What do you think?
Rate this book
Captain's Log Solo Roleplaying Game
The Captain’s Log Solo Roleplaying Game is a 326-page, full-color standalone digest-sized rulebook that provides a complete, streamlined version of the award-winning 2d20 System used for the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game, which you can use to create your own Star Trek stories with a dynamic character formed from your own imagination.
Whether you are venturing into the cosmos alone, conducting Galaxy-spanning missions cooperatively with friends, or exploring the unknown with a gamemaster facilitating your adventures, use the guidance and random tables contained in Captain’s Log to generate countless hours of memorable adventures in the Star Trek universe.
Create an original character and then use the tools in this book, combined with your fertile imagination, to fashion your own fascinating Star Trek-style stories. Play in any era of Star Trek - from the 21st century to the 32nd century and everything in between. Explore strange new worlds, new civilizations, and all the wonders of the universe!
What will you discover while exploring the final frontier?
Whether you are venturing into the cosmos alone, conducting Galaxy-spanning missions cooperatively with friends, or exploring the unknown with a gamemaster facilitating your adventures, use the guidance and random tables contained in Captain’s Log to generate countless hours of memorable adventures in the Star Trek universe.
Create an original character and then use the tools in this book, combined with your fertile imagination, to fashion your own fascinating Star Trek-style stories. Play in any era of Star Trek - from the 21st century to the 32nd century and everything in between. Explore strange new worlds, new civilizations, and all the wonders of the universe!
What will you discover while exploring the final frontier?
326 pages, Hardcover
Published August 3, 2023
11 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 18, 2023
I have over the last couple years gotten into solo RPGs. I was intrigued by this offering by Modiphius that appeared to be a specifically designed system for playing this 2d20 system RPG Star Trek Adventures. I found out it was much more. It's actually a standalone system specifically for playing a Star Trek RPG solo in the form of a 'Captains Log' tracking the exploits and adventures of the character you've created and their exploits.
The game let's you play in any era of the IP, and is even flexible enough to allow you to play any kind of character from that universe. I'd say you probably should start playing a Federation Captain to start with and get a feel for solo Journaling/Roleplaying before trying something like a Klingon Captain or a Freelance traveller.
The book is nicely made with a bookmark ribbon. The interior art and design is appealing and captures the atmisphere of Star Trek. There are a few more typos then I think there should be but they aren't hard to decipher. I would recommend this to anyone looking to try solo RPGs.
I just finished reading the rules and created a character and ship and I'm excited to dive in and give it a try!
The game let's you play in any era of the IP, and is even flexible enough to allow you to play any kind of character from that universe. I'd say you probably should start playing a Federation Captain to start with and get a feel for solo Journaling/Roleplaying before trying something like a Klingon Captain or a Freelance traveller.
The book is nicely made with a bookmark ribbon. The interior art and design is appealing and captures the atmisphere of Star Trek. There are a few more typos then I think there should be but they aren't hard to decipher. I would recommend this to anyone looking to try solo RPGs.
I just finished reading the rules and created a character and ship and I'm excited to dive in and give it a try!
August 8, 2023
I am really enjoying this thus far. I've never played a solo RPG system designed to be a solo experience before, only modules specifically designed for TTRPGs that are crafted for one player. I already know Star Trek and Star Trek Adventures quite well, so I felt like a lot of the fluff/"what is Star Trek?" at the start of the book was pretty much extra for me, but appreciate that it'd be very helpful for those looking for a primer first. I had similar feelings about the Player's Guide and Gamemaster's Guide for the TTPRG version, but that's more a not-very-useful-to-me thing than an actual flaw, and bound to be a benefit to others.
If I have any singular complaint—and it's a bit of a stretch, and would only come up during a lot of play-throughs—it's that some of the matrixes feel a bit too specific, and wouldn't lend themselves to a second roll result. (What I mean by that is, as a random example, one entry result on a "Different Dimension" entry is "You are one year in the future, and everyone seems to have forgotten that your crew and ship ever existed..." which is great the first time you roll it, but if you roll it a second time, it's rather specific. But hey, I'd probably re-roll, and it's only one of twenty entries on that particular chart.)
The major point, though, is I'm having fun, and I don't normally get to be a player in many games, instead of the gamemaster, and this is so close to feeling like a player. It's also one heck of a writing prompt engine, given the nature of how solo RPGs work, and honestly, I love me a good writing prompt, so really, this hits a sweet spot for me.
(If you're interested, my results with this are going up on Ao3, starting with the first log of my Conn ensign, "Collisions," here.)
If I have any singular complaint—and it's a bit of a stretch, and would only come up during a lot of play-throughs—it's that some of the matrixes feel a bit too specific, and wouldn't lend themselves to a second roll result. (What I mean by that is, as a random example, one entry result on a "Different Dimension" entry is "You are one year in the future, and everyone seems to have forgotten that your crew and ship ever existed..." which is great the first time you roll it, but if you roll it a second time, it's rather specific. But hey, I'd probably re-roll, and it's only one of twenty entries on that particular chart.)
The major point, though, is I'm having fun, and I don't normally get to be a player in many games, instead of the gamemaster, and this is so close to feeling like a player. It's also one heck of a writing prompt engine, given the nature of how solo RPGs work, and honestly, I love me a good writing prompt, so really, this hits a sweet spot for me.
(If you're interested, my results with this are going up on Ao3, starting with the first log of my Conn ensign, "Collisions," here.)
November 19, 2024
I saw this at the neighborhood gameshop and had to have it. I enjoy solo gaming. I play several solo card games and in the past have enjoyed gamebooks like Lone Wolf and Fabled Lands. I also enjoy narrative games like Quill and Eerie that require a player to letter write or journal through an adventure.
Captain's Log is a bit like all of those wrapped into one. Captain's Log relies on Random Roll charts to determine events, threats, advantages, complications, etc...I am very familiar with this type of gaming where players roll for dungeon sizes, room contents, monsters, etc...certainly not a new concept to tabletop rpg'ers.
Pros: Great book of information and ideas.
Cons: What makes Captain's Log an annoying system is the time required to setup a session and a mission. It's just too much - I felt like I was the GM and the Player, having to create all the Events, NPC's, and then having to generate random events during play that may then require more NPC's, Ships, and Places. I was reminded of all the things I hate about tabletop gaming with a group - and when asked to fill the role of both GM and Player it's even more annoying and double the work.
Also, as a player narrating his own adventure I felt like I was just making stuff up to succeed, and many times I was floundering to generate a log that fulfilled my random rolls and also got me out of a situation and into the next.
Many times you feel like your left in the wind, and it feels like a waste of time. I kept asking myself why am I even wasting my time with this, I could just be sitting in my living room imagining a better story than what this game is trying to force me to do.
So, I don't think I can recommend this. It's clunky and not easy to work with. It's very time consuming and in the end I think just writing a fictional Captains Log would be a better experiment. Perhaps when I have the time I may really shave this system down to something playable, but as is it's work and I found I wasn't excited about finishing a mission.
Captain's Log is a bit like all of those wrapped into one. Captain's Log relies on Random Roll charts to determine events, threats, advantages, complications, etc...I am very familiar with this type of gaming where players roll for dungeon sizes, room contents, monsters, etc...certainly not a new concept to tabletop rpg'ers.
Pros: Great book of information and ideas.
Cons: What makes Captain's Log an annoying system is the time required to setup a session and a mission. It's just too much - I felt like I was the GM and the Player, having to create all the Events, NPC's, and then having to generate random events during play that may then require more NPC's, Ships, and Places. I was reminded of all the things I hate about tabletop gaming with a group - and when asked to fill the role of both GM and Player it's even more annoying and double the work.
Also, as a player narrating his own adventure I felt like I was just making stuff up to succeed, and many times I was floundering to generate a log that fulfilled my random rolls and also got me out of a situation and into the next.
Many times you feel like your left in the wind, and it feels like a waste of time. I kept asking myself why am I even wasting my time with this, I could just be sitting in my living room imagining a better story than what this game is trying to force me to do.
So, I don't think I can recommend this. It's clunky and not easy to work with. It's very time consuming and in the end I think just writing a fictional Captains Log would be a better experiment. Perhaps when I have the time I may really shave this system down to something playable, but as is it's work and I found I wasn't excited about finishing a mission.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews