In our campaign, we use a three watch system. It seems to simulate a regular workday, but I think this differs from naval traditions/systems. Eight hours does seem to be a bit long to be alert and vigilant.
Charles
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In our campaign, we use a three watch system. It seems to simulate a regular workday, but I think this differs from naval traditions/systems. Eight hours does seem to be a bit long to be alert and vigilant.
Charles
"Everything happens for a reason..."
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Actually, I think Jellico was perfectly right to shake them up -- out of their complacent routine to prep them for a real fight. It's a shame he wasn't under the 'which commander would you prefer poll'...Originally posted by PGoodman13
Other way around, and Riker fought the four-shift rotation with every fiber of his being. And rightly so, IMHO; Jellico was a decent CO, he should have known better than to muck up his entire crew with no warning like that.
"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
John Stuart Mill
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Probably quartermasterOriginally posted by AslanC
What would the person in charge of Ship's Services (galley, laundry, etc) be called?
"War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feelings which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."
John Stuart Mill
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If there was a star trek series starring Ron Cox that I was unaware of?Originally posted by qerlin
Actually, I think Jellico was perfectly right to shake them up -- out of their complacent routine to prep them for a real fight. It's a shame he wasn't under the 'which commander would you prefer poll'...
Otherwise the list would have been endless, so I simply stuck with the featured captains.
Thats how Sulu, Spock and all the others who have taken the captains chair got let off...
DanG/Darth Gurden
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“Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”
Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
"Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)
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If Voyager was operating a three-watch rotation, then the CO definitely doesn't officially stand a watch but instead just comes to the bridge when they feel like it. This is borne out because, if Voyager was on a three-watch schedule, one is commanded by Chakotay, one by Tuvok and one by Kim. If they're on a four-watch shift, then the fourth is Janeway (assuming Paris doesn't do it).
"That might have been the biggest mistake of my life..."
"It is unlikely. I predict there is scope for even greater mistakes in the future given your obvious talent for them."
Vila and Orac, Blake's Seven
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I believe that would be the Quartermaster.Originally posted by AslanC
What would the person in charge of Ship's Services (galley, laundry, etc) be called?
“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
-- Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy
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A starship's Department Heads, Executive Officer, and Commanding Officer are "on-call" at all times. This accounts for their presence at their duty stations, or their being called to their duty stations, during an episode.
All your starbase are belong to us...
“In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations.”
-- Great Law of the Iroquois Confederacy
Being a sailor myself, my ship has shifts, with an Officer of the Deck and Command Duty Officer in charge. We have 3 shifts (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma shifts). Both the Captain and XO have watches whenever they please, and the CO has taken to referring to the department heads by "ancient earth naval terms"; he refers to the conn as the NAV, the engineer as the ENG, the tactical officer as WEPS, etc. The department heads have Alpha shift, and the Gamma shift has become an unintentional "JV" team, for lack of a better term. The standard day on the ship is 30 hours, based on an average of species' norms aboard (there are not so many humans on the ship as in most series), and your typical crewman gets a 10 hour watch, and 20 hours off, although most junior members of the crew are trying to qualify in various ship systems and maintain other quals such as the coveted away team qualification, marksmanship, etc. Junior enlisted and officers receive very little free time until they are up to speed on their positions and duties. One of my more dedicated (read: too much free time) players even created a spreadsheet with the whole crew (it's an INTREPID) and their duty shift, current qual status and projected rotation dates....
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In my games I use the three watch rotation with Alpha going from 08:00 - 16:00 Beta 16:00 - 00:00 and Gamma going 00:00 - 08:00
As for who's on what watch, the general rule in my games have been the Senior Staff 'cept the counsellor and XO were on duty on Alpha. The XO runs beta, and the Counsellor is constantly on-call and works by appoinment.
More recently I've thought it better to have the XO run Alpha, with the CO being on call all day, and dealing with his own buisness. Beta and Gamma are run by command branch officers, or by enterprising members of the Senior Staff who want to trade off their free time for some experience in the big chair.
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Re my last post.
Just thought I should mention the main reason I went with this system is that it allows for the maximum interaction between the senior staff who are generally who the PC's interact with the most.
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Why are the two dog watches shorter than all the other watches?
+
Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. Psalm 144:1
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(shaking his head because he knows the answer...)
Because they are cur-tailed...
(I think I've read those books a little TOO often...)
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Clarification on the quartermasters
In the Navy, it has been my experience that quartermasters were enlisted assistants (meaning they do the REAL work) to the Navigator. With his rank and being an officer, he has his hands full with dressing himself, not tripping over door sills and preparing an impassioned defense should the ship run aground or something equally probable. The enlisted sailors occupy themselves with minor chores such as taking sightings and figuring out where the ship is at any given moment, and where she might be headed.
Ashore though (Army and Air Force) quartermasters are charged with counting sheets and issuing boots and the like, officers not being able to handle such things without adult supervision. The Navy variant would be the Ship's Clerk (o Supply Clerk) under the supervision of the Supply Officer. STTNG style, this would probably be a subordinate to the OPS officer.
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