Submitted by Stephen Near

The Battle of Wolf 359 is a signature event in Star Trek. Indeed, when it comes to The Next Generation, it’s arguably the defining event. Shaping the lives of countless characters, Wolf 359 had implications that deeply affected Starfleet and the Federation and influenced storylines on Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Picard, to name a few. So, when I began planning my own Star Trek Adventures campaign, the idea that my game might start at the Battle of Wolf 359 was a no-brainer.

Game masters (GMs) might fear that anchoring an RPG session to such a pivotal event in Star Trek would be fraught with peril. After all, the last thing a GM wants is to railroad their players into a predetermined plot. And the dreaded power of canon—in this case, when Starfleet suffered a hopeless defeat against an implacable foe—might seem to dispel any sense of player agency. However, Star Trek Adventures excels at exploring themes like trauma, grief, and sacrifice, rather than simply handing players a straightforward victory. This makes a Wolf 359 session incredibly appealing, especially given the abundance of untold stories surrounding the event.

Using Wolf 359 as the starting point for my campaign was an easy way to set the tone and themes of the game while uniting the characters through a shared, albeit traumatic, experience. For my players, using Wolf 359 as the inciting incident also provided a sort of shorthand for accessing the game. Each of them had seen “The Best of Both Worlds” (and Deep Space Nine’s “Emissary”) many times, so they all intuitively understood its implications for Star Trek. Yet none of them had played Star Trek Adventures before. Starting with a well-known event served as a gateway into the gaming system, helping them situate themselves as players in the world of STA.

Another bonus of using Wolf 359 was the opportunity to draw upon elements from the excellent fan-written book We Have Engaged the Borg: The Oral History of the Battle of Wolf 359. Written by Andy Poulastides and Eric V. Muirhead, this book reads like a historical document chronicling the lead-up to the battle, the event itself, and its aftermath from multiple perspectives. Its diverse points of view offer intriguing solutions to some of the dangling plot threads in the story while providing great hooks for an STA game. For example, it ingeniously explores why the fleet chose to make their stand at Wolf 359 and presents the chilling strategy Admiral Hanson hoped might ultimately defeat the Borg.

Presented in the form of a Mission Brief called “Resistance,” this scenario includes references to page numbers for Star Trek Adventures Second Edition but is easily adaptable for First Edition. Enjoy!