25th Century Campaign Help

So I have decided, while I am doing some Prime Directive, that I want to prepare a campaign set in the mid-25th Century.

Here are my caveats;

1] Enterprise is not canon.

2] No visions of the future on TOS, TNG, DS9 or VOY are canon either, the future is unwritten.

3] The Klingons & Romulans have long joined the Federation.

4] This campaign is as long after VOY as TNG was after Star Trek VI.

Beyond that I want to kick the can, get ideas and above all else get your views on what uniforms should look like, what Starfleet vessels look like, etc...

Oh and I intend to set it on the USS Enterprise H.

So who wants to kick the can?

OK, Star Trek VI was in 2293, and TNG began in 2364, so your campaign is set in 2449.

What about Enterprise is not valid in this continuity? If it's the Xindi war, that could be part of a closed time loop, no longer part of history, as well as the whole Temporal Cold War, but still allowing the use of the good bits from the 1st, 2nd and 4th seasons. Anyway, it's ancient history and need not have much effect on the present even if you don't dump it wholesale.

How long ago did the Klingons and Romulans join the Federation, and why? Further, how? What advantages were there for them? What changes have they had to make to fit in to the Federation? In the mainstream universe, the only bit of JJTrek is the destruction of Romulus. This might have been the impetus for the Romulans to join the UFP, and the Klingons were Federation allies already.

What about the Romulan/Vulcan reunification movement? I would think this might have gained some impetus from the Romulans joining the UPP.

What about the other galactic powers? What's happened to the Dominion in the past 70 years? The Gorn? TheTholians? Now that the Romulans and the Klingons have joined the UFP, what about the Taurhi and the Kinshaya?

Why Prime Directive? I've always felt that ADB's version of Trek is very much a mirror-universe Trek, largely incompatible with mainstream Trek.

What class is the Enterprise-H? What were the F and G? Will the captain be a PC or NPC?

Enquiring minds want to know.

I can see the Klingons joining the Federation, but the Romulans? I would be interested to see what reason they would have for joining?

Where is Data/B4?

What are some of your major antagonistic species/federations/groups?

What about this time period makes it interesting enough for a game?

Owen:

1] Because Enterprise was crap (to me), and I am not going to let it effect what I like about Star Trek? Easy, no?

2] Romulus being destroyed is Nu-Trek. Nu-Trek is not canon for me. Vulcan-Reunification would probably be what brings them in. Klingons already there, just a matter of stepping over the line. The campaign will not focus on these ideas, so I don't need much more than to "hand wave" them.

3] Other Galactic powers need to be worked out (hence this thread of conversation) but I do see the Bajorans as "Associates" of the Federation, much like Israel's relations with America.

4] Not running PD for this, I AM currently doing a PD game that got me excited about eventually doing a regular ST game. So, while I can run PD with my eyes closed, I want to prep this campaign in advance.

5] No idea what class, was hoping to get some suggestions for the H (and even the F and G, though they aren't anymore important than the B or C were until story needed them).

6] Probably a PC captain.

BurnEverythingG
1] Don't fixate on that, it isn't important to why, unless the story dictates it at some point.

2] I don't know, hence this thread sir :)

3] It provides the same freedom to creation that TNG did, far enough removed from the original point of story that you can make changes and not be shackled to real world events, in Star Trek that is.

Now one idea I was having was that the Federation was becoming like the Old Republic in Star Wars, bloated and bogged down in bureaucracy. Rotting from within. Naturally there would be "exterior" forces at work. I was toying with the Iconians, or just creating a whole new race that is powerful enough to manipulate things and eventually slam into via an invasion force.

Again though, the idea for this thread is to kick the can, develop ideas and see what comes up :)

ENT's flaws as television and Trek aside, I like the Ent-J design a lot, especially the idea that it's huge enough to essentially be a metropolis in space. What I don't like is the idea that ship naming conventions stay the same for centuries to go.

That said, I think you might be getting close to significant sea-changes in how the Federation operates and what life in it is like. Things I'd have:

• Long-range transporter networks are established between Federation member worlds and nearby colonies. Starships become something you use for long-range journeys, or especially to move large, complex equipment to remote locations. Starships start to become environments rather than vessels. The distinction between space stations and metropoli-ships disappears.
• Replicator and holography technology becomes ubiquitous. Using solid, nonreplicated objects is like nonreplicated food in the 24th century—some people like it, some people don't, some places it's too energy-expensive to use all the time (big, new colonies), some places it's too energy-expensive not to use it (small, really remote colonies), and some places have enough energy that nonreplicated furniture and tools are a luxury but hey why not indulge in luxuries we have super-tech and unlimited power (Federation core worlds).
• Long-range transporters, replicators and metropoli-ships intersect to form 'vessels' that aren't really single units, but networks of probes and sub-vessels spreading out and being drawn back in across space.
• Soong-type androids start showing up in small numbers, but because the Federation is the Federation and not, say, late-stage capitalism no one is mass-producing them or forcing them into menial labour. They're all unique.
• Temporal mechanics becomes understood enough to mitigate enough of the risks—to travellers and to the Federation—that the Temporal Exploration Division of Starfleet begins mounting 'charting' expeditions, both with automated probes and living officers.
• As Federation technology becomes more advanced and the distance between a Federation core worlder and any given citizen of a warp-capable planet, Federation membership becomes more one of gradiated stages to avoid the intense culture shock that immediate access to ubiquitous holodecks and replicators can have on a society.
• Transwarp conduits bring the Federation into contact with the whole galaxy. The Borg, instead of being seen as a monolithic entity, and interacted with, negotiated with and sometimes joined with as the organic superorganism they really are.
• The Dominion keeps up with Federation technology (and occasionally surpasses it), but the changing attitude of the Founders lead to isolation and political fraying at the edges of their space. The Vorta and Jem'Hadar test the limits of their masters' inattention.
• At least one or two other galactic powers, unknown to the Federation in the 24th century, are on the scene. Ideas I've had (and may expand upon some day) are a kind of bizarro-Borg (libertarian transhumanism turned up to 11) and a less obvious kind of Taurhai. The solanagen-based entities from 'Schisms,' the brain parasites from 'Conspiracy,' the Voth, and the off-brand Sontarans that fly potatoes from 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' might be good returning opposition, too.
• Domesticated Klingons or even Klingons as sort of a sad Disneyland attraction in the Federation might serve as an emotional counterpoint to the usual Federation utopian triumphalism. If Vulcan-Romulan political unification happens and the Romulans join the UFP, it might be interesting if large number of Vulcans start becoming Romulan in character than the other way around—and changing the cultural tenor of the Federation toward oligarchic imperialism.

This is the one I'd actually use for a series:

• Transwarp technology allows for a long-range outpost in the Andromeda galaxy—TOS, only scaled up by an order of magnitude. You can destroy stars, you can build cities at a whim, but you're entering the territory of a civilisation that's capable of screwing up their environment on a galactic scale. Throw in Borg who've adapted over millennia to a galaxy devoid of humanoid life (except for those androids!) and all the other extragalactic weirdness in Trek (the Old Ones of 'Catspaw,' space amoebas, etc) and I think you could get a decent campaign out of it.

Ok, I want to give TK a production company and let him make a new show.

It's funny, I just saw the Star Trek: Renegades trailer last night, which seems to have the "FED is becoming too big and ineffective" as a major plot line. http://startrekrenegades.com/home/

One thing that I thought about when reading this thread about a Trek future is "the past returns to haunt you". That can be taken as a few different ways.

- one thing we've seen in the 24th century past is we've supposedly moved past our baser needs. No one (supposedly) craves power, wealth and all the stuff that made the previous war filled centuries on Earth so terrible. What if the was some schism in the FED, on bad enough to sow the seeds of rebellion? What would a Star Trek civil war look like? But that's something that might be more interesting of a closer to earth campaign.

- The galaxy in Trek is filled with the ruins and legends of long dead empires and peoples. What if one race found a way to "cheat death"? Through various means (ships going light speed without warp using the time dilation; frozen troops on hidden worlds; actually manipulating space time?) they emerge into a very different galaxy and instantly don't like the neighbors. I know ST:Online just turned the Iconians into the Shadows from Babylon 5, but returning "Old ones" is always a crowd pleaser.

-The 'machine planet' that built V'Ger is still out there. Coldly logical and extremely powerful, how would they react to carbon units overrunning their space, especially when we're infesting fellow machines? And what if there's some horrible twist on the origins of these machines?

I would suggest looking at Renaissance, as it is set in the early 25th century, it could give you a few ideas for plot lines and progression of technology.



also for your info, here is what some think the Enterprise will look like in the early 25th century
Odyssey class
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...ssey-class.jpg

http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...Marrone_th.jpg

http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/US...e_(NCC-1701-F)

here is the Enterprise-H (mid 25th century)
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...an10/1701H.jpg

http://memory-gamma.wikia.com/wiki/U...e_(NCC-1701-H)

Interesting stuff so far.

I do this the more "extreme" ideas I have seen, like the transforming holo/transporter ships and such are a little too off the track for my tastes.

As for the ship, I think it needs to look as far from the Enterprise E as the Galaxy did from the Enterprise A. Otherwise might as well just be in the 24th century ;)

Moving forward the idea of the "Old Ones' returning got me thinking "Great Old Ones" which is even scarier. What I always loved about Cthulhu is the idea that these creatures are not evil or good, but indifferent to you and your morals. Now imagine these "old ones" (Iconians, etc...) returning at their appointed time (the stars are right) and starting their machinations without any regard for the existence of the other life-forms unless they are enslaved as resources, otheriwse paying them no more attention than ants.

How scary for the big talky diverse Federation to run into a race that doesn't give too craps they are there and are going to "remodel" the galaxy to their liking.

I also liked the idea of Romulans and Vulcans getting... confused?

I MIGHT have to use the idea of Romulus (and Remus) getting exploded, though with a bit more sense than Nu-Trek did. Maybe the Romulans, learning of Soren's work, were playing with trilithium and it either went wrong, or some terrorist group used it, either way they caused the destruction of their own sun and the destruction of their home worlds.

Great stuff!

Let's keep kicking!

sorry meant to add a link in the above.

http://www.st-minutiae.com/misc/rena.../tm/index.html

As far as the Enterprise goes, keep in mind there is a clear progression and design flow for all of them, so they will invariably look similar. I also note that by the 25th century the merging of saucer and engineering sections would be standard.

Had a thought about Romulans in the FED: In the IDW comic that was the lead up to the Nu-Trek, Spock and others tried to save Romulus. However foot dragging (possibly done to "let them die") by the FED council led to the attempt to stave off the cataclysm being too late. In your timeline, perhaps that foot dragging didn't take place, and the FED helped to save the Romulan people, even when the proud Senate didn't want their help. Or maybe both major powers were too proud to help each other, but a brave group of FED and Romulan citizens, as well as members of both Star Fleets, moved heaven and Earth (er, Romulus) to save Romulan civilization. (maybe they saved most the people, but didn't save the planet).
The fall out of this would be loyal Romulans seeing themselves let down by their "noble" leaders and saved by an enemy, while the FED citizens would question their leader's commitment to the ideals of the federation. This could be the first spark of a schism in Federation society.

Your comment about the "big talky diverse Federation to run into a race that doesn't give too craps they are there and are going to "remodel" the galaxy to their liking", that's why the Borg was initially such a great enemy: there wasn't going to be some big debate or proving how assimilating other species was wrong. The only way to fight them was to FIGHT them, and given their adaptability THAT was going to be a challenge.

In Trek cannon we have a few powerful races way back who monkeyed with developing life: the people who inserted a message into the primordial ooze of various worlds; the Preservers who saved various species and cultures from extinction; and whomever built the Guardian of Forever. You also have whoever built the Doomsday Machine. Ok, the Messengers were the 'first race' so they might be off the list, but look at what you have left: a race that was trying to save life; possibly a second species that wanted to explore, move through or alter time; and someone that built a REALLY BIG PLANET-KILLING GUN!

What if it was all ONE RACE? Why would they try to hide little pockets of humans and proto-Vulcans and other species all over? Why would they need to see through time, and possibly alter it? And why would they need to destroy whole planets? Where they hiding species from some enemy, trying to predict it's movements and counter them with time travel, and if all else fails, send in a heavy hitter to destroy that enemy? And if all this was one precursor race, or maybe a group of races, what was the enemy like? (cue Inception horns)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AslanC

Moving forward the idea of the "Old Ones' returning got me thinking "Great Old Ones" which is even scarier.

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Given that "Catspaw" was written by Robert Bloch, there's every reason to believe that he intended the Old Ones to actually be the Old Ones as per HPL. Similarly, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is At The Mountains of Madness with androids instead of shoggoths. (Although, in Trek, 'Shoggoth' means something entirely different. And it appears that the Federation has already encountered and gotten along with one Great Old One—a Medusan who spent some time on Aldebaran III, perhaps?)

Quote:

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Your comment about the "big talky diverse Federation to run into a race that doesn't give too craps they are there and are going to "remodel" the galaxy to their liking", that's why the Borg was initially such a great enemy: there wasn't going to be some big debate or proving how assimilating other species was wrong. The only way to fight them was to FIGHT them, and given their adaptability THAT was going to be a challenge.

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Which was also why they stopped showing up as Borg qua Borg for so long, until Voyager turned into a Republic serial. The downside to the Queen, I guess, is lazy writers using that as an excuse instead of asking what function she serves.

The thing about the Borg is that they're reifying the soft technology of language and culture into hard technology; a sort of Foucaultian body-horror by way of offbrand Giger. Their closest analogy is, I think, actually the city-things in the Invsibles, who exist as entities formed of us the same way we are formed of cells. I like to think that Guinan was right in "Q Who?" and that the Federation might, one day, be able to relate to the Borg as equals, but that that would require the Federation to see and understand the forest for the trees.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Tatterdemalion King

Given that "Catspaw" was written by Robert Bloch, there's every reason to believe that he intended the Old Ones to actually be the Old Ones as per HPL. Similarly, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is At The Mountains of Madness with androids instead of shoggoths. (Although, in Trek, 'Shoggoth' means something entirely different. And it appears that the Federation has already encountered and gotten along with one Great Old One—a Medusan who spent some time on Aldebaran III, perhaps?)

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You had me at "Catspaw"