I am interested in creating an episode about exploration of Starfleet. But somehow I do not have an idea how to do so. I'd like to have the characters on a planet for quite a time so that they can explore the planet. But I do not have an interesting idea on what they may find there. Any suggestions?
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"I am a great one for rushing in where angels fear to tread." - Cpt. Kirk, Star Trek VI
Hmmm... I'd suggest figuring out why it is you want them on a planet long-term...
If for survival, then having their ship crash in the middle of nowhere without help of rescue is a possibility. I would suggest books like Jack Vance's Planet of Adventure. Also, Star Frontiers had the Volturnas series of adventures dealing with a crash on an alien planet.
For more exploration, a crash is still a possibilty, but then the focus is still on getting out. Instead, I'd thing about a long-term exploration saga. Owen has a campaign set on the Dyson Sphere seen in Relics. I had thought about a Ringworld-based game, but never actually did it. http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/For...ML/000076.html Larry Niven's Ringworld gives a good examination of such a tale.
The characters could be an Away Team during the Dominion War. While they're on the planet, a Jem'Hadar ship enters the system and engages the Starfleet ship, and both are destroyed. There are ancient ruins on the planet, considered holy by the inhabitants, but actually Preserver, Iconian or other YAGLA artifacts. The PCs know about the ruins; that's what they were doing there. They must find a way to contact Starfleet and be rescued. Some of the ancient artifacts may help them. Meanwhile they must blend in with the indigenous population, who are conveniently humanoid (minor cosmetic alterations may have been made to the crew before leaving the ship to more easily blend in). Tech level is up to you, but perhaps early industrial age would be a nice twist - mediæval's been done to death.
A friend of mine was planning a game based on a failing colony... The planet had a nice organised administration centre with a Starfleet base, but the rest of the planet built up areas were rapidly degrading into lawlessness... (The planet was a Mining Colony)...
However a short time before Starfleet was forced to abandon the colony to growing criminal element, a large scientific find was discovered, giving reason for them to stay...
So this background gave rise to a location similar to DS9 and B5, allowing Starfleet games, Scientific research plots, Law enforcement plots... (I wanted to get involved in a game for a couple of security ensigns patrolling downtown on a saturday night)...
All the way through to espionage, Pirates... You name it, the idea was there.
And if your in a fixed location, even with a ship for protection, remember the scariest sentence to say is; "The Borg are coming..."
This reminds me of a campaign idea I had but never went through with. It involved Star Fleet inventing/re-discovering the idea of interstellar travell by jump-gate or some such device (a la B5).
The idea for this campaign came from reading about the Apollo missions and the race for the moon. The theories and equipment for this venture had to be developed from scratch in competition with an enemy that was (at the early stages) equal if not superior. Looking back from 30 years in the future the result looks pre-ordained but success for anyone was far from a certainty even at the height of the Apollo programme.
Early episodes could look at the PC's as test pilots or engineers helping to design at test the drive system, the vessel that contains it and equipment to survive in this unknown dimension (hyperspace, Dimension X or whatever). And then comes the ultimate test: some well hung hero type gets to strap this contraption to his back and gets to see if the sucker works in the environment it was designed for.
And, of course, like any other great exploration journey, getting there is only half the fun. What are the conditions in this strange new universe. Does gravity exist (watch that zero-g intolerance!)? Is it a vacuum with drifting planets or a liquid medium where terrestrial bodies truly float? Keeping the players guessing, challenging what they beleive to be true, these are the things that can heighten the experience.
Will they have to develop new skills? Will the helmsman be like his forebears of old, navigating across vast stretches of space with nothing but the new (and largely unknown) laws of physics and maths? Will they develop new instruments, new techniques, new methods of survivng in an alien environment? Will the ship drift forever, the crew reduced to drinking their own urine in a dimension where replicators and transporters don't work?
Trek space travel, apart from the odd anomaly, is too safe for a true exploration game. Very rarely does the hull breach, or the ship get blown off course or does someone have to pull off a major feat of navigation or endurance. As I said before getting there should be at least half the challenge. That makes the goal all the more important. Why go to the other side of the universe to see a new planet if the Number 12 bus can get you back in time for tea?
Sorry if I've started to rave or go off topic. I think to many games fall into the "new plant, new species, Klingons arrive, Roms arrive, new part of Federation." Get out and really explore!!!
P.S.: Sorry about the urine drinking line. I've been watching Blackadder again.
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