Star Trek Adventures will always hold a special place in my heart, both because it’s Star Trek and because I spent over a year GMing for a group of friends as they navigated their ship, the USS Coalition, through all sorts of Trek-like conundrums. I’m always looking for new players to get into Modiphius’ great 2d20 tabletop system, and the Tricorder Collector’s Boxed Set works both as an entry point in Star Trek Adventures and a cool TOS themed addition to any Star Trek Adventures collection.
You get a lot inside of the Tricorder set: there is a soft covered TOS-themed “digest” edition of the core rules, a three part adventure, two starships and corresponding bridge crew, tokens, and some TOS-colored d20s and a set of challenge dice—Star Trek Adventure flavored d6s. This is everything you need to play the game. Unlike the Starter Set, it doesn’t include character tokens or location tiles—which is a bit of a bummer, but not a deal breaker.
While the version of the core rules that come along with the Tricorder Set is called a “digest” it’s still pretty hefty, and comes in at over 300 pages. It’s essentially a TOS themed Core Rulebook, in a slightly condensed format. It’s not as easy to read through as the Starter Set rules if you want to just pick up and play, but the Rules Digest does a good enough job of editing and reorganizing the Core Rulebook into a slightly more useable text, while keeping all the lore tidbits and other flavor texts that help immerse you in the world of Star Trek. What is missing is a lot of the great art that has been featured in previous Modiphius Star Trek Adventures releases—and the art is does have is mostly reused from previous books. But what art is there is great, and the entire Rules Digest is layed out in a TOS style and color that makes it one of my favorite Star Trek Adventures rulebooks. I just wish it were hardcover.
Also included is an exclusive three-part adventure called ”The Keyhole of Eternity.” This module is modeled after the TOS-era, but can be easily adapted to be played in any era of Star Trek. “The Keyhole of Eternity” is classic Trek that features Orions, Klingons, psychic visions, and moral choices. I haven’t had a chance to run it, but I’ll definitely work it into my campaign the first chance I get.
You can play “The Keyhole of Eternity” with the included character sheets, or use your own. You have your pick between character sheets for the bridge crew of the USS Lexington, and Kirk and company along with the USS Enterprise. Included on the reverse side of the Original Series characters are handy rules references and summaries. Unlike those included in the Starter Set, these are made of rigid card stock that feels like they could stand up to repeated use.
The challenge dice included are the standard black d6 dice that have been included in other Star Trek Adventure sets. The d20s are a little different—they’re TOS-themed, colored after Kirk’s infamous green and gold tunic.
All of that comes in a TOS-style Tricorder box. The label says it has a cloth strap, but mine included a faux-leather strap that is much more heavy duty than I expected. The tricorder itself is a sturdy cardboard with a magnetic clasp that helps it stay shut. It’s stylish to display, but actually feels a bit cramped when it comes to storage. I ended up storing the dice and tokens elsewhere while keeping the Rules Digest, character sheet, and “The Keyhole of Eternity” adventure in the box. And while I appreciate the heavy duty strap, it makes it hard to display the tricorder itself, since the strap is pretty heavy it wants to pull down the narrow box.
If you were hoping for a TOS style core rulebook for Star Trek Adventures, this Tricorder Collector’s Set is the closest you’ll come. I wish the Rules Digest was hard cover, but I do appreciate the character sheets/rules reference being printed on card stock. The Tricorder itself is surprisingly robust for being made out of cardboard, and would look good on display—which I’m going to do, along with my other Star Trek junk.
You can find the Star Trek Adventures Tricorder Collector's Set here.
We were sent a complementary Tricorder Collector’s Boxed Set for the purposes of this review