Reviewed by Marc Farrimond

There is a distinct art to being a good storyteller, and having the ability to capture and enthral those who are listening. By just the power of their own voice and imagination, a good storyteller can make new worlds appear from thin air and can send the soul on a flight of fantasy. Over the centuries there have been many great storytellers, from Shakespeare to Hans Christian Anderson, Steven Spileburg and beyond, and whether it is a stage play, a book of fables or a block buster movie, the storyteller wields his craft like a surgeon in a theatre, with skill and precision.

Taking others into your own mind is something that we as role-players and games masters seem to take for granted much more so than others who don't share our love for the hobby. But just how do you tell a really good and captivating story? What is it that sets some GMs apart from others and makes their adventures stand out? Well the answers are both simple and complex at the same time, something of a paradox really and very difficult to describe in a few short words. Since the roleplaying hobby began way back in the mid 70’s, a great many articles and books have been written on the art of storytelling and just how one should go about getting the most from both their adventures and the players alike. Joining this lengthy list is the Narrators Toolkit from Last Unicorn games, the first addition to their excellent new roleplaying game Star Trek the Next Generation.

Last Unicorn have not only give us a great new tool for the TNG roleplaying game, but have also given games masters and storytellers everywhere something that is as valuable as the players themselves. For many years television has dominated the lives of almost every person on this small rock we call home, and it is the use of television and film script design that is utilised to its very best here from Last Unicorn. Almost every possible aspect of both storytelling and keeping pace flowing is covered here, with the main emphasis being on fun and reward, both for the storyteller and the players.

The Toolkit is broken down into a variety of different topics and themes, split among the 50+ pages of this attractive black and white booklet, and many aspects of the Star Trek universe are not only covered but analysed in great detail. The booklet itself is split into four separate sections, Narrators Advice, Advanced Storytelling, Hide and Q and Forms, with each covering a different approach to the craft of being a narrator, whether it is advice or worksheets to aid the narrator in game play, or in the case of Hide and Q an adventure. High quality photographs taken directly from the show and the movies are placed throughout the book and add a great depth to the whole layout. Everything from character development, and plot and theme are covered, as well as using a narrative to tell a story is covered and covered extremely well.

Giving advice to a Gamesmasters can often be like pouring water over the proverbial ducks back. A great deal of the time very sound and often useful advice that has appeared in games products over the years is often seen as condescending or pushy, and at worst as downright dumb. Many GM’s believe that they are without doubt among the best storytellers in the hobby, and this is where a great many fall down, by not taking advice or listening to others ideas. Perhaps the greatest form of storytelling known to man is the medium of the moving image, after all we perceive the world this way and it comes natural for us to follow the cause and effect of actions on television and in movies. Writing for the screen (big or small) is a very difficult task, yet we see programs every day which most of us take for granted.

What Last Unicorn have cleverly done here is take the approach that one would take if attending film school, or setting out to write an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation. Writers use a great many props and tools when working, I know having studied the medium of film and television in great detail, and the use of such forms is given here. Early on in the booklet is an example of just how an episode of a Star Trek program should look when broken down. Indexing is one of the tools that is used in the industry, wherein a set of events are placed on index cards and will link together to form a whole at the conclusion of the program.

Showing as example a visit from a Klingon Admiral to a Federation Starship and the brief dialogue he exchanges with a crewmember sets us up for part of the plot. The next example is the attack on the ship from a Cardassian vessel! Add to both these events the subplot of a field of radiation that is draining the ships power and making it a sitting duck and you get plot and subplot. When all these are linked together they form the whole with a beginning, middle and a conclusion. The samples we are presented with the complete narrative which makes logical sense and does not seem disjointed. The coverage of indexing is extremely well written. So much so that I have recommended the book to a tutor friend who may use it as example with his film and television students. Not wanting to bog you down with the terminology of film and the moving image, I will leave it at that, but needless to say this section is a must for all games masters no matter what system you are using.

Tips are given throughout the section on scene setting, using theme and mood, plots and plot devices, and many other terms, again all excellently explained in clear English for the layman to understand. Of course seeing as this is a Star Trek supplement it goes without saying that the show crops up for almost every example, with episodes and movies being given as examples to the facts and showing how things are laid out in screenplay/script writing. Themes among Trek are as many and varied as the stars in the heavens and a good many of these are given as examples along the way in the booklet. Take the example of using allegories in Star Trek or metaphor’s. Some people will only see Star Trek as a kind of soap opera set in space, with Klingons and Romulans being just stock bad guys! However both the Klingons and Romulans have there roots based firmly in reality, as well as a great many of the other races in the show. During the course of all of the Trek shows a great many books and articles have been written, showing that Klingons where Russians, Ferengi were Jews, the Federation as the Americans, etc and these allegories are often used to depict events that are taking place in the real world. The Borg for example, are the definitive loss of identity that faces many people and is one of the real horrors of our own world. Not wanting to get into philosophical debate here, as this isn't the place or forum for such things, but the advanced storytelling section splits all these things up and underlines them in case they have been missed.

Horror and comedy are both difficult to portray in a roleplaying game convincingly, and can give a GM nightmares. Tips are given for approaching both subjects and examples again from the TNG show are given to highlight the points.

Other themes such as exploration, espionage, romance, and even personal crisis are all covered in good detail, showing just how these have been handled in the show. Setting and pace of game are also covered in the section, along with other items such as how to deal with that problem gamer that most groups/clubs seem to attract, the ones who just sit there and do nothing or cause conflict with other players! In fact there are so many items to cover that I just don't have the space to do so here!

Hide and Q is an adventure for the game, and as the title says it stars the mischievous omnipotent ‘Q’ a being with god like powers who loves to mess about with humanity and put them to the test! The adventure is based on the first season episode of the same name and even if your players have seen this episode its still a chance to mess around with their minds for a while, and they should still enjoy it as it is very simple to change things to suite the situation. The adventure plays very well and I found it quite fun watching my players jumping through hoops that they were making themselves.

The forms at the back of the booklet give you another character sheet (this time easier to copy without damaging the book) a creature template to work out the beasts for your episodes, a planetary template (speaks for itself) and plot cards (index cards) for ease of creating a natural flowing adventure. I can see a lot or GM’s using these a great deal, and I have been doing so myself for many years and found them to be of great value.

The toolkit also comes with a nice looking Narrators Screen which lists all the skills and rolls needed in combat/ task resolution and also has some nice colour photographs from TNG too. I don't really like using GMs shields as I find that I get distracted by them at times, but I know a great many storytellers love them and this is well laid out and the print isn't too small as with many other screens I have seen over the years. One final and reassuring thought is given towards the end of the narration section, Last Unicorn state that if you don't like the rules given in one of their products, then don't use them! With a lot of companies laying down the exact letter of the law these days when it comes to their own products, this comes as a welcome relief. If you think that Klingons are not hard enough for your campaign, then you can beef them up as much as needed, or if you think that an away team should consist only of player characters, then there is nothing stopping you. However seeing as these rules will be soon used in Star Trek conventions all over the world this could cause problems.

As stated in the review of the rule book (click here for details), none of the characters from the television show are given again to be used by the players. We do get a section of the book that covers the pros and cons of using Data, Riker and Worf, etc, but no stats. Playing one of the characters from the show gives the player instant access to thousands of plot and character developments and all the hard work has been done for you. Fans of the long running series will all know that Worf is a man caught in the middle of two cultures, his Klingon birthright and his adaptive human heritage, and it wouldn't be in the characters nature or development to suddenly have him turn around and openly attack these beliefs without good reason. Another downside is that no matter how well you feel you know Star Trek, there is always someone who knows it a little better and if your playing the game with 4-5 gamers at least one of them will have seen almost (if not all) every episode and will pull you apart if your play of the series hero falls short or your do something wrong.

I have only touched on the surface of the Narrators Toolkit here as there is a wealth of information about the system and storytelling for you to explore. This is a must have for all Narrators of the Star Trek the Next Generation rpg and wouldn’t hurt GM’s of other systems to check it out as they may learn something from it, I know that I did! Highly recommended.

Presentation 9 out of 10

Value 10 out of 10

Content 10 out of 10

Overall 10 out of 10

Marc

The Star Trek the Next Generation RPG: Narrators Toolkit, should be available from good hobby and game stores everywhere, but in case of difficulty can be obtained from

Disclaimer: All images and likeness are the © of Last Unicorn Games Ltd. and Paramount Pictures, and are used only for promotional purposes. No infringement on © is intended in anyway.