The All Win Scenario - Part II

Continuing with my explanation of how I design RPG session adventures, let's first back track a moment if you don't mind...

At some point early in the 'pre-production'* phase of the campaign, I put together a 'view binder' to serve as a Campaign Book, also known as a Campaign Guide, or Campaign Bible. These serve the same purposes as Writing Bibles for screenwriters (which is where I got the idea). I use each campaigns Campaign Guide to store character sheets, notes, images, maps (see below), rules, and charts, campaign background material such as a timeline, and other bits I know I will need, or want, to reference again, and again.

With many of my campaigns over the years, at the end of each session I collect the PCs character sheets, and store them in the book as well. That way no one can show up to the game, and say they left their sheet home. If the GM is there (me), your character is there. This is also helpful if someone can't make it. I still have their stats, skills, and information if I have to use them in an NPC capacity.

With my more ambitious campaigns, I give each of the players a folder, or smaller binder, to hold copies of many of the pages contained within the Campaign Guide. Each session, or every few sessions, the Campaign Guide gets updated, and so do the players' guides. Many of the players guide entries are Player Handouts, and Prop Documents, but others are game universe notes, and mechanics the player can look at whenever they wish so that they feel like they know what someone living in the setting would know.

My players always love this. It gives them a real sense of investment in the campaign. They usually take really good care of their books, and look forward to updating them. Some will even take their own notes, and/or drawings and put them in their book as well.

Now, I'm sure many people out there do this. This is not some groundbreaking concept. It is useful, and effective, but I didn't turn lead into gold with this idea.

However, my book might be a little different from yours...

A key element is there that there is a lot of art, and very little text by comparison. Not none, but I would much rather show you than tell you in some respects. For example, my Traveller, Star Trek, and Star Wars games usually have several pages of Uniform Recognition, so the PCs know how different personnel in the various government and military agencies dress. Later, when I describe an officer coming toward them, the players will say, "Ah, Imperial Navy, huh? I check his shoulder patch. What fleet is she with?"

The end result is a book similar to the DK Visual Dictionaries and guides.

Images of one of my largest and most complete campaign guides.

The 'Series Bible' for Star Trek: OUTBOUND.

What I don't do is fill it with lots of writing no one will ever see. There are no paragraphs of flavor text, room descriptions, or long, multi-page write-ups of the current political atmosphere in the campaign region. All that is just wasted paper. It does nothing for me. It does nothing to enhance my players' gaming experience.

Maps are also minimal. While I love maps, and indeed see maps as art, I find them extremely hard to use in games. I will make maps of large regions, such as a country, a world, or a sector of space, but the closer one pulls the camera in, the less likely I am to make a map for that area. I'd much rather sketch something out on scrap paper, or a dry erase mat if ones available.

Why?

My campaigns nearly always feature the ability for the PC group to move around. Be it via riding animal and cart, ground vehicle, spacecraft, or their own power (flight, super-speed), my players' PCs travel a lot. Combine this with my very open world, sandbox style campaign design, and making maps for a given city, town, or (bleh) dungeon just isn't sensible.

Let's say for example that the PC party begins in the town of Flaire, which lies on the Eastern Coast of Northern Loreia, looking out upon the Northern Atlantean Ocean. 

  

Images from my D&D AD Campaign Guide

detailing my milieu of Aerth.

 

What should I prepare for them this session beyond these maps?

Do they need a map of Flaire? What if they don't stay long? I suppose it couldn't hurt to make one. Unless...What if they go Southwest to the tri-throned, Dwarven city of Thoel? Rumors abound that the Dwarves there have been making numerous expeditions to the far North. Hmmm. Maybe the PCs will beat them to whatever they are seeking by seeing if anyone in Nouveau Lutetia knows what's going on. So I need a map of Nouveau Lutetia, and everywhere in between that city and Flaire.

Of course, there is always travelling to the bustling city of Rae-Uhn. Aside from seeing the 'Great Golems' there, it will be much easier to find a job, and pick up information in such a busy, cosmopolitan place. So a map of Rae-Uhn is needed.

Still, there is always chartering a boat, or a ship, and traveling across the North Atlantea. I mean, Flaire is a port town, the largest, and most popular on the East Coast. So...let's see...I need individual maps for...everywhere. It's Sunday night, and the game is next Saturday.

Yeah. No.

It is for this same reason I don't really create flavor text in the sense of pre-written blurbs about where the PCs are, and what they see. I do create writes ups of towns, or planets, and the like, but I keep the info to necessary crib notes. I just need the overview, the details that anyone going there would be curious to know. This gives me a sense of the place, a sense I can then pass on to the players.

Leighton, in the Flux Subsector of Spica.

Major location in our Traveller - Operation: PALADIN campaign

 

 

NPCs you've seen before. They are recorded with only their names, jobs/careers/classes or whatever identifies them easily, key stats (but rarely all stats), key skills, and some notes about who they are (Collects Old Sports Memorabilia, Has a crush on Sollor in Engineering, Refuses to Eat or Drink before First Light).

 

With this out of the way, I can get to the final phase of my 'All Win Scenario' series, which explains how this all fits together to make adventures happen. I realized that without a handle on how I create, assemble, and store my information, the description that is forth coming would read as if I was just pulling everything out of my butt magically.

 

I'm pulling almost everything out of my butt. And yes, it is magical.

 

AD

Barking Alien

 

*The 'pre-production' part of my campaign design approach is when I am just started to put ideas together. Usually, this is before - or up until - I have finalized characters from all the players.

Splitting Up...The Final Frontier - Part II

Continuing with my recap of the first session of one of my old Star Trek campaigns, OUTBOUND - Phase II, by the end of the first third of the game the PCs were split into a number of distinct groups in different locations. As this recap is also being posted to highlight elements I've been discussing in my Split The Party series, it is important to note that:

The NPC Captain, and PCs Jose Santiago (Helmsman) and Serin (Sensor Officer, Asst. Navigator) are on the bridge of the Loknar Class USS Thunder Bay, which has just been struck by a barrage of Disruptor energy and a Plasma Missile (similar, although not identical to, the Romulan Plasma Torpedo).

First Officer-Commander Lily Munroe, Science Officer Green Shine Wandering Wave Miragh, and Security Officer Shilana Kincaid, are in a shuttlecraft heading for a scout sized vessel of unknown origin. The team uses the earlier damage the Thunder Bay had done to the Romulan ship's sensor array, and the communications jam, to hide the shuttle's departure and flight path. Quite clever. They hope to make first contact, assist in repairs and/or convince the crew  of the unknown craft that the Thunder Bay will help them as soon as it can. Hopefully the group can also find out why the alien ship was attacked by this unusual Romulan ship in the first place.

Mataeo Rozza was in Main Engineering, ducking under fallen debris and dodging sparking panels. His goal was to ascertain exactly what the damage was, and what systems to prioritize in his repair schedule..

Dr. Shran was in Sickbay, now looking at a parade of the injured and deceased coming through his doors. He quickly went over to a computer console, initiated his 'secret program', and prepared to contact the bridge.

Since you're here, a quick analysis of the mystery of the Romulan attacker. The enemy ship in this scenario is believed to be a Romulan V-9 'Night Flyer' Class Light Cruiser. The PCs' ship should be more than a match for it. However, it appears to have some characteristics inconsistent with a normal V-9.

• It is able to cloak, decloak, attack, and recloak, faster than a standard Night Flyer.
• It's cloaking device flickers on, and off, like a dance club strobe light, instead of having the regular wavy fade visual effect.
• It launches powerful, though conventionally designed, missiles that carry compressed, superheated gas in a warhead. When the warhead detonates, a blast of plasma is released. These Plasma Missiles are very different from the typical Romulan Plasma Torpedo, which is a ball of dense, superheated plasma from launch to impact. The Plasma Torpedo looses strength over increased distances. The Plasma Missile does not, although it becomes less accurate.

Bare in mind that I am leaving out a good deal of player questions, character moments, in-jokes, references to various episodes and movies, people running to the kitchen for snacks, people going to the bathroom, etc. A lot happens in a 6-8 hour RPG session other than the story and the actions of the PCs. Still, this group was always really focused once things got started, and they were really into the game.

Now then, there is quite a bit to go.

***

Warning klaxons wail, emergency lights come on, and smoke is absolutely everywhere. It is very difficult to see for a few moments as crewmen thrown from their chairs try to get back to their posts. Some tend to those wounded instead.

The PCs roll to see what happened to them as a result of the attack. I make a few secret rolls myself.

Ensign Serin sees that Santiago (the Helmsman) is wounded and unconscious, the Chief Navigator is dead, and so, sadly, is the Captain. Serin immediately hails Sickbay but there is no response. Confused, she hails Engineering. No response. Checking her console, her sensors determine that while it was a hard hit they took, there is no way it destroyed Sickbay and Engineering.

She asks for a damage report, and is informed that the attack shut down internal communications. Ship-to-ship communications are also damaged. It would seem that the central computer may has been damaged, since in addition to communications, the emergency light came on as if the ship were on auxiliary power, even though main power was still online. The computer was telling the bridge power was down, but it wasn't.

For a brief period, Serin is confused as to who to report this information to. The Player does an excellent job of conveying a young Vulcan, working desperately to control her feelings of fear and frustration. With the Captain dead, the First Officer and Science Officer off the ships, and the Helmsman unconscious, the highest ranking and/or most appropriate officer to take charge would be the Engineer, who she can't get a hold of. That's when it dawns on her. She is in command of the ship (This was one of the funniest sequences in the game, play with Emmy winning talent by my ex-wife. She was the least knowledgeable person in the group regarding Star Trek and had only been gaming for a couple of years. Everyone else had a least double her years of experience. Fantastic scene).

Realizing he can't get through to anyone either, Rozza makes communications a priority. In the meantime, his engineering staff let him know that although the systems are reading full power, many sections of the ship have shut down and gone to auxiliary power. Confused, he gives orders to his engineering staff, and then takes a tool kit, an Engineering Tricorder, a Communicator, and a Phaser, and starts climbing the ladders to the upper decks (he is on Deck 5).

Dr. Shran activates his custom 'Medical Administration Assistance Program' in Sickbay. His wife's face appears on a computer screen, and asks what the status of the situation is. Shran gives her the run down. She asks who's in charge, and with great inner turmoil he says that he is. His wife's image chuckles.

Dr. Theyla Sh'Hiri Shran (Th'Tivra's Wife's Image):

"Oh Th'Tivra, if you needed my help, all you needed to do was ask? The formality, the reverence...I am your wife. It is not like I would deny you aid."

Dr. Aldeth Th'Tivra Shran:

"Of course not my love. I know that. I just wasn't sure I could get a hold of you over...such a distance."

Dr. Theyla Sh'Hiri Shran:

"Distance? We were assigned to the same ship. We requested it. I...why am I speaking to you over the computer system? Where are you...and...where exactly am I? Oh dear. Th'Tivra my love...am I dead?"

Dr. Aldeth Th'Tivra Shran:

(Stoically holding back tears) "Yes my sweet. I am afraid so."

Dr. Shran, the living one that is, explains to his wife that he used the 'Medical Administration Assistance Program' and crossed referenced it with her notes, journals, and personal log files to 'bring her back', as the ship was in great danger and he was in need of help he could count on without a doubt. She agrees to help, but suggests they discuss the ramifications of this later. He agrees.

(Precursor to the Emergency Medical Hologram? Perhaps...)

Meanwhile, the Shuttlecraft Burroughs* found themselves dodging and zig-zagging through a small field of limpet mines. Kincaid's deft piloting skills, backed by Miragh on sensors, enabled the shuttle to make it through safely. They assumed the mines had been dropped earlier by the Romulans, although that really wasn't their style.

Once really close to the unknown craft, Miragh sent out signal using alternative means of communication to contact the alien vessel. For example, he used a morse code-like pattern using the shuttle's running light, fired off very low powered microwave bursts, etc. Meanwhile, Munroe tried to enhance the shuttlecraft's communications systems while Kincaid tried to counter the jamming signals. Their combined efforts paid off! Soon, they got a clear line, and hailed the alien ship. Munroe, Miragh and Kincaid made first contact with The Rafalians!

Rafalian Male, Late 'Teenager' Years

Illustration by Keith Conroy.

Colors by me.

As the Rafalians begin to relay the truth of what is going on, Allen (Miragh's player) believes he's figured it out, and asks if he can tell the group his theory before I divulge the information via NPC exposition. The other players, who are listening with rapt attention, tell Allen to go for it.

Allen (As himself):

"The enemy ship is not Romulan. Rather, I would surmise that it is an unknown or rarely seen hostile species, using hologram technology to fake not only a cloaking device, but the appearance of a Romulan 'Night Flyer'. They are after the Rafalian ship because it knows the truth.

My guess is that these 'faux Romulans' have been terrorizing the vicinity like pirates, stealing from vessels they surprise and waylay, with any survivors taking up issue with the Romulan government who has not idea what they're talking about."

Correct! Allen is awesome. Have I mentioned he's awesome? 'Cause he's awesome.

Additionally, the Rafalians fill the shuttle crew in on some further story elements. The Rafalian ship is their first Warp Capable vessel ever! They just achieved war drive after years of research. Their technology shares some similarities with that of the Romulans, their closest, major stellar neighbors, causing Miragh and Kincaid to wonder if they reverse engineered a crash Romulan ship in order to achieve warp technology. Something for later down the line.

The 'faux Romulans' were sitting idly when the Rafalian ship entered into sensor range of it, and noticed it initially had a very different configuration. The Rafalians show footage of the 'Night Flyer's true appearance to the Burroughs crew. Commander Munroe recognizes it...

Cut back to Serin on the bridge of the Thunder Bay, with crewmen (Me as GM) giving her status reports and sensor information. The Communications system is still down. Serin commands a team of technicians to go to the lower decks, find other engineering personnel and check out the Computer Core. If it is damaged as she believes it is, fix it!

Serin's player then goes quite, looks off into space for a brief second, and says...

Selina (As herself):

"Don't we carry communicators or can I get to one? I grab one of those flip open, hand-held Communicators and call the Chief Engineer."

I rule that, although the ship's Communication System ordinarily governs the Communicators as well, they are capable of contacting each other even if main Communications are down as an emergency feature. Selina has Serin work with one of the Engineers to do this and then sends a message to Rozza.

She apprises him of the situation, including the fact that she is currently in command, and asks him if he, now updated and the senior officer, will be coming to the bridge to take over. Ken, smiling, looks right at Selina and says:

Mataeo Rozza:

"Ensign, you've done a fine job so far and I need to get the computer thinking clearly. As far as I'm concerned, I'll go on record that I gave you the Conn. I'll be up there as soon as I can. In the meantime, just don't let us die."

In sickbay, the Shrans has another great character moment as the Captain's body is brought in. There is a personal note that Th'Tivra attended Star Fleet Academy with the Captain's brother, where the three became close friends. Proper Andorian cultural burial rights are discussed. On a more practical note, the Shrans combined medical skills save three crew members with terrible injuries.

They also patch up and awaken Jose Santiago. Santiago refuses to lie down and heal up while the ship is still in battle,. Uncharacteristic of most Star Trek doctors, Th'Tivra, a member of the passionate, warrior race of Andorian, says he would expect nothing less. After a quick hypospray stimulant, Santiago heads back to the bridge

Rozza connects with his team in the Computer Core and does a crazy dangerous, shutdown-reboot procedure that makes the ship appear completely dead in space for several moments. The fake Romulan ship decloaks and closes in on it's prey.

The crew of the Burroughs, now aboard the Rafalian Prototype Warpship, enact some repairs, and the Rafalians are so grateful, and so fascinated by the diversity of species in this 'Federation', that they offer to aid the Starfleet officers in defeated the threat of the Romulan imposters.

The Thunder Bay suddenly roars back to life. Communication systems and main lighting come online as the turbolift opens, and Santiago hurries back to his seat. Without missing a beat, Serin says...

Serin:

"Bridge to Rozza. Are we fully operational Sir?"

Rozza:

"That we are Ensign. All systems go! We still have damage but pretty much everything works the way it should."

Serin:

"Excellent. Mr. Santiago, welcome back. Now, if you would be so kind, I believe the proper Human colloquialism is, "Let them have it."

Santiago (His player chuckles at Selina's deadpan delivery of the line):

"Aye sir."

He tells me he keys in a Phaser barrage followed by three Photon Torpedos, BUT only when the enemy is really close. Rozza enters the bridge from a ladder well. Serin says, "Captain on the Bridge", and takes position at the Navigation station. She assists Santiago's attack by plotting a course that will get them into the perfect firing position.

*Various sound effects provided by both my mouth and sound bites on someone's computer*

KRAKA-THOOM! The 'Romulan' ship's visage flickers out, revealing...

Munroe (aboard the Rafalian ship):

"Malurians. That's a Malurian Type-3 light cruiser. I knew something seemed familiar about this set up. The Malurians are known to take advantage of pre-warp cultures through disguise and deception. Ever since the destruction of their homeworld they have also resorted to piracy. They use advanced make-up, holograms and the like to hide among a native people, or to appear to be someone else."

Malurian true face revealed by torn pseudo-skin disguise.

Malurian Light Cruiser with Holographic Shield deactivated.

The Malurians sustain considerably heavy damage. They hail the Thunder Bay but Rozza, now in command, makes them wait. The Rafalian ship comes up alongside the Thunder Bay, which then transports Lt. Commander Munroe, Science Officer Miragh, and Security Chief Kincaid back over, along with two officers from the Rafalian vessel.

Munroe gets to the bridge and takes command from Rozza as he and Serin explain what has transpired in her absence. With the Captain dead, the Thunder Bay is Munroe's ship now. She slips a whisper to Serin and Kincaid, then answers the Malurians' hail.

Munroe informs them that they will be escorted back to their people's nearest spaceport by the Thunder Bay and another Starfleet vessel. In addition, the Romulan Star Empire has been informed of their shenanigans and they shouldn't expect to be able to pull them off again without a severe reprisal. (Serin contacted Starfleet, Kincaid contacted the Romulans as she speaks Romulan).

The Malurians are not sorry but rather sorry they got caught. They blame the Federation for the destruction of their planet, since the probe that decimated them was of Earth origin (only partially correct. See Nomad). The Thunder Bay has an enemy now but one wary of jabbing the hornets nest with a stick, less it come to life suddenly and sting (as it did in this battle).

Soon, the USS Griffon arrives to assist with the escort duties. The Thunder Bay bids the Rafalians good bye for now, vowing to return and looking forward to establishing further friendly relations with them.

***

EPILOGUE

One year later, Captain Lilian Munroe walks onto the refitted bridge of a repaired and upgraded USS Thunder Bay. Lt. JG Serin, the new Chief Navigator, greets her and hands her a computer pad, which she signs. As she takes the center chair, she shares some witty banter with her new First Officer, Lt. Commander Miragh. All stations sound off as the Thunder Bay prepares to depart for Rafalia Prime.

And Beyond...

***

I hope you enjoyed this recap, and found it helpful in gaging how to set up a Star Trek adventure of your own in the future (for those new to doing so). In addition, I hope the retelling of this session gave some insight into what can be accomplished dramatically by splitting the party in a way that give everyone time to shine.

Thanks everyone, see you soon!

Live Long and Prosper,

AD

Barking Alien



*The three shuttles aboard the Thunder Bay were the Burroughs (named for Edgar Rice Burroughs, author and creator of the John Carter of Mars series), the Raymond (for Alex Raymond, creator of Flash Gordon), and the Nowlan (for Philip Francis Nowlan, creator of Buck Rogers).

Splitting Up...The Final Frontier - Part I

These will probably be my last posts on the subject of Splitting The Party for a while.

I say 'these' and 'posts' because this is a two-parter.

I could go on and on with this subject, but I have a lot of other subjects and ideas I want to discuss, so I'll leave it at this for the time being.

I'm planning a Star Trek one-shot for one of the groups I game with, and in doing so I have been looking back over some of the material from older campaigns I've run. When I came across my OUTBOUND - Phase II entries, I was struck by twin bolts of inspiration.

I thought, "Wow, this was a great game. I should recap this on my blog", and "Wow, this game featured the perfect example of splitting the party done right!"

So, killing two Birds of Prey with a single Photon Torpedo (Yeah, I know. NERD), here is a recap of the Pilot Episode (First Session) of Star Trek: OUTBOUND - Phase II (the campaign title), featuring the crew of the Loknar Class* USS Thunder Bay.

The Loknar Class first appeared in the FASA Star Trek RPG

This is a redesigned and upgraded version.

Ship design by Brian Gillies.

I love this ship. Love it.

So, the story begins in the Original Series Movie Era, sometime after Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but before Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Our vessel, a combat frigate, has been repurposed as an exploration ship as part of Starfleet's Project: Outbound - Phase II (the original Project: Outbound was about 10-15 years prior). Outbound focuses on exploration in the Beta Quadrant and often comes close to the Romulan Neutral Zone.

Our crew (the PCs) consists of:

Illustrations by the players of each character

with the exception of the second and last.

The Xelatian and Vulcan were drawn by me.

(Left to right from the top)

Commander Lillian 'Lily' Munroe (Rebecca)
Human, Female - Commanding Officer (Originally First Officer)
(Promoted to Captain at the end of the session)

Lieutenant Green Shine Wandering Wave Miragh (Allen)
Xelatian, Male - Chief Science Officer
(Promoted to Lt. Commander at the end of the session)

Lt. JG Mataeo Rozza (Ken)
Human, Male - Chief Engineer

(Promoted to Lieutenant at the end of the session)

Lt. JG Shilana Kincaid (Lynn)
Half-Human/Half-Orion, Female - Chief of Security
(Promoted to Lieutenant at the end of the session)

Lt. JG Jose Santiago (Nelson)
Human, Male - Chief Helmsman
(Promoted to Lieutenant at the end of the session)

Lt. Commander /Doctor Aldeth Th'Tivra Shran (Phil)
Andorian, Male - Chief Medical Officer (Originally Asst. Chief)

Ensign Serin (Selina)
Vulcan, Female - Chief Navigator (Originally Sensor Ops Officer, Asst. Chief Navigator)
(Promoted to Lieutenant JG at the end of the session )

A Note to Trekkies: Some the ranks on the characters' uniforms in the picture might be off compared to the list above. The illustrations were not all done at the same time.

Notice that the game begins with the 'party' basically split. Munroe, Miragh, Kincaid, Santiago, and Serin are on the Bridge. Rozza is in the Engine Room/Main Engineering. Dr. Shran is in Sickbay.

In addition to Splitting the Party, I would like readers to note some of the other elements involved in this recap that I've discussed in the past. Among them, how to dole out clues for a mystery, letting each player/PC have their special moment, how much happens in one of our sessions - which was 6-8 hours in length - and the open ended nature of how to solve the situation.

I began the game by whistling the first notes of the Star Trek TOS opening. When everyone quieted down, and I had their attention, I nodded to one of the players (Ken I believe), who then turned on a CD with Star Trek theme music from one of the films (possibly II or IV - our favorites). After a moment, I signaled to Ken to lower the volume. I then signaled another player at a computer, who activated the Original Series sound effect for Red Alert.

I made a series of muffled explosion sounds (with my mouth that is), and began to call out phrases in a variety of voices, accents:

GM (Me):

"Shields at 63% Captain."
"Damage report. Structural damage on decks 3, 5 and 6. We've got 5 casualties and 12 wounded."
"Main transporter is offline."

(Using a haunting, breathy voice with a slight British accent) "Weapons?"

I point at the Helmsman and give him a literal thumbs up.

Santiago: "Phasers charged and ready. Photon Torpedos locked and loaded."

GM:

(Same voice) "Prepare to fire on my mark."

One of the players whispers to another, "Who is that speaking?", though I overhear it. I smile.

"Captain, we have a Plasma Torpedo inbound!"

(Same voice): "Impossible! Their plasma weapons...take evasive action!"

Santiago's player says he practically barrel rolls the Thunder Bay, his dice roll just makes it. Serin, on sensors, tries to project the enemy ship's likely course. Not a great roll. She thinks they'll cloak, and come around for another pass at the areas they've already damaged. The Science Officer, Miragh, tries to use Serin's scans to track the ion output of the enemy vessel's engines. Hopefully, even if they cloak, the Thunder Bay will find some way to track them. His roll is good, he doesn't know exactly where they are, and can't get a target lock, but has a general idea of their position, which he feeds to Santiago.

First Officer Munroe grimaces and says under her breath, "Romulans" (as does the player of course).

GM:

"Captain, we're receiving a hail from the second, smaller vessel. We can't seem to get a clear signal though. The Romulans are likely jamming them. Or us."

Kincaid: "Or the whole damn area."

The players now guess the spooky, breathy voice is the Captain of the ship, and that Munroe is not yet Captain, but rather first officer. This was not something the players knew about before hand. This is essentially a prologue. I get a lot of praise from the group on this. : )

Nelson, the player of Santiago, who has played Star Trek with me a number of times before, guesses that the Captain is an Andorian. He guesses correctly.

Meanwhile...

I inform the Andorian Doctor, Shran, that one of the casualties is the ship's Chief Medical Officer. As per a discussion prior to the game, that NPC was Dr. Shran's fiancé. Shran is horrified, and Andorian level angry, which is not a pretty sight. Seething more than roaring. A low, simmering boil as he barks orders at the rest of the medical staff in coldly precise words.

Good stuff.

The Romulan ship does indeed cloak, which I describe as flickering out before disappearing. Many of the Trek fans in the group say that doesn't sound right. Serin, the sensor officer, works with the NPC Navigator to quickly review the sensor logs of the attack.

There are several oddities in the way this Romulan ship works. First, it flickers in and out in a pattern that reminds one of an old time movie, instead of the standard wavy fade. Another is that it can decloak, fire, and recloak really quickly. She tells the rest of the crew. This prompts the Engineer, Rozza, to analyze the damaged area of the hull. He discovers the plasma burns differ from the standard Romulan Plasma Torpedo considerably. There is a physical, conventional missile impact here that then exploded into a ball of plasma.

Science Officer Miragh taps his tentacles against his console and faceplate in thought. Many are creeped out.

Meanwhile, (Me as) the Captain calls on the Helmsman to try and fire before the enemy cloaks. Santiago shoots...And Scores! The enemy cloaks, but the Thunder Bay's Phasers lance out and get a solid hit against the enemies forward sensor array and one of its Disruptors.

Munroe:

"Captain, our priority should be seeing to that other vessel. It could be damaged. Do we know if the Romulans hit it? What condition is it in?"

Allen, Miragh's player, says he has formulated a theory as to what transpired, and asks if he can relay it to the group. I tell him by all means.

His best assumption is that our ships sensors detected the Romulan ship and smaller unknown vessel engaged in a fight and flew over to check it out. Perhaps the smaller ship sent out a distress call. When we arrived the larger Romulan craft was attacking the smaller vessel. We likely hailed the Romulans, and they attacked us as well. Either that, or they responded and then we got into an argument that resulted in a fight. The rest of the group nods. Allen is great at this sort of thing.

I clap. Nicely done. I inform him that he was right the first time. They never returned your hail. They just started to fire on you suddenly, and without provocation or warning. I also confirm that the origin of the smaller ship is unknown. They are unfamiliar with the species and/or government that fields such a vessel.

 Allen asks to roll dice to determine the condition of the unknown ship. Rolls Dice - does very well. I give him a thumbs up - as the player speaks, I nod or make hand gestures to guide his ad libbing a bit. I give him a general sense of the situation without having to say it and than have him repeat it - a typical problem of Science Officer PCs in Trek. Luckily, Allen and I are usually on the same wavelength)

Miragh:

"The vessel was indeed hit. Badly I suspect. We have no record of this ship design, so I am not certain how badly the craft is damaged. I think it's safe to assume they need assistance. Unfortunately, communications seem to be jammed and the transporter is down."

Kincaid:

"We can take a shuttle. (Kincaid's player looks at Munroe's player with an earnest expression - the old NJ crew were method actors) Sir, you have first contact experience correct? We'll take a shuttle over there and help them, as well as make first contact. I'll go with you to ensure you're safety."

Munroe:

(Grimaces, and looks around at everyone in the room) "OK, it's a plan. Miragh, you're with us. Captain, do I have your OK on this?"

GM (Captain's voice):

"Permission granted. Save lives. Make friends. While you're gone, we will be sure to give the Romulans hell."

Brief interlude where the three PCs, Munroe, Kincaid, and Miragh, board a Shuttlecraft and launch for the unknown, alien vessel.

At the same time, some of the other players move to sit closer together. They discuss their potential next moves, including discussing ship tactics.

I switch from the Shuttle Party to the Doctor. The PCs in the shuttle discuss first contact strategy.

In sickbay, the Doctor is sitting near a bed, crying over the sheet covered body of his beloved. Attendants come to remove the body, and he stares daggers at them. When they leave, he initiates a computer program, uploading her journals into the medical banks, adding footage from the couples personal files, and rerouting the sickbay computers interactive features to a subroutine he designed.

This is news to me. I ask what he is up to exactly. He shows me his character sheet, which clearly states he is a computer expert, and understands artificial intelligence. Oh dear...

Now, back on the bridge, time has passed with the shuttles departure, etc., and I wait a beat or so to increase the tension. Suddenly...

GM:

"Romulan ship has decloaked...but...I thought I saw..."
"Incoming Disruptor fire...and Plasma Torpedo! Brace for-"

KA-BOOM! Huge explosion sound effect (from me), and several pained screams!

Cut to commercial...

AD
Barking Alien

*The link provided for the Phobos Class upgrade to the Loknar is useful for determining the ships capabilities (for those interested), and for the deck by deck breakdown of where everything is located.

Postcards From Memory Alpha

I'm finally starting to feel a little better and I hope to be blogging about something of meaning very shortly.

In the meantime, I thought I'd show off some of the material from my past Star Trek campaigns.
Back in one of my earliest posts on the subject of Star Trek gaming, I mentioned that I keep all the material from all my past games in a huge three-ring binder. The binder is divided into two main sections, a collection of the character sheets, rules notes and such and than an alphabetical listing of all the people, places, ships, aliens, devices, planets and whatever we encounter.

I've scanned in a few sheets here from that book/binder. These examples come from various campaigns and different eras of Star Trek history. I hope they come out clearly on the blog. Let me kow what you guys think.






This first image is of the PCs' ship the USS Gryphon from a TOS Era Campaign. Design by Masao Okazaki of the website Starfleet Museum.



 

A list of NPCs onboard the Gryphon. Seperated by department; Command Gold, Science Blue and Support (Engineering/Security) Red. Includes Name, Rank, Species, Most Important Stat/Skill and little notes like 'Grav-Racing Fan' or 'Plays 3D Chess'





Our local Starbase in that campaign, Starbase 19, aka Starbase Olympus Zeta. Another Okazaki design.





The front of a PC sheet belonging to my friend Lynn, featuring her Half-Human, Half-Orion Intelligence Officer Lt. Shilana Kincaid.




Page two of the same character sheet showing her past history and vessels she served on. Note some details of her assignments are classified.





Finally a custom bridge design, by me, based on a cool idea someone had for an Akira Class bridge.

Most of the artwork is taken from various sites on the internet, although in some cases I've modified them a bit. Some of the graphics are clip art meet Photoshop and there's also an original character sketch by one of my extremely talented players (that is a PC Character Record Sheet from one of my old campaign, shown front and back).That's all the time I have for now. Be well and stay warm,

AD

Barking Alien





 

Star Trek Online...and Offline

Holy Horta in a Headlock! I've got 30 followers! Better say something interesting...

Well, my computer is finally working close to normal and I owe it all to the ability/skill 'Jury Rig'. If you are running any sort of modern to futuristic milieu and you don't have this talent available to the Player Characters and NPCs of your game...fix that oversight but soon.

The timing couldn't be better either, for in addition to the artwork and related things I really need to do, the ultimate fanboy, time-wasting, keep-my-sanity-so-I-don't-freak-from-the-pressures-of-life computer game is about to land on good ol' Terra Firma. On February 2nd, 2010, we mere mortals are to behold the pinnacle of PC gaming cool. I speak of none other than Star Trek Online.

So, after all that hype...is it any good? Y'know, it really is.

I was able to play through the open beta and found myself instantly drawn to it, less as a gamer and more as a Star Trek fan. I think fans of Trek that are not gamers by nature (I'm sure there are a fair number in that category) will find this game not only interesting from a story point of view and definitely visually intriguing but also incredibly easy to get into mechanically. Things are very intuitive and it actually helps if you know what a phaser is, what shields do or whether a quantum torpedo is better than a photon one. A good friend of mine had a tad more trouble getting used to the controls and functions because, while she is a better MMO player than I am, I am the bigger Trek fan. While this aspect of the game may not appeal to the hard core MMO fan, it definitely appeals to me.

In fact, I found the background story so interesting and the MMO so inspiring I switch gears and pulled the following magic rabbit out of my butt at the last second...

I decided to run a tabletop Star Trek RPG adventure set in the Star Trek Online universe. Star Trek Outbound - Online roughly follows the plot of the game with a few changes made to accommodate the fact that dice are involved and not all the players are familiar with the MMO. Also, I altered some of the visuals for consistency (in the MMO you can custom design your own uniform, I picked a uniform and made character portraits using the character designer.).

The game is not being run with my usual group but instead a bunch of other friends who were nice enough to show up when all I told them was, "I've got an idea for a new Sci-Fi campaign. Its a surprise!" The end result was awesome. We played for nearly eight hours and got to learn about Andorians with alternative lifestyles, catch up on paperwork, be playfully chided by our Vulcan Captain (a Vulcan with a dry sense of humor!), spy on Romulans, fight the Borg, loose our captain, save sixty fellow officers whose ship was virtually dead in space, destroy a Borg Cube and prepare ourselves to mount a boarding party to the downed Cube to retrieve our captain.

Whew.

All in all its been a good week to be a Star Trek fan. Hopefully with a fully functioning computer and new campaigns for 2010, I'll have a lot more to ramble about.

Live Long and Prosper...and kick ass,

AD
Barking Alien 

The Future Begins Today

After a lot of thought, some soul searching and inspiration from a post on Jeff's Gameblog, I have decided to focus a good deal of my gaming efforts towards a new campaign for 2010...

Star Trek: OUTBOUND - The Breach

This new Star Trek RPG campaign, using the Last Unicorn Games ICON System, will be set during the Original Series and begin aboard an Avery Class Survey Ship (a TOS-Era style version of the USS Kelvin seen in the JJ Abrams Star Trek movie - as seen in the above image). This version of the Kelvin was designed by the very talented Kenneth Thomson Jr.

I intend to start there and if the PCs do well and progress I will upgrade them to a more powerful class of ship (something I've down in previous campaigns that works well). Depending on the exact time and nature of the setting they may keep the ship for a while and get upgraded to the Motion Picture Era look but we'll see what happens.

The region of space being explored is known as 'The Breach', an area surrounded by a Mutara Class Nebula that has, prior to the opening of the campaign, prevented extended exploration of this sector. Recent upgrades to Starfleet Shields and power systems now make it possible to handle this particular anomaly for limited periods of time (for those Star Trek fans wondering or worried about continuity, the nebula surrounding the Breach has less powerful effects than those of the Mutara Nebula in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan).

Well, I'd better get cracking. I'm still planning on running Star Wars, Ghostbusters and my Psycho-Vaguely-AD&D-meets-Anime-Fantasy games once a month each.

Its gonna be a good year.

AD
Barking Alien