Newbie requests help for "pilot episode".

[Dan Gurden]

Woo Hoo. A local lad, just up the train tracks.

OK, first game.

My recommendation is to Keep it Simple. If your group is not very fleet, and prone to fighting... You could always let them be klingons hacking their way through the universe... Dominion war is a great place to play here.

But if YOU want a Starfleet game then you really need to play to what they know. Give them a known quantity, maybe a potential re-occuring bad-guy, but make the resolution achievable by standard means...

If you have any trekkies among your players, make them the senior officers and let them know that you need their help in maintaining the Chain of Command.

And if the group does get out of hand during the first game, fine dont slap them about (literally or figuratively) for getting out of line. But feel free to make notes, if the game takes off, you can make them pay for their sins later!

As for what ship and what rank. Known quantities is the key word here. Any of the On-Screen ships would be easy to imagine, which would help a starting group. Small is good, so Intrepid is probably the best.

They would be best suited as starting ranks, Ensigns and Lieutenants. They can only go up from there!

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DanG.

"Hi, I'm Commander Troy McClure, you might remember me from other academy training holo-simulations as, Abandon Ship, the quickest way out, and I sense danger, 101 things you dont need a Betazoid to know..."

http://www.theventure.freeserve.co.uk

[This message has been edited by Dan Gurden (edited 08-28-2001).]

[Dan Stack]

The biggest piece of advice I would offer is always wear sunscre... Err, I mean keep it simple.

Too often Narrator's (myself included) have wanted to start with intricate plotlines, intense melodramas, a 45-part storyline.

That's not to say one shouldn't have those, but that it should be eased into and flexible enough to adapt to what works and doesn't work.

That said, the best start I ever had was starting out the PCs on a runabout on the way to their ship. And something funny happened on the way, leading to their first adventure. This allowed them to get to know themselves before they had to deal with a million other things.

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U.S.S. Icarus

[Dan Stack]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dan Gurden:

My recommendation is to Keep it Simple. If your group is not very fleet, and prone to fighting... You could always let them be klingons hacking their way through the universe... Dominion war is a great place to play here.
</font>

Oh, yes it is (says the American Dan to the British one), thinking about his current Klingon Dominion War game. After tons of Starfleet, nice-guy adventures, sometimes it's fun to just blow things up...

[USS Intrepid]

Well I would recommend you start with your group playing officers aboard a Galaxy Class starship (recognisable, and there are deckplans available). You might want to consider making the captain an NPC, and possibly even the First Officer as well.

Alternatively, you might want to consider a station-based adventure, which would make it easier to include one or two non-Starfleet PCs. Having non-Starfleet characters and a non-starship setting makes it much easier to incorporate players who aren't that well suited to the rank-based setting. It's also easier to make the PCs the focus of the campaign, without making them the most senior officers. And it's also worth noting that having more senior NPCs makes it easier to keep a reign on your players, because there's always someone else to give them orders, and stop them doing daft things.

I would recommend checking out the adventures section of TrekRPG Net. There's an excellent adventure there called Conquest's Tools that I would strongly recommend. It could easily be adapted for a crew of junior officers.

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Captain Daniel Hunter
CO NCC-74600, U.S.S. Intrepid
Star Trek: Intrepid

[Don Mappin]

I usually run stock (i.e. pre-made) adventures or very simple adventures with straightforward plots for first sessions, even if I know the group. Chances are you don't know the characters well.

After that I craft adventures more specific to the group and the characters.

I go out of my way to put characters out of their element--the captain who is alone and in a fist fight with no combat skills, the quiet player being placed in command, the tactical officer put in the role of diplomat, etc.

Stay away from the shakedown cruise ala Star Trek V where everything is going wrong--it's the most overused cliché in Trek roleplaying.

Good luck!


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[Rear Admiral A.J. Rimmer]

Hmmmm - not at all intimidating this newbie status! (*help*)

Ok, here goes - hope some of you friendly types can help me out here, I've just got hold of the TNG LUG rulebook and I'm hoping to run it for my faithful group of mainly D&D and Cthulhu players. Should prove interesting as they usually end up fighting themselves, not very Starfleet, but I digress.

I have a few ideas forming set around the aftermath of "Endgame" (actually "Aftermath" would be a pretty good title for an episode) but these would probably be a bit too "in-at-the-deep-end" seeing as everyone will be new (although not to Star Trek obviously).

So, here's the appeal. What are the best/worst things to try for a first "pilot" episode to gently ease the players (and me!) into things? What kind of ideas have you experienced narrators out there used for first timers or shakedown cruises.

All advice, especially basic stuff, would be much appreciated. Mix of the group, settings, recommended types of starship, ideal ranks for new players, noteworthy successes/failures which you have had etc etc. Just impart unto me the benefit of your combined experiences that I may learn from them. If you don't mind that is.




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And now....the fish slapping dance.

[Lancer]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Don:

Stay away from the shakedown cruise ala Star Trek V where everything is going wrong--it's the most overused cliché in Trek roleplaying.
</font>

True, very true indeed.

Still I would recommend to throw some minor technical problems or something like that at your players early in the adventure. It can be a good way to familiarize yourself and the players with the rules and mechanics part of the game. Explaining the rules to new players while they are about to save the universe usually isn't a good ideas

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"To seek, to strive, to find and not to yield" - Alfred Tennyson

[Captain Zymmer]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Don:
Stay away from the shakedown cruise ala Star Trek V where everything is going wrong--it's the most overused cliché in Trek roleplaying. </font>

Funny, I have never been tempted to do this ever...and even now that it has been suggested I have no interest in it...I guess I hated STV that much

Now the way they did it in STMP was way cooler...I sometimes miss the Star Trek Disco Era.



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Captain Zymmer
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Visit Star Trek:Lexington at;
http://www.usslexington.net
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[Rear Admiral A.J. Rimmer]

Thanks for all your input guys - much appreciated. I do like the idea of starting en-route to the ship "A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Enterpise..."

I think its safe to say I'll always steer clear of anything remotely connected with STV though!

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And now....the fish slapping dance.

[tonyg]

I suggest using an approach that helps to illustate the differences between TREK and the other games you play. In Star Trek, the characters all Heroes, and can do heric things. A good example would be to have some sort of distress call, or crisis which the locals can't fix, but which shoudln't be too challegning for Star Fleet types.

At the start of one of my campaigns, I had the PCs on a runabout doing some tests, when they got assigned to invesitgate a merchant ship that failed to respond to hails, and was heading straight for a mining station at .25c. Since the ship was faily close to the station the PCs were the only ones who could reach the ship in time.
When they got there the PCs dsicoved that the crew were sufffering from some sort of virsus that drove them mad. The PCs had to stop the ship, and provide medical assistance for the crew.
While the deadline and homicidal crewmembers provided some excite for the players, the scenario was easy enough for beginning players to handle, and gave the right Star Trek feel.

[Captain Zymmer]

And remember one thing, you want these players to enjoy this, so if they are a bit more action oriented, make sure to give them a nice little action/adventure scene in the middle and a good climax at the end so that they get their jollies nonetheless and will not notice how insidious the rest of the game is

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Captain Zymmer
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Visit Star Trek:Lexington at;
http://www.usslexington.net
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[Don Mappin]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Captain Zymmer:
... make sure to give them...a good climax at the end so that they get their jollies nonetheless...</font>

Dude, you are so perverse!


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[Captain Zymmer]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Don:
Dude, you are so perverse! </font>

This from the man who coined the term LGT?

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Captain Zymmer
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Visit Star Trek:Lexington at;
http://www.usslexington.net
=-=-=-=-=-=

[Don Mappin]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Captain Zymmer:
This from the man who coined the term LGT? </font>

You’re the one giving your players climaxes!

BTW, I think I should underscore that the goth lesbian trill come from your campaigns; not mine.



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[tonyg]

The Rule book does state that everybody is supposed to have a "good time" playing. Anarrator who can give his players climaxes would be the best I ever hear about.