So I've been mulling over the idea of beginning a pre-TOS series on Earth, circa 2099.
I've gotten some excellent supplemental Spacedock-style ship statistics on these boards from John Adams (they're very good), but I'm at somewhat of a loss regarding the state of affairs at this point in pre-UFP history.
What sorts of technologies were available? With whom did humanity have contact (besides the Vulcans)? How far had they explored? What was the state of affairs on Earth?
I realize that some of this information is available (though somewhat sketchy) on the 'net and in several LUG publications, but I need some more "meat" for this idea to take flight. For example, Earth makes contact with Alpha Centauri in 2066, but what about the rest of the UFP founders? Was routine contact with Vulcan established by this time? Were there many non-humans on Earth or in Earth space at this time? What agency (or agencies) were responsible for space flight/exploration?
If the New Earth Republic wasn't formed until 2113, and the UFP in 2161 (62 years into the proposed campaign!), what was the planet like until then? How long did it take to clean up all the pollution and nuclear fallout? Who was the enemy at this point... was it still the nations of Earth fighting one another?
Does this sound playable (or even feasible)? The other option I was considering was beginning the campaign in 2199, but that seems a bit too close to TOS Trek for my tastes. It could be fun, though, with a young (~35 year old) Sarek involved in the campaign... newly developed transporter and subspace radio technologies... almost 20 years before the fateful encounter between the U.S.S. Ranger and the Klingons (and 21 years before the development of the Prime Directive)... the end of the Earth-Romulan Wars are still fresh in the memories of most adults...
Maybe 2199 isn't such a bad idea after all.
Please let me know what y'all think; I'd like this campaign to take off soon.
Well the campaign would very much open the field for Earth based political intrigue, along with national space agency versus national space agency....
Imagine setting a great rivaly between captains of two separate space agencies, only to throw them in the melting pot together on the same side during the Romulan Wars...
I would imagine that in the early years you would be looking at the big 5, with other smaller powers and pirates being the key opposition until the Romulans show up.
I can see worldwide integration problems, on Earth along with Federation integration problems afterwards, along with cultural misunderstandings aplenty...
Yeah, I suppose... but how prevalent do you think privately-owned starships would be prior to (or just after) the formation of the UFP? I can't imagine that there'd even be very many spaceships let alone FTL starships.
What about the Andorians, Vulcans, Centaurans, Tellarites, and humans? As interesting and exciting I think such a setting would be, I just can't quite figure out how to put it together. What would the galaxy be like? Did the UFP bring in pre-warp cultures prior to the Prime Directive?
Who (besides the Vulcans) were warp-capable before humanity? I would imagine that the El Aurians were (given that Guinan was on Earth in the 1800s), and obviously the race that conquered the Klingons (I think)... but who else was out there?
I would think that maybe the Tholians were capable of warp travel, but they were so far away and the UFP was so small that any encounters would be at a distance and extremely fleeting. What about the Orions? The Cardassians? The Gorn?
Who joined the Federation immediately after the five founding races? Which races were contacted? Since there is no exhaustive definitive list of UFP races (to the best of my knowledge), perhaps this would be a good time to come up with some. I could also use information for some of the other ST:TMP races (besides the Regulans and the Deltans).
Any suggestions (as this isn't really my era) would certainly be appreciated.
mactavish out.
P.S. I think that a Star Trek: 2199 game is more likely to work than a 2099 game... there's just more stuff to do, see, and explore.
Well in 2099 its been 36 years since First Contact.
I think it would be a very exciting time to explore with most likely all the core species already encounted.
No Caitans since I read they were contacted by a Constitution class, Cardassians would be to far away to matter.
Bringing in prewarp civilizations would be interesting before the PD. Perhaps one sign would be an appearant acceptance of alien life, ie. books, movies, etc. showing aliens and humans coexisting. In that case first contact limitted to the late 19th century and up.
One answer to the small number of human ships, mixed crews on Vulcan ships. That could be interesting since it's just thirty something years after first contact, imagine trying to integrate that crew. Wonder what the first human/vulcan attraction would be like, of course if it isn't the right time in the seven year cycle the attraction will be purely one sided.
Maybe a 2099 series isn't such a bad idea after all.
I'm just concerned that there won't be enough to keep my players occupied. I could certainly rewrite some Trek history to make things more exciting, but the truth is that I still can't wrap my mind around it. 2099 seems too "early" for any true Trek-stlye stuff. I mean there aren't phasers, replicators (though this gives me an excuse to have a cook aboard!), photon torpedoes, reactionless impulse drive, etc.
On top of that, as I mentioned, who the heck else can I say has been canonically contacted? There is no United Federation of Planets. Alpha Centauri was reached in 2066, but it seems to me that the Tellarites weren't contacted until 2105, a full six years into the campaign timeline. The Andorians weren't contacted until 2145! That leaves the Vulcans, the Centaurans, and humanity for at least six years.
Were there other races contacted by the early Human-Centauran-Vulcan alliance prior to the Tellarites? I think that the Vulcans had probably observed a number of pre-warp species before contacting humanity, but I assume that they never attempted communications with any of them due to their state of technological development (or lack thereof).
This is my biggest concern. There seems too little to do in a 2099 setting. I can develop a number of planet-based scenarios... repairing the environmental damage on Earth with the help of the Centaurans, researching new technologies on Vulcan, trying to establish a true world government on Earth (not truly done until 2113), working and/or studying at the Vulcan School of Diplomacy (founded in 2092), and so forth.
I can also see planning new colonies (though Earth's first colony was either lunar or Martian) and terraforming uninhabitable planets to do so... and probably some STL colonial sleeper ship stories, too (like retrieving them using warp-capable ships). Maybe even some stories involving the remaining genetically-enhanced ubermenschen on Earth (ala Khan's brethren).
How about introducing individual members of an alien species, but not necessarily the whole race? Maybe a small ship of wayward Andorian colonists, thrown way off course, without any knowledge of where their home lies. They could be found by exploratory vessels at the very edge of "known space" and brought back to Earth, Vulcan, or wherever. In this way they could provide the information that eventually leads to First Contact with their world!
What else do you suppose happened in the exciting times before the UFP was founded? I know that there are more fans of this type of setting out there, so please post your ideas, too.
Ok.. your ships would be Pre Daedalus class.. Pick up the TOS core book for history.. 2099 that was about the time of Earth's blow up.. in fact I don't think the earth was even united so for enemies you can have the Eastern coalition rear it's ugluy head.. .. possible terorist groups from Earth with Alpha cent and vulcan watching Aghast lest they be caught into Earth's internal problems.
Ships.. well I would go with the DY 300-500 series.. (Khan's ship albeit larger) fission torpedos and lasers and maybe you'd have subspace... anyways hope this helps
World War III (in the Star Trek timeline took place in or around 2053 and Li Kuan formed the Eastern Coalition in 2058. First Contact occured in 2063, about a decade after WW3.
Space travel in this period is of particular interest, but not necessarily the ships themselves. There are simply so few starfaring ships that the very technologies used on them probably varies widely not only from class to class but from ship to ship. If the PCs are part of a starship crew (a viable option), perhaps they need to be experts in a variety of fields and at least partly responsible for the ship's design and construction. This would equate to highly exceptional characters with a wide berth of knowledge, yet not Starfleet personnel.
And on that note, what about Professional Overlays? The Racial Templates are already spelled out, but how does one "whip up" appropriate characters when there is no Starfleet? The Overlays themselves really wouldn't even work as these individuals couldn't possibly receive training in many of those areas (i.e. Law (Starfleet Regulations), Energy Weapon (Phaser), etc.). Sure, a lot of that can be fudged and made appropriate to the setting, but would the number of points available be the same?
I'd like to see a nice set of late 21st century Overlays for early space explorers, scientists, Earth millitary personnel, and so forth. If anyone's able and interested, it'd be great if you could put them up here.
Heck, this setting may even warrant it's own game supplement!
I was thinking that maybe the PCs could begin as cadets at an Earth millitary academy and, upon graduation, be placed aboard one of the first deep space exploration starships. Maybe some of them could even be Vulcan or Centauran, placed aboard as specialists, observers, or whatever. Hey, a Vulcan scientist! What a novel concept.
What style of command would such a vessel follow? Would it be similar to Starfleet or would it more closely resemble the US Air Force or Navy? How about keeping a contingent of Navy SEAL-type specialists aboard for dealing with any eventualities that might arise? Imagine the tension of working with a cold, haughty Vulcan specialist when most humans still haven't got much of a clue about them or their culture?
And on that note, would the Vulcans still be mysterious and secretive? How long did it take for the humans and the Vulcans to develop an in-depth cultural understanding of each other (well, they really still haven't in the TNG era... but how about enough to be able to work together?)?
How about spaceships? Were they still launched from the surface with chemical rockets or do you think that they have spaceborne platforms for constructuion at that time? How about space stations? Exisitng space stations could be fitted with Vulcan-designed fusion power cores, artificial gravity plating, energy-based shielding, and probably better sensor palettes. That would prbably make space travel a whole lot easier to accomplish, keeping the big ships in space and going to and from the surface using scramjet shuttle-planes.
Gosh, I think that I've talked myself into putting together another fan-created sourcebook. I guess it will have to wait for the AI book to be finished (any day now, I promise!).
Okay, here's a little introductory piece I've whipped up for my forthcoming Star Trek 2099 Series:
The year is 2099 and the Earth is still reeling both from the disasters and miracles of the past century. In 2053, Colonel Green, having lost the presidential race in the United States, launched a series of nuclear and biological attacks against numerous targets worldwide, sparking the third World War. Millions lost their lives in the conflict, and many more suffered and died as a result of the lingering effects of radiation and biological warfare.
The war, though brief, inflicted wounds on the world that appeared fatal. Societies collapsed around the globe, plunging the planet into a new dark age. Nations warred amongst themselves, attempting to settle old scores. It was not until Li Kuan rose up in Eurasia and formed the Eastern Coalition that the world truly knew fear. This new superpower, ruling through terror and martial power, dominated nearly a quarter of the planet for nearly a decade, threatening to destroy it once and for all.
In 2063, however, Zefram Cochrane, from a small facility in Montana, North America, launched the first faster-than-light vessel into space. This monumental event caught the attention of a passing starship piloted by members of the Vulcan species. Intrigued by warp emissions coming from what they believed a primitive world, the Vulcans altered course and landed their ship near Cochrane’s launch site.
This extraordinary event changed the Earth and it’s people forever. With the assistance of the technologically advanced Vulcans, humanity began to recover from the grievous wounds inflicted during the past decade. In 2064 the European Hegemony launched the first FTL exploratory spacecraft, the S.S. Valiant, which was the first manned Earth vehicle to leave the solar system.
Despite the assistance of the Vulcans, humanity still remained fragmented and factional. While diplomats, both human and Vulcan, attempted to forge a lasting peace between the nations of the Earth, progress was stunted by the terrible environmental conditions around the globe. Pandemic plagues, global warming and its resultant flooding, and traces of radioactive fallout all hindered the recovery of the world despite the valiant efforts of its new allies.
In 2066, however, spacefaring vehicles from Earth made contact with the humanoids indigenous to Alpha Centauri. Nearly identical to mankind in both physical and mental makeup, the Centaurans had themselves survived terrible environmental and biological calamity centuries earlier. Their research into the fields of environmental science and terraforming helped them develop techniques that allowed the repair of their planet; they willingly shared these technologies with humanity and even provided experts to assist in the global cleanup effort.
Within the year, the peoples of Earth, Alpha Centauri, and Vulcan had established a triangle trade between their homeworlds. The exchange of resources and knowledge led to a renaissance on all three worlds, leading to even greater accomplishments.
Late in the first and twenty, Vulcan isolationism surged, nearly leading the Vulcan people to extract themselves from the new alliance altogether. While not revealed at the time, the development of a serious disorder amongst normally logical Vulcans, termed Bendii Syndrome, caused a great deal of concern. The disease led to the total collapse of logic and a terrible descent into emotional madness, eventually leading to death. The discovery of this disease was blamed by some on contact with humanity and the Centaurans; many called for a severance of all contact. In the end, however, the logical choice was made and contact among the three races continued.
Another important happenstance on Vulcan occurred in 2092 when the Vulcan School of Diplomacy was established. While operated and attended mainly by the local people, numerous humans and Centaurans were invited to Vulcan for diplomatic training. It was the clear, logical diplomacy taught by the Vulcan masters that finally led to lasting peace on Earth.
And so, as the twenty-first century draws to a close, mankind has reclaimed its planet with the assistance of some new allies. Humanity now knows that, without a doubt, it is not alone in the universe. Using new techniques and technologies designed and deployed by the efforts of three unique yet somehow related races, the exploration of the galaxy has begun in earnest.
Why not move it ahead by 50 years or so? Set it in 2146, one year after 1st contact with the Andorians. That way, you can have the first cultural missions to Andorian space, possible political troubles with the Tellarites, attempts to bring the Deltans out of their self-imposed isolation, and the first contacts with such non-canon races as the Saurians (Saurian brandy) and the Kaferians.
For villains, there are the Orion pirates. First contact between humans and the Andor-Rigel trade corridor occurred in 2146 according to LUG-Trek chronology, so your first episode could be the first contact with Orions, being also the first fight between humans and Orions.
Then, if the campaign goes for ten game years, you could get into the Romulan War....
I have actually been thinking about a pre-TOS campaign myself. I like the premise that you gave for your campaign. Honestly, I can't see how they can get bored. First, they have stop thinking that they can just call up to the ship to be beamed out. The technology difference will make it interesting and fun. Diseases that have been extinct in VOY's time is now dangerously back. The Prime Directive does not exist, so how those the crew act to any new situation will be difference and exciting. Plus, Earth is not the shining center of the Federation, it is a dark, dangerous place itself, making adventures on Earth just as exciting.
I was also a little curious, did you also check the history that is put in the Price of Freedom? It mentions about the developments of colonies on Mars, Titan, Luna, and several outer world colonies (By the U.S.) I can see the development of a private merchant fleet occuring. Trading is occuring between Earth, her colonies, Alpha Centauri, and Vulcan. There would definitely be a need of private ships to carry out such trade and support.
One of the main themes of Trek is the intergration of the human race. In 2099, a single, united Earth government did not yet exist. An interesting idea would be a ship build by joint effort of several Earth nations (U.S., Europe, Japan, etc.), for the express purpose of exploration and protection of colonies. The intergration of the crew as coming from distinct cultures would make for great story telling, I think. Just an idea.
Chris
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Shawks Haters Club! Check for Gills!
Let's see... I'll use some of my dates from our revised edition of our Official Pocket Books Star Trek Timeline which will be coming out this fall in the hardcover novel Star Trek: Gateways: Book Seven of Seven: What Lay Beyond (shameless plug! ).
The Trill may be involved with the Federation by this point.
In fact, the L'Dira (from Star Trek: The Lives of Dax anthology) could be a threat.
The Valiant will have been sent out. Other ships, possibly, too.
Vulcan-Terran diplomatic relations will be good, at least. I presume humans will be earning the respect of the Vulcans.
Earth recovers from the post atomic horror.
Cochrane will still be a VERY influential figure.
Earth and its allies will not have reached Romulan space yet or Klingon space.
There's always the possibility of influence by Gary Seven or one of his associates, or the 29th century Timefleet. Or, if you wish, the Temporal Investigators, too.
One could always use some of the lesser races from the shows that had first contact, but non-formal relations with. The Sheliak, perhaps, or the Legarans. Possibly the Tholian Assembly, etc.
I don't know if you guys hav been hearing the rumors about th new Trek series, but if they are correct, you'll have plenty of material to work with by fall.
Of course, Trek continuity being what it is, lots of things we took as canon or established fact will be changed.
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Pre-TOS Campaign Ideas
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