Freighter Games

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

Have any of you guys run a game on a freighter, like the Herbert. I know there is atleast one of you out there. How was it? Missions? Etc...?

[erhershman]

Never run one myself, but I think it would be interesting. Although the tone and atmosphere of the series would depend on the era... if you wanted a "trailblazing pioneers" kind of thing the ENT era would work for that, since freighters are the first ships to travel far beyond the Sol system. The TNG-DS9 era freighters are much better protected and space better mapped than in earlier eras.

Just my little contribution.

[mactavish]

A goof freighter Series that I ran a while back involved the Federation Merchant Marines. It was a lot of fun, particularly with the PCs professional rivalry with Starfleet.

MY players played only a few Episodes of this before we stopped playing altogether, but during the sessions we ran, everyone had a lot of fun.

The best part was saving the <i>Galaxy</i>-class starship from a gravity shear and towing it to a nearby starbase. Priceless!

Much as I like Starfleet games, I truly prefer a non-Starfleet Series, be they Federation Intelligence Service agents, Merchant Marines, raiders, or what have you.

I always wanted to run a Series where the PCs were private couriers in the Federation, transporting sensitve information, items, and materials from one planet or station to another. Small ship, small crew... that's the idea.

mactavish out.

[Kronok]

Originally posted by Lt Cmdr Matt
Have any of you guys run a game on a freighter, like the Herbert. I know there is atleast one of you out there. How was it? Missions? Etc...?

I think "The Deckplan God" did a set of plans for the Herbert. Maybe he would like to comment???

I did play a bit doing a recon adventure on a freighter. Big fun, let me tell ya.

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

Who exactly is the deckplan God?

[Kronok]

Publius.

His Nova class deckplans are just amazing, no other words can describe them.

Do a search for deckplans and check them out?

[redwood973]

Originally posted by Lt Cmdr Matt
Who exactly is the deckplan God?

It is just a guess on my part (but judging from the cool deck plans on his web page I bet a good one) but I would have to say Owen E. Oulton. (Unless of course he had someone else do those for him.)

Just out of curiosity: what might the Herbert be? Is it from one of the Trek shows?

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

The Herbert is a non-canon design of class that Decipher made for the Narrator's guide.

[Owen E Oulton]

"A goof freighter Series that I ran a while back involved the Federation Merchant Marines."

Can I interrupt with a terminology quibble? It's the merchant marine, not the merchant marines. Individuals would be referred to as merchant mariners.

I ran a campaign on a small freighter called the SS Lucas THX-1138. It was somewhat less than serious, with a Traveller mercenary, an AD&D thief and a Klingon/Betazoid hybrid running around the Federation in a ship stolen from a bunch of Orion slavers. The ship was based on the old FASA Chameleon class.

[Lowly Uhlan]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Lt Cmdr Matt
[B]Have any of you guys run a game on a freighter, like the Herbert. I know there is atleast one of you out there. How was it? Missions? Etc...? My current series is aboard the USS Windjammer Catalina,a Herbert-class ship.Set in 2373 ,we're about 5 months from the formal declaration of war with the Dominion and in the last days of the 2nd UFP/Klingon war in the sectors surruonding SB 117(Beta Quad.ST Star Charts). This is a Starfleet campaign wiyh a black sheep Betazoid lt.cmdr. in command.My rationale in having a SF freighter crew is that not all cargoes are high priority enough to only have ships named Enterprise carrying them.Starfleet cargo to Starfleet destinations.A top secret run to a Starfleet monitor station(reactivated at the outset of the Klingon war) ended up with first contact with a telepathic race aboard a generation ship whose automated systems had destroyed the base.It was a moral pinch for the players to decide to help the blameless aliens(in stasis while their ship rampaged)get to their intended destination. We're only on the second episode in which a cargo intended for the Corps of Engineers turns out to be a rescue mission for the SCE personnel held captive due to a coup on the planet being engineered. Why a freighter campaign?I'm an old-school GM and couldn't with a clear conscience give new characters enough advancements to command a big line ship.This is actually working out quite well and the player response is very positive. Theyll eventually be assigned a bigger ship(1 of the light or medium cruisers)if they don't screw up too many missions.And they'll have earned that ship-real roleplaying developement.Having them have to deal with Fleet Logistics red tape has proven to be fun. I've tweaked the Herbert.In my series the cargo pods are detachable and mission-specific.I'll post the modifications sometime soon.We're having a blast.Next up:the devious plans of the Orion Syndicate(it will be a long on-again off-again story arc)-They hunt the Trill tactical officer(it's now an armed TC)and love other peoples cargo.Starfleet is spread kind of thin out there and it's easy to set up situations that require immediate action.Cargo transfer to a Nova studying a mysterious nebula and strange spacebourne lifeforms,and the crew responding eventually to the Dominion threat aboard their new cruiser are all on the way.

[Publius]

The website is: Digital Indalo

I have deckplans for the non-canon Java-Class freighter, the externals for which are NOT, I repeat NOT, a design of my own, but Bernd Schneider's from EAS. (link to exteriors from his site is here The vessel is a modular freighter which can be outfitted at any starbase, and has a considerable amount of cargo space.

I have also made Deckplans for the canon vessels: Danube, Delta Flyer, Waverider AOS, Nova-Class Surveyor; and canon stations of the Regula-type (from TWoK, not the upscaled versions used as Starbases, the downscaled upside down versions used as office complexes... etc. etc.)

No claim is made on divinity

[Kronok]

Originally posted by Publius
The website is: Digital Indalo
I have deckplans for the non-canon Java-Class freighter, the externals for which are NOT, I repeat NOT, a design of my own, but Bernd Schneider's from EAS. (link to exteriors from his site is here The vessel is a modular freighter which can be outfitted at any starbase, and has a considerable amount of cargo space.

That’s what I was thinking of!!!

I have also made Deckplans for the canon vessels: Danube, Delta Flyer, Waverider AOS, Nova-Class Surveyor; and canon stations of the Regula-type (from TWoK, not the upscaled versions used as Starbases, the downscaled upside down versions used as office complexes... etc. etc.)

Which are the best deckplans I have ever seen.

No claim is made on divinity

Hey, could be some manifest destiny thing???

[Paul Dowsland]

An interesting one. Story ideas could derive from dodgy cargo (one from the British Isles Traveller Support "101 cargos" features an irrascible scientist, his carnivoraous plants and their automated feeder - what could possibly go wrong?!), dodgy passengers, dodgy bureaucracy (like the Traveller adventure "Exit Visa", or Tom Paris having to resit his flight exam in VOY), or dodgy absentee owners.

Also it's a good chance to explore "civilian" life in more detail.