Which ship?

[erhershman]

In my previous topic "Series Era Decisions" I was looking for suggestions on which era to set my new series in. I think I have narrowed it down to a Late-TNG or early-DS9 camapaign, set aboard a starship. The choices for Federation ships in the core game books seem limited, so I would like recommendations on which ship to use as the PC ship, maybe one posted here on trekrpg.net
Thanks!

[kalamaro]

ha the sype question.....
in the most cases the best ship is a nebula class, not more heavy, not to little, not to...goog in combat, is the most equilibrate

this class tend to be the most used by starfleet.

[Sarge]

I like the Nebula, too. I just got Rick Sternbach's Galaxy-class blueprints from Amazon.com, so that gives me a good template for deckplans in the saucer section and engineering hull.

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LUGTrek isn't really dead. Not as long as we remember it.

[wolfe]

Don't really know what your campaign plans are,too many factors such as: plan on alot of combat? mostly exploration? and so on,
you said core book,have you looked at the SRM? or don't you use spacedock.
Clarification on your plans may help narrow down ship suggestions,
but the nebula is overall a good choice.

[erhershman]

In response to the request on my plans and resources posted by Wolfe, I own the three core game books, and YES, I have downloaded Spacedock, and after I finish writing this I will download SRM as you suggest. I am planning on mostly exploration, since I have never been very good at running combat sequences. Thanks!

[qerlin]

I started my people with a Steamrunner; a bit small, but still had a ton of firepower to keep 'em safe. The Akira's pretty good, too.

[AslanC]

I would side with those who suggest a Nebula, the workhorse of Starfleet second only to the Excellsior...which is second only to the Miranada.

Currently my players have upgraded from a NOVA to an INTREPID, but then I wanted tough but not 750 crew

[Fred]

I always found this idea of "being promoted to a higher ship" weird. Without getting into the "it's your campaign, you don't have to follow the shows" argument, the TNG crew spent the whole show in the same ship. Granted, they were the "creme de la creme" of Starfleet, but I like to think the PCs are somewhat above average too, unless your campaign calls for something else.

As such, my group has always used teh ship from the show ship: the Galaxy. Not only everybody is familiar with them, most of the resources available cover it. It's big and powerful? Yes, it is, but that allows you to throw a combat-oriented adventure now and then. And yes, I like to have the players be the senior staff aboard the ship.

So, I would say go for the Galaxy. It's perfect for exploration.


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"As long as you can laugh, you are not
defeated."

–- Jack Vance

[SIR SIG]

Originally posted by Fred:
I always found this idea of "being promoted to a higher ship" weird. Without getting into the "it's your campaign, you don't have to follow the shows" argument, the TNG crew spent the whole show in the same ship. Granted, they were the "creme de la creme" of Starfleet, but I like to think the PCs are somewhat above average too, unless your campaign calls for something else.

As such, my group has always used teh ship from the show ship: the Galaxy. Not only everybody is familiar with them, most of the resources available cover it. It's big and powerful? Yes, it is, but that allows you to throw a combat-oriented adventure now and then. And yes, I like to have the players be the senior staff aboard the ship.

So, I would say go for the Galaxy. It's perfect for exploration.

Yes but:

a) It was the Flagship
b) It had the (suposedly) the best and brightest
c) Their ship never got destroyed 'officially' in the series.

As to a ship in this era with low ranks, mainly exploration; then how a bout an Excelsior! I've had three in my games.



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SIR SIG a Aussie TREK Narrator

[Dan Gurden]

Originally posted by Fred:
I always found this idea of "being promoted to a higher ship" weird.

It does depend on how you look at it... It works far better if you use the ship renown as presented in the players guide...

The promotion to the better ship is not only a matter of how tough and powerful the ship is, in fact I would say it would have more in common with the ships reputation...

Imagine that your a newly minted ensign, going straight to a position aboard a miranda class... Not only does the ship have no history, but its duties mapping star clusters keeps it out of the way and unknown...

So even if your working your arse off, it will take ages to get noticed...

Meanwhile your academy room-mate has the USS Saratoga, a miranda class with history, and a proud tradition, serving as the lead ship exploring the frontier, not only does its regular changes in mission perametres allow him to expand his skills, but the constant adventure allows him to get noticed and rise quickly through the ranks...

Same ship, different ship reputations leading to different situations, and two vastly different careers...

This is where the desire to get promoted to a superior vessel comes from, and the superiority can be intangible...

I assume that most games are going to be run on the latter type of ship and therefore the idea is a moot point...


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Dan.

"A couple of thoughts from a random mind!"

[dimeboy99]

Our campaign started in a Sabre, a compact little beauty but its captain is only a Commander.

[qerlin]

One of teh reasons I like the Steamrunner: it's a radically different design, so we could play with the interior designs. It was on the small side, but had 'omph'.

I don't promote people to biggre ships in our campaign; you go 'needs of the Starfleet'. So you could be on a Galaxy, then get sifted to a crappy little Constellation. All depends on the plot.

In our campaign, much of the crew wound up on a Galaxy from the Steamrunner because the ship was decommissioned after a bad couple of hits. It was mostly due to my having gotten my hands on a cheap set of deckplans and a Galaxy model. Now we've got lots of visuals. (For the games, 'Old Ironsides' is hung above the table.)

[Paul]

Well, my campaign started pre-TNG, with the PCs in the Academy, so the question of which ship? hasn't come into play, yet.

When it does (their Cadet Cruise), it won't really matter what ship they get (maybe a Miranda), as it will be destroyed by the Borg at Wolf 359.

After that...probably an Excelsior to start them off - a good, all-round, solid vessel.

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How do I set a Laser Printer to stun?

[copernicus]

<<Our campaign started in a Sabre, a compact little beauty but its captain is only a Commander.>>

Ours too. The GM wanted something with a small crew (although he compromised with the other players and gave it 80 instead of 40). I love the design and it turned out to be perfect for the lost/explorer campaign he's running.

Not so powerful that we rely on the weapons when dealing with other ships, but still tough enough to make most medium-sized opponents think twice.

Pat

[Diamond]

Querlin,

That's why I elected to have my campaign on a Galaxy-class ship. Got the deckplans from a used book shop. That and I have a 4-inch metal toy of the Enterprise-D to use as a model.