Star Fleet Universe Presented by Gavin Downing

Submitted by Gavin Downing

Back in 1979, Amarillo Design Bureau created Star Fleet Battles, a tactical space combat game set in the Star Trek universe.  But while they did gain the Star Trek license, they gained only partial rights.  They could not use “Star Trek” in the title, nor could they have any of the named characters appear, nor could they use or reference anything from the later movies or shows.  Instead, ADB started expanding what they did have into new directions.  This eventually led to the Star Fleet Universe, a whole separate timeline closely related to Trek, but decidedly not the same as our familiar universe.

I only recently discovered the Star Fleet Universe setting, but after looking through, I’ve found some fascinating concepts.  The Klingons have a large empire; are they truly the only sentient species native to their territory, or are there subject species?  What might they be like?  So I started thinking about what some of those Star Fleet Universe species might look like in the main Star Trek universe.

What follows are ten species created for the Star Fleet Universe setting, converted to Star Trek Adventures, with a few minor changes to allow them to fit into the traditional Star Trek setting  I drew these from the GURPS Prime Directive 4e, published in 2006.  Some species needed name changes; for example, there are already at least three different Rigellean species in Trek, so bringing the Rigelleans of the Star Fleet Universe is required an additional marker, like the Jelna or Chelon.  The “Arcturians” of the Star Fleet Universe are distinctly different from the Arcturians seen in Star Trek: the Motion Picture, so they needed a new name entirely.  Some of these species could be a good addition to a Starfleet vessel; others might add some diversity to a Klingon campaign; all could be potential antagonists.

This is only a small number of species unique to the Star Fleet Universe.  If this inspires you, feel free to look deeper into the Star Fleet Universe to get ideas, draw additional species over, or maybe play STA within the distinctly different (though clearly related) setting.