That's a very neat adventure Pierre, you should probably have given it it's own thread and possibly work to increase it into a full adventure, sounds like a good 2-part story which should keep roleplayers occupied for a while! :D
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That's a very neat adventure Pierre, you should probably have given it it's own thread and possibly work to increase it into a full adventure, sounds like a good 2-part story which should keep roleplayers occupied for a while! :D
Actually, I ran this adventure as the first of my current campaign, under LUGTrek rules. It took about 6 hours of gameplay to complete it but I used the two variants (Ferengis and survivors), which made a couple of scenes longer.
My original post was longer but I was hit by the 15000 characters limit so I cut a bunch of comments and suggestions.
I wasn't sure about starting a new thread... who knows why...
Pierre
ONE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH:
The Romulans conqure a planet just on the other side (Romulan side) of the Neutral Zone. This planet has a small space navy, and was unable to fight back against the Romulans.
A single ship manages to make it across the zone and they try to buy weapons and technology to fight back. However, without money or trade goods they can't get what they need. However, all is not lost. A journalist for one of the Federation media outlets offers to sponsor thier fight. He gives them the money they need to build an uber-powerful warship out of surplus equipment and they set off to kick some Romulan ass.
Now, the players have to track down the journalist and bring him to justice for braking many interstellar laws, track down the uberwarship that his money built and stop them from causing an interstellar bloodbath they can't win.
And when that's done... they discover the WHOLE THING was a setup by a powerful media-mougal for Ratings! Now they have to go after him and his media company which won't be easy due to his vast wealth and connections across the Federation...
Who in the Federation has Vast Wealth?
Sadly, I just don't see this as happening.
It's a good idea for something like Babylon 5, or possibly Stargate, or even Andromeda. But for Star Trek, good Trek, it just doesn't seem to make sense.
First, the money isn't there. Second, manipulation of the media would be a huge crime, perhaps not illegal, but definitely unethical.
Of course, this could be an episode put out by B&B.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trinity Zeldis
That, good sir... is an insult. I challange you to a duel! :mad:
:p ;) :D
I don't see every member of the Federation subcribing to the "no money free stuff for all" tripe mentioned on screen. Someone from a culture that respects money and wealth assumes a position of power in a Federation media producer... and driven by his cultural imperitives he does what he thinks is right to bring in more fame and wealth for himself.Quote:
Originally Posted by C. Huth
However in this case he goes too far and puts the lives of millions at risk.
....
Of course this becomes even easier if you're not bound by the restrictions of canon and are able to pick and choose the elements of Trek Lore that suit your vison, like I do. :)
If he was a weapons broker or something i could understand it, but the shows give no indications that there's large-scale media consumption in the federation beyond holo-programs and books; at least not in ways that are amenable to advertising.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brite Dip Man
A variation I'd play on this adventure : keeping the journalist idea but rather than going for a purely media sponsored warship, I'll make the journalist a contact between the refugees and another group, more involved into weapon dealings.
Ferengis could be interested to sponsor the fight, on the promises of future dealings/monopoly on the (maybe) freed world.
Also, it would allows to bring nasty weapons in the fight as Ferengis would be less reluctant and less scrupulous to sell formidable weaponry.
(I suppose any other shadowy group fit, like Orion Syndicate, or even Section 31)
So, I'd organize the adventure on :
- the Romulan takeover as a background info at first
- the rumor/information survivors of the defeated army are gathering military support (single warship, fleet of smaller ships).
- seeing favorable media coverage, investigation will lead to the key journalist, yet he alone can't bring much military support.
- investigating on the journalist will show the Ferengi connections
There, two tasks will appear :
- sever the Ferengi connection (probably operating from the inside of the Federation for a easier handle), by arresting for illegal dealings/closing the cover business.
- stop the defeated army to fight back with destructive weaponry, maybe in a cataclysmic revenge on a Romulan world (or on their own world, to wipe Romulan occupation forces, despite civilians losses).
The adventure will be two main parts :
- investigation
- space fight
Complications that can be thrown in :
- freedom of media during the early part making investigations harder and bring some law skills in, discussions about legal authority etc...
- dilemna if the Ferengi are operating out of Federation space (like a bordering station) ie : "Can Starfleet intervene in a conflict between Romulan Star Empire and a third party when the Federation itself has little ties to the conflict (only the actions of a single individual - the journalist). Yet, not intervening will lead to massive deaths of civilians".
Intervening is stepping on Romulan toes, warning the Romulans is tacitely agreeing with their takeover, not intervening is allowing civilian deaths.
- Starfleet mothballed ships could be stolen, giving a heavier case for Starfleet intervention and probably giving the false idea of a Federation backing
- Starfleet is asked by the defeated world to negociate peace with the Romulans in a tricky manner for players : by negociating the way the world is now occupied (accepted takeover by the native government). Then, bring in the fact the whole journalist/native army conspiracy has really good chances to succeed (the conquered world must be a minor issue for the Romulan then). So Starfleet officers may now have two conflicting objectives :
* negociating while investigating and then stopping the maneuver
* negociating and investigating and finally decide to do nothing, which will ruin their own negociations despite orders.
Thanks for reading
Pierre
Et bonne année.
Great ideas, they really build on the basic idea.
As for the mass-media angle... prehaps it's an outside media group... from a non-member world. One that has a good amount of resources to throw into an undertaking like this.
...an entire planet where Reality TV has run amok. :D Naaah. :p
You watch lexx?Quote:
Originally Posted by Brite Dip Man
Not in a long time. :pQuote:
Originally Posted by C. Huth
Here's another variant on the journalist episode, drawing on all the "corrupt admiral" episodes.
1. Alien world taken over by Romulans (in Romulan space, so no legal recourse for Federation).
2. Journalist sets up Aliens with resources to obtain weapons to fight back in exchange for exclusive coverage or special priviledge presence before, during, or after the attack to interview/document.
3. Turns out Journalist couldn't front the resources himself, so who provided them to the Journalist? Ferengi!
4. Several old starships stolen from Klingon mothball Fleetyards near Federation Border. Klingons pissed at Federation for allowing Raiders to operate.
5. Why would Ferengi give resources away to a Journalist? They specifically stated who should get them and for what cause. Why? They say the Federation gave them their orders. Could it be a rogue Admiral like Cartright from ST IV-VI who wants to escalate a war the Federation could win without looking like the agressor?
The very convoluted solution: The Alien world was taken over by the Romulans, but being in Romulan space there was nothing the Federation could complain about. Yet this Alien race, which was low power militarily, was working on a form of mathematics which would yield a code unbreakable by Romulan cryptologists. Section 31 wanted such a code. They paid off the Ferengi, which would seem like a powerful enough group to have such resources and is interested in operating outside the law if the profits are there. The Ferengi, under instruction, provided the Journalist with a different story about how this "sample" would cement them to providing future weapons for the Alien world once they forced the Romulans out and realized it would require ongoing effort to keep them from returning. The Journalist provided the money, the documents, and the plans to the Aliens. The plans recommended hiring a given group of Nausican mercenaries (included in the documents) to obtain the needed weapons, and the amount of money provided happened to be exactly what was needed. The Nausicans, also contacted by Section 31 for this "mission", were instructed to accept the payment from the Aliens (actually from Section 31 through several lairs of indirection to provide cover for its true origin) and then raid a mothball fleetyard right across the Klingon border. They did, and provided the (fully armed and cloaked) ships to the aliens who would use them in their war. This served Section 31 interests in 2 ways: 1) the Klingons would be implicated in any ship-to-ship engagement that failed to retake the Alien world, possibly putting two of the Federation's greatest adversaries at each others' throats, or 2) if the attempt to retake the world succeeded, the Aliens would prioritize their unbreakable code so the Romulans couldn't spy on them, and Section 31 would be there to provide the necessary resources to complete this research...and steal it when it is complete, giving the Federation a means of passing orders no Romulan ship could intercept!
Now, if you could follow that reasoning...! This adventure idea is suitable for one of the two-part TNG episodes, like Redemption. It could take your players many sessions to get to the bottom of it, and when they do...what can they do? Leaving the ending open to the players to figure out is the best part.
Okay all, first off an apology to all.
Some time back i uploaded a pdf file with all of the Adventure Seeds, Series Seeds and some of the highlights from the Evil Games Masters Support Group :D
The feedback I got at the time was positive (thanks all) but one comment was that it would have been nice to have been creditied for the ideas written... so, in that spirit attached is Seeds v2.0.
This one is up to date, and lists writer and posting time. I've still had to trim some things from the file, (it's almost a mb & 140+ pages) but i've certainly found it useful, hope you all do too.
Apologies again that this has taken sooooo long.
Sundowner...
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"Shall I goto 'Red Alert' sir? It does mean changing the lightbulb."
Kryten, Red Dwarf
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Adventure Seed
Title: The Trouble With Transporters
Recommended Series Type: Space Station
Era: TNG (Early)
Description:
The original idea for this plot was to be set early TNG where the Federation has just started recognising the Cardassian occupation of Bajor, and also set on a Starbase on the Federation edge of the Triangle (FASA Map)
Act One:- Scene One
The introduction for this adventure is the opening of a Formal/State dinner on the Starbase of your choice, you could start it sooner, your choice, but if you give everyone a chance to investigate the NPC’s too much they may find anything you have in their background.
Suggested NPC’s at the Dinner are as follows:-
StarBase Commander plus senior staff
The PC’s (If of sufficient Rank)
Local Klingon Representative
Local Romulan Representative (If possible)
Any other foreign government reps (Imperial KLingon States, Mantiev Colonial Association, Bakers Dozen, Orions etc [FASA Triangle Political Groups])
The New Cardassian Gul in charge of Trade and negotiations assigned to the Triangle, plus a staff officer
(Present with his New Hideki Class cruiser plus 6 freighters on trading missions)
A Bajoran Prylar (Wandering Monk)
Local Important Business Representatives
Local University Dean (Or equivalent)
Plus assorted other dignitaries and notables
The dinner commences and everyone has a good meal, the various speeches at the conclusion bore the tears out of everyone as expected,
For anyone who is paying attention, mention that the Bajoran is polite and courteous to the Cardassians, even shaking the hand of the Gul!
The room (Plus surrounding rooms) are protected by a security forcefield, and everyone entering and leaving are thoroughly scanned for biological agents and weapons, plus full ID checks.
Scene one concludes with the end of the dinner and everyone moving into the next room for after dinner coffee and mints. The Base power goes down and backup power fails, plus auxiliary power units appear to have been disconnected.
Anyone the Bajoran has shaken hands with will be beamed out, he/she has a molecular ‘tag’ imprinted on their palm, it marks selected people for beam out,
*Note* if a PC talks to the Prylar, make sure s/he has a drink in hand, unless you want the PC kidnapped :)
Also, when the hostages are beamed out, ONLY ORGANIC MATTER is beamed out.
This means most clothes will remain, as will any technology (Such as tracking devices, pacemakers, prosthetics, weapons, etc - This also means any silicon based life forms will 'not' be beamed out)
All the Hostages are beamed to the cargo hold of an orbiting Orion Blockade runner, this is to ensure the DNA traces of ALL the hostages will be found in the cargo hold, then, the Bajoran, and all but six preselected hostages are beamed back down to the StarBase and held in long term transporter stasis (See notes below)
The Orion then leaves orbit, along with several other ships, at maximum warp.
*Note* Any Starfleet ships in orbit will need to be either delayed, out on call or slower than blockade runners
Scene Two
Once the Power is back on (This will have to be done by engineers, it will not kick back in on its own, how long this takes is up to you) the PC’s will hopefully start with ‘Oh No, Not Again!’.
They will already know, or will soon find out who is missing, and what has been left behind, so the investigation will begin, the fact that several ships left at high warp should soon be evident, all have headed into the triangle, and then separated, (one to Rom Space, one to Orion space, two to Klingons & two deep into the triangle)
The ship that had the six hostages on board makes several rendezvous, and beams five off to other ships, (the pilot doesn’t know what’s happening, he’s just beaming cargo onto other ships) there will have to be an accomplice in the cargo bay, he’ll have stunned the hostages & put the selected six into boxes, he’ll have transported off at the first rendezvous & made his escape. The cargo transfers will keep the PC’s busy tracing ships all over the triangle.
The reason for six ships leaving orbit will hopefully be to dissuade the PC’s from following, if they have any sense, they’ll send ships to follow the ships & stay on base, but, they may go?
Anyone who stays will have to deal with the political aftermath, many senior people, ambassadors and the new Gul will have been kidnapped, and everyone will be blaming everyone else, especially as the suspect ships have headed into the triangle, the Hideki will head into the triangle, but leaving several crew behind to monitor the situation, various other ships will also follow (Klingon/Rom/Orion/Free Traders etc), a veritable fleet will chase the suspect ships, hopefully the Starfleet will get there first :)
The Hostages on the first ship will be spread out on subsequent ships to create false leads, to occupy anyone who chases the ships.
Act Two:- Scene One
We move forward a day or so, the PC’s should hopefully have spent their time pacifying unstable NPC’s, searching for clues (why did ALL the power go off line, who did it, who kidnapped all the people, what do they want, background checks on all missing people, that sort of thing,)
Meanwhile, a junior Starfleet officer (Ops/Engineering) is doing routine maintenance on a backup transporter, it’s actually working, but it’s where most of the hostages are being held in transporter stasis. He’s monitoring the buffer & transferring the group pattern between three buffers to keep the buffers from destabilising & loosing the patterns of the hostages. He beams out the Bajoran & they’ll chat. This officer is one of the first Starfleet defectors to what will one day be called the Maquis :)
The Bajoran records a message, and lists his demands (Whatever they are is up to you, but it could be a federation investigation of the cardie occupation of Bajor, or intervention, or supplies?)
This message is quietly left on someone’s desk in the night by the defector (I'd suggest making this guy a telepath, so he can scan people he needs too or block unwanted scans, he can also keep an eye out telepathically, not using scanners)
The transporter isn’t drawing power from the station as he has rigged the phase inducers and connected them to an emitter array, he has set them up as a regenerative power source, backed up by a portable power generator, this will allow it to function without drawing power from the station.
The patterns of the hostages are being used in a level one diagnostic routine to maintain their integrity.
Once the message is received the pc’s obviously will realise that someone on base is involved & a search will begin, the buffer, if scanned, should simply show as running a detailed level one diagnostic. (Scheduled maintenance) but only mention this if the specifically ask about transporter activity. (IE, logs, usage etc)
Messages should follow every 9 hrs or so, again, up to you.
Scene Two
Okay, after a couple of days, the PC’s should have an idea what’s happening, from here, it’s up to you as to how you want this to proceed, if the players have spent too long chasing the wild goose in the Triangle they should soon realise they need to be back at base to find out what's happening there.
If they've been on the base and investigating the ease or difficluty of their investigation will entirly depend on the questions they've asked...
From here it is up to what the PC's have been doing, and what the GM has planned, i haven't run this idea yet (And not likely o get a chance to either) but if anyone does, let me know how it went please.
Title: The Soulless
Recommended Series Type: Exploration (Federation, Any Era)
Era: Any
The crew's starship is warping through space to their next destination, along the edges of explored space, when a heavily damaged starship of unknown type gets expelled from a micro-warp wormhole (I may have gotten the name wrong - the type of wormhole formed by the Enterprise's warp engines in TMP). Sensors pick up one life-form onboard, heavily wounded and on the verge of death. Presumabely, the Crew beams off the life-form and has the Doctor among them (or an NPC Doctor) heal him. The alien dies 'on the table', but the Doctor manages to fortiously revive him. The crew investigate the starship - the first warp-capable vessel of their world - and retrieves data from the computer system. The species that launched the vessel is called the Ako-cho, a highly spiritual/religious species from a nearby star system, and the pilot is the Crown Prince, named Ichiru.
The Captain orders a course set for the star system, which leaves the crew to deal with the Prince - and the main problem of the episode, which lies in the Ako-cho's belief system: That the soul leaves the body on clinical death, and that the body is Ako-chinn, or soulless, if revived using medical technology after death. Naturally, the performance of such a 'crime' against their Crown Prince's body poses certain diplomatic problems - as does the fact that the Ako-chinn have no rights, and are used, effectively, as slave labor. If you do it right, the Crew may well be entirely unaware of this problem until after they warp into the Ako-cho home system. Other than their mis-treatment of the Ako-chinn, the Ako-cho would seem to be ideal Federation members - all other elements of their society are equal, they hold personal rights and freedom in high regard, so on, so forth, and so the crew will hopefully make an effort to solve this diplomatic problem and begin the first steps towards guiding the Ako-cho to Federation membership.
Title: The Tenacious Dilemma
Recommended Series Type: Exploration (Federation, TNG/Pre-DW DS9)
While exploring (once more along the edges of explored space), the crew's starship picks up a repeating distress signal from the USS Tenacious - a starship that is currently under construction in Utopia Planitia, a year and a half from being space-worthy, and nowhere near the area of space the crew is currently exploring. Despite the apparent discontinuity, Starfleet regulations mandate that they respond upon the receipt of a distress signal, and manage to trace the signal to the surface of the fifth planet of a nearby binary star system after finding the Tenacious does not respond to any attempt to hail it.
Upon arrival in the star-system, sensor sweeps reveal debris from two starships - one Federation and one Romulan - and an apparent anomaly: the debris is over one thousand years old, existing far prior to the formation of the Federation. Scanning the fifth planet of the system - where the distress signal originates - reveals another apparent anomaly: The local society is presently at the equivlant of Earth's mid-1300s, yet sensors are showing distinct signs indicating the presence of an operational fusion reactor underneath some plains on the planet's largest continent - plains where significant amounts of humanoid lifesigns are currently arraying themselves in apparent preparation for battle.
The Captain orders an Away Team to be sent, and they arrive three hours before the amassing armies arrive within sight of each other - and where the crew are. Tricorder scans indicate a holographic projector active, concealing an entrance within a nearby hillside. Upon entering, they find a hidden base, much akin to a Starfleet observation outpost, with but one addition - the presence of cyrogenic sleep chambers holding about 27 individuals in Starfleet uniform - and 17 Romulans (and, if you wish, a few Remans) in standard Romulan Navy (or Tal Shava - Marines - for the Remans) uniform. There is also one abnormality present - the base computer systems contain historical data for years that have not passed yet - up to mid to late-2374, shortly after the capture of Betazed and the entry of the Romulans into the Dominion War.
How the crew deals with this influx of information is the crux of the story, and ultimately up to your group, but a little backstory (or rather, forestory, since the events in question have yet to happen) is in order - in 2374, the Dominion makes the capture of the Barzan system - and the unstable wormhole therein (TNG: The Price) - a priority, in hopes of facilitating it's research into a means of creating an artifical wormhole to Dominion space. Starfleet, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire realize the threat, and have a significant presence waiting for the Dominion upon arrival.
During the battle, a cloaked Romulan destroyer - travelling along the edges of the battle-zone - collides with the USS Tenacious, and the collision pushes both the Tenacious and the destroyer into the nearby Barzan wormhole, where chronitons emitted from the destroyer's still-functioning cloaking device push the two ships about 1500 years into the past, and hundreds of light years through space, to the system it's now in. The Tenacious rescues the crew of the destroyer, managing to make it to the nearby planet despite heavy damage and construct the outpost the crew are now in, before engaging their own ships self-destruct sequence - to prevent historical contamination - and put themselves and the Romulans into cyrogenic stasis, programming the computer to start sending the distress signal shortly after they 'historically' disappeared, and awaken them then. The computer malfunctioned - after centuries without maintainance, it's a miracle it functioned as well as it did - and started sending the distress call early, and lost the instructions to revive the crew. Enter the crew, who must now deal with the ramifications of the knowledge that the Federation is going to enter a war - and soon - that it is on the losing end of as far as the historical data goes.
For an interesting variant of this scenario, replace the Tenacious with your own crew's starship - the crew's starship will be at the Battle of Barzan, and get sent into the past, and among the crew in stasis are future versions of the crew, scarred by the horrors of war.
Just a few thoughts,
-Tor Itara
Title: The Soulless
Recommended Series Type: Exploration (Federation, Any Era)
Era: Any
The crew's starship is warping through space to their next destination, along the edges of explored space, when a heavily damaged starship of unknown type gets expelled from a micro-warp wormhole (I may have gotten the name wrong - the type of wormhole formed by the Enterprise's warp engines in TMP). Sensors pick up one life-form onboard, heavily wounded and on the verge of death. Presumabely, the Crew beams off the life-form and has the Doctor among them (or an NPC Doctor) heal him. The alien dies 'on the table', but the Doctor manages to fortiously revive him. The crew investigate the starship - the first warp-capable vessel of their world - and retrieves data from the computer system. The species that launched the vessel is called the Ako-cho, a highly spiritual/religious species from a nearby star system, and the pilot is the Crown Prince, named Ichiru.
The Captain orders a course set for the star system, which leaves the crew to deal with the Prince - and the main problem of the episode, which lies in the Ako-cho's belief system: That the soul leaves the body on clinical death, and that the body is Ako-chinn, or soulless, if revived using medical technology after death. Naturally, the performance of such a 'crime' against their Crown Prince's body poses certain diplomatic problems - as does the fact that the Ako-chinn have no rights, and are used, effectively, as slave labor. If you do it right, the Crew may well be entirely unaware of this problem until after they warp into the Ako-cho home system. Other than their mis-treatment of the Ako-chinn, the Ako-cho would seem to be ideal Federation members - all other elements of their society are equal, they hold personal rights and freedom in high regard, so on, so forth, and so the crew will hopefully make an effort to solve this diplomatic problem and begin the first steps towards guiding the Ako-cho to Federation membership.
Title: The Tenacious Dilemma
Recommended Series Type: Exploration (Federation, TNG/Pre-DW DS9)
While exploring (once more along the edges of explored space), the crew's starship picks up a repeating distress signal from the USS Tenacious - a starship that is currently under construction in Utopia Planitia, a year and a half from being space-worthy, and nowhere near the area of space the crew is currently exploring. Despite the apparent discontinuity, Starfleet regulations mandate that they respond upon the receipt of a distress signal, and manage to trace the signal to the surface of the fifth planet of a nearby binary star system after finding the Tenacious does not respond to any attempt to hail it.
Upon arrival in the star-system, sensor sweeps reveal debris from two starships - one Federation and one Romulan - and an apparent anomaly: the debris is over one thousand years old, existing far prior to the formation of the Federation. Scanning the fifth planet of the system - where the distress signal originates - reveals another apparent anomaly: The local society is presently at the equivlant of Earth's mid-1300s, yet sensors are showing distinct signs indicating the presence of an operational fusion reactor underneath some plains on the planet's largest continent - plains where significant amounts of humanoid lifesigns are currently arraying themselves in apparent preparation for battle.
The Captain orders an Away Team to be sent, and they arrive three hours before the amassing armies arrive within sight of each other - and where the crew are. Tricorder scans indicate a holographic projector active, concealing an entrance within a nearby hillside. Upon entering, they find a hidden base, much akin to a Starfleet observation outpost, with but one addition - the presence of cyrogenic sleep chambers holding about 27 individuals in Starfleet uniform - and 17 Romulans (and, if you wish, a few Remans) in standard Romulan Navy (or Tal Shava - Marines - for the Remans) uniform. There is also one abnormality present - the base computer systems contain historical data for years that have not passed yet - up to mid to late-2374, shortly after the capture of Betazed and the entry of the Romulans into the Dominion War.
How the crew deals with this influx of information is the crux of the story, and ultimately up to your group, but a little backstory (or rather, forestory, since the events in question have yet to happen) is in order - in 2374, the Dominion makes the capture of the Barzan system - and the unstable wormhole therein (TNG: The Price) - a priority, in hopes of facilitating it's research into a means of creating an artifical wormhole to Dominion space. Starfleet, the Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire realize the threat, and have a significant presence waiting for the Dominion upon arrival.
During the battle, a cloaked Romulan destroyer - travelling along the edges of the battle-zone - collides with the USS Tenacious, and the collision pushes both the Tenacious and the destroyer into the nearby Barzan wormhole, where chronitons emitted from the destroyer's still-functioning cloaking device push the two ships about 1500 years into the past, and hundreds of light years through space, to the system it's now in. The Tenacious rescues the crew of the destroyer, managing to make it to the nearby planet despite heavy damage and construct the outpost the crew are now in, before engaging their own ships self-destruct sequence - to prevent historical contamination - and put themselves and the Romulans into cyrogenic stasis, programming the computer to start sending the distress signal shortly after they 'historically' disappeared, and awaken them then. The computer malfunctioned - after centuries without maintainance, it's a miracle it functioned as well as it did - and started sending the distress call early, and lost the instructions to revive the crew. Enter the crew, who must now deal with the ramifications of the knowledge that the Federation is going to enter a war - and soon - that it is on the losing end of as far as the historical data goes.
For an interesting variant of this scenario, replace the Tenacious with your own crew's starship - the crew's starship will be at the Battle of Barzan, and get sent into the past, and among the crew in stasis are future versions of the crew, scarred by the horrors of war.
Just a few thoughts,
-Tor Itara
My sincere apologies for the double post - it was entirely unintended. My browser was being slow (five minutes waiting for it to post), so I hit the post button again, and it apparently posted it twice. Once more, sorry!
So the Ako-chinn are... zombies? I think there's something you can play with there.
Would Ichiru accept his state? Is the workforce pacified simply by their own beliefs, or is there a medicinal component, like in actual zombism?
I think i'd give Ichiru a sinister streak–what does he decide to do when he's no longer actually a sentient being? Sure, others may have no moral obligations toward them (hence the slave labour) but he has no moral obligations to anyone else. And if he can hide his Ako-chinn status ("Don't tell them about the revivification! I will... uh... loose face among my peers!") then he may believe he's free to become a Devil Emperor of Ako-cho, or whatever. Perhaps there's a prophecy concerning the an ako-chinn ruler sent to herald doom or something.
And then someone sticks crazy-juice in the Ako-chinn's medicine, and they go berserk.
According to the Ako-cho's beliefs (as I intended them)... that's a pretty good word for it. Of course, the intent was that this be merely a strong belief (and that the Ako-cho are, effectively, exploiting this group) - it was originally conceived of as a 'thought episode', of sorts, the kind of episode that causes you to leave the episode thinking about a modern problem.
To be fair, though, I forget what one was supposed to be thinking about - it's been a long while since I came up with the episode seed. I do remember the idea was planted in my head while I was trying to come up with a thought episode, of sorts, regarding euthanasia (I ultimately failed in that endeavour, and I had forgotten that there were a couple of episodes of actual Trek that dealt with that issue). Of course, your interpretation of that is certainly interesting. I may have to run it, if I ever manage to find a group that would let me run (or would run) a Star Trek game - I seem to have trouble with this.
Greetings to all you people, I’m a rookie here and I loved read your ideas, than I liked to share some of my ideas with you. :D :D
Episode: Trojan Horse
Era: later TOS or TNG
Series type: Exploration or Outpost
In a middle of a routine voyage, the ship’s sensors picked up a ship heading to a star corona, at full impulse. This ship must be saved. An away team must to beam aboard to investigate what happened. The rogue ship is a Rigel Class Cargo Ship, or any one class you want. There is no one on board and the navigation logs were erased, but using the sensors logs and downloading it to the players’ ship’s computer, they will be able to find out where the rogue ship has gone.
The sensor logs reveals from where the rogue ship came from. When the players’ship arrives there, they will find out a system without habitable planets, but an accurate sensor scan will reveal an underground complex on one of the system planets.
An away team will find out several corpses, including romulan corpses, and equipment stuff indicating that the complex might be a clandestine factory and the romulans tried to destroy it.
This is a seed for an adventure campaign in my series that shows Federation Underground supporting members of romulan resistance, providing equipment and weapons. I hope you like it. ;)
Greetings, and welcome to the boards Dderidex.
I have to admit, I like the 'Trojan Horse' idea - though I must admit, my first thought as a player when I pick up the ship en route to the sun would be "there's something on that ship that we really, really, don't want to escape" - perhaps I've just been reading too many of the Cthulu-Trek crossover adventure seeds here, or watched the TAS episode that had a similar idea too many times. My question is - the seed, as written, seems to have very little conflict in it (of any type - not just combat).. what could one do to 'spice it up' a bit?
The thought in my head is that some of the Romulans are still on the surface (and the associated cloaked ship in orbit - probably of the Incursion Frigate or Incursion Cruiser type, if I ever start up a Trek campaign). Other possibilities include some survivors, who want revenge upon the Romulans for ruining their plans, political interference in the mission (I'm sure some Federation Council members are secretly sympathetic with Spock's mission (I am, as an aside, assuming the 'Romulan resistance' you are talking about is Spock's underground movement, as seen in Unification, though it may be a campaign specific thing, in which case.. I'm curious about what you're refering to). Do you (or anyone else) have any other thoughts on this?
Enjoy,
-Tor
Title : The failed experiment
Series type : Action, possibly horror
Era : Dominion War
During the Dominion War, the crew's ship discovers a Dominion fighter orbiting a remote planet in Dominion space. The lifesigns of an injured Vorta and a few Jem'Hadars can be detected inside the ship.
Advanced scans show what could be a hidden Dominon base on the planet, but no lifeforms can be detected.
The story can unfold in many ways depending on the crew's action, but here's what happened : the planet contains a secret research Dominion facility. The researchers were trying to create a new breed of Jem'Hadars soldiers, but something went wrong. A super Jem'Hadar (or maybe a few of them) has been created, but escaped, and dispatched everyone in the research center without effort (the Jem'Hadars in the fighter are the only survivors, and are waiting for orders from the Vorta, who is unconscious). This Super-Jem'Hadar can cloak to even tricorders and sensors and can fight while cloaked. He could also not be dependant on the White, or maybe need another substance to survive (if you want to gear the game toward horror, it could be blood or something like that).
Should some people beam to the surface, the experiment will try to kill them and be beamed back to the ship. Alternatively, he could already be on the fighter, and beam aboard as soon as the ship is in range.
Now how do you get rid of a nearly invicible undetectable killer on your ship (or on the surface of the planet) ?
For an additional twist, the super Jem'Hadar could be able to resist a lot of punishment (including phaser shots, depressurization, or gassing), and only some data in the research center could give the right clues on how to defeat it. Of course, in that case, it would be better to have one super Jem'hadar on the ship and another on the ground.
And even worse... maybe the super Jem'Hadar can not only cloak, but also shapeshift into other people (like the Chameloids, not the Founders)...
C5, ignoring the Dominion aspect of the beginning of your seed, this could have been TNG:The Arsenal of Freedom. One on the surface, one in space, nearly invincible, invisible, can look like people or things you don't suspect.... Changing the clothes does not change the person (or plot seed) underneath.
Mmmh, yeah, right, hadn't thought of that episode...
What bugs me is that, when I first had this idea, some time ago, I'm fairly sure I had another plot twist to it, but I can't remember it now. For once, in this draft, the Dominion fighter had a role to play. Oh well... serves me right for relying too much on my memory.
Kind of like "Empok Nor," too. And, uh, Predator. Maybe it was a life-form the Dominion was studying, or experimenting on?
I started writing a similar episode seed a while ago... hopefully I'll finish it for the Decipher con episode thingy...
Thinking of it, there's still a big difference between the TNG episode and my idea : the rogue super-Jem'Hadar are not simply here to defend their planet, they're out for blood and eager to spread amongst the galaxy.
Okay, it's a variation on the theme of "big threat that want to take control of the ship to spread itself around" instead of just a redressing of Arsenal of Freedom.
that's not really a theme, that's more a plot...Quote:
Originally Posted by C5
TorItara, when I designed this idea, my first thought was that seed would be about an investigation plot, and I wanted to play with my players’ curiosity and paranoia. I didn’t go further in details, to make easier to adapt to any series. I putted some clues in the computer data retrieved by my players to push them to other episodes’ questions in my series.Quote:
Originally Posted by TorItara
On the next seeds about this plot, I want do explore and put in more elements, I liked your suggestions too.
Game Idea 10-25-2006
Lagal, A planet on the frontier, with the Klingons.
Balkanized, recently unified by the Syndicate of Nations, a totalitarian regime, after being used as a free port by the Orions.
Recently a Klingon Representative to the planet was assassinated by national syndicalists, sparking violence.
The Klingons are sending more troops.
Unbeknownst to the Federation and the Klingons, Nationalist movements on Lagal are being supported by the Romulans and the League of Unaligned Worlds
The Romulans are hoping to suck the Klingons into a quagmire. The League wants Lagal to remain independant.
There is a sizable Orion descended population on Lagal, they are a hated minority, blamed by the National Syndicalists for the sad state of the planet.
There is a virulent Orion/Human underworld in operation on Lagal.
Factions
Nationalist Unity Front - one of the Romulans Chief puppets, intensley nationalist and loyal to Kzar Afrak, a charismatic power mad, Dictator wannabe and his trusted Lieutenants. Characterized by hatred and distrust of aliens.
The Liberation Union - A Puppet of the League, a democratic front with elected officers, just as interested in fighting for influence amongst themselvesas in resisting outside domination of their world. Argues about just how racist they are going be, from a little, to a lot.
The Holar Crime Family. A super rich Orion Family with dozens of human and Orion "Made Men" aligned with Orion House Hamilcar, a major player in the Galactic Underworld.
Tal Shiar, Lagal Office. Run by a mid level Tal Shiar officer who is gleefully rubbing his hands together at the thought of suckering the Klingons into a quagmire. Most Romulans Agents here are disguised as Orions or Humans.
Klingon House K'Zarq - A Mid list house, not on the council. Built bu K'Zarq's father from a small house into a much larger house. K'Zarq himself fncies himself a warrior, a general and a contender for the Klingon High Council. It was his Agent who was killed on Lagal. K'Zarq's father started the mission with the permission of the Council, trying to develop Lagal into an allied trading hub.
K'Zarq is affronted, and his public reputation is at stake. Secretly he never understood why his father was negotating with the Humans of Lagal, when conquering them would be "easier".
With this excuse, K'Zarq means to take Lagal, beat it into submission, and then systematically exploit it to fund his houses' further rise in power.
The Klingon Council, recognizing a bad situation will stand back and let K'Zarq sink or swim on his own. K'Zarq has a small fleet and several hundred thousand soldiers, as well as whoever he could hire or entice with promises of land and prestige.
If their pride is badly affronted, the Klingon Empire would take the campaign over from K'Zarq, but there wouldn't be much of a planet Lagal left.
The Mission of the PCs - get to Lagal, and make sure the situation does not blow up. The Federation specifically does NOT want
A) A Klingon war agaist a human populated planet
B) A Romulan Friendly government installed by Lagalian facists.
If they can work it, they'd like to reduce Orion influence in the area, but if they have to choose, Orion corruption is better than a Klingon Quamire or a Romulan Dictatorship.
----
Sub Plot Seeds
Contact Guerillas in the hills - using scan bafflers and ore deposits in cave ridden mountains, guerillas are preparing redoubts from which to fight. The PCs must track down Guerilla factions through unwilling townships and villages, into the mountains and talk them into joining a peace process.
The Price of Cooperation. Gan Holar, the patriarch of the Holar Crime Family needs to be approached. PCs must research Orion Culture and be prepared to treat a thug, drug runner, loan shark and murderer with "respect" to being him aboard the process. Holar has three objects that are his price.
A) His Daughter was arrested for "Driving While Orion" In a City held By the National Syndicalists. They mean to make an Example of her. He wants her back. Body guards and retainers optional, but it would be nice.
B) A shipment of Gravenol was siezed by parties unknown (Not the police). This drug is usually used to allow humans to adapt breifly to high gravity worlds. It is intoxicating, especially after prolonged use and quite addictive. Street Gravenol is usually more pure and more dangerous than medically prescibed doses. Side effects include euphoria, mania, enhanced strength and delusions of invulnerability.
This drug shipment was stolen by Tal Shair Agents to use as leverage to sway Guerillas into the anti-Klingon resistance.
C) A rival criminal, an information broker known as Gizzip is to be taken into custody. Gizzip is a Starfleet intelligence asset. Gan Holar knows this and wants Starfleet to remove him, so Holar can operate unwatched.
If these conditions are met, Gan Holar will. Himself become a Federation asset, working to keep Klingons, Romulans and Human Facists from gaining control of Lagal.
Talk-talk The PCs are assigned to present their case to the Liberation Union and Persuade the semi-Democratic, semi-marxist political organization to support a peace process.
Wile there three batches of "Terrorists" hired by the Tal Shair stage attacks intending to polarize the Liberation Union into supporting a war.
The PCs have unexpected help from Cardassian and Ferengi agents who want Lagal to stay neutral.
Major Diplomacy - The PCs will have to meet with survivors from the Klingon Office, and try to talk K'Zarq out of his tree. Sicne K'Zarq doesn't see the conquest of Lagal as a problem he is not all that willing, Although with a suitable bribe hewill lay off. Accepting bribery is always more cost effective than warfare.
There May even be a Pro-Klingon Faction on Lagal, operating under the impression that a Klingon Military Governor would at least keep the Guerillas, Terrorists, Partisans, Fascists and Fruit Loops under control.
---
I am sure you can come up with more, should you need them.
Lagal - a World populated largely by Humans. They are not Earth Descended Humans but are in all ways biochemically compatible with humans. (Possibly a preserver transplant). They have their own language and culture, in some ways reminiscent of middle ages Spain.
The world was in mid 20th century style balkanized warfare when the Orions dropped in and began to interfere with the Lagalians.
The Orions never really decided to conquer or rule Lagal. It was too far way to be really worththe effort. It is closer to the Klingon Empire than anyhere else, but it's not near anything, really.
A federation Starship Visited the place some time ago and let the Orions know that of they tried to dominate a human populated world, Earth and other federation worlds would have something to say about it.
The Humans of Lagal resented being a backwater, and a football in Galactic politics. They developed angry, resentful nationalist guerillas, terrorists and political parties.
They have fought wars amongs themselves and with the Orions.
The Klingons Moved in recently. K'arq's father saw the world as a potential money maker, if he could convince them to become a trade center and a world allied to the Klingons.
He was making progress until his untimely death last year, due to a bad case of Bat'leth poisoning.
A Stitch in Time.
Setting. Post Dominion War.
Background. the war is one and the various galactic powers are licking their wounds. However all is not well. A lone Vorta has evaded capture, and is expressing unusual free will, and has just enough white to retain the loyalty of a few Jem'Hadar...
He also happens to have some very secure starfleet intelligence captured during the dominion war, 2 pieces of which have mashed into an insane plan that might-just-work.
1 - The Wormhole minefield was brought down by the insurgents on DS9 allowing Sisko to seek aid from the Wormhole aliens, but this event only happened because the founder Odo betrayed the Dominion.
2 - The location and postmission reports regarding a device called 'The Guardian of Tomorrow'.
Cut to your crew.
You starship, Space station or colony is playing host to a science team from Temporal Investigations, along with agents Lucsey and Dulmer (who have no sense of humour), a new 'temporal shield is being tested', this shield requires Bio-Nueral gel packs, something about organic matter... The effect is that it should allow the DTI to monitor changes in the time frame as the computers will retain memory even after a temporal shift... (or something)...
And would you not know it, but just as the computer turns on, a temporal shift occurs... Only theres a side effect... 'something about organic matter'... Anyone that was in the room with the test machine retains full memory of the post war environment.
Problem is that everything has changed, ideally drop them into a loosing battle with the Dominion. The Federation lost the war, the core planets lost, and a few rebels survive. Your crew may not even be on the same ship (I wanted to run a Romulan exchange officer and shift the Romulan into a Warbird...)
The crew must now manage the situation and rectify the problem, returning to a universe that only they remember.
1 - Find Lucsy and Dulmer
2 - Find the Guardian of Forever
3 - Kill the Jem'Hadar at the slaughtered Federation science outpost.
4 - Find out where history was changed
5 - Travel back to DS9 under Dominion Occupation and assassinate the mad-Vorta before he can assassinate Odo.
6 - Somehow avoid contaminating the timeline further.
Use of the 'pre-destination paradox' is at GM's discretion...
Reflected Light.
Setting TNG era/Mirror Universe.
Background, in the mirror universe during the late 20th Century there was a soldier for good, Khan Noonian Singh almost managed to defeat the evil that surrounded the planet and place his homeworld under his benevolent rule. Almost.
He was beaten back though and in desperation to spare his home planet the horrors of Nuclear war he fled to space with his followers in a hibernation ship drifting, awaiting discovery.
Your Crew.
Through some freal Ion Storm/Warp accident, your ship has managed to swap to the mirror universe... A full Federation starship at a time when Humanity is on its knees before the great Klingon/Cardassian alliance. It should not take them long to work out that this is not the best place to be, as the Alliance will want them dead, and the rebels will want their weapons.
And all the crew want is to get home.
Perhaps they will meet themselves?
The only thing that needs to happen though is that they discover the SS Botany Bay, and have to work out if Khan needs to be rescued, armed with their own pre-conceptions, they have an opportunity to provide the Rebels with the ultimate weapon and a superior intellect.
Of course its never that easy... If they do revive him, Khan will mirror his prime universe self and try to convince your crew to stay on, or leave him with the ship. He might even try to take over (a bloodless coup, this khan is acting for the good of the many).
Maybe they will join him and remain with the rebels?
Maybe they will strike a deal (just where did Smiley get the parts to make a Defiant?) and get Khan to help them find a way home?
Perhaps the ship cannot return, and they must use the transporter crossing to return home and Khan gets the ship (and your players get a new ship on their return?)
The choice is yours.
I haven't been very active here for a while as real life has gotten in the way of enjoying myself. However, I always love gaming, always love Star Trek and nothing beats a good Star Trek campaign. So, here's a few of my adventures (apologizes if I've ever posted these before, maybe years ago...)
Title : I, Vulcan
Series type : Philisophical, Action
Era : Post-DM DS9/ST: Nemesis
*Use this is if only a few of the regular players show up to a session*
While the PC vessel is performing a routine survey, a few members of the crew attend the annual Artifical Intelligence and Cybernetics Conference on Psi Perseus III. At the conference, several well-known specialists in the field are set to speak and new advances in the field are displayed. In addition, a competition to produce a Soong-Like Android was initiated several Conferences back and the results are to be shown here. Among the entries are a 'dog droid' simulating a real dog's intelligence, an advanced evolution of the Exocomp and success in overcoming a programming hurdle Soong figured out but no one has duplicated since. While impressive and receiving much applause, it's certainly not anywhere near a new Data. That is, until the last applicant. Dr. Serrevek and his assistant Solan. Dr. Serrevek has Solan describe the project in detail, an attempt to duplicate the Vulcan mind instead of a Human one. The quest to simulate Human emotion and intergrate it into thought patterns is, the Vulcans believe, what has prevented the creation of a stable AI matrix. Based on a Vulcan brain, this superior design can't create a flawless artifical being. Proof positive is right in front of the audience as Serrevek reveals Solan to be the android. Unfortunately, cold logic and razor sharp efficencey are a bad combo in conjunction with a superhuman android designed by egotistically Vulcan. Other projects and androids begin suffering terrible breakdowns and sabotage. The culprit is of course Solan but his reasoning is the belief that the quest to create an emotive AI is inherently dangerous. He thinks of himself as a saviour, protecting the UFP from the emergence of a 'dark and corrupt' version of himself. A combination of combat and reasoning should stop his rampage (once revealed) but what to do with him afterwards should be an social/philosophical dilemma. In one memorable instance his discussion with a Vulcan Female PC resulted in him believing it was illogical to remain active until such time as his reasoning did not drive him to harm lesser beings.
Title : The Battlefield of Empty Space
Series type : Philisophical, Action, Adventure, Time Travel
Era : Post-TOS/TMP
A follow-up visit to the planet Cheron found a survivor, a pregnant woman. The woman died giving birth to twins, one Black/White and one White/Black. The woman's face was bandaged and badly damaged and which group she was from could not be determined.
Fast forward to the present. An old friend/contact of the captain's in Starfleet Intelligence calls on him/her with the above info and the following story. The two remaining Cherons are agents of Starfleet Intelligence. Essentially raised by Starfleet, the male (Black/White) serves in the Department of Temporal Affairs as a research scientist. His twin sister is a special agent dealing with cultural and diplomatic affairs. As of now, few people in Starfleet or the UFP outside of Starfleet Intelligence even know the Cherons exist. This doesn't sit well with the brother who feels trapped and restricted in his own life.
So he decides to do something about it. Using his special access, he uses the Guardian of Forever (which he has been assigned to study) to travel back in time to prevent the war that destroyed his people.
The player's team must travel to Cheron's past and retrieve the brother before he is killed or makes things worse. Each time I ran this the PC's who went were surgically altered to look like Cerons, half one group and half the other. This enabled them to see many sides of the social and cultural upheaval this planet faced (based largely on the race riots in the US in the 60's). In one campaign there was a question as to the identity of the twins' father. It was revealed that the father was Bele and the mother was of Lokai's people.
Title: The Slow Empire
Type: Diplomacy/First Contact
Era: Recommend ENT or TOS
(Taken from the Doctor WHO novel of the same name by Dave Stone)
Listening Outpost Dyonisis is registering a slow energy surge 3 light years away on Raksis IV. As the players' ship is currently docked with Dyonisis for routine resupply, Starfleet Command order them to go and check out the previously unexplored Raksis IV and it's power surge.
Upon arrival, scans show that Raksis is a dead world. Once M class and abundant with life, it is now scorched and arrid. It's atmosphere polluted and uninhabitable, irradiated and petrified. The energy readings are getting stronger aswell.
The energy surge is coming from the mountains on the northern continent and there are ruined remains there of an ancient city.
Exploring further (in environment suits), the players will discover a vast structure not unlike a radio mast or the eiffel tower, constructed of some strange alien metal, it's about 60 metres across at the base and stands over an ornately decorated and carved paved area. It's surface hums and vibrates and it's from this structure that the energy surge emanates. It appears to be some sort of conductor and it is being powered by an ancient reactor buried deep in the bedrock beneath it.
Whilst exploring the structure and ruins, the energy will suddenly peak and a blue, glowing energy field some 50 metres across will form on the paved area beneath the metal structure. Within it, will materialise several robed beings. Humanoid but very tall (7 feet or so), slender and almost skeletal (think Warhammer 40K Eldar or the Vau from Fading Suns). They appear to be able to breath normally within the sphere and players entering the sphere (as it is completely permeable) will find oxygen, temperature and radiation levels at normal (M class), so they can remove their helmets.
The beings are representatives of the Haldanis Combine. A vast empire from a distant galaxy. For political and religious reasons, Haldans do not posess faster than light starships and travel between worlds using a form of powerful transporter. It travels slower than light and as Raksis IV is one of their furthest flung outposts, they have been travelling for many centuries.
They believe, to begin with that the players are their welcoming committee and are angry at such a shoddy reception. It then becomes apparent that their outpost was destroyed many many years ago in a long forgotten war.
What happens next?
Perhaps the Haldans have some objective and enlist the help of the players either in a friendly manner or by cutting them off from their ship. Perhaps the players must find out what destroyed the outpost in a series of mini quests before the sphere dissipates and the Haldans return. The Haldans, afterall cannot leave the protection of the sphere.
Maybe if the sphere degenerates, it’ll send both Haldans and players back to the Haldanis Combine on a 1600 year round trip (Voyager eat your heart out).
I'm liking this more and more. I might have to develop it properly. :)
Crow
Title: War Games
Recommended Series Type: TNG or after
Description:
The start of the episode has the players' ship rendezvousing with a Klingon warship. The purpose of the meeting is to conduct war games between the Federation and their Klingon allies. The adventure is helped if the Klingon ship or commander is one of note in the Empire (has some influence).
After an initial meeting/party with the Klingon crew, the war games are to start the next day. The games do not start at the agreed time however and it becomes clear something is wrong aboard the Klingon vessel. The players learn the commander of the Klingon ship has been assassinated and the new leader blames the Federation crew.
The players must find out what really happened to the late commander before tensions rise enough for the shooting to start.
A Narrator could use a number of antagonists for this episode as the individuals responsible for the assassination (ex. those go to guys, Romulans!). I actually used the Beta XII-A entity from the TOS episode Day of the Dove. I explained that the entity gorged itself during the Dominion War and was now trying to create a conflict between the Klingons and Federation in the confusion after the war.
A variation I thought of while reading Black Armos's War Games post. Pick a state that is on friendly or tenuous terms with the Federation after a long history of conflict. For example, the Klingons very early in TNG or if you extended the timeline possibly the Romulans well after Nemesis. The Federation sends it's best captain/ship (the PCs) and the other state sends it's best. Both are reknowned vessels, crews, captains. The idea is like in Black Armos's post, a friendly joint training exercise so each side can learn from the best of the other and adopt pieces of strategy and methods of thinking that will strengthen their space force. Except that the captain of the other vessel is secretly a supporter of a small movement to return to the old guard ways. He doesn't want the peace to continue and when the war games begin, the Fed ship is at an immediate disadvantage since the other ship isn't pulling any punches! Taking damage that disables the ship in key ways (like no communications, or whatever the GM wants to increase tension but not make the scenario impossible), the Fed ship now has to fight an uphill battle, probably running and using the terrain and every trick in the book to help them.
Or the aggressor is, in fact, the PCs ship–someone's changed the training lasers to real weaponry and is controlling the vessel from an unknown location onboard or off.
I think "to increase tensions!" is kinda hackneyed at this point–that's the first motive the players will all think of. Giving the antagonist some other goal–personal revenge, jealousy, professional envy and career sabotage, or the beta XII-a type alien incursion would make it more interesting.
Title : Divided we stand
Type : Conspiracy, time travel, alternate universe
Era : Any
In a far or not-so-far future (a few centuries or less), the Federation managed to encompass all of the Galaxy. Some unaligned powers remain, but they are unable to represent the slightest threat to the behemoth the Federation has become. The Borg might have been destroyed or assimilated in the Federation - now allowing people to enter and leave the Collective at will, in a sort of exchange program.
Everything is well, and the only current concerns of the Federation are establishing treaties with various god-like entities (Metrons, Prophets...) and handling interdimensional species like Species 8472.
Then a race from another galaxy invades the Milky Way (it could very well be the Kheldian). This race shares no common ground whatsoever with any of the lifeforms in the Federation, including the strangest ones. And it is very efficient - much more advanced than the Federation, who, because of its enormous size and the lack of any serious threat, has become ill-prepared for war.
As the Federation slowly loses the war, some scientists realize that their chances of success would be much higher if the Federation had not been so successful in the last centuries. A few very advanced timeships (more like Aronnax's than TimeFleet) are then sent into the past. They are in constant communication with a temporally shielded outpost, who constantly updates them on the outcome of their actions.
Enter the players, at any era, who discover these strange operatives who seem intent on preventing the Federation to grow (depending on the era, they could try to start a war with the Romulan Empire in the 24th century, prevent the peace and further alliance with the Klingons in TOS times, disrupt alliance with the Vulcans in the ENT era...). The operatives from the future will at first appear like the villains of the story, until the players start bothering them too much, at which point they could decide to enlist them (this could lead to a whole series where the players start working for the future Federation to prevent it from existing).
Idealist Narrators (which I consider myself to be) could rule that, in fact, what prevents the Federation from wining the future war is actually that it didn't grow fast enough (for instance, the scientist who could have invented the weapon to defeat the invaders has been killed in a petty war between two minor powers before they become encompassed in the Federation). This would of course become obvious only after significant changes to the timeline, resulting in a much smaller Federation in the future, did little to stop the invasion.
This scenario could also be used by a Narrator to rewrite history to his or her liking (the Narrator's favoured history being the one eventually allowing the future Galaxy to defeat the invaders).
Title: Hippocratic Dilliema
Type: Exploration (First-Contact)
Era: Starfleet, Any Era (TNG would probably be the best fit)
Taking a cue from a seed on the first thread on this one. During first contact with a newly discovered species (that, oddly enough, selects its leaders from medical professionals), the species requests assistance with a medical problem. It seems that the planet is suffering from an outbreak of a deadly virus (Venarin Flu). They've developed a cure - something Federation science has yet to do, due to the adaptive nature of the virus (after a day has passed for the virus to adapt to the body, any attempt at treatment results in the condition worsening). Unfortunately, the Doctors say, those infected seek to flee treatment into the wilderness, and government resources are stretched thin trying to locate them and finally end the recurring outbreaks.
What the Doctors aren't telling the Starfleet crew is that the adaptive nature of the virus 'copies' sentience when it infects sentient being, and is essentially reproducing through these outbreaks. The species understandably fears the loss of identity that comes with infection - it is, in a manner of speaking, the death of one's identity - and is in the process of genocidal efforts against the virus. This poses a clear moral dillema when the crew inevitably finds this out - the virus cannot exist without causing the effective death of another being. Is it ethical to kill one being to save another, or even to kill off an entire species in order to prevent otherwise inevitable deaths? And what of the cure for the virus, which the species will provide for their assistance, and which may save countless Federation lives, albeit at the cost of the lives of the virus?
This is meant as a bit of a thought episode. Both sides are meant as sympathetic characters. The closest I've come to a decent solution to the dilemma is to broker an agreement allow those already infected to survive, and only allow the virus to reproduce when the infected hosts do - directly into the child. Still, even this is bound to pose ethical problems. If you run it, and your group comes up with some great solution - please, let me know. I'd love to hear about it.