The Recreation Room (OOC)

[Starbeard]

No worries, it's basically my own fault. I specifically didn't bar any character types, for two reasons: first, once skills are picked & rolled, usually every PC will have a wholly unique skill set; and second, in face-to-face games it's never been an issue having multiple PCs of the same type, any more than it is in, say, Call of Cthulhu. Additionally, when Pulpatoon's PC rolled out I figured it would be a good addition to the party overall: there are still several things worth researching besides the Romulan's belt (especially now that the party's back on the Janus with its big fancy computer database), and depending on how the party moves forward it could be very handy indeed to have multiple PCs who are capable of analysing and using strange devices.

Ultimately, I'm still wrapping my head around some of the aspects of running games pbp. The pacing is very different, and continually the thing that throws me is how much slower and less spontaneous communication and decision-making is between players. For a Star Trek game, it's probably best to ensure that all players distinct officer roles are filled before doubling up on others is probably step two.

I'm a little reluctant to open a Captain role back up for the same reason of slowing the pace and centering all decisions on a single player without letting others have much input. However, as with all things, we're just here to try out what we think would be fun, so I'm happy to go with it if everyone else is.

I suggest using this slight interlude in the adventure to see how it plays out, and if after a couple of turns either you feel like it really would just be easier to have one science officer after all, then we'll work something out.

[Starbeard]

Speaking of which, I'd like to hear any ideas people might have on running a campaign-style Star Trek game online.

Basically, after wrapping this up I'm thinking of how to restart this game in a campaign format with an exploration/hexcrawl theme. In terms of rules I'd most likely rework BX/Labyrinth Lord to use STAGFF-style phaser combat and skills (but reduced in number).

What I'm iffy on is how to structure it. The obvious thing is to have a single ship hexcrawling through space, but then there's the captain issue again: as a PC, a lot of the responsibility for the game's mood and pace is heaped onto that player, and as an NPC captain, the party is robbed of many hexcrawling decisions unless the NPC captain is arbitrarily made to be a wet blanket who always makes group decisions.

Another option is to really D&D-ify it, by revolving the whole thing around a frontier space station, newly built on the rim of unexplored territory. PCs are based at the station, unattached and free to make their own exploration decisions. The difficulty with this is in how to handle each individual PC: if the PCs have to 'sign out' for a ship, there's no ongoing crew or ship dynamic; if all PCs automatically get their own ship, then missions will become either solo adventures or big fleet actions, with not much in between.

[Grognardsw]

On campaign style, I'd go with a ship and NPC captain. Space travel decisions could be swayed by crew to a degree. The landing parties would be led by PC first officer, etc.

[Pulpatoon]

Re: Two Science Officers.
Would it be acceptable if I just swapped out deMattio's specialization? There's lots of science to cover. Or does that ruin the commitment to randomized chargen?

Re: Game Approach.
I agree with the idea of keeping the Captain NPC'd and kinda distant. RPGs are all about players having to make decisions, and a rigid hierarchy can get in the way of that.

There are a number of retro-clones that emulate Star Trek, aren't there? Starships & Spacemen does so explicitly, but imagine that a lot could be harvested from X-Plorers, or Stars Without Number, or even White Star.

[Starbeard]

If you and Inferno are fine with having Dorotea swap specializations, I'm fine with that. FantasyChic's character has communications/social sciences, and Dad's character has medical/biological sciences. That basically leaves the engineering sciences open, unless I'm forgetting something. Maybe Dorotea can be a true engineering officer, or a blueshirt specialist who moves between both departments.

There are a couple of retroclones I'd like to read, Stars Without Number definitely being at the top of the list. From what I understand, though, most or all of them have a certain 'sci-fi kitchen sink' aspect that might take a bit of work to keep a 'true' Trek feel.

STAGFF is clunky, but it's almost unique in how it tries to keep the feel of the show while trying to extrapolate the pressures that would come from being in Star Fleet. The ship is randomly assigned with often petty missions at inopportune moments, forcing the crew to dance around priorities, and with the XP system players often have to weigh the good of the mission over the needs of their own career advancement.

[Pulpatoon]

Okay, I took the laziest possible path to switching Dorotea's training: I rolled two six-siders, and switched two of her Science skills to Engineering Skills.

Engineering skills: [1d6] = 3, [1d6] = 2
Her skills are now:
Hand-to-Hand I (0)
Computer: I (1)
Information Theory: I (3)
Deflector Generator Theory: I (1)

So, Let's say that she started out in Science, and perhaps achieved the rank of Lt. Commander in that field.

She switched to Engineering while in the field—she was assigned to a small crew on an extended mission. When they lost their Engineering officer, she stepped into his place. She proved capable at the practical application of her Science background, and found that she enjoyed her time in the Engine Room enough to officially transfer at the mission's end.

The switch in fields has slowed the progress of her promotion. She has the experience and training equivalent to a Commander, but is still a Lt. Cmdr. in Engineering.

(If you'd rather I start from scratch and re-figure her skills from the ground up as an Engineer, just let me know!)

[Pulpatoon]

I don't know if you're familiar with the Black Hack—it's a great streamlined OSR-style D&D hack that brings a couple modern elements into the mix. It's also extremely easy to customize, leading to a rapid proliferation of genre-specific variants. Fresh of the internet is a Trek Hack:

Star Trek: Bad Captain

It is worth reading just for the Red Shirt mechanic.

[Inferno]

Thanks, Pulp.

Fyi, I'm going away for summer vacation. I don't expect to be online. I'll be back in two weeks.

Please NPC my character if I'm holding things up. If he completes analysis of the Belt of Life, Nadix will resume interviewing the human space pirates, continuing to act as good cop. He'll interview them separately, starting with the woman.

Thanks.

[Starbeard]

Thanks Inferno, have a good time.

Pulp, that likes great. The trade off in rank to experience is a nice touch, and explains Dorotea's character really well.

Just downloaded Bad Captain, thanks for the pointer. I like reading through any redshirt rules, I'd like to incorporate something along those lines sooner or later. I've seriously considered a character funnel as a fun idea, even though it's not very Trekkie, but something like seems like it would work better for integrating redshirts into a party of mixed levels.

[FantasyChic]

So here's the thing. I posted saying I would be gone for a good week or 2, but it seems my post didn't go through. Awkward...

So that is why I haven't said anything on here, and it seems like the passive aggressive comments are warranted. I should be able to get something up either tonight or tomorrow. Sorry again

[Starbeard]

So here's the thing. I posted saying I would be gone for a good week or 2, but it seems my post didn't go through. Awkward...

So that is why I haven't said anything on here, and it seems like the passive aggressive comments are warranted. I should be able to get something up either tonight or tomorrow. Sorry again

D'oh! Thanks for letting me know.

For what it's worth, they weren't passive aggressive comments at all. I know jumping into the middle of a game can be bumpy, and I want to make sure that the new players have plenty of leads to do their own things in case they aren't sure what options they have.

If you're still away, have a good time. Otherwise, welcome back!

[Pulpatoon]

Speaking of leads to follow: I know there's plenty for an Engineering officer to be doing on the damaged ship, right now, but I'm not sure how to proceed. Should I make a thread for Engineering and start writing?

[Starbeard]

Yes, if you'd like to move your PC to another part of the ship, either put it in the main thread or start a new one for that area and we'll go from there. Before, I've split the ship up into separate department threads of Bridge, Medical, Sciences, & Engineering, because it helps me keep things straight instead of having it all in one thread. I'm won't bother with private threads this time around unless it seems crucial, to keep the PC interaction up and game moving forward.

Right now there are engineering/operations crews all over the middle decks repairing various areas, and attempting to get as much of the warp engines back online as possible. Weapons are functioning, shields are functioning, and scanners are functioning. The turbolifts are not (they have an ETA 2+ hours), and all ship actions will be greatly reduced if the ship gets into combat before they're back online.* There's also the possibility of performing further research on the radiation with the new info Nadix collected, to see if there's a way to use warp energy while inside the radiation zone.

*In combat, Engineering can take an action to make a Damage Control rolls to fix things, but these will be delayed by a random number of turns.

[Pulpatoon]

Thanks! That's very helpful.

[Starbeard]

Sorry guys, having connection issues. Hopefully I'll be able to post tomorrow.

[Inferno]

Hi. Going away for the weekend. Should be back by Tuesday.

If I'm holding things up, please NPC my character. Thanks.

Have a great 4th everyone.

[Starbeard]

My internet connection is reliable again, thanks for waiting.

Only now I'm going to be conferencing all next week and on vacation the week after that! Time for another commercial break.

The programmers would like to apologize for a mistake in tonight's broadcasting. One of the interns at NBC's new Color City Studios in Burbank mixed up the commercial breaks for Star Trek and Accidental Family, which airs in the next time slot at 9:30 PM:

Commercial Break 3

[Starbeard]

Greetings, officers. Hope everyone's had a good 4th and/or whatever else you've been up to. Just passing by to say I'm back from holiday now, posting tomorrow morning.

[Grognardsw]

Welcome back.

2016 is 50th anniversary of original Star Trek. I picked up a USA Today supplement. There are lots of anniversary events. I wasn't aware until now of a new Trek TV show with Gene Roddenberry's son executive producing.

[Starbeard]

That looks great, I need to hunt one of those down. I had heard about the new show but had no idea that Roddenberry's son was involved. That's quite exciting. It looks like Nicholas Meyer, writer-director of Wrath of Khan, will also be onboard as a scriptwriter and consulting producer.

I'm excited that the Star Trek Exhibition is opening in London in a couple of months, since I never had the chance to see that or the Star Trek Experience when I lived Stateside.

If any of you are near New York, keep an eye out for the TOS Set Tour (press article). James Crawley of Star Trek Phase II fame has spent the past 15 years completely rebuilding the TOS standing sets that were kept in Desilu Studios Sound Stage 9, straight from the original blueprints. The project has been blessed by CBS and is supposed to open for museum tours later this year.