Competence of Starfleet Enlisted

[Arawaen]

Maybe the problem is that I am mixing rules from Next Gen and DS9, but in DS 9 civilians are built on 105 points and in Next Gen Starfleet Enlisted personnel are built on 91 points. It seems to me that Starfleet enlisted personnel and Federation Merchant Marines should at least be equal to civilians.

Any thoughts/comments?

-- Arawaen

[JALU3]

Hmmm . . . the way I solve it is use the Overlays, they work rather well at balancing points, then based on Rank that they pay for, I give them the appropraite amount of ToDs. Granted this is a rather liberal way of creating characters, it still leaves challanges for the crew.

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"See Everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little." -Pope John XXIII

[SIR SIG]

Originally posted by Arawaen:
Maybe the problem is that I am mixing rules from Next Gen and DS9, but in DS 9 civilians are built on 105 points and in Next Gen Starfleet Enlisted personnel are built on 91 points. It seems to me that Starfleet enlisted personnel and Federation Merchant Marines should at least be equal to civilians.

Any thoughts/comments?

-- Arawaen

Hmmm! Guess I get out the old counting hat and have a looksee!

Possible mistake, or would you intentionally make your enlisted 'less experienced' then civies. Unless the civvies points are for a mature character and the enlisted are base age just out of training.


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SIR SIG a Aussie TREK Narrator

[qerlin]

Originally posted by Arawaen:
[B]Maybe the problem is that I am mixing rules from Next Gen and DS9, but in DS 9 civilians are built on 105 points and in Next Gen Starfleet Enlisted personnel are built on 91 points. It seems to me that Starfleet enlisted personnel and Federation Merchant Marines should at least be equal to civilians.

Haven't looked at the points, but I would bring 'em up to the same points as a civie...or give 'em more tours of duty. But as Sig pointed out, if these are young enlisted, right out of their training, they might have a lower skill set.

[SIR SIG]

Originally posted by qerlin:
Haven't looked at the points, but I would bring 'em up to the same points as a civie...or give 'em more tours of duty. But as Sig pointed out, if these are young enlisted, right out of their training, they might have a lower skill set.

Who Hoo! Support from a minion, thanks Blackie!

Another point with enlisted is that youc have them enlist much later in life. Thus this could be the core package, and then work out what your fellow did before he enlisted. Still if he is wet behind the ears, then your killing yourself pointwise.


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SIR SIG a Aussie TREK Narrator

[SIR SIG]

Or this could reflect Enlisted's 'less experience' overall compared to an officer but his higher skill ranks in specific areas.

Couldn't just see a point tally unless you have to manually count, which this late in the day is a serious no-no!

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SIR SIG a Aussie TREK Narrator

[Liquidator Queeg]

Originally posted by Arawaen:
Maybe the problem is that I am mixing rules from Next Gen and DS9, but in DS 9 civilians are built on 105 points and in Next Gen Starfleet Enlisted personnel are built on 91 points. It seems to me that Starfleet enlisted personnel and Federation Merchant Marines should at least be equal to civilians.

Any thoughts/comments?

-- Arawaen

Page 94 ("Advanced Character Creation" sidebar) of the Enlisted Personnel chapter of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Player's Guide states the 91-point total assumes "that the character embarks on only one tour of duty posting prior to play."

If you want enlisted personnel to possess higher skills, just give 'em an extra tour or two to boost their skills up. Remember though that each tour lasts approximately four years.

Steve

[Don Mappin]

Originally posted by Steven A Cook:
Page 94 ("Advanced Character Creation" sidebar) of the Enlisted Personnel chapter of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Player's Guide states the 91-point total assumes "that the character embarks on only one tour of duty posting prior to play."

If you want enlisted personnel to possess higher skills, just give 'em an extra tour or two to boost their skills up. Remember though that each tour lasts approximately four years.

Good fix, Steve. (Oooh, I love being cited!)

This is a case where one hand (the DS9 Line Developer) didn't check with the other hand (the TNG Line Developer) and the points didn't add up. (Players' Guide predates the DS9 Core Game Book, so I'd raise the enlisted DP totals to that of the civilians from DS9.


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Don
trekrpg@trekrpg.net

[Christian]

Good catch, Arawaen.

Are you actually creating PCs based on these stats? Or are these NPCs?

While its fun to create NPCs based on these guidelines, for actual play I always go with a story driven approach. I always look at the character generation system first and foremost as a method to keep the PCs relatively equal so each of them have something to contribute to the session. And I must say that the Trek Icon system is one of the best I've ever seen when it comes to that - making PCs is just plain fun! ;-)

However, if they are NPCs, unless you are doing it for the joy of creating characters, you probably shouldn't bog yourself down with overlay and templates. Use them as rough guidelines and flesh out the character's story first and foremost - a lot of cases that will tell you how to attribute the skills.

Despite the philosophical propoganda of America, all people are certainly not equal, and the learning curve is different for everyone. Somehow I don't think Kirk and Barclay where at the same competency level when they came out of the academy. The Icon system necessitates that for play balance, but when you create an NPC its a lot less important for the characters to be equal.