Just discovered Decipher's Star Trek...

Greetings!
A while back I traded some old gaming books for a huge bundle of Decipher Star Trek books (Player's Guide, Narrator's Guide, Aliens, Creatures, Mirror Universe, Starfleet Operations, Starships and Worlds). I've never been all that interested in Star Trek and have only watched the various TV series now and then over the years. I liked it, don't get me wrong. I just wasn't ever really a Trekkie.

My gaming group on the other hand love it and almost led an armed revolt when they found out I had the opportunity to get the books and hesitated to do it. Now I have the books and since my wife stepped down as GM for a while that means I'm taking the helm again. Now Star Trek is up for our next RPG campaign.

My main reason for posting is that I never expected to find an active forum on Decipher's Star Trek (CODA system, right?) so I have to let you folks know I'm really glad I have some place to go for support. It's been a while since the Decipher dropped the line as I understand. So I'll try to offer what I can to this community as this campaign goes along.

Coming off of several consecutive Cortex campaigns over the last couple of years (Serenity, Battlestar Galactica and some homebrews) this system will take a little bit of adjustment. Cortex is far simpler and completely lacks anything like "classes". Still, the gang is gung ho so I don't see a problem making the adjustment. I surely don't want the hassle of trying to convert and the CODA system seems fairly good from the once-over I've given to it anyway. Mainly my group demands roleplaying elements integrated into the adventures and lots of deadly action, especially following all those Cortex system campaigns. So I've decided to go with a slightly altered timeline thing featuring the Earth/Romulan war. The campaign then will be a bit more militaristic than your average Star Trek campaign then and we may even lose a PC or two along the way.

So here's a very rough outline for what I have in mind:

First I'm basing a lot of this alternate timeline/universe thing of the Enterprise series (Archer, Tucker, T'Pol, etc.) and justifying the division from canon with interference from the events of the Temporal War that played out in that series. To that end I'm putting the focal point of the branch off with Tucker and T'Pol's baby in the Demons and Terra Prime episodes. In my universe that baby lived, Tucker and T'Pol quit Starfleet and their daughter went on to join Starfleet a little over two decades later (enough time, you think?). This works out well for me since my wife insists on playing T'Pril Tucker.
Hey, give me a break. Even the Narrator has to make some concessions now and then. :D
Available races then are Andorian, Denobulan (though I think that's a bit of a stretch and I'll probably drop them), Centaurans, Vulcans and Humans. I'm starting the campaign just prior to war breaking out between that coalition and the Romulan Star Empire, around 2175-2180 on my alternate timeline. That puts the war off for a bit to allow whatever I want to take place and I have a few ideas to shake things up, making a real alternate universe out of it. Were there any other races available during the time of the standard Earth/Romulan war that my players can pick from?

Anyway, if anyone's interested I'll be glad to drop a few lines here and there as I come up with things. It's likely I'll be posting a few things on the campaign on our old website. If I do (and there's any interest) I'll drop a link to it when I have anything there.

By and large, if this forum is as active as it seems to be I'll probably be coming here now and again for advice and input so I want to thank all you find folks in advance. I've already found http://strpg.patrickgoodman.org/ and grabbed just about everything there. If anyone has any other online material I can raid then I'd appreciate it too!

Welcome aboard, and to your new-found CODA and Star Trek love as well. :)

Oops. I forgot the Tellarites in the races involved in the coalition against the Romulans. Thought I'd toss that in there before anyone pointed it out. :o

Here's a question.

I want to stat out the NPC among the ship's crew before the campaign starts. Looking over the bridge layout and the various positions on an NX-class ship (which is why the PCs will be flying) I get this:

Commanding Officer (Captain)
First Officer

Senior Officers:
Chief Engineer
Communications Officer
Science Officer
Helmsman
Tactical Officer
Ship's Physician
MACO Commanding Officer

Bridge positions:
Command
Engineering
Communications
Science
Helm
Tactical

My players have already written up their PCs and out of all of them only one chose Command 1 as an Edge. No one picked Promotion at all. That kinda leaves me with a bunch of Ensigns and since I'm wanting them to take bridge positions (so they can at least be involved in any space battles) I'm dropping one freebie Promotion on all of them as part of the campaign and putting them in position as Senior Officers over their divisions as well.

With the spots they've chosen that gives me this:

Captain/Commanding Officer: NPC
First Officer: Lt. JG T'Pril Tucker
Chief Engineer: NPC
Communications Officer: NPC
Science Officer: Lt. JG Jennifer West
Helmsman: Lt. JG Marisa Rodriguez
Tactical Officer/Security Chief: Lt. JG Rexas P'Trell
Ship's Physician: NPC
MACO Commanding Officer: NPC

I thought about assigning different crew members to each bridge station for all three shifts but that seemed a bit more work than was really necessary. I don't think we need go into detail on shift assignments and who's working when, leaving it entirely on what the plot for each adventure requires. I figure that having these NPC stats I can just wing it with any other crew members I might need.

So filling in those positions with some NPC should stat out the main characters in this campaign, shouldn't it? Am I missing anything?
Also, am I giving these characters a bit too much responsibility for starting characters? I don't really like the idea of dropping some advancements on them just so they can take these positions since we're all new to the game. I'd rather start them as 0 Advancement characters. Doable?

Welcome to the CODA trek community!

If you're really keen on starting off your group as 0 advancement characters you could work it into the start of your campaign. One possible method is to have them all be lowly ensigns, have the ship they're on be subject to a Romulan sneak attack with corresponding higher-ranked officer losses, then have those newly minted ensigns suddenly thrust into positions of responsibility (and hopefully save the ship and day). If all works well, they could receieve battlefield commissions to justify their new ranks.

Thanks for the welcome, folks! And by way of thanks...

I'm toying with the idea of a two-parter "series premiere" sort of opening. Here's what I've hammered together as a rough draft. Opinions, anyone?

Widow's Well

Background: The Vigilant (our base of operations for the campaign) arrives at Jupiter Station for refitting and to receive new crew members (our PCs, along with many other fresh-out-of-Starfleet Ensigns and NCO‘s) who are to be detailed into positions left vacant by lost and retiring senior officers. T'Pril Tucker is to be detailed into First Officer position, with the Vigilant's First Officer lost in action (a rather mysterious appointment which will get some attention later in the campaign). The Flight Control Officer was also killed in combat, with Marisa Rodriguez to replace him. The ship's Captain and Science Officer are both retiring, Jennifer West replacing the Science Officer, while the Rexas P'Trell replaces the retiring Tactical Officer (a purely political maneuver designed to score a few points with the Andorians). In anticipation of this Vigilant is to be assigned a low-risk short range reconnaissance mission to facilitate integrate the new crew members with the old.

Episode I:

Act I: Introduction
The Vigilant is assigned to investigate the disappearances of three merchant vessels in the area of "Widow's Well", a small black hole. Though few truly odd occurrences have been attributed to the area over the past decades and the mystique surrounding Widow's Well is largely considered superstition, civilian ships typically avoid the area anyway and it's certainly gained a reputation. Nevertheless it has recently been determined to be a strategic weak spot, in part due to the infrequent traffic in the area. Starfleet Intelligence has suggested that the so-called Romulan bandits (we're not quite at war just yet) may have plans to operate out of the area soon. With the disappearances of three merchant ships in the last two months near Widow's Well, it requires investigation. The episode then begins with the Vigilant arriving at Widow's Well while PCs are off duty.

Hook
An alert sounds and senior officers are ordered to the bridge. Since the PCs are off duty they aren't required to report there but the excitement is over quickly anyway. Over the comm they learn that the Vigilant apparently has come under attack and destroyed a Romulan bird-of-prey.

Plot Turn 1
When the PCs report for bridge duty soon after they find that the Captain has locked sensor logs since the time of the incident and the bridge crew is act suspiciously. Any attempt to access the logs or request any further information on the incident will elicit a surprisingly confrontational reaction from the Captain.

Act II: Confrontation
PCs take the bridge for their shift and deal with a distress call.

Pinch 1
PCs receive a distress call from the starship Stardancer. The Stardancer can then be identified as a civilian research vessel studying Widow's Well. The PCs locate and travel to the nearby Stardancer, finding the distress is automated and the ship has sustained significant damage very recently. Though sensors show there are no survivors they manage to contact one person aboard the ship and have to mount a rescue. The Captain proves reluctant to approve it, claiming the whole situation is likely a Romulan trap of some sort. If the PCs can overcome his resistance they're able to retrieve the survivor easily enough by simply docking a shuttle with the wreckage of the Stardancer. The survivor proves to be decidedly odd but otherwise poses no further drama just yet, though he behaves strangely toward the Captain.

Midpoint
Having rescued the researcher from the wreckage of the Stardancer, the PCs have the opportunity to discover the ship came under fire at the same time Vigilant supposedly fired on the Romulan bird-of-prey. Otherwise they're able to scan the wreckage and pick up a couple of details that may clue them in on what's going on. Regardless, the Captain surprises everyone by ordering the survivor to be placed in the brig, claiming he suspects him of working with the Romulans in the area. Again the survivors response to this and his overall behavior toward the captain are decidedly odd.

Pinch 2
During this part of the episode the PCs have opportunity to either attempt to unlock the sensor logs (if they've developed enough suspicion to do so). Otherwise the discovery that the Tactical Officer has been murdered and resistance from the Captain to investigating the matter properly bring the pinch here. Having either unlocked the sensor logs before the Captain can arrange to destroy them or discovering that he has murdered the Tactical Officer (or both, more likely), the PCs then have to move to take the Captain into custody. The survivor from Stardancer offers prompts to get them moving in the right direction if need be.

Plot Turn 2
Follow up investigation and interrogation of the Captain reveal that he displayed poor judgment and fired on Stardancer when anomalous sensor readings (due to the black hole) led him to believe it was a cloaked Romulan bird-of-prey. Due to retire in less than a week and fearing the tarnishing of his otherwise excellent war record, he locked the sensor logs and swore the remaining bridge crew to secrecy. When the Tactical Officer later recanted, threatening to reveal the matter if the Captain didn't face up to what he'd done, the resulting altercation led to the impulsive murder of the Tactical Officer.

Act III: Resolution
PCs take the Captain and possibly some of the other bridge crew into custody.

Episode II:

Act I: Introduction
The PCs (some of whom have likely taken their assigned positions a little earlier than expected) wrap up their investigation of the incident and prepare reports.

Hook
Confessions and further interviews reveal that several of the bridge crew participated to varying degrees with the Captain conspiracy to cover up the destruction of Stardancer. Being otherwise honorable officers most have already surrendered without resistance or even confessed without prompting once the Captain was placed in the brig.

Plot Turn 1
One of the bridge crew, the Science Officer, conspires to spring the Captain from the brig, eliciting the loyalty of several security officers to do so.

Act II: Confrontation
With the Captain, Science Officer and several security officers barricaded in engineering, the PCs have to root them out, take them into custody again and deal with the resulting sabotage.

Pinch 1
The PCs storm engineering (or otherwise overcome the officers hold up in there) only to find one of them has sabotaged the engines. Vigilant is now drifting into the black hole. They have to effect repairs or at least figure some way to get Vigilant out of immediate danger. The survivor from Stardancer mysteriously appears in engineering to help capture the Captain, claiming he was inadvertently released from the brig during the escape.

Midpoint
Faced with the utter lack of senior officers all of a sudden (with the exception of the Chief Engineer) the PCs are forced to formally take command of the ship.

Pinch 2
A Romulan bird-of-prey attempts to attack under cloak! If the PCs don't detect it first it reveals itself when it fires on the Vigilant. Here we have our dramatic (and somewhat ironic) space battle to wrap up the two-part episode (and try our hand at ship-to-ship combat while we're at it).

Plot Turn 2
Once the bird-of-prey is dealt with, prisoners are secured and the Vigilant is no longer in danger of falling into the black hole the PCs finally have the opportunity to discover the strange survivor from the Stardancer has disappeared without a trace. Should they bother to check, he doesn't show up on any internal security recordings either nor was the Medical Officer ever given opportunity to examine him (the Captain refused) and discover he didn't exist. As the data from Stardancer has been downloaded and analyzed by this time they learn that the ship's initial sensor readings were correct. There were no survivors on the ship. Crew manifest matches the number of bodies detected among the wreckage, the survivor apparently being not so much the survivor after all.

Act III: Resolution
PCs escape Widow's Well, heading back to Jupiter Station.

I figure that should put things in place nicely and I still have the option of assigning a new captain to the ship as well. I think I can do away with the freebie Promotion as well and leave them all Ensigns until they receive some kind of field commission or probationary appointment. Not really sure I want a PC fully in charge just yet, though there's nothing to say the new Captain can't be taken out of the picture later. ;)


Edit: Thanks to iltharanos for putting this whole idea in my head with that suggestion. :D

I'll chime in and offer a friendly "welcome to our little community" on the internet as well.

You'll find, that you can get fast and friendly answers to most things Star Trek (be they gaming related or not) here and even more. And if you have provided a date, maybe even some well-wishes for your birthday ;)

I wish you and your 'crew' a good start into your campaign.

Enjoy!

Welcome!

And if you don't already have them here is a link to an AMAZING set of deckplans for the NX class.

http://waxingmoondesign.com/NX01MainPage.html

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Originally Posted by IceGiant

Welcome!

And if you don't already have them here is a link to an AMAZING set of deckplans for the NX class.

http://waxingmoondesign.com/NX01MainPage.html

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Whoa. That is amazing. :eek:

Welcome aboard! For a professed non-Trekkie, your campaign outline is pretty solid. Please keep us posted.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IceGiant

And if you don't already have them here is a link to an AMAZING set of deckplans for the NX class.

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I concur with you and Sanmateo, these are truly stunning. I don't think I've ever seen a more visually compelling and professional set, for any era.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by K.G. Carlson

Welcome aboard! For a professed non-Trekkie, your campaign outline is pretty solid. Please keep us posted.

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Got to agree with K.G. Carlson, I like your two-parter opener, sounds like a perfect mix of intrigue and action. The cover-up by the Vigilant crew is a particularly nice touch, as the PCs may not expect that (particularly if they're used to seeing Picard and Archer-types at work).

Let us know how the campaign progresses!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iltharanos

Got to agree with K.G. Carlson, I like your two-parter opener, sounds like a perfect mix of intrigue and action. The cover-up by the Vigilant crew is a particularly nice touch, as the PCs may not expect that (particularly if they're used to seeing Picard and Archer-types at work).

Let us know how the campaign progresses!

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Had our first session and ended up playing both parts of the "pilot episode". It went very well and everyone's happy with it so far. And yes, they were bug eyed that all the senior officers were running around conspiring.

I have to say, I'm very relieved there's an active community for this game still. You don't find that in most out of print games or even most active game systems! That's very promising.

My lovely and talented young lady has a website she dabbles in with details of most of our games and mounds of material (mostly for Cortex so far though, nothing yet for CODA). I've linked to it in my sig and you can probably bet she'll start uploading our material once we actually have any. I know she's already preparing a short "briefing" on this campaign for the site and has the PC and ship stats up already. But mainly I just like the logo she made and wanted an excuse to put it in a sig somewhere. ;)

Wow, I really like your campaign so far.

Keep up the good work, can't wait for more from you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sanmateo

Had our first session and ended up playing both parts of the "pilot episode". It went very well and everyone's happy with it so far. And yes, they were bug eyed that all the senior officers were running around conspiring.

I have to say, I'm very relieved there's an active community for this game still. You don't find that in most out of print games or even most active game systems! That's very promising.

My lovely and talented young lady has a website she dabbles in with details of most of our games and mounds of material (mostly for Cortex so far though, nothing yet for CODA). I've linked to it in my sig and you can probably bet she'll start uploading our material once we actually have any. I know she's already preparing a short "briefing" on this campaign for the site and has the PC and ship stats up already. But mainly I just like the logo she made and wanted an excuse to put it in a sig somewhere. ;)

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Just read the brief account on the other thread about the campaign, sounds like things are moving along very nicely. Checked out the website too: Very cool. :D

Not sure if it is an issue in your campaign yet, but you may want to get a book called Star Trek Star Charts, it's got loads of information and very detailed sector by sector maps of pretty much the entirety of known space. More importantly, it has some period-specific maps set during the Enterprise-era, as well as the route NX Enterprise took on various voyages.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iltharanos

Not sure if it is an issue in your campaign yet, but you may want to get a book called Star Trek Star Charts, it's got loads of information and very detailed sector by sector maps of pretty much the entirety of known space. More importantly, it has some period-specific maps set during the Enterprise-era, as well as the route NX Enterprise took on various voyages.

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That sounds like something I want! I'll be looking for it, thanks! ;)