The Future Begins...No Relation

This is my 700th Post.

Continuing my recap of the Pilot Episode of our new Star Trek RPG campaign 'Star Trek: Journey':

Pilot Episode: "Look Into The Future"

Part II:...

As Helmsman deRivera maneuvers the Journey just above and slightly starboard of the damaged USS Kelvin, Communications Officer Nesmith makes contact with the Kelvin's Comm Officer, or at least she thinks she does, as his voice sounds very strange. It is difficult to determine if he is an alien or there is trouble with the communication system just by listening.

Nesmith also notes the time stamps on the messages don't make sense. Some were received hours ago according to the computer. Some haven't been received yet and won't be sent for another few hours.

She is informed that the Kelvin's commanding officer, Captain Robert Robau, was slightly injured but is still alive and on duty. Nesmith conveys the Journey's intention to help, eventually speaking with the Kelvin's first officer, George Kirk. Kirk decides to check on his ship's badly damaged engineering section to make sure everyone is out of there and it's secure. Nesmith transfers the channel to Captain West of the Journey so he may speak with Robau directly.

During their conversation, the image of Captain Robau shift and changes slightly, revealing him in an unfamiliar uniform and slightly different bridge. The Science Officer reports sensor shadows showing an alternate design for the Kelvin that quickly goes back to normal.

USS Kelvin? Is that you?

It is quickly determined that the Journey will beam anyone who is badly injured to that ship from the Kelvin. Lt. Ma'Harra, the Security Chief ,recommends they not beam anyone mortally wounded as that will just occupy valuable personnel, resources and time we don't have. Accused of being cold by the crew and captain, she explains her reasoning further, suggesting the first people beamed over should be able bodied engineers and technicians who can help the Journey clear up it's sensor and communication issues, work the transporters and boost power in engineering for a more effective evacuation.

While it goes against his gut, Captain West can't help but agree given the circumstance. His is not a mainline starship but a flying test bed for better craft to come. 

The only exception West makes is not for an injured crewman but a pregnant one. West learns that Lt. Commander Kirk's wife, Wiona, a Starfleet Botanist, is aboard the Kelvin and he insists she accompany the first people off. As Navigation prepares to lower the shields for transport, Lt. Commander Thorest, the Journey's first officer, and Security Chief Ma'Harra of Altair go down to the Transporter Room to receive the Kelvin's crew.

Transporter locks are made thanks to help from the Kelvin and the amazing skill of the Journey's (NPC) Transporter Chief, Hank 'Skippy' Whipple. The first group come over no problem. The second batch seems to include two very unusual transporter signatures. As the forms begin to coalesce, Thorest and Ma'Harra immediately know these are not members of the Kelvin's compliment. Dressed in heavy duty, black leather gear for either mining or harsh weather or both, the two individuals are also wearing sealed helmets of an unknown make.

Up on the bridge, Kate Nesmith sends Starfleet Command an update on the situation, her communication system is flooded by a burst of 'Comm Chatter' that appears to be encoded. Unable to decipher the code on her own, she receives assistance from Lt. T'Amar, an intelligence agent with the Vulcan High Command assigned to the ship to root out anyone trying to steal or sabotage the experimental designs the Journey is testing. The strange code seems familiar, but even she can't seem to break it just yet.

Meanwhile, back down in the Transporter Room, Thorest yells "Freeze!' as he fires his Laser Pistol at one of the two mysterious intruders, but the stun beam passes through the not-yet-completely materialized being. Ma'Harra's shot strikes her target square in the chest, throwing him against the rear wall. She quickly lets off a second shot at Thorest's previous target, with another perfect hit. Don't mess with the purple gal, that much is certain.

Realizing there is a danger of additional invaders, Captain West reluctantly orders the shields raised. The commanding officer and crew discuss options when Ma'Harra makes a rather old school suggestion. She recommends the Journey and the Kelvin physically dock by connecting their airlocks. The crew of the Kelvin and their walk right onto the Journey and by combining their shield frequencies, the weakening shields of the Kelvin will get a major boost. Wow! West says to make it so, likes the phrases, wonders if it will ever catch on.

Over on the Kelvin, George Kirk reaches the Engine Room but wisely avoids entering it as, in all honesty, it isn't there anymore. A massive hull breach and a fractured Warp Core are all that remain of Main Engineering. The room, flooded with radiation and open to the vacuum of space, is devoid of life. The Kelvin's Bridge informs Captain West that they've lost at least a dozen men and women.

Ma'Harra moves the bodies of the invaders to the brig as Thorest proceeds to process the new arrivals and have the med team check them for radiation. After that, he tries to talk to them to ascertain more information about what happened and what that 'Red Hole' is. Following this, Thorest assigns them to other duties to help get the two ships free of the anomaly.

A message comes in from Starfleet Command and even Nesmith is surprised. The new sensors and communication systems are amazing! She didn't expect a response to her report for hours at best.

The message is from Captain L.T. Stone of Starbase 12, former posting of Captain West and others aboard the Journey. Stone gets an update from Lt. Nesmith in what has to be one of the funniest sequences of the game. She is like an over-excited kid talking to her favorite uncle. Awesome portrayal by Emi (wife of my friend Will who plays Lt. Commander Thorest).

Just as Nesmith informs Stone about the weird, coded comm signals coming from the 'Red Hole', T'Amar is able to partially identify them by noting they resemble Romulan codes from the Earth/Romulan War, but far more complex. Standing next to Stone in his office is a female Vulcan who is in fact T'Amar's immediate superior officer. She suggests T'Amar look into ancient forms of the Romulan language as many cultures use older or more obscure languages as bases for encryption, similar to Earth's Native American code talkers during that planet's second World War.

As T'Amar and Nesmith, a linguistics specialist herself, get right on that, Lt. Ma'Harra, Lt. Commander Thorest and Security Officers Jones and Horowitz prepare to interrogate that invaders, only to find...they're dead.

Actually they've been dead for some time...over 150 years.

End of Part II

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Barking Alien

The Red Matter....No Relation

Well, OK, not no relation but....

Star Trek: Journey is a hit!

The pilot episode sells and WCSB (Compleat Strategist* Broadcasting) picks up the first 12 episode season of the series!
 

The cast and characters:

Captain Bernard Okita West (Ken) - Commanding Officer

A Starfleet Engineer whose parents were Starfleet Engineers, Captain West was literally born at Earth's orbital shipyards. The title of Captain is still new to him and he never expected to be one. The top brass decided that for this shakedown cruise designed to test new technologies and systems for future ship designs, the man they needed in the center chair was a less an explorer than a mechanic.

West is calm, pretty much no-nonsense but approachable. He is still getting used to be in charge.

Lt. Commander Thorest (Will) - First Officer

A second generation Andorian/Aenar mix, Thorest is the son of Tallas, daughter of Shran (Both from ST: Enterprise). Like all hybrids born of that coupling, Thorest is a sea-green color instead of the more familiar Andorian blue.

Thorest is a real 'people person', an administrator and a former Starfleet JAG officer. He serves as the liaison between the Captain and the crew and plays good cop to the Security Chiefs bad cop.

'Lieutenant' T'Amar (Hans) - Intelligence Officer

Because most of the gear aboard the USS Journey is experimental, an Intelligence Officer was stationed on the ship on the recommendation of the Vulcan High Command. The last thing Starfleet wants is a Klingon spy learning anything about the new equipment that would undo the advantage it would give us.

A young, female Vulcan, she excels in her skills but they are very focused. She sometimes has trouble finding your place when espionage isn't called for. She is disciplined and determined but inexperienced.

Lieutenant Ma'Harra (Vazquez) - Security Chief

Mixed species crews are rare at this time but Starfleet maybe testing that possibility as much as new sensors and warp drives with the personnel assigned to the Journey.

Ma'Harra is an Altairian female with strange hunches and a kick butt, take names attitude. She is a little cold compared to her Human counterparts but she makes the tough and uncomfortable choices seem easy. She's also easy on the eyes.

What's that Ensign? Looking to mine borite are we?

Nothing Ma'am! No Ma'am!

Lieutenant James Mason (Ray) - First Contact Specialist

Oh Lt. Mason, you cad. You sly dog.

Mason is a Human with a powerful interest in aliens. That interest first manifested when there was a complicated incident between himself and the daughter of an Andorian Ambassador.

Originally majoring in Exobiology at the Academy, Mason's smooth manner and warm personality eventually lead him to study First Contact procedures and he was recruited by the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps. Now, he serves as the ship's go-to guy for close encounters of the first time. Of course with Mason, those close encounters sometimes end up really close. James T. Kirk close.

(Ray speaks like Sean Connery when playing him).

Lieutenant J.G. Kate Nesmith (Emi) - Chief Communications Officer

Youngest and most starry eyed of the crew, the gregarious and bouncy Lt. Nesmith is, even after 4 years at Starfleet Academy, still going, "Wow!" to pretty much every alien and cool stellar anomaly she encounters.

An eager overachiever, she wants to help in anyway she can, including covering or assisting such diverse positions as Sensors, Security Procedures, Linguistics and First Contact to Landing Parties. When assignments are handed out she can be seen raising her hand and saying, "Pick me, pick me!"

Additional PC Crew Members

The following characters and actors were listed in the credits but didn't have major screen time or speaking parts (they weren't able to make it to the game this time).

Lieutenant Rafael deRivera (Nelson) - Chief Helmsman
Lt. Commander G.E. Charleston (Andy) - Chief Science Officer
Unnamed Efrosian (Jeff) - Chief Medical Officer - Not Starfleet. Interspecies Medical Exchange (like Dr. Phlox on Enterprise).

NPC Crew members

Security Officers Jones (Male, Human) and Horowitz (Female, Human)
Unnamed female Ensign - Navigator
Unnamed male 'Crewman', nicknamed Skippy - Transporter Chief (styled after Scruffy from Futurama).

Pilot Episode: "Look Into The Future"

Part I:...

Captain's Log, Stardate 2.3301.04. January 4th, 2233. The USS Journey, a 70 year old Daedalus Class starship, three months out of Starbase 12, is performing it's year long shakedown cruise. It is carrying and testing experimental upgraded components and systems designed to be implemented into the construction of a new series of Starfleet Vessels.

While testing the improved Long Range Sensors and Communication equipment, the Journey receives a distress call from the deep space exploration ship USS Kelvin. The Kelvin has encountered a strange anomaly and then reported that distruptor fire emitted out of the anomaly and damaged them heavily.

Prime Universe version of the Einstein Class USS Kelvin.

 

Captain Bernard Okita West, former Chief Engineer and a major participant in the installing of the ship's upgrades, orders his vessel to assist the Kelvin, next to best possible speed (6.5 out of our maximum Warp 7 - Don't want to go save someone and fall apart when we reach them). Even with their improved sensors, the Journey is getting some weird readings and isn't quite sure what they're heading into. Concerned it could be a trap set by the nearby Klingons, the ship comes out of warp with shields up.

A good thing too! The anomaly is designated (unofficially, but I liked what Security Chief Ma'Harra called it) a 'Red Hole' and appears to be a swirling, red hued vortex with periodic discharges of crimson energy. The Kelvin took serious damage from the discharges (which build and release in great waves occasionally) and discharges from within the Red Hole very similar to distruptor blasts. Damage to decks 3, 4 and 5, including loss of Warp Drive, only one working Pulsed Laser Cannon and a hull breach in engineering that cost over a dozen crewmembers their lives.

Well aware that his ship was a testing platform and not a modern cruiser or rescue vessel, Captain West figured it best to avoid the anomaly, save as many people as possible aboard the Kelvin (and the Kelvin itself if possible) and than either head based to a Starbase or rendezvous with a larger ship.

Problem: Interference from the anomaly was making sensor locks for the Transporter and Tractor Beam difficult...though not impossible. The plan they began to form aboard the Journey was risking, but they had to try something. Before long, things was get even more dangerous and the plans more bold. But would they be successful?

 

Find out after the commercial.

End of Part I

 

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Barking Alien



 

Any Way You Want It

I should be sleeping but I'm as wired as I am tired thanks to a bajillion thoughts running through my mind, many of them gaming related.

***

I have some Superhero RPG ideas and opinions I want to discuss after listening to the latest Play on Target podcast on that very subject, but I need a little more time to think about what exactly I want to say.

***

My Pendragon campaign is going...I am not sure. Well. Very well in fact. I think. I mean, it is really good but unlike Traveller, it doesn't come easy. No, Traveller is nearly effortless while Pendragon is a pain in the butt actually. It's definitely gone pretty far off course from what I intended. I should know by now to follow my own rule and not 'intend' so much with this group.

Fantasy, even when it's my kind of fantasy, just isn't my forte'.*

 

***

 

So let's talk more about my upcoming Star Trek campaign for the time being. Why? Because Star Trek, that's why.

 

Daedalus Class By MadKoiFish

Best version of the many design variants I have seen.
 

I am usually, let's say 95% of the time or more, absolutely willing to indulge my players in crazy character ideas or deep backgrounds for their PCs that are not always perfectly suited to the world or universe we are playing in.

As long as they are largely suited or even mostly suited, I will find a way to make it fit.

Part of the reason for this attitude is I never want to be one of those GMs who automatically gives a flat out 'No!' to anything and everything a player suggests.

Another reason is that I've been spoiled and for many, many years, had great players with whom I was completely simpatico.

With my current group and the extended network of gamers that I know, things are somewhat hit and miss. For the most part, the majority of them are on the same page as I am, and vice versa. That's to say, they often are, but not always.

Case in point, for our Pendragon campaign, a game based on, and set within, the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot, I have only two of the five players who want to be Knights...and British.

One is a female peasant girl of Danish decent.
One is a female Irish mercenary disguised as a man.
One is a Moor/Saracen Magician.

An interesting mix ,and each has a good story behind them, but yeah, not exactly what the game is about. Now, have I made it work? So far yes. At the same time, I can't help but think, why am I having to make it work? Why couldn't it have just worked?

I get this a lot when I try to run games with very specific settings.

One effect Dungeons & Dragons has had on gaming, to the detriment of genre, is to create a dynamic where everything and the kitchen sink can be thrown in. Some see this as the game's strength, but I have grown to see it as a disadvantage.

If you don't want something in your game so that you can reinforce a particular flavor, or feel for your setting, you are viewed as limiting the players or hindering the adventure possibilities. The concept of genre tropes, often viewed as a negative by some, are what I try to use so that every game doesn't feel exactly the same as every other.

If all games felt and featured the same approach, why play anything other than one game? Whichever game enables you to do everything, even if it doesn't do any one thing particularly well, would be the go to game for all gamers.

For my new Star Trek campaign, I have a very particular idea in mind. I want the rough and tumble 'American Pioneer' feeling of the Original Series of Star Trek, as well as stories inspired by the Golden Age of Science Fiction. We have the trappings of Star Trek: Warp Drive, Tricorders, Transporters and Communicators, but otherwise it's a fairly low-tech future. The Phaser has not yet become standard issue. The PCs carry Laser Pistols. The Tractor Beam exists but no rerouted the plasma hyperbole through the navigational array in order to hyphenate the super model. That's some bulls*^@!

Also, certain Species are around, certain ones aren't. Distance and speed (while I don't intend to get nitpicky or nerdy about them) matter. We don't, at a time prior to the Original Series, have relations with everyone we know in the Next Generation/DS9 period. One of the things I hated about Star Trek: Enterprise and the Abrams movie was they failed to grasp this. "Let's name drop or show Ferengi and Cardassians even though this is a time before we met ANY OF THEM". Come on staff writers, use your heads? There was a point in the history of Western Europe when no one had been to Japan. You wouldn't have a Viking, in the Autumn of 793, walk into a mead hall in Norway and say, "This is my friend Hiroshi. He's visiting for a couple of days. Two sakes please."

Anyway, I am aware I am bordering on a rant here so I'll try to finish up.

In a group of 2-5 players I usually have one who just can't grasp, or won't grasp, the setting specifics if it's anything other than allowing for everything. In a group of 7-9, one or two. I am also surprised at how hard some people find it to drop into a particular milieu. I usually grasp the feel of a world or universe after a few words out of a GMs mouth, or two to three sentences in a Facebook post. Others need you to give them one of those DK Eyewitness Travel Guides in order to feel comfortable in a game they're going to be playing in.

Look, I am willing to play the game any way you want it, but I am GMing, so it's got to be any way I want it too. If you don't like it, run one yourself or don't play this game. Wait for something more familiar. No big.

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Barking Alien

Something Of Note:

The first interracial kiss on network television celebrated it's 45th anniversary on November 22nd. For those unaware or unfamiliar with who kissed whom, it was Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) on an episode of the original Star Trek series.

Relevant, groundbreaking, controversial. The original Star Trek.

Hey JJ, sit down before you hurt yourself.

*One More Thing:

Have you ever been really good at something you didn't particularly enjoy? I know, it sounds weird, right?

I am actually really good at running D&D style Fantasy. I just don't like it is all.