New Captain of a Miranda Class Starship

[The Red]

Has anyone of you played a Captain of a ship? If so can any of you give me advice on how you did it and what you think works? Any problems I should be aware of e.t.c.?

[Greg Davis]

Greetings, Red!

I've only rarely had the opportunity to play a CO in Trek , because I generally run the games, but as a Narrator, I can pass along things that I look for in the PC Captain in my Series', and hopefully it will help you out.

1) Know the rules: This includes both in-game and out-of-game. For in-game, having an understanding of the rules and regulations of Starfleet (as shown on the various television series) helps out a lot, or at the very least, applying common sense to situations. For out-of-game, knowing the game mechanics themselves helps, because it can help you come up with options for solving problems, without having to seem indecisive in-character. Both are, in my opinion, excellent trademarks of a good PC commanding officer.

2) Be a good communicator: The other players will have suggestions, and will generally think that they can solve problems as well as you can (or maybe better). Additionally, the Narrator, who, by running the various NPC's, can usually offer helpful hints and directional aids for solving problems that you, as the commanding officer, might not have thought of. Sometimes they can, and sometimes they can't, but if you, as the commanding officer, don't listen, then they, as your crew and as your gaming group, aren't going to want to share ideas, and that'll kill your game pretty fast. Conversely, you have to be willing to offer in-game suggestions to characters as the commanding officer. If you have an idea, pass it along. It may not be the best idea (for instance, a CO offering engineering suggestions to an engineer), but it shows that you're interested, both in-game and out-of-game, and the players, and through them the crew, will appreciate that.

3) A dash of meta-game knowledge, or as I call it, "What Would (fill in the name of your favorite Captain) Do?": In most games, using meta-game knowledge is a no-no, but in Trek you can pass it off by using the in-game explanation that, for instance, you've studied the available logs of the aforementioned Captain. This is something that I recommend for beginning commanding PC's, as it can be tougher to be in charge than it seems. Personally, I found it to be far more challenging than being the lead character in D&D !

And finally....

4) Remember that it's just a game: Sometimes, when things get hairy in a game, you can get too stressed or worried. Remember, it's just a game. If you screw up and the ship explodes, none of the players really get hurt, and in the worst case scenario, you all have to make new characters. Sometimes, if it's a no-win scenario, the Narrator will allow the characters to escape, via escape pod or what not. In any event, try to have fun, and get into character, but don't get so lost that you take being in command in the game to mean that you decide where the group orders pizza from (hey, it's happened in my group...fortunately, I was playing the XO, and our other player was running the CMO, so we overruled the Captain D).

Obviously, there are a metric ton of tips available, and if you search the forum, you'll probably find a lot of different threads that will help you out, but these are the things that I immediately thought of...I hope they help you out.


Greg

[Sarge]

Whether I'm GMing or playing, and whether I'm running a leader or a follower, I always try to keep all the players involved. I find that it kills the mood to have a game going on while one person just sits and does nothing. If you're the captain, you're in an excellent position to keep everyone busy. Try to avoid giving pointless orders or assigning busywork, but use your imagination to come up with something for everyone to do.

"Mr Jones, please stand guard at the top of the rise while we analyze this artifact."

"Mr Jones, what is your opinion of this course of action?"

"Mr Jones, please hold the flashlight for the engineer while he rewires the console."

Also, look for a good rolemodel as a captain. Not just in Trek, try reading David Weber's Honor Harrington books, or David Drake's Lt Leary books, or Forester's Horatio Hornblower, or Patrick O'Brian's Jack Aubrey. Study them and figure out what makes them successful captains.

Finally, don't go on a power trip. One of a captain's highest priorities is to take care of his crew. You can delegate a lot of that to your XO, but stay involved and accessible to the other characters.

[Captain Zymmer]

Something my players are expiramenting with is to have the CO make a command roll, vs difficulty of your choice. If he.she succeeds then the players each make a suggestion as to what they think their character should do in a given circumstance. As a result the Captain can then way his choices for a moment and then issue orders.

[Dan Stack]

An excellent question in my opinion.

The biggest danger I have seen in my campaigns is the captain starts making all the decisions - I often have to quietly remind the captain player to delegate and discuss. This is not a criticism of my players - it's a difficult role for a player to take on.

[ghosty]

How you play a CO depends on the type of Captain you want to be.

The lead from the front, balls to the walls type - that's the Kirk archetype...you take all the decisions and micromanage the PCs...while it works fine on TV it pisses off the other PCs...

The intellectual. That's the Picard archetype. These type of leaders tend to be cerebral, they look at the big picture and leave the details to his subordinates. The problem with this style of leadership is that it gives the other players too much independence and they can abuse it. Picard had officers who could function independently and frequently get it right by violating orders...don't count on the average PC from getting it right all the time. Unlike the writers they don't get re-writes or have time to think after they paint themselves into a corner.

The best type of Captain falls somewhere in between. Sisko was like that.


The only thing you really have to remember is that leadership boils down to two words "Follow Me". Lead by example and show the other PCs how you want to do it and they should follow. Never be afraid to take risks and never shirk from your responsibilities. You are a leader so lead.

The rules of leadership are simple:

1. always take care of your troops and always try to bring all of them home.

2. Keep their morale up and keep 'em happy. That doesn't mean you have to pander to their whims, but make sure they like what they're doing.

3. Listen to them. Just because you're the leader doesn't mean you are God. You're not omnipotent, learn to rely on your subordinates and trust in their judgment.