Crew personal relationships...

Greetings,

Being a narrator for a start trek campaign (composed of seven seasons) it is my intention to allow players to develop their characters to the limits designed by them and not by me... certainy the amount of seasons (each lasting about 6 months) and general story arc allows for that.

Saying that, there is a lot of personal and character development that takes place in certain moments of the campaign...

As it is now, we are playing second season and are seven sessions into it (on average the session is 4-6 hours long) the crew have been posted on a new vessel and we are about 8 months into a shake down cruise.

Some players have expressed an interest in developing personal relationship with their crewmate (going beyond being friends).

Of course, as a Narrator I have no problem with that, as a person playing the captain ... I just might :)

The ship is a fast frigate intelligence vessel posted along the neutral zone (yes that neutral zone) and the captain is a veteran of dominion war and many previous SI engagements. She is a soldier and does have a view on officers becoming involved with their crewmates...

and with the crew of about 80 or so, rumours get around...

Ok, so now that you know a basic background. Here are some points that I would like to hear your opinions of.

* I have a player, a head of department, who wants to get involved with his department's second in command (NPC).
* I have a player who is heading for a probably one night stand relationship with an collegue on the ship (NPC)
* One of the player characters is married to a civilian who is about to become cadet and graduate from SFA (NPC)

Now space is a lonely place, especially during the long tour of duties, however personal relationships, might be considered non professional and of course they have a tendencies of districting the officers.

Of course we have seen them in every star trek show there was, and it would appear that the Starfleet in general has no issues with it, or does it? (What is Starfleet's view on this matter?)

Those are some points to begin with, I have my own opinions (as a Narrator) the captain has her own views (as a character I play) and now I would like to hear yours.

Kind Regards
Daniel

Hi Polanski,

We have played quite as steadily as your campaign (we're now deep in our 6th season) and we had naturally such romantic interests.

As a Narrator I believe that offers great roleplaying opportunities, and even plot devices.

Over our 6 seasons, we had:
- The betazoid counselor who finally became Imzadi with her second-in-command counselor (pure RPGing here)
- The betazoid ops ensign who was seduced by the Orion smuggler, for a one-night stand, only to discover that the ship had been hacked through his own LCARS terminal (pure plot device)
- The conn who seduced a young cadet, who came aboard the ship for her first tour of duty, and that he turned over to section 31 without an afterthought (RPGing: guilt etc... + plot device)

I generally try to throw in some romantic elements, if only to have good serious and/or comical RPGing situations, until I think there's enough to let the players continue the romantic show on their own.

Thank you for your reply...
but the questions still remain ...

* What is the official point of view of Starfleet on such relationships (especially between senior officer onboard same vessel)
* What is your ethical point of view on this manner as a GM

Assuming that this (as in the relationships) are not a plot devices but a real interests in the person/player/NPC that someone is developing.

I am looking for a guidelines from someone (a narratorperhaps) who have handeled situations like that before (in their campaign)and has some experience in it...

Kind Regards

I'd say watch 'Lessons', TNG season Six over & over.

I guess StarFleet has no official regulations concerning crew relationships, provided no abuse is made by either side. However, one can wonder what authority the Captain can have on that matter.
Personnally, I'd say it depends on the way you see StarFleet. If you consider it more military, then I'd say the Captain could forbid the officer from having relationships. OTOH, if your Starfleet is less military, you could say the Captain can't forbid people from having relationships if they want to, but can restrict the way they conduct it - like, being together only in their quarters or when they're out of duty for the day.

Just my 0.02 €

I have no idea what episode, but Janeway got extremely angry with Tom Paris and B'ellana Torres for kissing in public. Since they were senior officers, but it was fine in quarters and stuff....it depends on the Captain i guess.

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* What is the official point of view of Starfleet on such relationships (especially between senior officer onboard same vessel)
* What is your ethical point of view on this manner as a GM

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Aha! I admit I hadn't understood the question (of that there were questions, for that matter).

I'm with C5 on the first one, I depends on you SF feel in your campaign.

In my own narrating, I see SF as military yet somewhat relaxed in some matters. For romantic involvments, my take is that the crew can do whatever they wish, as long as the normal course of the ship, the chain of command and the duties are not imperiled. That means no kissing while on duty, using proper adress depending on the rank - but once you're off duty, do whatever you like.

I don't quite understand the "ethical" question. If you are saying handling romantic involvment between characters (not players) or RPGing these with your players, I'd say it depends on what you see fit. We have two players engaged together, but! one of their characters is engaged to someone else in the group. Being a guy, I roleplay girls when necessary.

As a rule, we stop... erm... roleplaying at the bedroom, agreeing that "what must happen happens". But other than that, we play everything. If I play a pretty young cadet and that the helmsman wants to buy "me" a drink, I'll play the game along.

This is a game!! I'd say, do not go where you feel awkward playing.

I hope I answered this time! :)

My current campaign hes three of the four PCs with a relationship of some kind. And given that it's a fight against the Dominion, you can bet one of their girls is gonna bite the big one!

It is oftem easier to conduct PC-NPC relationships using blue-booking, as it is less embaraasing and uses less of game-session time.

I agree with Killerwhale, don't try and role-play the sex, once the relationships get intimate, I say things like, "You stay up late into the night taliking. And then you retire to the bedroom and she shows you just how much she's missed you."

Greetings again,

I see :)
What I meant is thank you for your feedback.

The SF I play is more of a military organization (the series takes place 8 years after the Dominion War). SF started deploying warships (e.g. ships designed for combat action alone) as well as some of the traditional naval rules are back. (for example security is posted outside captains quarters and so forth).

The campaign is currently set (or is about to be set at the neutral zone) and the players are from naval intelligence.

Saying that I do not believe there is a current standing on officer relationships in todays navy (then again I am not sure as I could not find one in the brief time I spent researching)

One of the points is that I am trying to avoid everyone going into a relationship (especially at the same time) so it does not look like Star Trek: 90210.

I have no problem with Narrating how 'hot' things get. The ethical question was in relation of senior and junior officers from the same department going at 'it' as well as a general reaction in the senior command circles that you would forsee develop after and if the news got out.

The captain is a soldier and a commanding officer first and human second (if you know what I mean) and she is quite strict when it comes to running her vessel. The XO is bit more relaxed but he is beginning to believe that getting posted with the current captain was probably a best assignment he could wish for (he is learning a lot in regards to what it means to command the respect of the crew).

Of course the captian's strict approch would colide with the fact that official regulations do not cover the fact of relationships and this in itself will create a conflict of a kind for her (something along the lines of 'can she expect all the crew live up to her standards even in personal conduct').

Saying that she is human after all, we all make mistakes (and just because she is a GM's character does not mean she does not make them). And without saying too much (as some of my players might be reading the forum), even strict human commanding officers fall in love ...rarely ... but they do.

Of course the entire above matter deals with the in crew relationships. If officers want to date a civilian (so to speak) there is or would be no problem with that. (as long as it was conducted in appropriate fashion).

Hope this makes sense...

Kind Regards
Daniel

I encourage personal relations...fleshes out the characters.

As for Starfleet interpresonal stuff: no appearance of impropiety, no problem. Probably would avoid relations between direct superiors.

I generally just let things happen until they, as someone said before, reach getting into bed...

As I said in the same thread in Star Trek General, I encourage the players to pursue relationships with the crew so that I have another hook for them, another thing I can use to torture the PCs with. :)

One of the first rules of command is: "Don't give an order you KNOW won't be followed". Forbidding relationships entirely will not work... and doing so will only reduce the discipline and morale... moralle of those following the order, discipline of those violating it.

Starfleet seems to have no restrictions on relationships... Captain Picard had a breif one with an officer under his command.

However, in a chain-of-command organization some types of relationships should not be allowed due to the potential for abuse, perception of favoritism, or actual favoritism.

Relationships between members in the same chain-of-command should not be allowed, even in an organization as fou-fou as the on-screen Starfleet. Is Ensign Smith, a nurse, really dating Commander Jones, the CMO, because she likes him.... or because she's afraid of what her efficiency report will look like if she doesn't? Did LT Baker get his promotion because he's a capable officer, or because he's dating the XO?

Officers hould also be careful about relationships between senior and junior officers in different departments for the same reasons.

I also would not allow relationships between officers and enlisted... but in the liberal Starfeet on-screen this probably would not be a problem.

Pre-existing permanent relationships are a limited exception to the above... but being inthe same chain-of-command should still be avoided if possible.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Polanski

Ok, so now that you know a basic background. Here are some points that I would like to hear your opinions of.

* I have a player, a head of department, who wants to get involved with his department's second in command (NPC).
* I have a player who is heading for a probably one night stand relationship with an collegue on the ship (NPC)
* One of the player characters is married to a civilian who is about to become cadet and graduate from SFA (NPC)

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Fraternizing with a direct subordinate is usually considered unacceptable in most organizations with a formal command hierarchy. It may be provisionally tolerated if behavior on-duty followed protocol to the letter, but is almost always frowned upon as unprofessional. An officer discovered to be having an intimate relationship with a direct subordinate can expect punishment up to and including demotion, although it is far more likely that the subordinate would be transferred to another department or command entirely.

The final say as to what is or is not permissable on a given command ultimately rests with its commanding officer, however, as long as no major violations occur. The best advice? Senior officers should never get involved with anyone in the same branch. Command officers should never get involved with anyone in the same command. Junior officers have more room to maneuver, romantically, but should generally never get involved with anyone in the same sub-branch.

Thank you for your feedback...

Saying that I have watched TNG "Lessons" last night and it is stated/quoted by the captain and approved/confirmed by ship's counsellor that there are no regulations on in crew relationships in Starfleet. (at least in the case of captain/subordinate relation)

Saying that, the episode reaches some interesting conclusions on the matter that should not easily be dismissed.

The directions I see taking is to allow players to start the relationship but put the moral dilemmas in front of them and see what choices they make.
If the results will effect their or NPCs professional conduct onboard the vessel or in the service of Starfleet and cause any other damage/wrong perception or anything improper then they will have to deal with the captain directly...

Of course as a matter of fairness all players will be warned about the consequences and their characters made aware of captain's attitude and point of view on the matter discussed.

In might be worth adding, that we are talking about a group of civilized, grown up and quite intelligent players who have a clear understanding of situations and consequences.
The fact is that with the particular group I do not believe in usage of artificial limits in the role playing situations (such as you cannot do this because regulations say so, so you cannot do this) rather than that I follow the fact that they know the rules and if they choose to break them, and senior staff is made aware of it, there will be consequences to their actions and based on their conduct and breach they maybe be quite dire...

So I shall let them make choices...
As for the thread ... if you have some additional comments they are of course more than welcomed.

Kind Regards
Daniel

In my experience, you should just let 'em go with the flow.

Last year, my group had probably the most intensive inter-character story arc going. See for yourself

http://forum.trek-rpg.net/showthread...=&threadid=751

Everything I have ever said on the subject can be found here...

http://forum.trek-rpg.net/showthread...ghlight=aslanc

Ignore the fight between me and S JOhn ;)

Well, last night my XO character finally talked the captain of our ship into allowing her to marry the ex-chief communications officer. While the captain wasn't all that thrilled about allowing it, he did recognize that it wasn't against StarFleet regulations. We will probably have the marriage ceremony sometime in the next few episodes. :-) The communications officer, now-Lt. Dovenov, is not directly in the chain of command since he was busted down two ranks, or else I suspect that the captain would have been even more annoyed.

Anderyn

Greetings,

I just had a cutscene in which the Naval Captain and Colonel from the intelligence (that currently serve onboard the same vessel under her command) shared a kiss (away from everyone's eyes of course). Well it was a long lasting kiss I suppose...

After the cutscene was read, the players applauded and told me they thought it was a great cutscene, following that they told me that they were very surprised and that their respect level for their captain is now much higher, (which of course surprised me), for she no longer is "The Iron Maiden" that they always seen her as, she is human as they all are... (well some of them are Bajoran or Betazoids)

Now meta gaming aside their characters do not know anything about it but the players already trying to devise a plan in which they will be able to learn about the feelings that Captain and Colonel have started to share... and how will they act based on their findings.

The only character so far that has a clue is the CMO who is human/betazoid and she is delighted, and so the plot thickens ... if they only knew.

Kind Regards

Cutscene? Exactly what is that, in gaming terms? I'm new to the forums , though not to gaming itself, so I don't recognize how you're using it exactly -- I would love a fuller explanation, if you'd be so kind. (I am not sure I even know exactly what the correct definition is in tv terms, to tell you the truth, now that I think about it.)

Twila

PS I do a lot of behind-the-game work, writing personal logs that further my character's non-game life, including backstory, romances, relationships with cousins/family/friends, but I always thought it was non-standard to do so.
It never garners xps, that's for sure. :-)

Do what you like in your own game, but the XO (and Captain) are in everyon's chain of command.

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Originally posted by Anderyn
Well, last night my XO character finally talked the captain of our ship into allowing her to marry the ex-chief communications officer. While the captain wasn't all that thrilled about allowing it, he did recognize that it wasn't against StarFleet regulations. We will probably have the marriage ceremony sometime in the next few episodes. :-) The communications officer, now-Lt. Dovenov, is not directly in the chain of command since he was busted down two ranks, or else I suspect that the captain would have been even more annoyed.

Anderyn

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I should have said that not in direct chain of command, I suppose -- Lt. Dovenov does not report directly to Katherine anymore since his demotion. The captain (aka the gamemaster) agreed that since Dovenov wasn't her direct subordinate that it wasn't against regs to have a relationship, although he personally thought
it was a biiig mistake and he warned her that he'd be watching for any signs of favoritism or any other non-professional conduct.

Anderyn

A brief reminder ...

TNG: "Lessons" clearly states that there are no StarFleet regulations on the subject of captain (or commanding officer of the vessel/installation) getting involved with someone under their command.

I am unsure what the canon says about the involvement of non command stuff, but here are some points.

TNG: Picard and Nella
TNG: Riker and Troy
DS9: Jadzia and Worf
DS9: Odo and Kira
DS9: Bashir and Erzi
VOY: Paris and B'llana

* Picard and Nella (sp), a science lt.cmdr from "Lessons" episode
* Riker is in a direct chain of command if anything and he is involved with Troy (who also wears the uniform and passed command training). It is rummoured that the relationship grows stronger in Satr Trek X: Nemesis
* Worf was a command officer and got invoilved then married Jadzia who also wore a uniform and served as science officer.
* Bashir and Ersi (sp) ended up together even though they will also have to work together...
* Odo and Kira ... both working for Bajor, still had a reletionship
* Paris and B'llana ... dated, married, had a child.

I of course cannot stress enough that in the situation such as a relationship between the members of the same crew would advise extreame caution and even with that things may turn ugly at some stage...


Cutscene...

Well imagine a few pages of book like writing describing a particular event (or set of events) that are taking place. They may or may not be involving the main characters or could simply be happening away from everyone's eyes (showing for example: what cloaked Romulan Warbird is up to). They usually progress the story and allow players to see what might be happening. But based on their character's involvement they might not be able to act on it. It helps in setting in the mood or getting the players to start thinking in the particular direction ...

Kind Regards
Daniel

For the reply about cutscenes. I thought that might be what they were, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions.

Other than that, I'm busily planning a wedding on an Enterprise-era ship, stuck in a war zone.