By Joseph DeMarco
Coming up with adventures can be a rewarding adventure.
I saw a channel on YouTube opening a booster pack from the Star Trek Customizable Card Game. I remember the feeling of opening boosters myself — the smell of new cards, the fresh artwork of nostalgia for fans of the series, and that small spark of strategy ideas as you see which missions, officers, and dilemmas were inside.
While the channel was revealing the cards, I started to wonder if the cards in a booster could capture inspiration and turn into storytelling fuel for missions in Star Trek Adventures or Captain’s Log.
What if instead of building a deck, we built a mission based on the cards in the booster pack?
Here’s the Process
- Open a booster pack of Star Trek CCG.
- Sort by type – Personnel, Ships, Equipment, Missions, Events, Interrupts, and Dilemmas.
- Build a story around the cards you drew. The missions become your objectives. The personnel and ships are your crew or people encountered. Events and interrupts form the unexpected twists and dilemmas.
I discovered the result is a fast, creative, and unpredictable way to craft Star Trek stories that feel authentically Trek — taking established locations, events, and dilemmas and turning them into moral choices, scientific mysteries, and unexpected encounters.
Let’s See What Happens
The booster pack I opened had three missions: Expose Covert Supply, Explore Typhon Expanse, and Covert Installation. Two of these missions were Romulan missions, while the Typhon Expanse included a Klingon tag. This gives us a basic concept for what is happening in the adventure.
The personnel inside were two common Romulans — Taul, a security officer, and Palteth, an engineer. The booster also contained Nikolai Rozhenko, a Federation civilian, and Hannah Bates, a Federation science personnel.
With the personnel cards being considered unique cards, we could easily change the names to fit our own story, or use them as they are in our adventure depending on the time period we choose to run in.
The booster pack contained one ship — the U.S.S. Oberth. This could be our ship or the ship our crew encounters if we’re using an already existing captain and crew.
The booster pack had two events: Subspace Warp Rift and Espionage: Romulan on Federation.
Two dilemmas included were Male’s Love Interest and Female’s Love Interest. These give us plot points that could happen during our adventure.
The booster contained two interrupts — Scan and Subspace Interference. One Romulan Disruptor was the only equipment.
The locations provide regions to explore. The Male’s Love Interest, Female’s Love Interest, and Espionage: Romulan on Federation are three cards that stood out to me. Perhaps the adventure involves a love triangle between a Federation officer, a Romulan officer, and the pull of duty.
A Rough Idea for This Adventure
The crew receives orders to investigate a covert installation hidden within the shifting anomalies of the Typhon Expanse, a region long feared for its unpredictable subspace rifts and distortions. Starfleet Intelligence has intercepted evidence of Espionage: Romulan on Federation, suggesting that Federation supply lines in the area have been compromised. The players are to Expose Covert Supply.
Arriving on the U.S.S. Oberth, the crew quickly discovers that the situation is far more tangled than expected. Two Romulans, Subcommander Taul and Engineer Palteth, are found stranded near the rift, each claiming the other sabotaged their mission. Palteth is a defector seeking asylum.
Meanwhile, a civilian observer, Nikolai Rozhenko, and Dr. Hannah Bates, studying the subspace phenomena, find themselves drawn into the escalating conflict.
As strange subspace interference scrambles communications and sensor readings, emotional tensions rise. A forbidden romance between a Federation officer and a Romulan operative threatens to expose both their loyalties and the truth behind the covert installation’s purpose.
A subspace rift tears open, merging realities — and hearts — alike. The crew must decide whether to protect Federation security or risk everything for understanding.
The mission’s outcome hinges on diplomacy, deception, and the choices caught between duty and desire.
Your Turn
This idea came together from just 15 cards. There are a couple of other ideas that I have from these cards — what ideas could you come up with?
What if you don’t have a booster pack of Star Trek CCG just laying around? Perhaps a booster from other card games can be your inspiration. Or perhaps take your existing Star Trek CCG cards, select a few Personnel, Ships, Equipment, Missions, Events, Interrupts, and Dilemmas at random, and create an inspired adventure based off those.
Grab your cards, your notebook, and your rulebook.
Boldly draw where no one has drawn before.
Star Trek Adventures and Captain’s Log are from Modiphius Entertainment.
The Star Trek Customizable Card Game is from Decipher Inc.
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