Captain as NPC

[Majicou]

Hello all. So, I'm going to be running an ST:TNG campaign in the fall, but I'm not sure how to handle the issue of the NPC captain. Now, in some situations, I can see how the whole thing can be easily gotten around; for example, because of the 24th-cent. rule about captains not usually going on away missions, she (or he) can send the PCs off to do their thing. But what about things such as a tense conversation between the captain and (say) the villain? Makes for good drama on screen, but if one person plays both characters, and knows the likely outcome of the conversation, it loses something (everything, really.)
So the question, essentially, is: How to have an NPC captain who will behave like a real captain, while not restricting the PCs too much?

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"Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand." -Anon.

[qerlin]

Been in that position. There are a couple of options: we had CPT Drake, very forceful, but moody -- so he was often not directly involved except in the big crises; he would usually deal directly with the villains, etc, but often asked opinions, so that the characters have an 'in'.

There's 'CPT Rhys': nice, fatherly figure, but a bit of a duffer. He's more likely to seek consensus with his officers; hence their interaction. He also was a long time desk jockey, so he was unsure of himself...making him more reliant on the other characters.

Then there's the clasic idiot -- the guy that got his position through sucking up. He doesn't know what he's doing, is smart enough to know it, so he allows the other characters to take the risks...but hogs the glory.

Another option: the captain has some kind of ailment/syndrome that requires constant monitoring; he's okay on the ship, but away missions are very hazardous...voila! An excuse for the characters to do most of the work.

[Majicou]

The bit about suggestions seems especially useful--Picard would often do so, even though he was a good commander.
An idiot captain, now that could be amusing--sort of Starfleet's answer to Arnold J. Rimmer. 'course, I doubt he would have lasted a week in Starfleet...

[Greg Smith]

In one of the games I ran, the Captain was a PC but the player often didn't make the sessions.

So the Captain was often on the holodeck playing golf. When ever the players asked his opinion he would say, "I'm sure that you're capable of handling it."

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Greg

"Calm may work for Locutus of Borg here, but I'm freaked and intend to stay that way."
Xander, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Prophecy Girl.

[StyroFoam Man]

This message has been removed on request by the
poster

[AslanC]

Another take on it can be the Cpatain in his alst tour and his XO (perferably a PC) is being groomed to take over the command. Make sure the XO's last tour was also on this ship, to reflect the established relationship.

This way the XO will always command the away missions, and the Captain is there as a backup.

I love the idea of the Captain playing golf, as my recently deceased Captain Lee Zymmer was a big holo-golfer

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Aslan Collas
=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Star Trek:Strange New Worlds;
http://www.geocities.com/aslan_collas/
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Ferengi Rule Of Acquisition #76: Every once in a while, declare peace. It confuses the hell out of your enemies.

[SIR SIG]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Majicou:
The bit about suggestions seems especially useful--Picard would often do so, even though he was a good commander.
An idiot captain, now that could be amusing--sort of Starfleet's answer to Arnold J. Rimmer. 'course, I doubt he would have lasted a week in Starfleet...</font>

I think it would be quite funny to see Rimmer in a captaincy role

In my games, a certain Mr Stryker rose through the ranks and soon achieved Captain (he was on the fast track, like you can wait 10+ years in a game, so he did it in 5 )

Before those days though the Cpts, usually all canon chaps from onscreen, took a little advice but made all decision. I kept players amused in other ways like Away missions .

And he's a classic, 2nd mission, PC on the ship in charge while senior staff onplanet checking out a crater when a borg cube drops by (scout) and assimilates or senior staff on the planet. Leaves poor little Lt Stryker in charge. And as they say, that was history.



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SIRSIG
AKA: SirPostalot
AKA: The MapMaker
AKA: The Trek Cartographer
AKA:...Well I could keep going forever

[Sarge]

The episode Lower Decks is a big influence on how I run my campaign. I give the PCs orders and don't always tell them exactly why, and I let them overhear comments and see things that hint at what's really going on.

Occasionally I send them on shuttle missions so that they're out of contact with all their senior officers. Players need to have freedom of action sometimes, or the game's not much fun.

I found a partial solution to the NPC conversation problem. I put one of the PCs in charge of communications. The captain tells the PC what he wants to communicate, and the PC sends a message in his own words.
Example:
GM: Comm officer, the Romulan scout ship is hailing you. "Federation Starship, you are in violation of Treaty. Evacuate the Neutral Zone immediately!"
PC: "Captain, the Romulans just told us to evacuate the Neutral Zone."
GM: "Remind them they crossed the border first, and threaten them, but diplomatically."
PC: "Romulan Vessel, our presence here is only in response to your own presence. I suggest you withdraw before any unfortunate incidents happen."
GM: "We are here on what you call a humanitarian mission, human, and we will not withdraw until we have completed it. Tell that to your Captain! No, let me talk to him myself!"
PC: "Captain, the Romulans want to talk to you personally. They say they're on a humanitarian mission."
GM: "Let them know I'm too important to talk to a lowly subcommander with a scout ship, and threaten them without the diplomacy."
PC: "Sorry, subcommander, but the captain thinks he's going to win three credits with his poker hand, so he can't take the time to personally order you to go home before we spank you like a baby sehlat that defecated on the rug."

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&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

LUGTrek isn't really dead. Not as long as we remember it.

[Majicou]

Plenty of good advice. Lucky me, I now have to think of ways to deal with a combat-happy player (though the bit in the core rulebook about making PCs pay for their stupidity is a good foundation.)
If anyone's at all curious, my campaign will lead the crew to a newly-found Dyson Sphere on the outskirts of Ferengi space (one of the PCs will be a Ferengi observer), so there'll be plenty of Away Team work while they investigate.

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"Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand." -Anon.

[SIR SIG]

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

GM: Comm officer, the Romulan scout ship is hailing you. "Federation Starship, you are in violation of Treaty. Evacuate the Neutral Zone immediately!"
PC: "Captain, the Romulans just told us to evacuate the Neutral Zone."
GM: "Remind them they crossed the border first, and threaten them, but diplomatically."
PC: "Romulan Vessel, our presence here is only in response to your own presence. I suggest you withdraw before any unfortunate incidents happen."
GM: "We are here on what you call a humanitarian mission, human, and we will not withdraw until we have completed it. Tell that to your Captain! No, let me talk to him myself!"
PC: "Captain, the Romulans want to talk to you personally. They say they're on a humanitarian mission."
GM: "Let them know I'm too important to talk to a lowly subcommander with a scout ship, and threaten them without the diplomacy."
PC: "Sorry, subcommander, but the captain thinks he's going to win three credits with his poker hand, so he can't take the time to personally order you to go home before we spank you like a baby sehlat that defecated on the rug."

[/B]</font>

This sounds very familiar, guess my PCs have an attitude like that aswell Sarge

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SIRSIG
AKA: SirPostalot
AKA: The MapMaker
AKA: The Trek Cartographer
AKA:...Well I could keep going forever

[Publius]

I understand precisely what you are talking about, it is an annoying situation when you (as the GM running everything) must roleplay both the Captain and an important NPC at the same time having a conversation. I always feel like I am either spoon feeding the players or talking to (and sometimes having an argument with) myself in public.

My answer lately has been a "script". I thought it was sort of silly at the beginning, but it has actually worked very well in all of our playing sessions. I prepare a script, and tap one of the Players who has none of their own Character's dialogue in the script to read for the Captain while I take on the role of the Important NPC he must deal with. The players are free to alter the wording slightly or get in questions that they might have while the conversation develops. (Example follows next paragraph)

When it comes time for the Captain to make decisions, I allow the players to get together and vote on what course of action to take, I call this the "Surrogate Captain". Sometimes following their decision I will have the Captain make a speech or provide some bit of dialogue to make for a transition. This allows the players to make decisions in the adventure while at the same time using an NPC Captain.

Example Script from my Adventure "The Wages of Sin":

Comm 1: Captain, we are receiving a distress signal on the Priority Channel.

Captain 2: Proceed.

Viewscreen flickers to life, on it there is a picture of a haggard looking young human male, dressed in what was once fine clothing. His hair is disheveled; his face looks like it has been cut in one or two places, and he has an extremely anxious look on his face. He stares intently into the screen.

Harris 3: This is Director Harris of the the Beta Marid mining colony: We are under attack! We are under attack! Calling all vessels, Federation and otherwise, for assistance! All vessels… this is Director Harris of the Marid…

Captain 4: Mr. Phule [PC Helm Officer -JDL], plot the fastest course to Beta Marid: Maximum Warp. Communications Officer, secure a response on the priority channel for the Administrator.

The Communication Officer nods and there is a tone to indicate the open channel as the vessel ramps up to Warp Speed.

Captain 5: This is Captain Maxwell of the U.S.S. Lockheed responding to hail from Marid Mining One. We are on the way to your location at Maximum Warp. What is your present situation? We understand you are under attack but do not know from whom…

Harris 6: Three enemy vessels… unknown race…. Harris looks like he is about to collapse]

Captain 7: Do you have a visual of the attackers you can provide for us Director Harris?

Harris 8: Yes.

The viewscreen flickers a moment to a visual of the space around the planet, there two tube-like vessels are floating amid a swarm of debris, including what appears to be a third vessel of the same type. The vessels begin firing blue-green beams that cause the screen to erupt in bits of static.

John D. Lees
Mad Political Scientist

[Majicou]

Do the numbers by each character name mean something, or are they just to count the lines of dialog?

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"Real programmers don't comment their code. If it was hard to write, it should be hard to understand." -Anon.

[toadkiller]

I've had several ships with NPC CO's.

The first was fairly aloof from the PC's for quite a long time - only really calling them "on the carpet" to find out why they had been in the midst of an "adventure" when they were supposed to be (fill in the blank).

After several game (and real-life) months she finally opened up a bit more to them - showed a sense of humour, etc. Basically she kept them scared to death of her until she recognized them as "heroes". (After all all PC's should be heroes, right ) Once they had earned their wings, they got appointed to a special away team and got the "good missions".

Later, the XO from that ship (also a NPC) got command of his own ship and the PC's went with him as department head level characters. In that case they are much more involved in high level decisions and the CAPT is used solely as a role-playing device for me, either banter or to place plot hooks. He only really disagrees with them when they stray to far off where I was trying to take the story.

I've not had much luck with PC CAPT's as my players don't really want to get involved in "command".

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TK

[Publius]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Majicou:
Do the numbers by each character name mean something, or are they just to count the lines of dialog?

</font>

More the latter, I did it that way so that players wouldn’t get lost while we were reading. It also helps if a player interaction makes some dialogue superfluous, then I can say "cut out Line 6" or "change line 7 to a simple affirmative". Unfortunately it also helps when someone isn't paying attention and you can remind them where the conversation has left off...

John D. Lees
Mad Political Scientist

[Silverstreak]

I have had issues with letting the PC's actually be the Captain.

I find they usually want to hang around in the Holodeck (playing golf or something similar) or ignoring the crew's suggestions all together.

I find the game works best when the GM plays the Captain.

It keeps the players in line.