New Narrator looking for some guidance

[turneravalon]

Greetings, all. I've recently begun planning a series for some guys in our local gaming group. I'm new to narrating, but I have been through and through the player's, narrator's, and Starfleet Ops Manuals.

I would just like some feedback into my series concept. If anyone wants me to type up the full details to the main concept, let me know and I'll post them as soon as possible.

=/\= Star Trek: Avalon =/\=

Setting
Era: Post-Dominion War (2375-?)
Region: Southeastern border of Federation (near Gorn and Tholian space)
Travelling: Starship, shuttles, and transporters

Crew
Organization: Starfleet Command Cooperative
Mission Focus: Defense/Exploration primary (Diplomatic secondary)
Composition: Multi-species (Federation, Klingon, Romulan)

Base of Operation
Base Type: Mobile; Odin-class starship USS Avalon NCC-79813

Technology
Era: 24th Century
Available Technology: Starfleet, Klingon Defense, Prototype

Adversity
Threat/Opposition: Tholians, Gorn, Unknown, varied by episode
Crisis/Disaster: Unknown influence, possible war, varied by episode

Feel
Deep Space Nine meets Next Generation meets X-Files

Thank you for any comments!!

[T'lara]

Ok I see that this is a post Dominion Series.

Is this taking place on a Station, Space Ship or special forces unit?
You are allowing your players being Federation & Klingon & Romulan?
How are the Klingons and Romulans not killing each other?

How is this Deep Space Nine and X-Files thing suppose to work?

There are alot of Questions here. Maybe add in a little more meat maybe?

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

Any details on the Odin-class itself?

Regards,
CKV.

[Polanski]

Greetings,

Considering myself somewhat experienced Narrator I wold like to offer some advise...

1)
Ask your players. Provide your player with a written questionare, about main elements of the game, let them make the choices...
Here is a complete example of the set of questions I have presented to my players when I was starting second season of my Star Trek Campaign.

http://forum.trek-rpg.net/showthread...&threadid=5932

Also using set of questions similar to 7th Sea campaign (another RPG game and system) is also an excellent idea.

2)
Make sure that you are comfortable with any changes in the campaign that players may ask/force you to do. For this is your campaign, you are Narrating it and if you do not feel comfortable with it then you will not do a good enough job. (This advice was given to me from a friend who had more years of GMing than I care to count)

3)
Get Star Trek Star Charts, Star Trek Encyclopedia, Star Trek Technical Manuals (regardless of what some may thing they are a huge bonus to any ST game) pictures, maps and connections to the TV series (regardless which one it may be make the game feel more "real".

4)
Choose a "look and feel" series. Basicly tell your players which ST series you would like your series to feel closest to.

5)
Make sure that the captain of the ship is either an NPC (or a PC that you play). Now some will say that this is wrong, others will not. Since this is my advice I am giving it to you the way I feel it should be.

I strongly believe that no player should ever be the most senior or powerful character in the game. If you want a captain PC then introduce "a very hands on" Admiral that you control watching over his shoulder.

Regardless of that having a captain NPC (or a PC that you play as it is in my example) allows you to deal justice through game events, have a degree of control over every situation, keep the situation as serious as the captain (in this case you) want it to be, keep players and their characters approch to regulations, their mission and other crew members in check.

Saying that it is MOST important that if you choose this option you MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that the PCs (players) still make very important decisions and a lot of them...

Take a look at this thread...
http://forum.trek-rpg.net/showthread...&threadid=6074

There are some excellent points in there and I have also made some more detailed comments.



That is about all for now, I am sure that there are many more tips and suggestions but the above are few that should get you moving.

Kind Regards
Daniel

[turneravalon]

First off, I want to thank y'all for responding to my post.

Ok I see that this is a post Dominion Series.

Actually, this series is set during the Dominion War. This is in the Series Profile.

Is this taking place on a Station, Space Ship or special forces unit?

Again, in the series description, it states this is on a starship.

You are allowing your players being Federation & Klingon & Romulan?

My feeling was that this could possibly be a cooperative-type mission. An attack from
the Tholians or Gorn could be a threat to anyone, since everyone has their weapons
pointed at the Dominion Alliance.

How are the Klingons and Romulans not killing each other?

Hmm... Personally, I've never really sensed any tension between the two races. I thought
they were just rather indifferent to one another.

How is this Deep Space Nine and X-Files thing suppose to work?

Well, here was what I was thinking... You have the whole war and suspense which will
be coupled with some strange goings-on in the system that the ship is patrolling.

There are alot of Questions here. Maybe add in a little more meat maybe?

Sure This cooperative group of Starfleet, Klingon, and Romulan starship officers are
patrolling the Tholian/ Gorn border. As they move system to system (every episode or
two) they discover a different “clue” or artifact that causes strange effects. It will be
their job, while fighting possible Gorn and Tholians, to decipher the artifacts (after they
collect all of them) and figure out that they are in fact pieces of a puzzle to a new threat
to the Federation, Klingons, and the rest of the galaxy. They must put the puzzle together
to defeat this new threat before they are blown away.

Any details on the Odin-class itself?

Right here:
Odin-class Vessel

And, thanks, Polanski, for the helpful advise

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

I was looking more for a description of the ship itself not its stats. Each ship has a feel that lends it to a certain mission profile based upon its design philosophy.

That feel does tend to influence the style of the campaign itself.

Regards,
CKV.

[turneravalon]

Here it is:
Federation/ Gorn/ Tholian Borders

LMK what you think

[T'lara]

You are aware that Klingons and Romulans are mortal enemies.
Other than the Generals on both sides talking to each other. Barely if watching Deep Space Nine you shall recall.
That they had to keep the Klingons and the Romulans apart or they would kill each other.
I still do not see how and why Klingons and Romulans would serve together and be on a Federation Starship. This is the weakest thing in this. They seperated the militaries and sectors they were in for a reason.
Is this something the Captain and Federation Crew members forced to deal with? Is this designed to create conflict? I just can not see this not being just a Federation Crew, or Klingon Ship and Crew or Romulan Ship and Crew. There seems to be no urgancy or special reason for this.