Hm. I should chime in. Let's see...

Ally was born and raised in Dublin, and went into medicine like her father, but she had a touch of wanderlust (maybe more than a touch) and so she decided to join up with Star Fleet. She loves studying other cultures and ways of doing things, and is as interested in traditional Andorian duels as that amazing cure for xenopolycythemia she read about a few weeks ago. She's an optimist, and something of a pacifist, so don't be surprised when she argues for a peaceful option. But don't worry, if violence is what's required, she'll follow orders.

I just updated the char gen rules and added a thread for important NPCs as they get created.  I forgot to mention that you are all starting at Lieutenant Junior Grade.  Parker, that means you can either stay at Ensign or slap a dashed band around your sleeve cuffs.  I know, I know, it's a lot more work for not a lot of money.  However, it does come with a few perks, like a new fashion accessory for the old uni and the authority to order Ensigns to pick up your dry cleaning.  :-p

I would like to request a favor... could we please play in the Original TOS setting (and not the current "alternate universe" TOS of the last 2 movies).

While I like much in both of the recent ST movies set in TOS "the early years", especially the characterizations and depictions of the young TOS characters... I must admit that, being a Vulcan-phile, I absolutely HATE what they did to Vulcan in the 1st of the new TOS "early year" movies.

The idea that Vulcans are now an "endangered species" really rubs me the wrong way (and honestly the long term effects on the future & fortunes of the Federation, considering the very substantial contributions made to both the Federation and Star Fleet by the Vulcans, is literally immeasurable bordering on, I suspect, catastrophic).

Now I can set aside my bitter prejudice for what was done in the new movies and play in that "alternate TOS universe" if need be, but I figured there would be no harm in at least requesting that we try playing in the original TOS setting.  Or as an alternative, if we could just say that Nero failed to destroy the planet Vulcan (and thus failed to commit near total genocide upon the Vulcan people)... I could live with the rest of the new movie twists and alternate takes on things.

@ Sorvok:  What happened to Vulcan was pretty awful, but I'm going to have to stick with the original plan.  I mentioned in the game info section that this is the JJ Abramverse version of Star Trek with Roddenberry's spirit returned to it.  I also picked it for one big reason:

I don't have to worry about canon.  It gives me the opportunity to put you guys in some classic Trek situations with a twist (i.e. be a little lazy).  If I decide that you should meet the Guardian of Forever, you totally can.  Maybe Trelane is your problem, and you'll get a chance to go face to face with the Squire of Gothos.

More importantly, I have a few overarching storylines (say season-long conflicts and cliff-hangers) in mind.  I think they'll work better in this setting.  I promise that none of them involve picking at old wounds concerning Vulcan.  Just trust me on this.  ^_^

At least in this universe, Vulcans are not on the brink of extinction.  There were more than enough off-planet and on Vulcan colonies that they are guaranteed to survive.

Will that work?

Ultimately SC you're the GM and this is your game and I believe in abiding by the gaming rule that the GM has the last say.  I guess I was so excited by the TOS and using the Microlite system that I missed the part about JJ Abramverse (maybe I just have a "mental block" against it?).

That said... I can certainly live with it.  I really want to play and I'm really looking forward to the game.  I understand the desire to have the freedom from canon and I accept that it makes the GM's jobs easier (and I assure you that I am not a "canon nazi" or a nit picker about every last "historically accurate" detail).

I just never quite got over what happened to Vulcan or the idea that Abrams thought he could get away with that (or worse that seemingly everyone has allowed him to get away with that travesty).  Attempting to destroy Vulcan is one thing... succeeding is something else entirely.

But that's not your fault, I lay the blame squarely at Abrams feet and my ire is solely directed at him.

So... yeah I can live with it.  It does mean I have to decide what happened to Sorvok's family and relatives.  While his father is missing from earlier and his mother was likely off world on a research mission, he had a sister either attending or recently graduated from VSA and he had both sets of grandparents living on Vulcan (they raised the sister while Sorvok accompanied his parents as the elder child).


Longwinded reply made short... yes it will work (I can work with it).  I was just making a request based on my personal sore spot over the Abrams Vulcan fiasco but I want to play.  ;)

Tell you what, Captain Tabin also got a commendation for managing to get a few civilians beamed onto her ship's escape pod...  ;-)

Pretty awesome our captain is an Andorian! I played a female Andorian in my last (sadly very short lived) Star Trek game so I have a definite soft spot for them. :-)

Also very cool Ally is Irish, as am I in real life.

Okay, char sheets are unlocked.  We have a chief engineer and an intelligence officer (maybe?) who will be joining the bridge crew, but they have to decide what role they want first.  Then we should get a few more.

@ James Black:  Thanks again for the supplement link.  I might use some of the optional rules in the supplement, like the movie one, in the game.  Definitely not the gritty ones, though.  This is network television, not basic cable!  :-p

@ Daniel Carson:  Yeah, I always liked Andorians, too.  I always hoped that they would get a bigger role in the series, and then they finally did in the one series I didn't watch.  I may have to give Enterprise's later seasons a chance...

Same here, but I see now.

Lt. (JG) is even better.

The more authority to "calibrate the universal translator" the better!

How long (chronologically) after the 1st and 2nd new/early years TOS movies will this game be set?

I ask because I'm wondering if any of our PCs would have been out of the Academy (aboard ships) during the events of either the 1st or 2nd movie?

I think Ranks 1 and 2 are still Cadets with ranks 3 & 4 being Ensigns (though senior Cadets, probably rank 2, could have been on a "cadet cruise").

That's a good question.  I have 2262 as the date for Season 1, Episode 1, which puts it about 3 years after Into Darkness and 4 years after Star Trek.  It's not set in stone, as I just figured it was a good starting point.

@Daniel Carson: Neat. I'm not Irish, so if I get anything too terribly wrong, feel free to tell me :)

Yeah, I tend to think of Abramsverse as grimdark, so I forgot about it too... but I don't mind. This is going to be awesome.

Also yay! character sheets!

Ok... hmm... figure it takes roughly 4 years to finish Starfleet Academy (although I suppose some accelerated students may finish in 3 and there may be a few holdouts/held back that finish in 5?), so figure Rank 1 Green Cadet is the first 2 years and Rank 2 Cadet is the second 2 years.

Then figure what... 2 years as a Green Ensign (rank 3) and then maybe 2-4 years as an Ensign (rank 4)... and it sounds like we just got promoted to Lt. jg. (rank 5).

So likely short of an accelerated promotion schedule (which is still possible given Starfleet's losses in recent years)... our PCs could have been either Ensigns (rank 4) or Green Ensigns (rank 3) dating back to the 1st Movie (Star Trek).

It might even be possible that during the time of the 1st Movie, a few of us (on an accelerated track of promotion later on) could have been in our 4th year at SFA (rank 2 Cadet) at the time of the 1st movie (set 4 years prior to the start of this campaign).

Does that look right?

That looks about right.  There's definitely flexibility on when you got promoted and what you were doing at the time of the movies for the sake of writing backstory.  ^_^

Sadly, I just got word that Amelia won't be able to continue with the campaign.  I think we may have a new helmsman, but I need to wait for a reply.

I see James as just having been promoted and offered a change to Yellow/Command track due to actions in a pirate raid on his previous posting. He'd been unsure of his path at the academy, until the incidents of ST: Into Darkness, and that's when he chose security to better protect his birth home.

I figured I'd share a bit of my thought on him too:
James Black is the son of Madeline Black, a ranking Archaeologist for the Federation Science Council, and Sevrek, first officer of the USS Intrepid. Raised by his grandparents on Vulcan, James has shown high ESPer ratings and an aptitude for tactics and positioning in 3D spaces. Joining Starfleet as a security officer, his navigational skills have put him on the bridge of several smaller vessels while also serving in a security capacity. He's hoping that a position as the Vigilant's navigator will lead to an opportunity for his own command.

Also, a question - Is it Helm or Navigation that fires the ship weapons? I seem to recall both Sulu and Chekov at different times doing it...

In reply to James Black (msg # 33):

The Vigilant is a big ship with lots of weapons.  I think what I'll do is use Wrath of Khan rules:  helm (Sulu) fires phasers and navigation (Chekhov) fires photon torpedoes.

Also, we have a few changes to the cast.  Two new crewmembers incoming.  ^_^

That would be me.  Let me introduce myself.

I am Spid'Dar Nevi, Chief Engineer of the starship Vigilant.  I am Andorian and hail from an ancient and noble family.  Not being Andorian, I am sure that there is little interest in our intricate culture so I will not bore you with my family's line and accomplishments.

Let me just say that the Vigilant, under my attentions, will exceed all your expectations and overcome all demands you place upon it.  I stake my honor and my word that I will spare no effort, no personal expense, to make it so.

(OOC: I am waiting on a picture upload but this will do for now.)

@ Ally:  I always thought Star Trek Nemesis was the grimdark world, or at least one with space Drow and iridescent gowns.  :-p  I liked the level of plight Into Darkness left Starfleet with, and I assure you that the bad writing of Alex Kurtzmann and Roberto Orci will be replaced with my own bad writing.  :-p

(I had so much hope for the movie when I watched the opening for Into Darkness and the away team mission...  It was like watching TOS reruns through nostalgia lenses.  The rest kind of let me down, but I'm happy that Star Trek interest is growing again)

Hello all!  Chief Helmsman Carlos de Silva here!  I was born in Brazil, so that means that I love soccer, beaches and women...not necessarily in that order.  Under my expert guidance, the Vigilant will undoubtedly be setting course for white sandy beaches and dense, mysterious jungles full of savage tribesmen.

Oh, yeah, Nemesis was definitely more grimdark! I just feel like actually letting a planet die is way grimmer than the old time travel "let's clean up our time-messes before we leave back to the future" trope that TOS and TNG both stuck with.

For the record, I actually enjoyed 2009. It had the right levels of callbacks to the old series, new content, action, humor... I just felt it was darker than, say, Voyage Home. And I wanted to love Into Darkness, but I just ended up so disappointed after they did the reveal that I couldn't. The problem for me was that they'd promised it wasn't him! So I ended up feeling lied to for half the movie. Plus nu!Kirk and nu!Spock weren't really friends enough to pull off that scene... You're right, though, that first scene was pretty fun. I would have been much happier watching them pull off that away mission for more of the movie. :D Ah well, I've got such a special place in my heart for TOS's characters that I'm sure I'll forgive them and see the next one.

I was...conflicted with Trek 2009.  I went expecting crappy acting and great special effects and got pretty much the opposite, with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto especially doing a great job in their roles.  The SFX I was "Meh" about since there was too much lensflare and the Narada didn't make any damn sense, even for a Romulan mining vessel upgraded with Borg tech.  The story was pretty terrible in most places, but the cast acted the Hell out of their parts despite that, so I couldn't fault them.

"Into Darkness" was more of the same unfortunately.  Everyone did a fantastic job overall, but the story wasn't worthy of them in most cases.  Abrams seemed to think that Star Trek was all flash and thunder when even TOS had lots of philosophical moments and morality plays.

Still, Pike's little speech to Kirk about his father was one of the best Star Trek moments ever IMO.  In just a few phrases he summed up much of what I love about the series.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:49, Fri 06 Sept 2013.

Okay, I realized that I didn't include post frequency rules.  I'm in a game on another site that has been running for over 2 years now, and these are its posting rules.  I wanted to ask you all if you'd be okay with this:

• Post at least 1/week
• Let me know if you are going to be gone for a while so I can write you out of the picture for a while (like a sudden case of Tellarite tonsillitis or Bolian stomach flu <===There's always an issue with the Bolians).

I'll try to keep things moving faster than 1/week, but I understand that people get busy.  Fortunately, the goofiness of the system (and the vast array of sci-fi technobabble at my command) can make giving people a break easy.

Does this sound fair?

Yes, its fair.