Welcome to the first day of the first annual RPG Campaign Tour Challenge!
I've decided to give you the grand tour of Star Trek: Prosperity!
Day 1-Campaign Introduction and Overview
Star Trek: Prosperity is a Star Trek Adventures Roleplaying Game campaign that follows the voyages of four core player character serving the command crew of the Starfleet vessel USS Prosperity, NCC-1587, a Ventura Light Cruiser, set during The Original Series era of the Star Trek universe [and franchise].
Star Trek: Prosperity is the longest running and most consistent campaign I have ever Gamemastered, lasting approximately 12 years of real time as of this writing. I consider it a great success and I am incredibly proud of it and the player participants.
Our player characters are Dan as Captain Ann Fletcher, Alex as First Officer/Chief Engineer Tha'ar Bhoth of Andor, Leo as the young Chief Helmsman Lt. Charlie Wilder, and Arthur as Chief Science Officer Lt. Commander Rhys Carr.
When the campaign began [approximately 12 years ago], Leo was the First Officer and Chief Science Officer Commander Solok. Solok remained First Officer until late April or early May of 2024 when he takes a short leave of absense from Starfleet to marry Prosperity's NPC Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Margaret 'Maggie' Hanover. Alex's Lt. Commander Bhoth was Chief of Security in the very beginning. Arthur's Lt. Carr was our Communications Officer and later our Security Chief. As the campaign went on the PCs changed positions and raised in rank over the course of its [now] nine 'Seasons'.
Other players and PCs have came in and out of the campaign periodically and some of their PCs remain NPC supporting characters up to the present. Others moved on to other Starfleet assignments I suppose.
Premise: The campaign is about a Starfleet vessel and its crew exploring the 'Final Frontier' of deep space during the Original Series era of Star Trek. While there is a lot of focus on the player characters and their personal reasons and long terms goals regarding being in Starfleet, there is a shared objective of going where no one else has gone before.
It's classic, straightforward original series Star Trek with a little more attention given to internal consistency and continuity. What makes Star Trek: Prosperity distinct are its 'conceits'.
Conceits: The early Seasons of the campaign, speicfically the 1st through 3rd, had the theme of underdogs trying to prove themselves:
A young female Captain trying to overcome a dicey past and make a name for herself, not for the fame and glory but in order to earn the respect of her fellow Captians and the Admiralty so she could make real change in the Galaxy. A Vulcan Science Officer from an overachieving family trying to find a way to make a name for himself and find out what that name stands for. An Andorian traded to Starfleet from the Andorian Imperial Guard, possibly to not embarass his famous General father, only to seriously butt heads with his first Human Captain. A former Starfleet Intelligence Cryptoanalyst who wanted to apply his codebreaking and language decoding talents to bringing people together instead of taking down enemies.
The ship itself shared this same atmosphere and feeling. As a Ventura Class Light Cruiser, the Prosperity is seen as dependable but out-of-date. Once top-of-the-line, the Prosperity was launched about 15 years prior to Constitution Class starships such as the USS Enterprise (no bloody A, B, C, D, E, or anything else). Being an older vessel viewed by much of the Starfleet top brass as 'past its prime', the ship was relegated to support operations, testing new equipment, and other vital but less glamorous activities.
Overview:
Together, this motley but professional crew and has-been vessel proved themselves time and time again, earning not only respect but admiration from Starfleet, the people of the UFP, and even their enemies.
Over the course of the game's decade plus run, the themes and conceits have changed so much it's impossible to sum it all up in a since post. The characters have evolved and the setting has greatly expanded. The Ventura Class itself went from being in danger of being completely mothballed to redesigned and modernized by the Prosperity's Chief Engineer and now the first new Venturas in 44 years have come out of the shipyards at Mars' Utopia Planitia.
With all that's happened is it extremely difficult to sum it up in a single post but thankfully, I don't have to! This is just Day 1; merely the beginning of the Campaign Tour Challenge.
AD
Barking Alien
