First off, I probably run a "darker" campaign than most... certainly it is darker than the TV series. Starfleet is more "military", with more attention paid to military and naval tradition. There are Marines in my Starfleet. The planetary SDF's are much more active (especially the Andorians' AAS and ADF) Also, enlisted crew play a much larger role. I feel that I play the SF era as it would be, rather than as it should be.
The campaign is a "lower decks" style, the crew makes up a standing mission team aboard the USS Endeavor. My current crew consists of a former enlisted Yeoman, now a Command LT(SG)... the team commander. Second in command is an Operations LT(JG). Next is a Security Chief Warrant Officer, an Engineering CPO, and a Medical PO2. The Command Lieutenant and Security Warrant have been with the Endeavor since Wolf 359, the Engineering CPO was assigned to the USS Saratoga at the time. The rest weren't at the battle, and joined the ship in spacedock afterwards... they all were there for the Romulan blockade.
The next few episodes will lead to the heroes being heroes once again (if they don't blow it) by capturing or otherwise neutralizing a renegade Bajoran priest, who has developed a biogenic viris which targets only those of Cardassian heritage... and I'm thinking of giving them their own ship. Something along the lines of an old Merced class, small enough that everyone has an important job and has to wear more than one hat. The Command character has been a LT(SG) long enough that I could justify bumping her to LCDR and making her the XO (a ship that small perobably has a Commnader as CO)... I could use a Saber class (even smaller crew) but I think that's too new... maybe I'll tweak the Merced a bit with the Spacedock rules.
Here's the kicker: The NPC Captain is an alcoholic. He was at the Wolf 359 too, but things didn't go as well for him. Some of his friends/ crewmates (wife, fiance??) were assimilated. He was able to sabotage part of the cube and escape, but his assimilated friends were killed in the explosion. He was able to accept this, better dead than assimilated, but then he found out about Picard's rescue... his wife (think I'll go with wife) might have been saved too, if he hadn't blown her up.
Now he's often drunk, and afraid to make a decision even when he's not. Starfleet would have retired or reassigned such an officer to a "safe" post for treatment... but with the war and sympathetic subordinates covering for him, Starfleet doesn't know how serious his problem is (no counselor on such a small ship). How does the new command crew, my PCs, handle it?
With a crew of 40-50, enlisted Department heads will work... even a Medic instead of a Doctor will fit. I think I'll send the Crew thru Branch and Bridge training, plus an additional course of their choice... a 6 month attempt by Starfleet to get people who aren't really ready for command as ready as they can be. Perhaps WOCS or OCS for the Engineer and Medic...
Anyway... additional ideas, critique, etc?
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"I'd rather die standing than live on my knees..."
Shania Twain
There's a ST novel, "Ship of the Line", that deals with an alcoholic officer whose friends cover for him. I haven't read a lot of ST novels, but this is one of my favorites.
If your players like gaming situations with difficult moral choices, that character could make this a challenging campaign.
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LUGTrek isn't really dead. Not as long as we remember it.
Sounds a lot like the stuff we've been doing. Heavy emphasis on naval tradition, though the marines are now the 'rapid response force' -- an attempt by the mainline Starfleet to bring the grunts under their heavily bureaucratic control. Starfleet is more militant right now due to the Dominion War and Borg attacks, but many are still wishing for the old days of just being scientists.
I have a LOT of in-fighting between the 'old-school' explorers like Picard, and more militant leaders (mostly young pups who shot through the ranks due to attrition from war and are young, hot-headed, and have only really know conflict.)
We use enlisted heavily. You know some officer who went through 6 years or so of training is NOT going to scrub decks. But also, we use enlisted as they actually are: some high level enlisted get more ear-time with the captain than the lower officers. Hint...never mess with the chief of the boat!
I also explore the fact there seems to be a LOT of admirals running around. I'm using the modern US navy, where there's an admiral for something like every two ships. They're ring-knocking administrators and politicians, scientists...and they probably don't like the fighting captains ('mavericks' or 'Kirks') much.
Hey Qerlin, cool site but thats a hell of alot of ships for a small area of space. Guess the Storm is ready to break.
Have you made a map of the 'outback', i'd be curious in seeing one if youo have.
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