TNG Netbook - Asking for Input

[Sho-sa Kurita]

For main crew write-ups, I don't know that we'd need a full one for each season, though maybe 1st, 4th and 7th season. For the other seasons you could simply do a quick update like:

Season 2 LaForge: Engineering (Propulsion) +2, Command (1), Promotion (3), etc...

You get the idea, I'm sure.

[Mac417]

Great minds, man.

Exactly what I'd thought of doing was having a stats-progression index in the back of every season chapter, a lot like the example you posted for Geordi.

Researching this, I noticed Tasha Yar didn't figure largely in many of the episodes aside from "Code of Honor," which according to the advancement system I developed, won't give her any advancements at the end of season one (or rather, the time of her death).

On the off-topic tip, I guess this explains a bit why Denise Crosby opted to leave the show..

[Mac417]

At the computer, thought I'd get some work done, lemme know whatcha think.

From the Season One chapter:

“ENCOUNTER AT FARPOINT”
Stardate 41153.7 (February 25, 2364)

Mission: Evaluate Deneb IV’s Farpoint Station and the planet’s indigenous people, the Bandi, for Federation membership. Investigate means by which the Bandi, a low-technology species, could construct such a structure. Secondary: collect remaining crewmembers Cmdr. William Riker, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Lt. (j.g.) Geordi LaForge, et al.

The mission was not without complications, primarily due to the unexpected arrival of a representative of the omnipotent theretofore-unknown species called the Q. Q, as he called himself, placed Picard’s crew on trial for humanity’s sins. The crew also discovered that Farpoint Station itself was a sentient energy-based lifeform enslaved by the Bandi and forced to take the shape of the station and do the Bandi’s bidding, a situation compounded by the arrival of the creature’s mate. The crew handled both situations simultaneously, freeing the creature and proving themselves worthy to Q. Also noteworthy of this mission, the Enterprise crew filled all gaps in its complement including Commander Riker, Dr. Crusher, and Lt. LaForge.

REFERENCES:
Zorn, see the Supporting Characters chapter.
The Bandi, see the Aliens chapter.
The Farpoint entities, see the Aliens chapter.
The Q, see Aliens, pp. xx-xx.

PLOT HOOKS

Revisit to Deneb IV: With the loss of Farpoint Station, the Bandi lost their entrance into the Federation and all the privileges therein. Should another Starfleet crew visit Deneb IV, they might find a culture begging for assistance or, worse, a race of people consumed with feelings of betrayal by the Federation.

Encountering the Farpoint entities: Though it would seem unlikely the pair of creatures would ever chance coming near a humanoid civilization after one’s treatment by the Bandi, a return or chance meeting is not out of the question. This could be a valuable first-contact experience if the players decide to open a dialogue.

Encountering the Q: While Q appeared overly judgmental in his first encounter with humanity, later meetings depict the omnipotent being as something of a thoughtless prankster with minimal regard for humanoid life. If players were to run into Q, the possibilities are quite literally limitless.

“THE NAKED NOW”
Stardate 41209.2 (March 16, 2364)

Mission: Investigate loss of contact with U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky.

The crew found to their horror that the Tsiolkovsky crew had committed mass suicide by shutting down their own life support systems. The cause of this became all too apparent, namely a contact pathogen that lowers both inhibitions and mentally unstable, a variant of an illness contracted by the crew of James Kirk’s Enterprise a century hence. As a result of pathogen, Wesley Crusher commandeered Engineering and disabled helm control, placing the Enterprise in the path of an oncoming stellar fragment. Amidst attempting to regain control of the ship, the crew used their tractor beam to push the adrift Tsiolkovsky into the fragment as a delaying tactic, destroying the surveyor in the process. The crew were able to regain control of both the ship and themselves thanks to an antigen developed by Dr. Crusher and escape collision with the fragment.

REFERENCES:
U.S.S. Tsiolkovsky, see Starships chapter.

PLOT HOOKS:
Dead ships: Nothing puts the spook in a crew like beaming aboard a drifting ship to find every man, woman, and child aboard dead. The pathogen was the cause during this mission, but any number of other, more malevolent causes could be developed for such an episode.
Shipwide disease: Any kind of shipwide disease is cause for alarm, and also for a great plot hook. Be open to all possibilities of shipwide illness, from the silly to the inconvenient to the downright nasty.

“CODE OF HONOR”
Stardate 41235.25 (March 26, 2364)

Mission: Negotiate with government of Ligon II for non-replicable vaccine needed to combat plague on Styris IV.

Personal self-interest almost destroyed all chance of success for this mission, as planetary chief Lutan abducted Lt. Yar as a means of both “counting coup” on Picard and to fuel a scheme to inherit the lands and property owned by his wife, Yareena, by forcing Yar to duel Yareena to the death for the rights to both her freedom and the vaccine. Yar succeeded in the fight, but Dr. Crusher’s revival of the clinically dead Yareena negated her marriage to Lutan, thus turning the tables on a man trying to use his people’s code of honor for personal gain.

REFERENCES:
Ligonians, see Aliens chapter.
Glavin, see Equipment chapter.

PLOT HOOKS:
Revisiting Ligon II: As a result of the upending of Lutan’s treachery, he was relegated to a secondary role to both Yareena and Hagon, Lutan’s former second and Yareena’s new husband. Lutan might again try to use the crew to raise his position. Then again, Yareena and Hagon might prove no more benevolent than Lutan. It is also conceivable that other lesser governments exist on Ligon II that take a side in the Lutan-Yareena matter that might prove a challenge to the players.

“HAVEN”
Stardate 41294.5 (March 28, 2364)

Mission: Respond to summons by government of planet Beta Cassius (“Haven”).

The reason for the summons was the detection by Haven’s government of an incoming unidentified vessel that refused all communications hails. Personnel matters were also an issue during this mission, in the form of Counselor Troi’s obligation to a genetic betrothal to Dr. Wyatt Miller arranged by the parents of both parties. The incoming ship was found to be carrying a crew of Tarellians, a race thought dead by a ravaging plague and who were traveling to Haven so that they may die there. Haven’s First Electorine, Valeda Innis, refused the Tarellians asylum and pleaded with Picard to destroy the vessel as per Federation treaty. Both situations resolved themselves as Dr. Miller, who experienced repeated visions of the Tarellian Ariana throughout his life, boarded the Tarellian vessel in the hopes of aiding them in curing their illness.

REFERENCES:
Tarellians, see Aliens chapter.

PLOT HOOKS:
Shore leave on Haven: Haven has a reputation throughout the Alpha Quadrant as being a world imbued with healing powers acute enough to heal injury, disease, and even damaged hearts and souls. Players might wish to travel to Haven to unravel these mysteries.
Encountering the Tarellians: A crew’s ship might encounter a Tarellian vessel in their travels, perhaps even the ship carrying Wyatt Miller and Ariana. This might be the result of a request for aid, or simply a chance meeting. Medical officers or scientists might find curing the Tarellian plague a challenge to undertake.

“WHERE NO ONE HAS GONE BEFORE”
Stardate 41263.1 (March 31, 2364)

Mission: U.S.S. Enterprise to act as test-bed for warp drive enhancement theories by Starfleet propulsion specialist Stanley Kosinski.

The warp drive enhancements proved not to be the doing of Kosinski, rather his alien assistant, referred to only as the “Traveler.” The Traveler, a native of Tau Ceti V, and his people possess the ability to move between time and space at will and imbued each of the test vessels with enhanced warp drive performance, while the unknowing, yet arrogant, Kosinski took credit. This was found out too late by the Enterprise crew, who were propelled 2.7 million light-years from Federation space. With the aid of Wesley Crusher, the Traveler was able to will the Enterprise home, though at the apparent cost of his own life. As reward for his aid in helping the Enterprise return home, Picard imparts the honorary rank of Acting Ensign upon Mr. Crusher, allowing him to perform shipboard duties alongside the crew.

REFERENCES:
The Traveler, see Supporting Characters chapter.

PLOT HOOKS:
Encountering the Traveler: The Traveler was found to still be alive in 2367, and a crew could encounter him in their travels. The Traveler could offer to take the crew’s ship anywhere in the Galaxy, should they so wish (and prepare to accept any possible adverse consequences). Bear in mind that the Traveler is only one member of an entire race presumably, a race that may possess the same or greater abilities.
A Long Way Home: Stranding a crew in a remote area of space millions of light years from home would prove a great challenge for players, as well as a possible framework for an entire series. It’s been done once... it’s called Star Trek: Voyager.

[Mac417]

Quick update and asking of feedback here:

Just got through going through the first two seasons of Next Gen and settled on the following aliens:

Aldean, Allasomorph, Bandi, Delosian, Edo, Ligonian, Parasitic Lifeform

...and characters:

Armus, Bok, K’Ehleyr, Klag, Lore, Phillipa Louvois, Bruce Maddox, Thadiun Okona, Q, Kyle Riker, Riva, Salia, the Traveler, Lwaxana Troi

...to put in the book. Anyone I'm missing? Anyone listed here you feel I should skip?

[Tobian]

... probably but that looks like a pretty good start.

An android template would be good (possibly using some of querlin's work from here on the boards as a reference point)

and perhaps you could cover something like the Crystaline Entity?

There are a couple of other characters that come to my mind. Hugh, Juliana Taynor, Alexander Roschenko, Laal (as a sample template for a beginner android), Barklay (is he covered elsewhere?) ...

I guess as you go through each episode you'll probably need to do at least one person and possibly a race, as and when you come to them.. it's a very tall order!

[Mac417]

Well, actually, bear in mind that's only a partial list, after me going through just the first two seasons.

Here's the full list.

ALIENS: Acamarian, Aldean, Allasomorph, Angosian, Bandi, Crystalline Entity, Delosian, Edo, Exocomp, Kes/Prytt, Ktarian, J’naii, Ligonian, Mintakan, Parasitic Lifeform, Rutian, Soong-type Android, Talarian, Tamarian, Ullian, Zalkonian
ENTERPRISE CREW: Jean-Luc Picard, William Riker, Beverly Crusher, Data, Worf, Deanna Troi, Geordi LaForge, Tasha Yar, Ro Laren, Reginald Barclay, Wesley Crusher, Guinan, Miles O’Brien, Keiko Ishikawa-O’Brien
CHARACTERS: Armus, B’Etor, Bok, Leah Brahms, Roga Danar, Duras, Tam Elbrun, Kivas Fajo, Gowron, Hugh, Edward Jellico, K’Ehleyr, Klag, Kurn, Etana Jol, Lore, Lursa, Phillipa Louvois, Benjamin Maxwell, Bruce Maddox, Madred, James Moriarty, Thadiun Okona, Eric Pressman, Q, Devinoni Ral, Kyle Riker, Thomas Riker, Riva, Alexander Rozhenko, Salia, Sarek, Montgomery Scott, Sela, Spock, Juliana Tainer, the Traveler, Lwaxana Troi, Vash, Ishara Yar

And yes, Barclay would go in the Enterprise crew section. I'm also toying with a full-blown crew registry of every crewman ever seen on the ship. No stat writeups, just a general listing.

BTW, I'm thinking I might need to streamline the character listing a bit. Maybe to just characters who've been in at least two episodes and/or made a major impact on the one they were in?

[Sho-sa Kurita]

A suggestion for the REFERNCES section of each entry, more like:

References:

Aliens: Bandi (p. X), Farpoint entities (p. X), the Q
Supporting Characters: Zorn (p. X)

Put a note in the intro section of the seasonal summaries explaining that entries with page numbers are in this book, and those without are in the appropriate Decipher-published work (i.e. Aliens, Creatures).