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CalinStar edited this page Aug 28, 2026 · 17 revisions

Star Trek Adventures – Foundry VTT System Guide

This guide explains how to use the Star Trek Adventures (STA) system in Foundry Virtual Tabletop.
It covers actor sheets, item types, automation features, and tools.
The system supports both 1st Edition and 2nd Edition rules.


Table of Contents

Actor Types

Player Character (PC)

A full sheet for player-controlled characters.

Character Tab

  • Top-left: Portrait and Name.
  • Tracks:
    • Reputation (2e default length: 5; 1e default length: 20; both configurable in settings)
    • Determination (default length: 3)
    • Stress (auto-calculated from stats; see Automation)
  • Left column: Attributes and Disciplines with checkboxes — choose one of each for task rolls.
    • 2e option: Set Reputation as Discipline for rolls that substitute Reputation.
  • Actions & controls:
    • Perform Task — main task roll
    • Roll Acclaim — end-of-campaign reputation changes
    • (1e only) Perform Challenge — challenge roll
    • Stress Modifier — manual stress adjustment box (for house rules), accepts positive and negative integers
  • Bottom area: Tabs area explained below

Character Tab

  • Species, Rank, Assignment, and other background character details.

Traits Tab

  • Manage: Values, Talents, Focuses, Traits, and Belongings (weapons, armor, gear).
  • Injuries also appear here.
  • Drag-and-drop from the Items side bar or compendia is supported.

Development Tab

  • Character Log (per-mission notes), Milestones & Arcs (progress tracking), and checklists for improvements.

Notes Tab

  • Free-form text area for campaign notes, NPCs, and story details, descriptions, etc.

Supporting Character (2e only)

  • Similar to the character sheet, but with supporting character appropriate development tab options
  • Stress and determination track created when the character gains a value (50% stress), and full stress on two or more values

Non-Player Character (NPC) (2e only)

Streamlined character for quick GM use.

  • Tabs: Character (Attributes, Disciplines, Resistances), Traits.
  • Swaps out stress for Personal Threat and removed unneeded fields and tracks.
  • If the trait of Squad is added to the NPC, then the intensity of that trait is considered as squad size, and additional supporting dice are rolled with any task.

NPC Tiers:

  • Minorno personal threat
  • Notablepersonal threat 3
  • Majorpersonal threat 6 + number of Values
    (The sheet sets this dynamically based on your selection.)

Starship

Single-page vessel sheet.

  • Tracks:
    • Crew Supportdynamic from Scale
    • Shieldsdynamic from Systems/Departments and relevant Talent items
    • (2e) Reserve Power and Shaken checkboxes
    • (1e) Power track
    • Scale and Resistance
  • Systems & Departments list with values and Breach column.
    Breach thresholds change colour to indicate disabled/destroyed states.
  • Perform Task button and optional modifiers (Shields/Crew) if your table uses them.
  • Starship details (service date, mission profile, talents, traits, cargo) are kept on this page.

Small Craft

A lighter version of the Starship sheet:

  • No Crew Support (and no Launch Bay) section.
  • Otherwise functions like a starship for rolls and tracking.
  • Can be linked to a starship via a Small Craft Container item (see Item Types).
  • If the trait of Squadron is added to the small craft, then the intensity of that trait is considered as squadron size, and additional supporting dice are rolled with any task, in addition weapon damage is adjusted accordingly.

Scene Traits Actor

An actor you can drop into a scene to set environmental traits (e.g., dark, cold, low gravity).

  • Adding “Complication Range +1” raises the default complication range for all rolls whilst that scene is active.
  • Remove the trait to return to normal.

Extended Tasks

A dedicated sheet for tracking extended tasks:

  • Set Work Track length, Difficulty, Magnitude, and Resistance.
  • Add notes describing scope and approach.
  • Progress and resistance are tracked automatically by rolls.

Choosing Actor Sheet Types

In Game Settings → Default Document Sheets, choose which sheet new actors use (1e, 2e, supporting, or NPC).
You can override per actor.


Item Types

  • Value — Name + description of a core belief or principle.
  • Talent — Name, optional type/requirements (e.g., species or attribute prerequisites), and description (what it does and when it applies).
  • Focus — Name + description (specialised expertise applied to rolls).
  • Trait — Name, quantity (stacking), and description. Use quantity to avoid duplicate entries.
  • Character Weapon — Name; flags like Opportunity/Escalation, Stun/Deadly; Range; properties (Accurate, Area, Charge, Cumbersome, etc.); description.
  • Item (Gear) — Name, quantity, Opportunity/Escalation cost (if any), and description.
  • Log Sheet — Name; auto-pulls the actor’s Values; mark each Value as Unused, Used Positively, Used Negatively, or Challenged for that mission; description.
  • Milestone — Name; checkbox if it’s an Arc; if so, set required steps; select associated Logs from a dropdown; description.
  • Small Craft Container — Name; pick Small Craft Type from a dropdown of system small craft; quantity; description.
    Convenience link to open the small craft actor (actors can’t be embedded inside actors).
  • Starship Weapon — As per Character Weapon but for vessels (range/damage/effects appropriate to ships).

Working With Items

  • You can create items in the sidebar and drag them onto an actor, or create them directly on the actor sheet using the “+” at the top of the relevant section.
  • If you try to drop an incompatible item on an actor, you’ll get a clear error (e.g., “This actor cannot hold a Starship weapon.”). Use the correct item type (e.g., Character Weapon for Characters).
  • You can edit the item name and quantity on the actor sheet, or, press on edit to open the item sheet and further edit the item's properties.
  • Pressing the the delete button removed the item from the actor.

Automation Features

  • Stress Bar (PC)Auto-calculated from stats; updates when stats change and when damage is applied.
    Talents/Traits like Tough/Resolute adjust this automatically.
  • Personal Threat (2e NPCs) — Personal threat track on NPC tier in 2e (see above). Values set dynamically.
  • Complication Range — Adjusts automatically on active scene (Traits, Momentum/Threat spends, scene effects).
  • Task Rolls — Choose Attribute + Discipline (or 2e: Set Reputation as Discipline when appropriate), apply Focus if relevant, roll vs Difficulty, apply comp range automatically.
  • Damage Rolls — Challenge Dice with weapon effects (e.g., Vicious, Knockdown, Piercing) applied automatically.
  • Starship Combos — Rolls can combine a crew member’s Attribute/Discipline with the ship’s Systems/Departments automatically.
  • Shields — Tracked like Stress.
  • Scene Traits — Scene-level Complication Range changes apply to all rolls until removed.
  • Chat Cards — Clear task result readouts in chat for table visibility.

Extras & Tools

Momentum & Threat Tracker

  • Floating tracker (position configurable).
  • Permissions control who can adjust values.
  • Minimise button; quick-roll icons for d6 (CD) and d20 (Task).
  • Comm badge icon opens the NPC Ship & Crew Roll dialog.
  • Ship icon opens the Ship Roster dialog.

NPC Ship & Crew Roll Dialog

  • Appears when no token is selected.
  • Enter basic ship stats and choose Crew Quality: Basic, Proficient, Talented, Exceptional.
  • Supports Focus/Determination toggles and Difficulty adjustments.
  • If tokens are selected, the dialog uses selected starship + character automatically, the attributes default to those selected on the actor.
  • If multiple ships are selected then this will open a dialog to make a roll for all of the selected tokens.

Ship Roster

  • List of crew per ship, with the option to make ship & crew rolls
  • List of crew with essential stats side by side

Popcorn-Style Combat Tracker

  • Optional “next-to-act” narrative tracker (no fixed initiative).
  • Toggle in system settings.

Settings Highlights

  • Allow multiple complications per roll.
  • Permissions for Momentum/Threat editing.
  • Max Reputation (1e/2e) and Momentum cap.
  • Tracker screen position.
  • Enable/disable Momentum/Threat chat messages.
  • Turn Popcorn combat on/off.
  • Add a custom initiative formula, see the Extras page for full details.

Edition Notes (1e vs 2e)

  • Reputation Track: 1e default 20; 2e default 5.
  • Determination: Default length 3 (both editions).
  • Starships:
    • 1e uses a Power track.
    • 2e uses Reserve Power (checkbox) and Shaken status.
  • 2e NPC Tiers: Minor (no personal threat), Notable (3), Major (6 + Values).

Further Reading