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Star Trek Adventures: Operations Division

Operations Division

The Operations Division is a sometimes uneasy alliance of security and engineering personnel, both trained and equipped to cope with the inherent dangers of space exploration. Without engineering innovation, there would be no space exploration; and all this equipment can (and does) go wrong and must be fixed, lives often hanging in the balance until it is working again. Security officers are the nearest Starfleet gets to having a military. They also have a law enforcement role, and some undertake intelligence work. Naturally all eras of play have need of both specialities, the one change being that of uniform, from red in early eras to gold in TNE era. Appropriate quotations lend atmosphere, and sidebars provide rule information and details of differences between eras throughout.

Chapter 2: Operations Division provides a detailed view about how the Division is structured and what its members do. Of particular interest are the organisations beyond a starship's crew that provide support or assistance (or maybe something else...): Fleet Operations, the Starfleet Corps of Engineers, Starfleet Intelligence and even Department 31. History, duties and deployment are covered, in sufficient detail for them to interact with a starship crew or even for a game to be run centring on characters assigned there.

Next Chapter 3: Operations Division Characters provides resources for players creating characters from the Division, with a wealth of additional options for them to consider.

This is followed by Chapter 4: Advanced Technology which covers some of the specialised equipment available to engineers and security, complete with game stats for personal weaponry, engineering tools, and starship systems. There are also ideas to support GMs in making the technology an integral part of the game.

Chapter 5: Using the Operations Division is aimed at GMs, and is packed with suggestions on how to make best use of engineering and security members of the party during play, with an emphasis on role-appropriate challenges as well as on entire storylines focussing on these areas. This is followed by Chapter 6: Operations Personnel which provides sample members of the Division with diverse roles and backgrounds to use as NPCs, allies or opposition as suits the plot.

Finally, Chapter 7: Red Alert provides alternate combat rules designed for miniatures skirmish-style play when diplomacy breaks down and a brawl is inevitable. The aim is to keep tension high and not bog the game down... and encourage the purchase of Modiphius' Star Trek miniatures (which, if you like miniatures in your game, are rather nice ones).

This book is a treat to read especially if you like starship engineers. It's very character-focussed, so the player does not have to be an engineer themselves or a walking encyclopaedia of Star Fleet technology to play a member of the Operations Division. And it turns security personnel into more than the unnamed fellow in a red shirt whose only purpose is to be killed off during away missions!

Return to Operations Division page.

Reviewed: 10 March 2020