We’re here today with some awesome guidance from STA superfan Chris Cafiero. Playing on Roll20, Chris has really stepped up his display with some awesome animated decks, graphics, and interfaces. Watch this video and learn to be like Chris!
From the Author:
I’m from upstate NY, spent 30 years living in Dallas, TX (Love it & Miss it!), and am now living in Las Vegas, NV (my wife is from Texas, we moved here to help her mother). I’m a lawyer by profession and was a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne before I went to college, saw combat in Grenada in 1983…40 years ago now, hard to believe!
I’ve been a Star Trek fan from forever, watching the re-runs endlessly as a kid after school. My favorite thing about Star Trek is the “Boldly Going”; the idea that in the future it may once again be possible to strike out into the unknown like it was in the great ages of exploration has always thrilled me. Columbus, Shackleton, Percy Fawcett, Cook, Darwin, Magellan…all heroes in my book. My take on Star Trek games runs more towards a “Horatio Hornblower” style game. In TOS era, moreso than others, I think that a Captain & crew have to be that rare combination of explorer, scientist, diplomat, judge, and yes, sometimes the solider.
In the late 80’s and early 90’s I worked on the staff of TFG and Star Fleet Battles, and contributed some published content. I also have credits in some naval miniatures games from General Quarters III and Post Captain.I play (or have played) a wide variety of RPG’s and Wargames, and still do as time allows. Currently, I have games of STA and Twilight 2000 (4e) going, and also play Aliens…there are a dozen others I’m also interested in. I played the old FASA trek a bit, but was really into Last Unicorn/Decipher in the day. Love STA for the system, its beautiful presentation, and the large community!
I enjoy miniatures and imaginative game set-ups, and as my gaming group has spread across the country, like many, I’ve turned to using virtual table tops like Roll20…I am very interested in using these new options to continue to create an immersive gaming experience…playing together around a table is great, but when you can’t you can use the virtual tabletops to do some things you can even do in person, hence my interest in immersive, animated, ship decks, maps, animated gif, and sounds, etc to “Show rather than Tell”.
I’m working on a few follow-ups on how to make, or where to get a lot of the things I use in the video, so hopefully this is the first in a series of video tips…if time and family allow!
I was about to post a link to my animated handout overlays that use the same method and then discovered that Chris uses them later in the video! 😀
My instructions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpFpd9a5PpE
Image files here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EXHWmzYdJAFoauwuhi8E0C8IjtFmXalz?usp=sharing
Nice work Wayne, I found and saved the files so long ago, I couldn’t remember where they came from. I’ll update the description with a credit for you!
No worries. Love what you’ve done with them.
I used many of those TOS bridge overlays when I ran my game on Foundry VTT a year ago. The best part was not describing the damage to the ship, but throwing up a status screen and seeing their faces read it and go into shock.
Agreed, when playing “Adrift” in the Shackleton Expanse the sudden wail of alerts and the wormhole screen had similar effects!
This is amazing.
Thanks!
Hey, I’m glad you are enjoying the 60’s sci fi maps. If anyone wants to find similar battle maps for your games, you can find them here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/GameMaps
and join the Facebook group for some freebies now and then (check the files section). https://www.facebook.com/groups/rpgbattlemaps
Thanks for making them Aaron! While not pictured he makes cool Klingon-looking deck tiles with the same 60’s vibe. Rumor has it, there will be additional 60’s-style Federation-like tiles as well!