Secure Redshirts

[C57D]

Okay, so we all know the jokes and memes about red shirts in TOS.
But, how do we get past all that to make Security a valid and interesting PC choice in our TOS Starfleet campaigns?
I, for one, have never (in over 10 years of running Starfleet campaigns) had a Player who wanted such an option.
So how do we improve that?
I think it starts with turning around Security's perception. Rather than "the first and the most frequently to get killed", maybe it should be "the brave and dedicated force standing between the scientists & engineers, and the dangers of exploring the wonders and mysteries of "strange new worlds"?
With no apparent army in TOS, perhaps Security is the "boots on the ground" for Starfleet.
So what would this look like in play?
Skills would be around both HtH and phaser combat, with a healthy dose of tactics.
Plus survival in a wide range of different planetry environments and basic first aid
And then what the FASA STTRPG calls Security Operations. I would see this as a combined surveilance, electronic locks oversight for secure areas (something Kirk could have frequently done with!), questioning methods and (combined with tactics) use of appropriate defensive/protection formations for ViP's etc
I always run my campaigns so that every PC gets to be the focus of a scenario, with the others in supporting roles. And this fairly rotates throughout the PC group. Protection of a visiting, very arrogant and difficult diplomat against conflicting factions, investigation of a apparently motiveless murder of a seemingly ordinary crewman etc. These strike me as some starting points for such a Security chief PC focused scenario.
All to give a more interesting focus to a maybe underused PC specialisation.h

[DreadPirateJim]

Okay, so we all know the jokes and memes about red shirts in TOS.
But, how do we get past all that to make Security a valid and interesting PC choice in our TOS Starfleet campaigns?
I, for one, have never (in over 10 years of running Starfleet campaigns) had a Player who wanted such an option.
So how do we improve that?
I think it starts with turning around Security's perception. Rather than "the first and the most frequently to get killed", maybe it should be "the brave and dedicated force standing between the scientists & engineers, and the dangers of exploring the wonders and mysteries of "strange new worlds"?
With no apparent army in TOS, perhaps Security is the "boots on the ground" for Starfleet.
So what would this look like in play?
Skills would be around both HtH and phaser combat, with a healthy dose of tactics.
Plus survival in a wide range of different planetry environments and basic first aid
And then what the FASA STTRPG calls Security Operations. I would see this as a combined surveilance, electronic locks oversight for secure areas (something Kirk could have frequently done with!), questioning methods and (combined with tactics) use of appropriate defensive/protection formations for ViP's etc
I always run my campaigns so that every PC gets to be the focus of a scenario, with the others in supporting roles. And this fairly rotates throughout the PC group. Protection of a visiting, very arrogant and difficult diplomat against conflicting factions, investigation of a apparently motiveless murder of a seemingly ordinary crewman etc. These strike me as some starting points for such a Security chief PC focused scenario.
All to give a more interesting focus to a maybe underused PC specialisation.h

Interesting thoughts!

I try to keep my storylines relatively conflict-free, with the ability to talk/negotiate your way out of challenges available to the characters, so everything doesn't devolve into phaser fights, so that limits the appeal of a PC security character. But making use of some of their secondary skills, as you describe, might make them into something a little more useful.

[JackPhoton]

The misperception that Red is the most fatal color is the inherent problem.

In fact, gold shirts are the most lethal color to wear on average whereas gold skirts are the safest with not one gold skirt ever killed on screen. Women overall are the next safest in any color followed by blue shirts and then red shirts. Red has safety in numbers with the lowest mortality rate over the series. Of course, the safest time to be in Star Trek is in the animated series where there were no deaths.

Security has always been a good option for folks as there is almost always one on a landing party and will always be the one to face any shipboard issues. To think security is boring is a mistake.

In the Jack Photon house rules, having an INT75+ allows one to Minor in secondary branch, costing one additional year at the Academy. Minor gets half the listed skills of the minor unless the skill is a duplicate to the Major in which case they get no points.

Minoring in a 2nd branch allows for folks like Hadley, Brent and Leslie to change shirts and departments. Brent is most often blue on the bridge and helping McCoy, but wears security red, operates the transporter and hangs with Scotty once or twice in engineering. Hadley sits in gold at the nav and helm, wears blue jumper in sickbay for McCoy and dons the red shirt when on security duty. ... I don't think I've seen Hadley in Engineering and he has never operated the transporter.