I believe I've seen some people mention their games center around unexplored space, far from civilization. I'm curious as to how those games are going. Of interest to me, among other things, is if those games have a home base of any sort or are the characters truly on their own and if such games have familiar recurring adversaries. And of course what the games are like in feel.
Before my classic TOS game aboard U.S.S. Icarus was interrupted by a Dominion War minigame (still ongoing) I had planned on focusing more on exploration adventures and less on politics and the like. I'd been leaning towards putting the game in the Organian Treaty Zone (see http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/For...L/001064.html) but as I begin to prepare for the classic campaign again, part of me has visions of Icarus starting off the campaign crossing a 100 light year wide Star Desert, the only Federation ship within months. The negative is it removes a lot of the traditional Starbase adventures, rescue the colony, etc. But I'm curious what others experiences have been.
I'll try to post some notes on what sort of a campaign I've been pondering later today, but I'm curious as to others experiences.
My Game, the USS Venture while technically matching the criteria of a deep space exploration game has yet to actually reach deep space.
The plan is to cross Romulan Space and explore the Beta Quadranton the other side.
This delay is due to the slow nature of a PBEM.
Now the game is set in 2376 concurrent with season 7 of Voyager, the Stardates match the second episode at the moment.
It has been esablished that Project Pathfinder already has 2 vessels blazing a trail for Voyager, and the Venture is designed to be the third.
Part of the mission perametres are as an advance scout, to negotiate potential problems and avert disaster that could befall Voyager upon her arrival. As part of this they will be laying a series of remote communications beacons to enable communications with Starfleet, and the further out they get, the same deal with the Midas array comes into effect.
There is also a morale boosting aspect, showing that Starfleet is back to business as usual after the Dominion War...
And lastly there are political/Diplomatic machinations afoot, as 3 Romulan Liaison officers are serving on the Venture, this has enabled the ship to take the short cut accross Romulan Space instead of the longer trip around it...
there are other aspects that I dont want to go into here, as most of the playser are on these boards! ;D
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DanG.
"Hi, I'm Commander Troy McClure, you might remember me from other academy training holo-simulations as, Abandon Ship, the quickest way out, and I sense danger, 101 things you dont need a Betazoid to know..."
As promised, the outline I am contemplating for a campaign. Thoughts appreciated.
A century ago, in the late 2160s a convoy of colonization ships, carrying 10,000 colonists from the founding worlds of the Federation, embarked on a journey to the planet Babylon – it would be jointly settled by all five species - Alpha Centurans, Andorians, Humans, Tellarites, and Vulcans. They were escorted by a pair of Daedalus-class Explorers – U.S.S. Icarus (NCC-67) and Pegasus (NCC-74).
However, midway through their months long journey they were caught in a mysterious subspace storm and never heard from since. Starfleet searched for months, but not a trace of the convoy was found – not a warp nacelle, log buoy, or anything. They were written up as lost and presumed dead.
The turth, as it often is, was far stranger. The convoy encountered a subspace anomaly, which trapped the ships in its gravitational wake. Icarus investigated it first, closing in. She was pulled in and propelled well beyond the borders of the Federation. She was propelled clear across the Styx Rift, a 100 LY void which marks the border of the modern (2267) Federation. She was actually sent rather far beyond the rift, winding up in orbit of Epimetheus, about 37 light years from the border of the Rift opposite the Federation (i.e. 137 LY away from the modern 23rd century Federation borders.
Epimetheus was an industrial planet, with a technology roughly equal to mid-21st century Earth. And they too were doing a good job destroying themselves. One of the nations detected the badly damaged Icarus, seized her crew and over a decade, unlocked her secrets. This was used to unite Epimetheus – not in the peace that Cochrane brought to Earth, but a fascist regime.
Pegasus and the colony ships were also swept into the anomaly, though hours after Icarus was. They too were swept across the rift, but not as far – just to the far side of the rift – a hundred light years away from the modern Federation borders, much further for the tiny 22nd century Federation. Badly damaged, with no hope of rescue, they settled on a nearby Class M planet which they named Nod. They made the best of their situation, making a beautiful colony world which the modern Federation would be proud of. They kept to themselves – a planet of ten thousand quite simply lacked the resources to protect itself in interstellar warfare. However, they did grow curious about home and so the Pegasus launched in 2190, thirteen years after the founding of Nod, to try to make its way back to the Federation. She was lost and never heard from again.
Meanwhile, the Epimethean Republic (a curious term for the government) was founded, expanding to colonize other worlds. By 2207 the Republic spanned a radius of 15 light years, with half a dozen colonies and four subject worlds including the theocratic Nasgul (borrowed from the old DC comic/LotR, also inspired by Peter David’s Redeemers) and the savage Vagr (lifted from Traveller). It was an overly large sphere, with many unexplored worlds within it, but the Republic was fragile and felt the need to expand.
By 2237 the Republic spanned a sphere 20 light years in radius, with nearly 20 colonies and nine subject worlds. And many unexplored world. One of which, on the fringes of territory claimed by the Republic, was actually a colony of the Hersean Empire, a much smaller (but firmer) interstellar government. A decade long war broke out between the Herseans and Epimetheans. The Epimetheans in the end were victorious, but at a horrible cost – many worlds were in ruins, millions dead. Plus, they were forced to allow Nasgul and Vagr to take greater and greater leadership positions in the war – prior to war they were allowed into only the lowest levels of the military and government. After the war, they did not give up their power easily. Many Vagr went rogue, becoming pirates.
The Republic handled these problems the way it always did – continue to expand, some sort of manifest destiny. Eventually, in the direction opposite the Hersean Empire, they made contact with the planet Nod, prospering with a population of about fifty thousand (in the year 2261). Too small to resist the Republic, Nod agreed to join it. The Vulcan president of Nod made the decision because he had decided, using logic, the Republic had less than a decade of life left in it – it had expanded too quickly, and its brutal form of government could not last much longer.
He was right. In 2265 the Chancellor of the Republic was assassinated. But when his Prime Minister tried to assume the role of Chancellor, she too was assassinated. Civil war broke out. A war which continues to this day, in 2267. But no one really has much hope of taking over the whole Republic. Instead, warlords, religious fanatics, and the like are carving out pocket empires. Vagr mercenaries hire out to the highest bidder while pirates raid cargo ships and colony worlds, for both valuables and slaves. Nod regained its freedom, as their president had predicted. But for the rest of the region, a dark age seems imminent.
Yet a new factor has entered into the equation. On the borders of the Styx Rift, the Constitution-class U.S.S. Icarus (the third Federation ship to bear the name), NCC-1071, has found a derelict Daedalus-class Explorer – U.S.S. Pegasus. In her memory banks is information – not about the Republic, but at least about the colony of Nod. Though it means a six month journey at Warp 6, the Icarus will cross the Rift, to at last learn the fate of the lost Babylon Colony.
However, there will be other visitors as well. Orion pirates and “traders” have also discovered the region beyond the Styx Rift – selling technologies to the highest bidder or just joining in the raiding. Meanwhile, in the Klingon Empire, General Kamato, mastermind of the brief Organian War, has been held accountable for the intervention of the Organians and the failure of the war (not that it was his fault, but the Empire needs a scapegoat and Kor is too popular to touch). However, he got wind of his impending execution and took a squadron of D-7 and D-9 warships out of the Empire, to found the legitimate Klingon government in exile, the Imperial Klingon States. As it turns out, this will take him beyond the Styx Rift as well.
So therein lies the foundation. I believe it is a good place for adventure. The characters are free to get involved – indeed, they may feel an obligation to do so, given it was the original Icarus which gave the Republic the needed technology. One adventure will most likely feature the original Icarus. The name was deliberate – in addition to being the predecessor to the characters’ ship, it refers to a hero who flew too close to the sun. I like it as an analogy for gaining technology before being ready for it.
The many members and colonies of the Republic provide opportunity for political adventure, the raiders and slavers provide action. There is an element of mystery – how did the Babylon Convoy wind up here? And is that tied to the mysterious religion of the Nasgul. There are also countless unexplored worlds here, skipped over in the Republic’s drive to expand at all costs. The Klingons provide a familiar foe while the Orions provide a familiar foe, friend, source of information, or all three. The planet Nod gives the characters a home base, but one without all the trappings of the Federation.
[Elements of this were inspired by the FASA supplement “The Triangle”. The Styx Rift was mentioned in the FASA adventure “Lost and Presumed Dead”, found within their Star Trek III Sourcebook. The Nasgul are based on the creatures from the DC Star Trek comic, with elements of Peter David’s Redeemers from the “New Frontier” Series. Their name was obviously inspired by the Nazgul of Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. The fall of the Republic is partially based on the Thallonian Empire from the “New Frontier” series. The Vagr were a race of sentient doggies fron the Traveller RPG, which I suspect Peter David borrowed for his "Dogs of War" in the "New Frontier" seires.]
Three Months from the Nearest Starbase...
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