The Triangle Revisited

[tunglashr]

Its my first day as a member of this forum, and while I can see that it isnt a hotbed of activity, the fact there there are still posts at least weekly bodes well. Before I dive in to my Triangle revisited game, let me give some background.

I have played Star Trek based games since the late 80s, but never with any success. I watched TOS, TNG and VOY when they were on, but never religiously. I always liked Star Trek, much more than Star Wars since I have become an adult, but was never a fanatic. I even wrote my Anthropology 202 research final on Star Trek.

None of this has ever carried over into RPG success. All of my previous games, as both player and GM, have gone exactly one session. Over the years I have played in countless campaigns in too many games and genres to list. Over all this time, the one thing I have been fanatic about is game collecting. People with an appreciation for such things generally faint or have heart stoppage when they see my RPG collection. Dont worry, this is relevant to the story...

Enter JJ Abrams. When I saw the preview for the movie, I tought it looked like the definition of vapid summer garbage. But my girlfriend, who never liked Star Trek, thought it looked good. So, when the midnight premier came to town, we were in line.

I was half right. All of the intelligence of Star Trek was gone, but what they put in its place was pure fun. I liked it. My girlfriend, loved it. After that we watched Star Trek VI, my favorite of the originals, and she liked it. She previously not liked Wrath of Khan, but my feeling is she might now.

I had a renewed interest in Star Trek after the movie, and I begun TNG when it was on late at night. Eventually, she started liking that too.

At around this time our RPG group was disintegrating. Long story there, so, lets move on to the relevant part. We recruited some new players and were planning on a new game, but we had no idea what kind of a campaign everyone could agree on.

With all the Star Trek I had been watching, I went in to my library and looked around. I have a pretty nice stack of FASA books, as well as LUG and Decipher. Hmm, with all of these published adventures, maybe we could do a one-shot of Star Trek.

A minor roadblock is that one player pretty much hates everything after TOS, but he was willing to give it a shot.

So I read a few of the books, and chose Where Has All The Glory Gone?. We used the pregenerated crew from that game, except with a female captain , converted to CODA.

To my surprise it was a complete success. Much better than I had anticipated. Part of it was an extremely well written scenario, but a lot of it was just how the players interacted. Rumi as the captain was invested in the Starfleet way, while the first officer and security chief wanted to use the stick.

Everyone knew their role, yet interacted in a consistent manner with the crew. Non essential crew members were important, and vibrant. But was it a fluke?

Next we tried A Doomsday Like Any Other. This time we watched the Doomsday Machine episode directly before play. It was very effective at setting the mood and getting everyone together. The scenario was an excellent mix of diplomacy, action and problem solving. It was no fluke, this group loves to play Star Trek.

On to my idea.

In the beginning I didnt worry too much about being accurate with Trek canon. And in many ways I still dont, but I do want to be consistent. Since both of those scenarios were based in the Triangle, I have kept that, but made a new iteration. Instead of the two dimensional three sided piece, I have created a new, more up to date version.

This Triangle is a pyramid like those at Giza, with 5 sides: The Federation, the Cardassian Union, the Romulan Star Empire, the Klingon Empire and the Gorn Alliance.

I know, nothing like the canon geography.

I keep the neutral zones as they existed in FASA, and the year of the game is 2367, during the Klingon Civil War. No place in the galaxy is more rife with intrigue than the intersection of all the major powers.

Enter, Star Trek: The Triangle Missions.

[K.G. Carlson]

Welcome aboard!

Your campaign sounds intriguing. I look forward to your future contributions to our community here.

[trynda1701]

Like your modified idea for the Triangle. And its your game, so the borders can be what you say they are!

I used to think that Cardassian space was nowhere NEAR Klingon space, but that seemed to modify as DS9 went on!

When I tried to start a civilian game using Decipher rules, I shoehorned the FASA Triangle into the Star Trek Charts by Geoff Mandel.

But then again, I thought the FASA scale was too small, and not too sure about those Charts either, even though it ties in more with any details mentioned in TNG and DS9. Eg Romulan Neutral Zone a LOT closer to Earth to allow the attempted Romulan invasion of Vulcan in "Unification". I preffered the scale of the original Star Trek Maps that Mandel did in the '80's, which is what gave FASA the idea for their general layout.

But the Triangle supplements where amongst the best ideas that FASA released, so I would definitely use them, whatever system you game with.

Good luck continuing with your game, and post ideas and reports if you can find the time.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

I used to think that Cardassian space was nowhere NEAR Klingon space, but that seemed to modify as DS9 went on!

Each interstellar polity's territory may not necessarily be contiguous. The Federation, especially, would grow in weird blobby shapes as territory administered by newly inducted members gets added.

[RaconteurX]

Also, the Star Charts are two-dimensional and a three-dimensional representation could show those areas where alien territories wrap around Federation space and border on the territories of cultures appearing on opposite sides of the flat maps.

[trynda1701]

TTK and Ranconteur

Definetely, what you both said! The Maps had their spherical version of Federation Space, but it wasn't clear what exact shape Klingon Space was in relation, only where the border was. Also, Romulan Space was deined in an ellipsoid that produced that arc in 2D that we saw in the original episode "Balance of Terror". Gorn and Tholian territories were both also apparently on the same equatorial plane as the rest!

It would be cool to see some sort of computerised version of any version of the charts that I mentioned above, wouldn't it.

Plus, would love to see any maps you have produced, tunglashr!

[Owen E Oulton]

Keep in mind that in our Galactic neck of the woods, the Galactic disc is only (!) 1000 light years thick...

[tunglashr]

TTK and Ranconteur

Definetely, what you both said! The Maps had their spherical version of Federation Space, but it wasn't clear what exact shape Klingon Space was in relation, only where the border was. Also, Romulan Space was deined in an ellipsoid that produced that arc in 2D that we saw in the original episode "Balance of Terror". Gorn and Tholian territories were both also apparently on the same equatorial plane as the rest!

It would be cool to see some sort of computerised version of any version of the charts that I mentioned above, wouldn't it.

Plus, would love to see any maps you have produced, tunglashr!

I have yet to produce maps, and that is not one of my strengths. In fact, one of the main reasons we started playing Star Trek was because I had a lot of published scenarios for it so I could concentrate on characterization and challenging the players instead of worrying about what would make the plot be sensible.

But because we have watched so much of it lately, and because the players are liking the game a lot, I have actually started writing some of my own scenarios. I have two ideas which I will be bringing by here to get input from more veteran ST GMs.

One thing I did is combine all of the games. The ship, the USS Niven, is a Chandley Class Frigate (are there deck plans available for this ship?), updated to be in TNG timeline. It carries two companies of marines, as well as one squad of special forces called Prime Team Alpha (Beta through Mu are on other ships in Task Force: Triangle).

I also made the ships complement more like current naval ships, approximately 80% enlisted. I have named every officer on board and assigned them duties, and am now working on their personalities. The player who plays the chief Engineer has actually assigned all of his men shifts and specialties! I gave the important non-commissioned officers names and personalities too. In fact, they are some of the best at what they do (just like in modern ships).

I have required each character to have a subplot and to think about moral questions, which is the key to the ST intellect. I plan on basing scenarios on these kinds of things.

I also changed the role of security and marines. Like in current military, the marines and navy are under different auspices, but also like today, the navy encompasses the marines. I developed a new role that our chief security officer plays. For ships assigned to Military Operations Command (like the Niven), the security officer is a former marine who has been cross trained in starship security procedures. This makes him older, but he is also very skilled.

The way this works is, after serving as a captain in the marines, those who are selected for the program, in lieu of promotion to major, are assigned advanced starship procedures training and sent to work as a limited duty security officer for one tour. Once this tour is over, they are assigned as assistant security chief at their old grade, but under Starfleet (so as a Lieutenant). They begin their seniority timer over. When they achieve their next promotion, they will be a chief security officer on a vessel in one of the more dangerous areas of the Federation, the Triangle being the most prestigious. These ships will have a large marine complement as well as standard security. Because they are cross trained, they are uniquely qualified to perform this role.

I also folded the duties into smaller chunks for all bridge crew. The tactical station, where the chief of security serves, controls communications, weapons and sensors. The science officer (in this case an NPC) handles detailed sensors and computer related stuff. The chief engineer has the character sheet for the ship, and all of the critical hit charts. None of the other players see it. EVER. That way, when there is ship combat, and I roll a critical hit, the engineer knows what it is first (even before me), and relays it to the crew. It gives him a tangible role during starship combat. The executive officer controls the handouts with all of the maneuvers on it, this player is good with tactical gaming, and he makes recommendations to the captain, who also read the charts.

What do you guys think of these ideas?

[trynda1701]

Sounds like you got your background ideas well fleshed out, going by what you've told us so far. Like how you've taken ideas from all iterations of Trek RPG's.

I would say you have the bases covered in getting all players involved in Starship Operations. I remember the USS Niwen from the FASA scenarios! In fact, with the Prime Team and Marines onboard, you seem to be loaded for bear (or Romulan, or Gorn!) for the hotspots you will no doubt encounter in your Triangle campaign.