I've owned this game since it came out in 1993, and I've never had a chance to play it.
Too bad for me. I've been looking over it, and it's a damn fine RPG. It's a hell of a lot better game the newest Star Trek RPG that's hit the market.
The game's task system is impressive. It's generally referred to as the "tricode" system. Here's a quick overview. And, I'm talking about the original game. I believe the game was republished for GURPS and d20.
When you throw a task, you throw a number of D6 and compare against the task's tricode.
Let me explain...
How many dice do you throw? You throw a number of D6 equal to your characteristic + skill. So, if you wanted to fire your phaser, you'd add your Accuracy-6 and Fire Phaser-6 skill together, getting 12/2 = 6. You'd throw 6D.
If throwing a task that is totally characteristic based, then you throw a number of D6 equal to your characteristic level.
If throwing a task that is totally skill based, then you throw a number of D6 equal to your skill level.
And, there are more than one way to throw a task--more than those three ways I've just shown. But, I'm keeping this simple.
Tricode: Each task has a tricode. A tricode looks like this: 2/4/6 or 4/8/12 or 1/3/5.
When you throw your dice, you look for the highest die thrown.
If you throw a 6, you can add 5 to that die and re-roll (some numbers higher than 6 are possible).
The tricode tells you your Success Level. Throwing the first number gives you a Minimal Success. Throwing the second number gives you a Moderate Success. Throwing the far right, last number gives you a Complete Success.
So...if we throw 6D and get: 5, 1, 3, 5, 1, 2. And...your tricode is: 2/4/6. Then, you have scored a Moderate Success (because no result was 6+).
I think it's a pretty freakin' cool system. One throw. Variable outcomes--not just pass/fail.
If your Phaser Pistol was set to the Lethal-1 setting, then you'd do 2 points of damage on a Minimal Hit, 4 points of damage on a Moderate Hit, and 6 points of damage on a Complete Hit.
One task roll revealing degree of success and no damage roll! I dig it! Quick!
Only One Die Result. When you throw on a tricode, you can add up some successes to get a higher success. For example, if you threw 6D and got: 5, 1, 3, 5, 1, 5 against a tricode of 2/4/6. This shows that you got three Moderate successes, and if you score 3 x Mod success, then it is considered that your result is actually a Complete Success.
As mentioned earlier, a 6 on a die result will explode. So, if you threw 6D and got 5, 1, 6, 5, 1, 2 against a tricode of 4/8/12, then you can take the 6, add 5 to it, making it 11. Then, you can re-roll the die and keep rerolling it as long as you throw 6's. You'd have to re-roll twice, and get real lucky, in order to hit that 12 for a Complete Success, though. The odds are way against you (unless your original roll featured multiple 6's).
Combat Round: It is played in 4 second turns. But, the game offers two options. First, there's a detailed combat system, and then there's a lite version of combat, depending on your mechanical tastes. The game fits those who like crunchy combat as well as heroic, quick combat.
A/I Test. This is the Action/Initiative roll a character makes at the start of a combat round. It's a Speed task roll vs. a tricode of 4/6/8.
A Minimal Initiative will net the character a single Simple Action for the round, and he can only move 1 meter or less that round.
A Moderate Initiative will indicate that the character can take a Simple Action and move half is movement.
A Complete Initiative tells us that the character gets a Complex Action and full movement.
So, you can see how the tricode system is used for all aspects of the game. The skills have descriptions on how to use them with tricode results, and there is a section for the GM on how to create tricodes.
