twice, the flight control officer, out of Courage Points, could only hope that with one last desperate shot he could hit the Jem’Hadar—otherwise we were screwed—or worse.

As the roll was made the table erupted with cries of success as the Drama Die came up 6, and with an impressive roll the flight control officer hit the last Jem’Hadar, sending them to their graves with a massive 92 point blast!

Aptly, I believe that was one of the final rolls that evening as our friend, the Icon System, was put to rest.

Sometimes, it just all comes together.

[Sarge]

It's the rarity of those moments that make them special. If you had a way of controlling the dice, there'd be no suspense, and your victories would be hollow. That's why I like the drama die in ST and the wild die in SW.

Anyway, glad to hear your game ended with a bang.

[METH]

As the FASA Trek game still haunts cons, I feel the LUG Trek game will always have a near and dear spot in many gamers' hearts. This is in part due to the amount of passion that went into its creation by its designers. Some players may stay with it for many reasons, such as investment already made into books, familiarity with mechanics, depth of skill choices, tried and true, and not wanting to invest in a new system or wait for new items. As a Narrator, I will encourage the new system with its room for growth and set expansion dates. When it all boils down, Narrators will always be limited by what their players really want to do. LUGTrek was a well-designed system and may still see years of effective playtime. Look at how long the old D&D system in various incarnations has stuck around?