Campaign Brainstorm/Opinions/Suggestions

[neurozombie]

Hello all,

I am new to the Coda system and I am about to run my first ST campaign using it, and actually my first ST campaign since the old FASA version days about 10 years ago. I figured at least posting my (tentative) plans on these boards would help me to think things through, and possibly get some feedback and/or suggestions from those of you that are more familiar with CODA and ST in general.

To start, a little background on my knowledge of ST canon: I watched all of TOS and TNG, all movies and about the first 3 or so seasons of DS9. I watched maybe the first season of Voyager b4 I got bored with it (don't shoot!) and I didn't get even that far with ENT. Thus, I am not 100% familiar with the events at the end of the Dominion war and how the universe stands as a result, other than what is in the core STrpg books and I am not a master of ST history, nor am I familiar AT ALL with the ending events of Voyager.

If I totally screw up my facts/assumptions in the remainder of this post, please feel free ream me a new one

I am planning on running a campaign set after the Dominion War, maybe 10 years after (2390? is that in the ballpark?) with a new crew, some of which may be vets of the war (some may have been ensigns then).

I am thinking of having the Cardassians join the Federation so that the race is available for play as Starfleet officers. I think this would make for good tension, as I intend for Kilingons to definitely be more common in Starfleet at this time (still rare, but at least a few dozen).

I am also thinking of having the Delta Quadrant wormhole stabilized so that the Ocampans and the Talaxians are available as PCs as well. If, in the Canon history, tjis is not possible please let me know

The crew will be assigned to a small exploration craft (maybe an Intrepid Class) and basically "boldly go" for the first few episodes so that I can get a good feel for the system as well as teach my players the system. I will probably use the adventures posted at the Decipher website, or variations thereof.

I want to eventually (after a few episodes) introduce some new threat to the Federation that the players discover so that I can tie the into my "future history" of Star Trek, but at this point I am at a lost without re-treading the Borg/Romulans/etc... threats all over again. Any suggestions?

Anyway, signing off for the moment. I will be back to post more as it comes to me.

[Tas II]

First and foremost, welcome to the boards....

You say you are unfamiliar with the canon history.....who says that this has to be the history of YOUR game? Use the history you know, and extrapolate from thereon. Always makes the trekkies in the group think twice. They 'know' history, but not 'your' history.

Cheers

Tas

[neurozombie]

Thank you for your response and welcome

No matter what RPG or setting I have run over the years, I have always strayed from canon material, and this campaign will (i'm sure) be no exception. I do, however, like to have a relatively firm grasp of Canon material so that when I extrapolate, it makes some sort of internal sense.

[RaconteurX]

There are canonical foes you might use to your advantage, such as the Tholians, Gorn or Sheliak, or you could introduce a threat pulled from other science-fiction series or novels. To hell with the Kzinti; if you are a Niven fan, imagine your crew having to stave off an invasion of Pak protectors! Perhaps a group of Saberhagen berserkers (which you may recall as the inspiration behind the TOS episode "The Doomsday Machine") make a fresh incursion into this region of space. There are lots of fun possibilities...

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by Tas II
You say you are unfamiliar with the canon history.....who says that this has to be the history of YOUR game? Use the history you know, and extrapolate from thereon. Always makes the trekkies in the group think twice. They 'know' history, but not 'your' history.

This, IMO, really depends on your type of group. One of the great things about working with a licensed property like Star Trek is that everyone (presumably) has some familiarity with it and the basic events that have transpired. (e.g. canon) Unfortunately, that's also the downside.

Some players really want that "straight from the show" translation, where you don't veer too far off from canon. Others may want to play Trek pretty much in name only. ("We're all cowardly Klingons on a tramp freighter, eeking out a living while righting the wrongs of the oppressed. We're the A-Team in space!")

Canon is all well and good, but don't let it restrict your thought process or adventure ideas. If your players are as ignorant (note, that's not intended as an insult) of Trek canon as you may be, then they'll never know if you move the location of Vulcan or turn the Breen into Federation allies.

In short, have fun with it.

Oh, BTW, welcome to the forums!

[Ezri's Toy]

I would think that, even if you are dedicated to ST canon, a campaign/series played long enough will eventually deviate from canon at some point via the actions of your players.

Then, with Star Trek being an ever-evolving thing, there's also the possibility of the show's writers contradicting what has transpired in your games.

In either case, you have to decide whether you're going to re-write what's happened in your games to match Star Trek's canon history or to let things stand.

If you do the former, you run the risk of disappointing your players by tweaking their characters or by ruling that your players' favorite adventure never happened. If you do the latter, you'll have to be satisfied declaring your campaign / series an "alternate universe.

Considering the extra work involved in keeping a campaign/series in-line with ST canon, I'd think most GMs are more than happy to run games in an alternate universe.

[neurozombie]

Originally posted by RaconteurX
There are canonical foes you might use to your advantage, such as the Tholians, Gorn or Sheliak, or you could introduce a threat pulled from other science-fiction series or novels. To hell with the Kzinti; if you are a Niven fan, imagine your crew having to stave off an invasion of Pak protectors! Perhaps a group of Saberhagen berserkers (which you may recall as the inspiration behind the TOS episode "The Doomsday Machine") make a fresh incursion into this region of space. There are lots of fun possibilities...

I was kinda thinking about adding the Yuuzhan Vong from the New Jedi Order series....

[Pericles]

Yuuzhan Vong just don't seem as scary to me in the Star Trek universe. To wit:
Security Chief: "Hey captain, its those scarred up dudes with the spitting snake sword dealies"
Captain: "Right, set phasers on disentegrate."
Sounds of massed phaser fire and mighty Yuuzhan warriors vanishing by the dozens long before getting into melee range
Security Chief: "Right, that solved that!"
Captain: "Carry on shall we?"
Security Chief: "Aye Sir! You heard the captain, lets move out!"

[neurozombie]

Yeah, I guess you are right. Other than their gruesome appearance (which isn't much scarier than the Borg) they wouldn't pose too much af a threat against the Federation. I guess their whole thing was the fact that they were immune to the Force.

Of course, their Biotechnology is pretty darn cool. Maybe if I boosted their Biotech and mixed things up a bit, they may be worthwhile. Hmmmm...

[Pericles]

Now a race that used biotech would be very interesting indeed! A definate departure from the Star Trek norm.

[neurozombie]

Smart a$$