Star Trek Continues Web Show - "The Pilgrim Of Eternity" - Review & Use in Star Ships & Space Men Second Edition

I decided to catch up on some new Star Trek this weekend. 

  I watched Star Trek Continues over the long holiday weekend. It like a great time to catch up with this show. These are the same folks who did the Star Ship Farragut series. Wait you've never heard of the Farragut or its great episodes? 

Star Trek Continues is a great little show. The premise is simple. It goes something like this from the official website.
"The new Star Trek Continues Web Series carries on the original 5-year mission. Star Trek Continues begins right where the original left off."

"The Pilgrim Of Eternity" brings and old "foe" of  the crew back two years later after the original mission. The plot goes something like this : 

Apollo returns to wreak havoc on Kirk and the Enterprise in the first episode of the new series.

You can take a look right down below :

STC-E01 "Pilgrim of Eternity" from Star Trek Continues on Vimeo.

Review of the "Pilgrim Of Eternity" 
The episode from beginning to end is a love letter to the original series. From the first moments when we get a view of the beginnings of the holodeck technology to the appearance of the command deck crew its a love letter. The holodeck appeared on Star Trek The Animated Series but it wasn't until Generations that it really made its true applications felt. But I digress.
 Michael Forrest plays Appllo in this episode with a sense of pathos, tragedy, and real loss. Star Trek Continues stars Vic Mignogna (who also directs) is a very likable Kirk. Todd Haberkorn is a very understated as Spock, Larry Nemecek was a quick Dr. McCoy,  Chris Doohan was great as  Mr. Scott , Grant Imahara's Mr. Sulu was both funny and interesting, Kim Stinger as Lt.Uhura brought a bit of emotion to the role,  and Wyatt Lenhart needs to be seen as Ensign Chekov more.

 It was nice to see things hinted about in the original show brought to life on the screen thanks to the power of computing and CGI. The titles, opening, fades, phasers, and the props are top notch. While we've seen these in other fan produced shows they've been done with varying degrees of success. These were rather well done in Star Trek Continues. Part of the reason as stated by the official Star Trek Continues Website, "This new series is being brought to you in partnership with Farragut Films and DracoGen Investments – creators of the award-winning web series, Starship Farragut. The series is being shot in the original 4:3 format to keep the authenticity of the framing of the original series"

"The Pilgrim of Eternity" isn't just a simple nod to the original episode. Its a solid continuation of many of the themes of the episode including love, worship, loyalty and agenda of Apollo. 

 Its very well done for a fan production and the line once again between fan as well as professional is blurring. I'll be watching the rest of the episodes. Hats off to the cast and crew to Star Trek Continues 

 Using The "Pilgrim Of Eternity" For Your Old School Space Fantasy Rpg 

 The one game that quickly comes to mind in the OSR for using " The Pilgrim of Eternity" is Star Ships And Space Men Second edition. From the alien gods, to the weird god tech, to the accelerated aging its all there.
The idea of  the "Continuing voyages" is of course the perfect foil for getting your adventures out among the stars.
An aging god way past his prime and at the end of the rope makes a very dangerous as well as desperate opponent for players. I personally wouldn't use episode ad hoc but as a possible blue print for S&S adventures,
 Just as the original episode "Who Mourns For Adonis" has been the template for numerous riffs for OD&D games & First Edition AD&D adventures so can "The Pilgrim of Eternity".
The idea of a weird god technology floating out in space being found and wrecking havoc on a crew isn't new. But the fact that the gods have a very human face is something that allows a DM to add mega dungeons of incredible complexity to games. This  allows crossovers with both :Labyrinth Lord and others of the Goblinoid Games family. 

There are implications of possible human/god hybrids in the form of demigods mentioned in the episode as well. A possible NPC encounter of this type might have far reaching applications for future god like encounters. 

 There are also several elements of this episode that struck me as particularly Fasa Trek related. The fact that that Trek went off in its own dirction might allow a DM to incorporate elements of this episode and tie them directly into a Fasa driven game. Specifically the technology of the blown station, the hybrid ideas here, and the idea of space seeding from a race of gods from within the Trek universe. 

Finally what sticks in my mind is Michael Forrest's Apollo which has always struck me as somewhat operatic. A larger then life god stuck in a technological world that has left him behind. Obsolete but not forgotten. A metaphor for both gods and men as well as being possible fodder for future adventures. 

Could there be more god bases, locations, technology, and dangers that might effect the all to human cast and crew of your star ship? 

The Deities And Demigods Option 

Pages fifty eight through sixty nine of  of the original AD&D first edition of "Deities And Demigods" contains the Greek Mythos or more readily the Hellenistic mythos.
The entire chapter always stayed with me as particularly apt for a conversion into a Traveler style game.A game where the premise for "Who Mourns For Adonis" is used to explain not simply the all to human gods of both Greek and Rome but many others.
The premise of some of the races in the chapter seem to lend themselves quite perfectly for a game of Stars Without Number. A premise that I will be using soon enough.
The other trek related premise that never got as much air play as needed was the episode of the animate series "Sharpen Then A Serpents Tooth". This episode had the crew facing down another well meaning deity in this case the Central American  lord Quetzalcoatl. Page thirty two of the Deities And Demi gods book in case your wondering.
 These episodes left more questions then answered them. Are there wars between the gods in the twenty fifth century. How many gods are left. What the interactions between such entities and things like Tralene and the such. Is there a role for clerics within the realm of the reality of Trek and if so then what? Ship's Chaplin, alien religion and folklore departments are under the sociology and archaeology umbrellas of  Star Fleet. The mind boggles.
The Pilgrim of Eternity left some very interesting questions in the back of my mind and makes me want to see the rest of Star Trek Continues. 

 Online support for Star Trek Continues 

Star Ship Farragut Website HERE 

                                          Official Star Trek Continues HERE

Full write up of "Who Mourns For Adonis" on Wiki: HERE