Voyager regayoV

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

If you didn't understand the title it is Voyager mirrored.

For my upcoming campaign called Eclipse I will have my players set on a Nova class vessel. Nice and small with the possibility of fleshing out every last NPC. I liked the premise of Voyager and want to put my players to the test. I did not want a seven year long voyage home but did want a voyage. I am planning on having the players scan a sun that is going super nova. The players will be attacked by some Ferengi friends trying to steal another Federation ship. As their beam weapons fire the star goes super nova thus resulting in a small tear in space. This tear acts as a very unstable wormhole that pulls the Eclipse and the Ferengi vessel in. When they emerge they will find themselves on the other side of Romulan Territoy in the Beta Quadrant. That is approximately 500 LY from their last position. The Eclipse will basically be torn apart, with minimal power, and minimal engines. I want to test the crew and see what new alliances they can make. The obviously foe/friend will be the Romulans and possibly the Klingons.

What do you guys think for the pilot episode and for the series concept? AFter they get back home the crew will most likely be promoted and the XO will take over if he is still alive If anyone stays alive for that matter. I am purposely sending them on a Nova so that they can become very intimate with the NPC's and so that when a mysterious alien uncloaks they don't think. Raise shields and weapons. This should be easy!

ANy Comments are welcome!

[selek]

I like the short premise, but promise me, (pleaasee!) that they won't run into Neelix or Janeway anytime soon. (Or if they do, they'll have phasers at the ready).

BTW, Sorry for the length of this post, but I wanted to do your premise justice.

I've only got a passing familiarity with the Novas, but if they can maintain a cruising speed of Warp Six, they'll reach their last known position in roughly 15 1/3 months-, even at Warp 5, the journey will only last 25 months or so.

Still, there are some questions for you to consider:

How far does the new position place them outside the Romulan Empire?

Will the Romulans help the erstwhile Federation starship (considering we're allies and all after the DW)? If the most direct course home is straight through Romulan space, the cast/crew will undoubtedly be interfering in Romulan internal affairs everytime they drop out of warp. The odds are the Romulans would want to shuttle the ship from Point A to Point B blindfolded. While that makes for high drama in the short-term, it'd make for one-hell of a boring campaign (or an almighty short one). The other option is a twisted, convoluted course (like the one proposed for Voyager in The Raven . Will various factions of the Romulans attempt to use / capture / destroy the Eclipse as part of their own power struggles?

Is the new location in Taurhai space? If so, how will they be greeted? Will the presence of the Eclipse reawaken the conflict between the Taurhai and the Romulans? If so, it'd drastically affect the welcome the Eclipse receives both from the Romulans and the Federation. Provoking a war between an ally and an unknown is not generally considered career-enhancing (heh, heh, heh)!

Will the characters be able to relay messages to Star Fleet Command via the Romulans? If the Eclipse is in contact with Star Fleet (even relayed through the Romulans), it might take some of the desperation and struggle out of the plot.

Will the Eclipse have the same problems with deprivation and scarcity (not only of food and fuel, but of plot and substance) as did Voyager? With a friendly Romulan starbase and potential rescue vessels nearby, the fundamental flavor (bad taste) of Voyager would be altered.

Depending upon exactly what flavor, opportunities, and challenges you want for your people, consider shifting the start point for the journey home to a point beyond the Romulan Empire, but that wouldn't mandate a direct run through the Empire. Check out the galactic map on pg 210 of the Player's Guide. If the PCs must follow a course between the Klingons and the Romulans, they could wind up re-entering Federation space through the Triangle, an area infamous for pirates and other ne'er do wells.

Such a course would allow you to entangle th Eclipse and her crew in maintaining good relations between two Federation allies without interfering in their internal affairs. The campaign would be full of high political intrigue and espionage without necessarily developing into a shooting war with blood on Federation hands. The closer the crew gets to home (and the more experienced the players and characters), the greater the risks become.

Another option would be to shift the start point further coreward, north of the Romulan Empire (perhaps along the track indicated for Voyager). Without travelling THROUGH the Empire, Eclipse could still be subject to harassment by rogue operatives.

One other thing- using the map on pg 210, a rough scale of 1mm=1000LY can be infered. The Galactic map (top to bottom) is roughly 98mm in length. The galaxy is stated at being 100,000 LY across. So, 1mm=1020 light years. The Federation (10,000 LY across) is roughly 9.5mm across, so on the map appears 9,690 LY in diameter (again, top to bottom). These two measurements are roughly compatible, but the length of Voyager's protected track is roughly 84mm or 85,680 LY. The length of the wormhole track is roughly 75mm, or 76,500 LY.

So, what have we determined? 1- the map isn't really to scale, and 2) never give a madman a ruler and a copy of the Player's Guide.

In any event, 500 light years ain't really all that much.

[C5]

I won't compete with selek for the length of the post nor the number of suggestions , but here are some quick ideas :

First, in what era will this happen ? If this is post DW, then they might manage to ask free passage through the Romulan Empire indeed (or they could try to sneak through, since the Romulans have lost a lot of ships during the war and some areas may not be as heavily guarded). OTOH, if this happens before the DW, things will be a lot trickier for the Crew.
One solution would be for them to try to go along the border of the Empire. Thus, the journey will be much longer, and still dangerous since the ship would find itself between the Romulans and various powers - maybe at war with the Romulans.
Also, it might be interesting to cut their communications with the Federation, or at least put them at risk of being detected.
Plus, they may have to spend some time to repair their ship (and stop on a lot of unknown planets).

Apart from these points, good idea, Cmdr. Matt
I may borrow it for my games.

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

Okay, what if we send them out past the Klingon Empire! A lot farther. BTW...the funny part that I left out is when the wormhole opens there is significant damage down to the Eclipse. I am planning on no shields, only impulse engines for a while. They will need the Romulans. I will mix the flavor up with some rogue Klingon's attacking the Romulans and the Eclipse. I know nothng of the triangle unfortunately but they will encounter a darker race that wants more territory. They are well armed and skilled at combat.

I don't want to throw them too far because they only have a top warp of 8 unless my players kill aliens for supply The whole campaign will not be about this. They will eventually be promoted to a nice Soveriegn and take the flagship of Gammittian Fleet. Depending on what they do on the Eclipse then they will be the liason to the Romulan Government for a set of episodes.

[Ergi]

I am planning on no shields, only impulse engines for a while.

You know, what this means. Impulse is sloooow. I hope they will arrive near an inhabited star system. And with near I mean a distance not measured in a fraction of light years.

Or alternatively, if you want to limit the players' ressources even further during the first adventures, give them a warp shuttle and send them away to search for spare parts.

[Kirok]

(I have also posted this as a new thread, since it seems to deviate from the topic...)

Originally posted by Lt Cmdr Matt
If you didn't understand the title it is Voyager mirrored.
[...]

I can't help but tangentially add what I THOUGHT your post was going to be about based on the subject - a Mirror Universe or alternate universe Voyager. The premise that popped into my head was what if Voyager gets flung into the Delta Quadrant...and decide to take it over. Okay, maybe they don't have the manpowwer, but then, they friendly Voyager was pretty crafty about acquiring new technology in our kinder, gentler universe - how much more would they acquire if they were, clever, ruthless, and scheming about it?
Just a thought. I liked Voyager. I wonder how long Neelix would have survived...

Tuvok (with goatee, of course): "Mr. Neelix: your agonizer."
Neelix: "No, Mr. Tuvok! No!"
Tuvok: "Your agonizer, please...."

What would an Empire (the Mirror Feds) and Maquis alliance be like? Where would a half-Klingon fit in? I imagine Paris would be a snarly bastitch. I can see Kim in the Agonizer Booth. I wonder if 7 would just take over the ship...Hmm, this is worth looking into...any other ideas? Could be fun!