Ships in Line

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

I was thinking that if you and your players had been playing for a while and depending on the era and ship that possibly your players would have two or maybe three ships in a series. Here is my take on the matter and what possibly could happen in my game if they were exceptionally good players

What do you think about this and what class would you give themm as a reward or a new ship if they go and blow it up.

[Moriarti]

Strangely enough, I have an answer.

In my series, Which, in theory, takes a 5 season arc, and takes place on 5 or so Ships.

Pilot Episode, TOS Era Soyuz-Class USS Agamemnon.

Season One: TNG Era Defiant-Class USS Agamemnon-B
(Insert players royaly screwing up, causing the death of Cloney-Kahless, and starting a Klingon War. Crew -2 Resigns in disgrace and the Agamemnon-B is decommisioned, in shame.)

Season 1.5: All but new crew, Stationed onto The USS-Miranda NCC-1800. Rescued from Salvage for an as-yet-undiscovered reason.

This is where we are currently, the rest is simply a plan, and no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

Season 2: After the Miranda is Lost, the players are Stationed on a Nebula-Class Crusier, Tentative Name in the "USS Ney"

Season 3: Transferred to Soverign-Class USS Yorktown.

Seasons 4 & 5; Initially, this was planned to be an Akira-Class Cruiser, however, after reading these forums and threads, I'm actually planning on going to an Intrepid-Class.

Should The Crew leave starfleet for some reason, I was either planning on them being in a B'rel-Class Scout, Or a Hunter-Class Ship.

So, that's the plan.

[Dan Gurden]

Thing is. If you run a concept series with each 'season' taking place in seperate era's thats fine.

But if your players go through several different ships a series, based on the standard TV model, with each 'season' taking up roughly a year... Then its getting silly.

I am all for allowing the players loose their ship in an epic, legendary struggle to save the known universe, and as Narrator, I am likely to have a fair idea when this is going to happen. but even under those circumstances there will be a Courts Martial even if its just a formality, but do it too often and they are not even out of the court-room before they loose another.

But if they loose ships regularly over fairly standard issues, then its the narrators fault. The narrator is likely to not be aiming the right level of campaign at his players, or not showing the full consequences of the players actions, or simply not giving the players a chance to care.

Consider the TV shows.

How shocking was it when Kirk destroyed the Enterprise, and how great was it when they assigned the 1701-A? It took 3 seasons, 3 films and 30-odd years to build that moment. The loss of the Enterprise D was quite shocking... And the Defiant? Well, we almost didn't notice it...

So, my preference would be to try an keep the ship for a while, to build up the love and trust for the ship as a character, rather than a vehicle, and then, should that great, legendary sacrice be used, it is a significant moment, and a memorable experience, rather than just 'This weeks plotline'...

[Moriarti]

Oh, yeah.. One thing I forgot to mention is once past The Agamemnon-B, The PC's aren't command Staff, I've got a Lower-decks campaign...

you're right Dan, Command Staff Jumping Ships as often as I have them is on the other side of Silly.

And I was planning on off-Camera Time-Gaps of a year or two, but I was aiming for a "Tour-of-Duty" type of feel.

[Don Mappin]

Reward?

For losing a ship?

I don't "reward" players for losing ships. I pick a ship class to what best suits the purpose of the campaign, the story, and the types of adventures I run. If anything, if the PCs managed to destroy a shiny new Intrepid-class I'd probably "reward" them with a refit Ambassador or New Orleans and make it clear that Starfleet frowns on the wholesale loss of a vessel.

(BTW, ditto what Dan said above, too.)

Losing a ship is a big deal, or should be IMO. Not one taken lightly and something that can dramatically alter the story, the campaign, and perhaps even the characters. I've seen campaigns outright retired after the loss of a vessel--they were that emotionally attached.

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

Don you misunderstood. I meant that too either A) Reward them or B) Give them a ship if they lose it.

[oops1]

I'm currently working on a new series. It is placed in the Post-DW era. The players are initially assigned (as lower grade officers) to an Excelsior-class. If they can manage to show some initiative and get the promotions, I'll transfer them to a small ship that they are the command staff of. The current plan is a Saber, as the Oberth is leaving inventory at that point I'm still looking at other possibilites. There's no way this group could lead a full explorer, although it might be fun to watch the non-detail oriented one have to deal with Starfleet supply after getting one

As for a reward, Picard was court-martialled for losing the Stargazer in combat. That might lead to some session ideas, but could hardly be considered an award.

[Don Mappin]

Ah, I see. Yes, I did misunderstand.

When you mean "reward" in what context are you referring? "You've saved the Federation twelve times--here, have this shiny new ship?" Lame.

That doesn't make any sense. Kirk and crew stayed on the Enterprise through one series and six movies--or, at least, the same class of ship. Likewise, Picard and crew had to lose the Enterprise-D before being "rewarded" with a new ship. Sisko nearly single-handedly saves the Quadrant and all he gets is another Defiant.

If we contend that Kirk and Picard are the measuring sticks by which all "great" captains are graded, your argument of "rewarding" players with better ships by virtue of their actions doesn't hold water. If Kirk, Picard, and Sisko didn't get "rewarded" for saving the galaxy "x" number of times, why should the PCs?

Sorry, not buying it. Let the story dictate transferring PCs to new vessels--not some abstract sense of a "reward" system. All IMO.

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

Cool

I may be revising my thoughts on this matter.

[Ensign Arrgh]

Well, Picard did command what was considered as the best ship in Starfleet. Otherwise his first command was decades ago as USS Stargazer... And Kirk was initially given the fleet's main exploratory ship (and possibly the most powerful ship of the line until the Excelsior class was launched).

It all depends on rank and the ship at beginning, but I'd say the command staff onboard will hardly change more than twice a decade, unless the CO gets promoted to the "San Francisco Golf Club"...

If they lose a ship, they get a Miranda (or worse), and in a bad scenario, demotions. If they do something which is worth such a reward, they'll most likely get a newly commissioned Steamrunner or Norway (most likely if the grand act is accompanied by damage beyond repair to their ship), hardly more than an Akira. They'll be on the Admiral's board before their behind gets to meet the center seat of a Galaxy or Sovereign...

[Lt.Khrys Antos]

In all my series the loss of the sip is usually a deep experience for my players, such as the last one, the U.S.S. Excalibur. They had her for 4 yrs in game. She got a refit and they were re-assigned to her with more glamorous missions.

She got a second refit after serious damage from an important battle. They got her back in time for a diplomatic mission which went wrong and they were lost in the Alpha quadrant. Later they lost the ship (and 95% of the crew) in a freak high warp accident.

They knew most of the ship's "sweet spots" and all the in's and out's. The loss was equal to losing a member of the crew.

My players are rewarded throught their own actions and r'ping. They get attached to the ship and they get to benefit from "knowing" their ship. I don't like to change them around too often.

That's just me though.

[Dan Gurden]

So, taking into account that the same crew might be unlikely to swap ships regularly, getting upgrades or shiny new models after trading their old ship in...

But as narrator you still have a hankering to try out some other ships...

It seems that the best way to gain the benefits of both worlds is to use a temporary measure to move the crew.

Perhaps the crew discovered an abandoned Starship, and the players are the leaders of the 'skeleton crew' assigned to return this ship to a Starbase. Suddenly you have a built in mystery plot in additikon to whatever else you got, along with a good solid reason why they get to play with a new ship for 1 game.

If you want to go small, use Shuttles or Runabouts from the ships stock. Allowing players to experience 'side missions' (Recon, planetary surveying, diplomatic, etc) anything that a small crew and detour would be suitable but sending the ship too much. This is good for pushing the crews limits, without access to massive offensive/defensive systems or the many devices that make 34th century life easier.

Or they could simply be the biggest fish. So well known that their presence would cause half the problem, thus Starfleet assigns the crew to another ship, from a tramp frieghter, to a cloaked defiant, or simply another starship, less well known, so that they can accomplish a mission without the ships renown getting in the way...

Maybe after a greulling season, their ship is in for repairs. And while that is so, the crew are re-assigned a new ship for shakedown, to keep the experienced crew in the field, and use this experience to test the new ship to its limits before they are re-assigned back to their real ship after repairs?

Any other ways of getting players onto another shipo without smashing up a ship regularly?

[Sarge]

Sure, Dan, you missed an obvious one. Remember when Riker was assigned to the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, and when Kurn was assigned to the Enterprise? A temporary assignment can happen for many reasons, including cultural familiarization. Or the temp officer could be getting training that's not available on his own ship. Or he could be training the other ship's crew in his operational specialty or just showing them the ropes if they're new to the sector. Or he could be hitching a ride back to his own ship after going on leave.

[Dan Gurden]

Originally posted by Sarge
Sure, Dan, you missed an obvious one. Remember when Riker was assigned to the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, and when Kurn was assigned to the Enterprise? A temporary assignment can happen for many reasons, including cultural familiarization. Or the temp officer could be getting training that's not available on his own ship. Or he could be training the other ship's crew in his operational specialty or just showing them the ropes if they're new to the sector. Or he could be hitching a ride back to his own ship after going on leave.

True, but I was trying to put the focus on the whole crew (at least the player contingent) temporary re-assignment, rather than those 1-offs where only a couple of the regular players show up...

Most of us have those siyuations read 'just in case'. But its far more difficult to explain why the entire command staff are transferred off their usual ship for a mission... Just so that the Narrator/Players can play with a new ship...

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

My game, in 2378, will be set on a Constellation class. It has to wear out sometime. One time that it goes in for repairs in unfortunately won't come back. I am figuring possibly in the second or third season maybe.