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Thread: New Series - Star Trek: Oubliette

  1. #1
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    Question New Series - Star Trek: Oubliette

    It is the year 2345, and the intrepid crew of the <i>U.S.S. Marrakech</i> - an <i>Oberth</i>-class upgrade - are busy exploring gaseous anomalies near a binary star system just this side of the Neutral Zone when a Romulan warbird decloaks and orders the Starfleet crew to surrender. Much to the chagirn of both crews, the gaseous anomaly that the <i>Marrakech</i> was studying turns out to be a powerful gravtiational sinkhole, and both vessels are sucked in!

    Even more to the dismay of the Romulans, the sheer size of their vessel leads to a number of critical system failures as it is pulled into the gravitic anomaly, and, once the worst is over, they find themselves on a severely damaged ship hemorrhaging warp plasma. Scores of Romulans died as the result of explosions and other unpleasantries, and they are now no longer in the threatening position.

    The commander of the <i>Marrakech</i> is relieved to find that their ship fared far better thanks to its small size; only a few minor systems were scrambled and are easily fixed. Detecting the Romulans' distress, the Starfleet commander orders the survivors beamed aboard before their ship explodes.

    Managing to rescue approximately two dozen Romulans (and a surprising amount of technology) before the warbird succumbs to its injuries, the <i>Marrakech</i> is tossed and battered when the adversary vessel's warp system ruptures and explodes. Taking stock, no critical injuries were sustained by Starfleet personnel and their ship appears in good working order.

    The CMO and his staff quickly responds to the injured Romulan crew, sedating many and treating their wounds. The security detail aboard the <i>Marrakech</i> is small... perhaps too smal to counter an organized Romulan threat. Of course, the Romulans <b>did</b> leave their disruptors behind...

    Nevertheless, the commanding officer meets with the highest ranking Romulan - Lt. T'lal - and attempts to discuss their situation. The gravitational sinkhole has trapped them in a finite pocket of space - a flattened sphere measuring approximately twelve light years wide by seven light years tall at its highest point - containing a trio of star systems and approximately 25 planets. The sinkhole itself - visible on sensors - proves impossible to reverse navigate thanks to the gravity shear; simulations indicate that any attempt to leave via that route would result in the messy destruction of the <i>Marakesh</i> and the loss of crew and passengers.

    On top of everything else, sensors indicate that at least one planet in the neart system is Class-M and is inhabited, though little other data is available at present...

    Clearly aware of their new situation, the Romulans agree to work with their former adversaries in an attempt to escape their spatial prison.


    Well, what do you think? Does this sound like an interesting starting place?

    Oh, and what about the Romulans? Would you use them or another race - Cardassians, maybe, or perhaps one that the players are less familliar with (i.e. a <b>new</b> race)?

    I've already planned a handful of episodes that are not dependent on who is involved, but I'm interested in your thoughts.

    mactavish out.
    Last edited by mactavish; 07-29-2002 at 07:51 AM.

  2. #2
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    It seems an interesting notion, Mac, but it doesn't look to me like you've left yourself many places to go. Small pocket of space that they can't leave, with only three systems and one class M world...unless you're planning way bunches of planetside adventures on that one world, I think you're going to run out of places to go pretty quickly with this one.

    If it's intended to be short-term, though, I think it's a dandy concept.
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  3. #3
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    Smile

    This is indeed intended as a short-term campaign... a <i>Star Trek</i> mini-series, if you will.

    The idea came to me while watching the movie <i>Castaway</i>. Although there are not many similarities, the basic premise is the same.

    This mini-series is intended to run for about four months with two sessions per month. The first few episodes will take place in the span of a few days or weeks as the characters grow accustomed to their surroundings, attempt to escape, and so on. The next few will revolve around analysis of the star systems and planets, and likely the cannibalizing of the ship to build a more permanent planet-based settlement. The last sessions, which will take place several years later, will involve the characters either rebuilding their ship or constructing a new one in order to escape after finding or developing a technology that makes it possible.

    I am also thinking that the impetus for their escape will involve either one of the stars going nova or the every-quickening collapse of the pocket space. This might also involve helping one or more of the races within the pocket to escape their fate.

    This series has been brewing in my head for a couple of years, but I think that I might be able to actually get it off the ground now.

    mactavish out.

    P.S. They only initially detect one Class-M world; there are more, but they don't detect them right off (long range sensors are damaged, perhaps).

  4. #4
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    I guess my only question (as a Medievalist...) is "Star Trek: Oubliette"...?

    Star Trek: The Basement of the Tower Where You Are Thrown To Be Forgotten About?

    Ah well, the problem of overeducation

  5. #5
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    May not be the entire universe, but remember he has a whole planet to explore. Just because this is Trek doesn't mean it has to revolve around space travel.

  6. #6
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    Originally posted by Phantom
    May not be the entire universe, but remember he has a whole planet to explore. Just because this is Trek doesn't mean it has to revolve around space travel.
    Maybe not for you, but it's not Planet Trek, either. It's Star Trek, and that to me implies space travel and going places other than this one planet.
    Patrick Goodman -- Tilting at Windmills

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  7. #7
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    Originally posted by PGoodman13

    Maybe not for you, but it's not Planet Trek, either. It's Star Trek, and that to me implies space travel and going places other than this one planet.
    Trek isn't about space travel, it's about discovery and adventure. That can be done dirt side just as easily as in space. I have often thought about running games that were more planet bound myself. I think he has a very intriguing premise here. I think the macro has been done enough, it might just be time for the micro.

  8. #8
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    Don't forget another problem here is the presence of the Romulans. I very much doubt their cooperation will be as smooth as the Maquis in Voyager
    Having to rely on people whom you don't know whether you can trust or not (and even wich of them can be trusted - after all, some of the Romulan may decide to fully collaborate with the Feds, while other could try to plot) can spice up things enough to make up for the single planet to explore IMHO
    "The main difference between Trekkies and Manchester United fans is that Trekkies never trashed a train carriage. So why are the Trekkies the social outcasts?"
    Terry Pratchett

  9. #9
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    Post Stars, Planets, and Exploration

    There is not only a single habitable planet. I'm not sure how many there are as yet, but there are at least one per star system (for a minimum of three).

    My thinking is that each of the star systems has a piece to the puzzle that will allow them to escape. Of course, they are not aware of that fact, but they will have to figure it out.

    The other idea is that they create a semi-permanent base of operations, leaving the ship in orbit but cannibalizing as much as possible to build their command center (or whatever) on the planet's surface. They then use warp-capable shuttles - they had those in 2345, right? - to move around their star system and the others in their pocket space realm.

    I am also thinking that they manage to salvage some useful stuff from the Romulan ship debris... maybe even a damaged shuttle that they can repair.

    The Romulans are reluctant associates at best and untrustworthy adversaries at worst. They are mainly concerned with determining the best way to escape, and then either abandon or kill the Starfleet personnel using either a hidden explosive or by orbital bombardment. (Again, the Starfleet PCs are not aware of this.) Failing that, the Romulans want to establish an emprie of their own within the pocket space and enslave the populations of any inhabited worlds, establish colony worlds, and lead as idyllic an existence as possible.

    The more I think about this mini-series, the more I want to include Cardassians instead of Romulans. They just seem to have a more treacherous feel to me than do the Romulans. Maybe its just me.

    Regarding the collapse of their underspace pocket, I am thinking that it is perhaps the result of the Romulans messing around with some technologies - maybe their artificial singularity research or something equally dangerous.

    That's all for now. I'll maybe put up a list of episodes later.

    mactavish out.

  10. #10
    Hey Mac.

    Have you looked at the back story for the CG "ST: New Worlds" I think the developer is Interplay, but the stories sound remarkably similar, only the inner-spacial relation to the universe has really changed. The whole point of the game is different, but the history is there.
    Phoenix...

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    but maybe we should just remove all the safety lables and let nature take it's course"

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  11. #11
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    Hi Mac,

    Fun idea for a mini. I'm more a spoonhead fan myself, but Roms or Cardies, either way it should be a familiar species. If it was a new species you'd have to establish too much of their character too quickly to be worth it. With the known species, you already have the built-in knowledge/paranoia.

    Unlike the Romulans, with the Cardassians I'd also guess that the Starfleet crew would have the edge scientifically, since the Cardie ship was probably military and without their (female) scientists. This would mean the Cardassians would need the SF personnel to escape the oubliette.

    Keep us apprised.

    -- Daniel
    - Daniel "A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having."

  12. #12
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    <b>Phoenix:</b> I've never heard of <i>New Worlds</i>; you're saying its a computer game? Is it new? Is it good?

    Anyway, no, I didn't base my mini-series on that. I kind of based it on the <i>Voyager</i> episode where Tuvok and Paris got sucked in and time inside passed much faster than in the normal universe. It was the one with the Tank Girl...

    <b>Sho-sa</b>: I, too, like the Cardassians. That's why, when I started this mini-series yesterday, I went with them instead of Romulans.

    So here's what happened:

    <b>Pilot</b>: <i>Oubliette</i>

    The <i>U.S.S. Marrakech</i>, investigating some interesting scientific anomalies, are ambushed by a precursor to the <i>Galor</i>-class warship. In the exchange, both ships are ensnared by a gravitic shear and pulled through a hole in space.

    The experience proves too taxing for the Cardassian ship, and when the vessels are finally thrown clear of the gravity well, the crew of the <i>Marrakech</i> detect a warp core breach in progress on the Cardassian ship.

    Rushing into action, they manage to save about two dozen Cardassians and recover a good deal of technology before the ship detonates. While slightly worse for the wear, the <i>Marrakech</i> is able to make the necessary repairs, and the CMO treats the wounded evacuees.

    The captain of the <i>Marrakech</i>, Lt. Cmdr. Bryce Winfield (PC), meets with the highest ranking Cardassian on the ship, Glinn Murak (NPC). Winfield agrees to allow the Cardassians to remain aboard, but restricts them to quarters under guard by Starfleet security. With little other choice, Murak agrees and thanks the commander for his assistance.

    Exploring the region, the crew began to realize that they were stuck in a subspace pocket realm of limited size. They attempted to formulate a number of escape plans, but each of those proposed proved too dangerous or otherwise unfeasible.

    Several of the Cardassians have begun plotting to get ahold of some weapons and commandeer the ship, believing that they can better solve their problem if they control all of the resources.

    The communications officer, Lt. (jg) Ophelia Ormand (human PC) detected weak subspace signals from one of the planets orbiting one of the three stars that they detected. Dr. (lt.) S'ral (Vulcan PC) recognized one of the Cardassians as a physician that he had encountered at a conference a few years earlier and was trying to decide whether to make contact or not.

    Engineer Lt. Thomas Swift Elk (human PC) was assigned as Chief of Engineering when the former Chief was killed in the trip to the Oubliette. Security Chief Lt. (jg) Unok Thol (Andorian PC) made arrangements to covertly observe the Cardassians without their knowledge in order to prevent any messy revolts on their part.

    The pilot episode ended with the <i>Marrakech en route</i> to the planet that sensors indicated was the source of the transmissions in the hopes of finding a way out of their predicament.

    mactavish out.

  13. #13
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    I decided to make a couple of changes to this setting and set it in the Enterprise era.

    Here's what I've changed:

    It is the year 2155, and the intrepid crew of the VC-13 Poseidon - a Neptune-class upgrade - is busy exploring gaseous anomalies near a binary star system just this side of the system Enterprise visited in "Minefield" when a Romulan Val Hatham warship decloaks and orders the Starfleet crew to surrender. Much to the chagrin of both crews, the gaseous anomaly that the Poseidon was studying turns out to be a powerful gravtiational sinkhole, and both vessels are sucked in!

    Even more to the dismay of the Romulans, their vessel suffers a number of critical system failures as it is pulled into the gravitic anomaly, and, once the worst is over, they find themselves on a severely damaged ship hemorrhaging warp plasma. Most of the Romulans died as the result of explosions and other unpleasantness, and they are now no longer in the threatening position.

    The commander of the Poseidon is relieved to find that his ship fared far better; only a few minor systems were scrambled and are easily fixed. Detecting the Romulans' distress, the Starfleet commander orders the survivors brought aboard before their ship explodes.

    Managing to rescue approximately a dozen Romulans and Remans (and a surprising amount of technology) before their ship succumbs to its injuries, the Poseidon is tossed and battered when their adversary's warp system ruptures and explodes. Taking stock, no critical injuries were sustained by Starfleet personnel and their ship appears in good working order.

    The Chief Medical Officer and his staff quickly responds to the injured Romulan crew, sedating many and treating their wounds. The security detail aboard the Poseidon is small... perhaps too small to counter an organized Romulan threat. Of course, the Romulans did leave their hand weapons behind...

    Nevertheless, the commanding officer meets with the highest ranking Romulan - Lieutenant Ventak - and attempts to discuss their situation. The gravitational sinkhole has trapped them in a finite pocket of space - a flattened sphere measuring approximately twelve light years wide by eight light years tall at its highest point - containing a trio of star systems and approximately 15 planets.

    The sinkhole itself - visible to sensors (as well as to the naked eye) - proves impossible to reverse-navigate thanks to the gravity shear; simulations indicate that any attempt to leave via that route would result in the messy destruction of the Poseidon and the loss of crew and passengers.

    On top of everything else, sensors indicate that at least one planet in the nearest system is Class-M and is inhabited, though little other data is available at present...

    Clearly aware of their new situation, the Romulans and their Reman comrades agree to work with their former adversaries in an attempt to escape their spatial prison.

    I am sending the crew of the Poseidon on this research mission this weekend. Wish me luck!

    mactavish out.
    Last edited by mactavish; 03-14-2008 at 08:18 AM.
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    So I was thinking about a couple of other ideas related to the Oubliette...

    I think that I might have the Enterprise from "EČ" trapped in the gravitic sinkhole's pocket realm as well. I am not sure if the vessel will be in decent shape, crewed and orbiting one of the planets, disassembled and used to build a colony on one of the various planets, or crashed and in pieces on one of the planets.

    As with the Star Trek Voyager episode on which this mini-Series is based, I am going to have time pass at a much faster rate within the anomaly than in the normal universe. Consequently, may have been inside the sinkhole for years or even decades of subjective time. The crew that we were introduced to in "EČ," therefore (if they survived the crossover) may have long since succumbed to old age (except, perhaps, for Lorian and some of Phlox's ancestors).

    I am leaning towards having the arrival of shortly after the episode of the same name ended, meaning that they will have been inside the sinkhole for at least a couple of generations. I'm also thinking that the ship will have long since been decommissioned and used for parts to build a colony on one of the habitable planets or moons.

    Beyond that, I am thinking that at least a few other vessels will have fallen victim to the anomaly over the years, so perhaps one of the other planets is inhabited by the descendants of Romulans trapped within subjective decades or even centuries earlier. Using the pieces of their ships, they could certainly have established a solid colony that could have blossomed into a real homeworld for their descendants.

    Since it is unlikely that the PCs will leave the oubliette any time soon, I am projecting that they may eventually be discovered by 23rd- or 24th-century Starfleet or Romulan vessels, and perhaps even rescued in a fashion similar to that used by Voyager. Maybe the Department of Temporal Investigations will find them, bringing the 22nd-century crewmen "home" in the 25th century!

    I've also toyed with the idea of having the crew find an escape route via the subspace corridors used by the Vaadwaur, or perhaps by using technologies based on Xindi subspace vortex generation.

    Or perhaps the anomaly is nothing of the sort, but is in fact a man-made (or alien-made) artifact solely for the purpose of establishing colonies inaccessible to other races.

    I really enjoyed this when I ran it several years ago, and I think my players (most of whom are new) will get a kick out of it, too. My veterans are certainly going to be nostalgic, which is great (especially since the outcome will likely be quite different).

    mactavish out.
    Our country's past progress has been the result, not of the mass mind applying average intelligence to the problems of the day, but of the brilliance and dedication of wise individuals who applied their wisdom to advance the freedom and the material well-being of all of our people.

    -Conscience of a Conservative, Barry Goldwater

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by mactavish View Post
    Beyond that, I am thinking that at least a few other vessels will have fallen victim to the anomaly over the years, so perhaps one of the other planets is inhabited by the descendants of Romulans trapped within subjective decades or even centuries earlier. Using the pieces of their ships, they could certainly have established a solid colony that could have blossomed into a real homeworld for their descendants.
    Maybe the Romulan ship fell in a minute before, and when the Poseidon arrives they've already been in the anomaly for weeks and splintered into different factions.


    Since it is unlikely that the PCs will leave the oubliette any time soon, I am projecting that they may eventually be discovered by 23rd- or 24th-century Starfleet or Romulan vessels, and perhaps even rescued in a fashion similar to that used by Voyager. Maybe the Department of Temporal Investigations will find them, bringing the 22nd-century crewmen "home" in the 25th century!
    I thought you said time moved faster in the anomaly?

    Or perhaps the anomaly is nothing of the sort, but is in fact a man-made (or alien-made) artifact solely for the purpose of establishing colonies inaccessible to other races.
    Ever seen Black Hole?

    There could be a device sustaining the sinkhole (or keeping it actively separated), as well as ancient alien science stations observing the sinkhole, which would make handy places to put exposition-chunks. Someone might have been using it as a prison, too...
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