Starfleet Department Of Paranormal Investigations And Eliminations

[Captain Marie]

(Background for our new game)

From time to time Section 31 needs personnel and funding to pull off a major operation. Rather than skim and steal it was decided to create a department that SOUNDED legit but was actually a front.

The idea was to drum up support for department based around one particular incident... staff it and fund it. The department's activities would be legit (or as legit as possible) but in reality the funding and resources would be at the disposal of Section 31.

Furthermore by staffing the department with misfits and recent graduates it would be possible to recruit field agents as needed.

It was decided to create a department around the premise of ghosts and paranormal activity ala the 21st Century's fascination with said subject. The personnel would be fitted with the latest and greatest sensor technology and "specialized devices" for monitoring and "containing" paranormal situations.

A couple of high-profile "staged missions" in which the "heroes" of DPIE saved the day and suddenly the department was issued a prototype one off science-vessel.

Section 31 had it's cash cow and personnel reserve AND a starship at long last...

Five years of make-work and "staged" missions along with bogus research (to cover Section 31 projects) have taken it's toll on the people and resources. After an embarrassing incident where several DPIE field-agents destroyed the Royal Palace on Morgana IX... the entire department is packed up and moved to Deep Space Two. Funding has been cut and several key persons have enormous black marks on their records. Section 31 has kept the team together against all odds (behind the scenes of course) because you just never know.

With the Second Klingon War/Romulan Supernova Dispora in full swing Starfleet is anxious to divert funding to other projects and sets it's eyes upon DPIE.


...that's when the Devidians showed up. In force. ALL of them.


Suddenly the Ghost Busters were thrust into the spotlight. And this time they really did save the day...


EPISODE I: WE ARE READY TO BELIEVE YOU
EPISODE II: GETTING BENT OUT OF SHAPE(SHIFTERS)
EPISODE III: 8472 Blues

(writeups to follow)

[somaticon]

Sounds interesting looking forward to the write ups.

[Sarge]

It's certainly a step away from the traditional/stereotypical ST story. Definitely has possibilities.

[Captain Marie]

I wanted to get away from the traditional "best of the best" pattern and do something different. This gives me a chance to write up "flawed" characters and play to a darker/less Utopian setting while incorporating more humor than normal.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

So what counts as... paranormal?

I mean, this is Star Trek. Kirk met a god (and that's just the first one he's heard of) and then saved the Enterprise from some ghosts. Spock found a giant space amoeba with clairvoyance. And then met... the Devil.

The daily newsfeed in the Federation would read like a Fortean Times annual.

[Captain Marie]

So what counts as... paranormal?

I mean, this is Star Trek. Kirk met a god (and that's just the first one he's heard of) and then saved the Enterprise from some ghosts. Spock found a giant space amoeba with clairvoyance. And then met... the Devil.

The daily newsfeed in the Federation would read like a Fortean Times annual.

In the context of the game we are talking "ghosts" and "spirits" and various forms of possession. All done in such a way that it appears that these things are "real" when in fact they are fronts for Section 31 "projects."

It just so happens that the research they did on certain types of boogymen came in handy when the Devidans show up en mass.... likewise someone decides to cut these folks loose when there is a rumor of a shape-shifting race stealing people's identities.

[Sarge]

I wanted to get away from the traditional "best of the best" pattern and do something different. This gives me a chance to write up "flawed" characters and play to a darker/less Utopian setting while incorporating more humor than normal.

I'm with you 100% on that. I ran a campaign years ago where the PCs were assigned to a "Leper Colony" Starfleet vessel: a dumping ground for all the personnel who weren't quite bad enough to get kicked out of Starfleet, but bad enough that their previous supervisors came up with excuses to transfer them to somebody else's command. It was a stereotypical band-of-losers-comes-together-and-proves-their-worth story. I enjoyed running all the NPCs on that ship.