Help required

The situation is that I am (as of Friday night) running a TOS based game (using the ICON system). The major problem is that every game I've ran has been in the TNG/DS9/VOY era and I'm unsure of what I'm letting myself in for. I really want the game to not be so much like a TNG or later based game, I want it to have the feel of TOS but I haven't got a handle on how to do it.

As the fine posters on this site seem to know what's what I decided I might as well run some stuff past the people here.

Any comments or suggestions (especially concerning the NPC's personality's) would be more than welcome (heck, comments are desperately needed).

The following is what I've worked out so far. Some of the notes concerning the crew are a little jumbled up (I normally pick some actor for NPC roles since it helps with visualising the character, which I've found helps when ruuning Trek).

I also need to work out who will double up as XO in case the PC's decide they don't want the added bother.

THE SHIP: USS Churchill, Constitution Class NCC-1827.
THE MAIN CHARACTERS (as per usual, I won't know who's playing what until Friday so I need to work out a NPC for each position).

COMMANDING OFFICER: Captain Gideon Huxley (Human, Male, Late 40's)
SECURITY CHIEF: Lieutenant Commander Jason Fielding (Human, Male, Early 40's)
SCIENCE OFFICER: Lieutenant Doria (Deltan, Male, equivalent of mid 30's).
CHIEF ENGINEER: Lieutenant JG Tabitha "Tabby" Burke (Human, Female, Late 20's).
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Lieutenant Commander T'Prell (Vulcan, Female, Appears in her late 30's).
HELMSMAN: Lieutenant Thomas Carter (Human, Male, Late 20's).
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: Lieutenant JG M'Rell (Caitian, Female, Mid 20's).
NAVIGATOR: Lieutenant Commander Joshua Cunningham (Human, Male, Late 30's).

I apologise for the sparcity of detail but this was dropped on me 7 hours ago.

One small suggestion. Promote the Chief Engineer to at least Lieutenant. Its a big job and requires a fairly experienced officer to run. A JG may be a bit low on the rank scale to be chief engineer on a Connie.

Actually, the Chief Engineer should be at least a Lieutenant Commander. Back then, the Chief Engineer was also Chief of Operations, and as such, third in command of the ship.

Also, who is XO? This person should be a Lt. Commander or Commander. Your Chief Science Officer should also be a Lieutenant Commander, while the Navigation Officer need only be a Lieutenant, oreven a Lieutenant (jg).

For the TOS feel, throw in black and white morality, hammed-up action scenes, remember that it's OK to tell Vulcan jokes, and don't forget the cheese. Especially the cheese... :D

Like the Captain said...

Lots and lots of two-fisted action. Try to think like a Western or one of the more action-oriented war movies. This is not a period when people talk things through with the Klingons like reasonable Frenchmen (:p) they launch into fights at the drop of a disruptor...

Scientific problems aren't defeated by technobabble either. Make sure your mcguffin (if you have one) has an obvious weakness (preferably one related to its nature), and that's the only way it can be defeated. Blowing it up in an unusual manner (i.e. not phasers or photons) is always a good way to go.

If you have the books, read the background from the Icon TOS rulebook, or (for a very nice summary) the sidebar description from the Coda book. Both give you an idea of how to proceed.

Having taken the advice that I've been given and having had another day to think about it, here's the updated crew roster.

COMMANDING OFFICER: Captain Gideon Huxley (Human, Male, Late 40's)
SECURITY CHIEF: Lieutenant Commander Jason Fielding (Human, Male, Early 40's)
SCIENCE OFFICER/FIRST OFFICER: Commander Dorak (Vulcan, Male, equivalent of mid 30's).
CHIEF ENGINEER/SECOND OFFICER: Lieutenant Commander Scott Fitzpatrick (Human, Male, Early 40's).
CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: Lieutenant Shoroan Endirev (Andorian, Female, Appears in her early 30's).
HELMSMAN: Lieutenant Thomas Carter (Human, Male, Late 20's).
COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER: Lieutenant JG M'Rell (Caitian, Female, Mid 20's).
NAVIGATOR: Lieutenant JG Tabitha "Tabby" Burke (Human, Male, Late 30's).

With any luck, by tomorrow (or late tonight) I should have a few ICON character sheets posted for your perusal

Here's the big cheese, the big kahuna. As always comments are welcome.

Name: Gideon Huxley
Rank: Captain
Species: Human
Position: Commanding Officer
Current Assignment: U.S.S. Churchill NCC-1827
Sex: Male
Description: 6'1" tall, Caucasian, Black hair, Silver-grey eyes.
Age: 56

Attributes
Fitness: 2 (5)
Strength:
Vitality:
Coordination: 2 (5)
Dexterity: +1
Reaction:
Intellect: 2 (5)
Logic:
Perception:
Presence: 2 (5)
Willpower: +1
Empathy:
Psi: 0 (5)
Range:
Focus:

Skills (Specializations)
Administration (Logistics) 3 (4)
(Starship Admin) (4)
Athletics (Running) 2 (3)
(Climbing) (3)
Command (Starship Command) 4 (5)
Computer (Research) 1 (2)
Culture (Human) 2 (3)
Diplomacy (Federation Law) 1 (2)
Dodge 1
Energy Weapon (Phaser) 1 (2)
History (Federation) 1 (2)
(Human) (2)
(Military) (2)
Language - Federation Standard 3
Law (Starfleet Regulations) 4 (5)
Personal Equipment (Tricorder) 1 (2)
Planetside Survival (Arctic) 1 (2)
Shipboard Systems (Helm) 2 (4)
(Sensors) (3)
(Weapons Systems) (2)
Space Science (Astrogation) 1 (2)
(Stellar Cartography) (2)
Starship Tactics (Klingon Tactics) 3 (4)
(Planetary Support Tactics) (4)
Vehicle Operation (Shuttlecraft) 1 (2)
World Knowledge (Andor) (2)
(Earth) (2)
(Okara) (2)
(Tarn Vedra) (2)

Advantages/Disadvantages
Bold +1
Code of Honour (Defender) -3
Commendation +1
Contact (Lieutenant Shauna Huxley, Chief Medical Officer, U.S.S Agamemnon) +1
Department Head (Helm) +3
Famous Incident (Participated as a Lieutenant JG in the Battle of Okrin) +3
Promotion (Captain) +15

Courage: 5/
Renown: 60
Aggression: 4
Discipline: 17
Initiative: 18
Openess: 3
Skill: 18

Background History
Early Life: Military Family
Academy Life: Advanced Tactical School (18-21)
Tours of Duty: Hostile Frontier Defense Mission (22-26) (USS Hawkspur), Cross Training (27-31) (USS Hawkspur), Deep Space Exploration Mission (32-36) (USS Copernicus), Diplomatic Mission (37-41) (USS Demeter), 15 year Deep Space Exploration Mission (42-56)

Resistance: 2

Looks good. He's saved to disc for when I need an NPC captain quickly.

Looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks for the comment. I'm working on the Security Chief (who in a moment of madness is now female since I had an idea for a scenario). She should be up on this site tomorrow evening (GMT) together with most of the other NPC's.

Just out of interest, can someone tell me what year the episode "The Cage" is supposed to be set in (I like the idea of starting the game at the start of the TV stories).

According to the Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future by the Okudas, the date was 2254.

I have a little bit of stuff for a 2261 campaign on my page, under Star Trek: Excalibur. It's in .PDF format (version 4).

Quote:

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Originally posted by Owen E Oulton
I have a little bit of stuff for a 2261 campaign on my page, under Star Trek: Excalibur. It's in .PDF format (version 4).

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Highly recommended :D

I'm trying to do something similar for my movie-era game...

As promised here's the Security Chief character.

Name: Grace Fielding
Rank: Lieutenant
Species: Human
Position: Security Chief
Current Assignment: U.S.S. Churchill NCC-1827
Sex: Female
Description: Waist length black hair (in a single braid), Green eyes, 5'11".
Age: 37

Attributes
Fitness: 2 (5)
Strength:
Vitality: +1
Coordination: 2 (5)
Dexterity:
Reaction:
Intellect: 2 (5)
Logic:
Perception: +1
Presence: 2 (5)
Willpower: +1
Empathy:
Psi: 0 (5)
Range:
Focus:

Skills (Specializations)
Administration (Starfleet) 1 (2)
Athletics (Swimming) 2 (4)
Computer (Research) 1 (2)
Culture (Human) 2 (3)
Dodge 1
Energy Weapon (Phaser) 3 (4)
History (Federation) 1 (2)
(Human) (2)
Language - Federation Standard 3
Law (Starfleet Regulations) 1 (2)
Personal Equipment (Environmental Suit) 1 (2)
Planetside Survival (Desert) 1 (2)
Planetary Tactics (Shipboard) 1 (2)
Security (Law Enforcement) 2 (4)
(Patrolling) (3)
(Security Systems) (4)
Shipboard Systems (Shields) 1 (2)
Social Science (Archeology) 1 (3)
Starship Tactics (Starfleet) 1 (2)
Systems Engineering (Security) 1 (2)
Unarmed Combat - Starfleet Martial Arts (Throw) 1 (2)
Vehicle Operation (Shuttlecraft) 1 (3)
World Knowledge (Tarn Vedra) 1 (2)

Advantages/Disadvantages
Contact (Lieutenant Craig Wallace, Helmsman, USS Thunderbird) +1
Department Head (Constitution Class) +4
Promotion (Lieutenant Commander) +6
Rival (Commander Thomas McClaine, Security Chief, USS Constitution) -2

Courage: 5
Renown: 8
Aggression: 1
Discipline: 2
Initiative: 3
Openess: 1
Skill: 1

Background History
Early Life: "Starfleet Brat" (1-18)
Academy Life: Security Training (19-22)
Cadet Cruise: Security
Tours of Duty: Frontier Patrol (23-27), 10 years on USS Demeter (28-37).

Resistance: 3

I made a few modifications to some of the rules from the TOS rulebook (changing the Promotion points needed to the table from the TNG Players Guide since the players are more used to them and using the Unarmed Combat rules from the same book) basically to put the characters more in line with the characters from my DS9 era game.

Again, any comments are welcome (ideas for scenarios especially. My current ideas aren't amounting to much at the moment).