Danube Class Runabout Campaign

[IceGiant]

So do you guys think you could run a "standard" ST game set aboard a runabout?.........................Discuss!!

[KillerWhale]

It would work, but it would bar all long range exploration, gearing the campaign more towards covert ops, or short range missions... Like diplomacy, or a JAG-like campaign.

Personally, I wouldn't do it - there's nothing on a runabout that cannot be accomplished on a rather small starship, and that limits the narrative freedom, but that's just me

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

I considered a mini-campaign set aboard a runabout at one point.

It was going to be set during the Dominion War when starships and personnel were in short supply yet Starfleet wanted a certain region of space investigated but with limited exposure. There had been indications that a number of planets were inhabited by cultures not yet warp-capable but with powerful sensor technology at their disposal.

SFI also believed a number of less-than-friendly powers were either attempting to or had established influence in the region. The players mission would have been to scout the region and determine the actual state of affairs within it.

Unfortunately, the three players I had been designing it for had a major falling out and I shelved it.

Regards,
CKV.

[Captain Otto]

A Campaign aboard a runabout?
Sounds to me a bit to small a ship for a long lasting campaign.
A runabout as a home for more than two people would be more than a bit cramped.
Epic battles won't be an option for a campaign like this.
For a miniseries it would be a real challenge, probably if the crew is forced to make do with only an runabout.
If the Players ship is destroyed and they can escape aboard a runabout it could be an exciting game.
Evading whatever enemy lurks outside, faced with serious shortages (...we only have one photontorpedo left), the thought is apealing to me.
But a long lasting campaign?
I don't think so

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

To even have a chance for it to work as a campaign, the PC's runabout would need to return to some type of station/port to restock and evaluate the results of their latest missions.

This is not necessarily a bad thing as it gives the characters a change of scenery and you can set a few scenarios aboard this station, after all not all problems are solved by the senior staff. Unfortunately, unless your players are focused on a select set of mission types, this could get stale after a time.

I think it could be done but it would require a fair amount of work including a deep understanding of what drives your players' interests in the Trek Universe.

Regards,
CKV.

[Owen E Oulton]

Yup... My Star Trek: Relic campaign has been set on a runabout for the past 5 years, first on the Thames and later on the Lena.

there's nothing on a runabout that cannot be accomplished on a rather small starship,

Huh? I'm afraid a can't really make heads or tails of this statement - a runabout is a small starship.

The main reasons to run a campaign on a runabout are A) the entire crew can be made up of PCs - no expendable ensigns or security personnel and B) control of resources - the GM can make sure they have the specific tools they need to do the job, but can make sure they have to work for their success. It's all too easy in a campaign set on, say, a Galaxy class ship to pull all sorts of equipment out of thin air and to throw huge numbers of personnel at a problem. On a small ship like a runabout you also don't have the ship's captain problem so commonly complained about - with a crew of only 4, every character can easily (and indeed must) be involved in all aspects of the adventure. Far from being restrictive on the GM, it's makes it much easier to create a situation which challenges the characters without it having to be an galaxy shattering event every session.

[IceGiant]

Hmm, I think I have found an excellent alternative to the Danube. I was looking at the deck plans for the Tavares class on owens site and the thing looks alot like a Type 6 shuttle. Very NG feel. So with some minor deck plan tweaking to include a sickbay and some labs.....voila a federation far scout. With a crew of 4-8 it is perfect. It can land, has shuttles and has enough "room" inside so people arn't running each other over. I might also convert the shuttle maintenance bay to a astrometrics lab. Now to use my feeble skills to redo the deck plans Unless Owen has more spare time on his hands then I think he has lol

[KillerWhale]

Owen, I meant that IMHO, there are things you can accomplish with a small staship (Nova, even Intrepid) that you cannot do with a Danube; but what you can do with a Danube, you can do with a Nova. YMMV of course

[Tobian]

Well an extended campaign might be unrealistic, because basically this runabout HAS to be close to a mothership/base because of several basic reasons... It has a much more limited speed storage capacity and defence than most ships and it's operational range, realistically is not huge. In a first contact situation, like the one Captain Vaughn described, the players would be woefully underprepared if the natives got wise to them.. one ship, even in a pre-warp-capable context becomes a scary problem if they are discovered.. a handful of nukes would not bother an intrepid class ship, or even a Nova.. but a Runabout??

It could make for a good couple of extended adventures (multipart) for the reasons Owen listed, if only for the low-crew=empowerment and the lack of thousands of nameless NPC's to solve your problems for you.. It would also be a good set of adventures for those looking to gain command.. a plucky young lieutenant taking on a small mission to impress Fleet command. You could well be attatched to a larger facility, in a sector like the Bajor sector (with lots to see and do) or the Rigel sector (true Rigel, as in FASA, with 4 star systems in close proximity and over 10 m Class worlds, and orion pirates hiding in every corner) Or maybe just one of the core worlds, exploring an unusual anomaly or running a scientific study.. There are a dozen reasons to have such a mission, but having it week in week out without support would be very hard to explain week in week out!

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

Exactly Tobian, if they get discovered things are going to get nasty.

In a campaign, they'd eventually have to return to a base for various reasons but you can still manage to always find some reason to explain why the characters are the only ones available to do that mission that week.

Even the mini-campaign I had in the works would have them return to a base eventually just for a change of pace.

Though my own preferences tend toward saving the "Big" ships for campaigns and the smaller ones for my mini-campaigns but even my TNG/DS9 era campaigns tend to be heavily influenced by the feel of TOS. I prefer a game where the players use their characters rather than fall back on letting the tech solve things. Fortunately, most of the players I have had tend to prefer doing it on their own so to speak.

While a runabout without support might be a bit hard to push in some cases, it would not be that difficult to come up with reasons why this crew is out here doing what needs to be done with whatever they've been assigned for the task. It's all in how you swing it and the Dominion War can make a great vehicle for such things.

Regards,
CKV.

[Dan Stack]

Actually a Danube without support could be quite interesting. Picture the characters stuck in the middle of nowhere with just a runabout. Could be from a wormhole, the characters' ship being destoryed - lots of reasons. The characters now are on their own and with minimal resources. Lots of opportunities for tough decisions, quick-thinking, and long-term planning.

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

There certainly is that Dan. Take away the tech and it forces a number of hard choices.

In some ways I am doing that with the three or four episode mini-campaign I am currently setting up. While I had the idea some time ago, the series "Lost" has since helped me refine it.

The PCs' ship is going to get badly damaged during a fight with various Dominion Forces. The CO orders the ship's recorder to be ejected believing their end is near and the battle lost. In one last desperate maneuver, the ship tries to go to warp but ends up due to the battle damage and incoming fire causing an anomalous occurrance which flings the ship many light-years distance, completely out of control in a wormhole-like imbalance. When they exit, unable to regain control of the tumbling vessel it crashes on a planet in the system the ship found itself ejected into.

The ship is pretty well-destroyed, very little salvage with only a few dozen survivors. The PCs being the most senior officers still fit for duty must organize the others in an attempt to survive on a most inhospitable planet knowing that Starfleet likely believes they were lost in battle. Furthermore, as will be discovered, something on the planet blocks all distress beacons and the survivors are not alone.

While my scenario is a bit more extreme then what you suggested Dan, the runabout crew would be forced into doing similar things in some ways, having to find and obtain resources on a far more regular basis with less data than one would have at their fingertips on a larger starship. The crew's ideals could and should be tested as to whether they will bend or even break various regulations just for the sake of getting what they need to survive and maybe get home.

Regards,
CKV.

[Tobian]

Well yes that is a bit more extreme, but it sounds like a thorny knot for your players to solve!

I assume that in the crash a Runabout survives, and the players have to repair it (maybe partially damaged) using spares salvaged from the crash site. It will be a gruesome episode, especially if the players have to rummage throught the wreckage to find the spares they need.. amongst several hundred charred shipmates!.. and of course once the fires go out.. natural scavengers could come a calling!

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

In this mini-campaign, not even a runabout survives. The crew will have no easy means to contact Starfleet to let them know that they yet live.

The planet itself is barely hospitable, long-term survival at least where the ship crashes is impossible as the planet's temperature is far too hot, on par or worse then The Forge on Vulcan.

So they are under time constraints to attempt to locate a far more temperate local and figure out a means to get there while also moving the injured. There are a few locations that will serve this purpose.

There is one problem though, once they get settled in and it seems like they will be able to manage for the long haul, crew start disappearing. The planet is inhabited by a species that I am still working out the details on but their core body temperature is so high that a mere touch can burn most humans. They also view these temperate locations as divine places of worship and the crew as defilers who have come to deface the "temples" for it was their gods that raised them up from nothing and it was in these cooler places that the gods lived and took their pleasures.

Presumably the PCs will eventually find a way to make peace with the natives and maybe if they catch on to the clues that will be dropped, realize that something more was going on here. In truth, a highly advanced race came to this planet, partially terraforming it so that their scientists could survive here and perform experiments toward evolving a race of sentient slaves. I'm currently leaning toward using Iconian Scientists but have not completely settled on this yet. Eventually, the experiments were considered a failure and the project was abandoned. The scientists never realizing they had indeed succeeded.

If they manage to piece the clues together they can find the labs. Each temperate locale has a lab underground in that area. With time they can possibly find a way to use the technology to alert Starfleet that they yet live.

Regardless of whether or not they learn of the labs, the Dominion eventually does learn of them and sends Jem'Hadar troops and a Vorta to secure the installations. If the crew know of the labs they may realize that the Dominion is here for the technology. If they do not, then this gives them another chance to learn of it though at first they will likely be left with the impression that the Dominion somehow learned that they had survived and sent troops to finish them off. Depending on how they work it, they might be able to capture the vessel that brought the Jem'Hadar there and finally escape or they may discover the labs and the opportunities therein. However, they will also be left with a tough choice given that they should realize the Dominion know about the installations and will likely send more troops to secure it.

Not only is there an issue of the tech falling into Dominion hand's, it is almost certain that the natives will resist them and in so doing, the Dominion will decide to kill them all just to make certain the labs are completely secure. Presuming a peaceful coexistance has been established that will include a number of friends the PCs have made among the natives.

It should make for some interesting decisions after some lengthly debating.

Regards,
CKV.

[Tobian]

Well without a runabout we are heading slightly off topic, but it's an interesting diversion nontheless

If you intend to introduce the Dominion and Iconian technology this could create another set ot complications fot he players.. The last time, when the Dominion uncovered an Iconian portal (which may not exist on this planet but that's not neccessarily relevant) the Jem Hadar imediatelly decided to use it for themselves and relinquish their need for the Vorta and Founders.. The PC's may end up having to side with either the disident Jem hadar or a gaggle of isolated Vorta The site may have an inactive portal.. or advanced replicator technology, which can replicate Ketracel White.. The PC's may or may not get involved, because of course all of this can happen with or without them.. they just have to avoid the fireworks!