This thread will consist of answers to frequently asked Questions (some of which I'll preemptively assume will be asked).
Where does the campaign happen? Relic takes place in the Beta Quadrant, Dobhran Sector, within the Dyson Sphere from the TNG episode
Relics. Dyson Base is commanded by Commander Delilah Samson and has been expanded following the cessation of Dominion War hostilities and a devastating attack within the Sphere. Several new facilities have jest been built and the characters are part of the newly expanded federation presence.
What types of adventures are planned? Ther will be plenty of exploration missions, both in the runabout and ground-based. There will be first contacts with the various inhabitants of the Sphere and mysteries concerning the history of the Sphere and its mysterious builders. There is also a lost colony of TOS Klingons whose ship the
IKS BortaS crashed a century ago, leaving the crew to found a colony and adapt to a lower technology. The crew of Dyson Base are working with the Klingon Empire to repatriate the Klingon survivors.
When is the campaign set? The campaign will begin on New Years Day of 2373, and time will be tracked in Stardates. It is only a few month since the defeat of the Dominion, and characters have the option of making their last tour of duty be War related.
Just what is a Stardate? At 00:00:00 hours Zulu (GMT or UCT) January 1, 2323, a new Stardate system came into use. Under this new system, 1000 Stardates equals one Earth year, or 365.2425 days (8765.82 hours). One SD equals 8 hours 45.95 minutes. This standard now defines the length of a ship's crew shift, with a standard ship's day being 3 Stardates, or 26 hours 17.85 minutes. This time period happens to be closer to the Human Circadian rhythm than Earth's actual 24 hour day.
Stardate 00000.000 was 00:00:00 UCT 01/01/2323. Taking the year 2376, a leap year, as an example, SD 53000.000, the ship's official New Year, is actually 17:27:36 Universal Coordinated Time, 01/01/2376. Holidays are celebrated on board ship beginning at the start of the shift closest to midnight UCT of that day, with the exception of the New Year which is fixed to the XX000.00 mark; and certain religious holidays, the observance of which is tied to the time at a particular geographical location.
What species can be played? Pretty much any established Federation species is available. Klingons are easily fitted in. While there are few Klingon Starfleet members, they can easily fit in as well as Klingons on an Exchange programme from the Empire to Starfleet. Other species from outside the Federation, as can be seen in the TV shows, they can sometimes join Starfleet, and Federation allies may also be accepted into Exchange programmes. Bajor has not yet been admitted to the Federation, but many Bajora joined Starfleet both before and during the War. There are very few Ferengi in Starfleet, and any that are will be in their first tour of duty, and thus will most likely be Ensign of rank. In addition, characters from other SF RPGs may be played as Federation members or allies, including Vargr from Traveller, and Dralasites or Yazirians from Star Frontiers. The same applies to original created species (with GM approval).
What species are restricted or disallowed? Vulcans and to alesser extent, Klingons can be difficult to play, and soif one wishes to play a Vulcan or Klingon one must receive prmission from the GM. This may only be granted if the player can satisfy the GM that he/she knows how to play the species and can fit them into the group. Although the Romulans were Federation Alies at the end of the War, relations are pretty rocky, so no Romulans are permitted into the Sphere. Tholians are right out for many in-universe factors, not the least of which is their biological makeup.
What is the uniform of the day? Characters wear the standard late DS9/TNG movie unifor of black tunic with quilted grey shoulders over branch coloures tunics. Characters wear a combadge on the left breast and rank pins on the right collar. Non-Federation characters often wear ther own rank insiglia and may wear custom combadges. Some items of religious dress are permitted, like Klingon baldrics (a la Worf) or Bajoran earrings, Sikh turbans Jewish yarmulkes, et cetera. Other sorts of religious accessories should be cleared through the GM. Hairstyles are quite variable. Long hair is permitted so long as it is well groomed and does not hinder the character's performance. neat beards and/or moustaches are permitted, and sideburns must be well groomed.
What is the weapons policy? The Sphere is considered a potentially hazardous environment, so all characters carry a type I ("cricket") phaser in their waistband. On more hazardous missions, characters may be issued type II ("cobra") phasers or Type III compression phaser rifles (as seen in the first few seasons of
Voyager). Klingon characters may sometimes carry Mek'leths (the funky sword used by Worf in DS9) or dk'taghs (the three bladed Klingon knife) in their baldric.
What type of ship do the characters have? The characters have a
Danube class runabout as seen in DS9. If the players wish, once the group has been filled, they may select a name for the runabout. The name must be of an Earth river. Runabouts seen on screen may not be used, unless the ship was destroyed before the end of the war, in which case the name may be recycled with a different NCC number ("no bloody A, B, C or D's") names of most of the runabouts on the Relic page may be requested -
http://www.coldnorth.com/owen/...-legacy/runabout.htm - (except for the
USS Lena). runabouts are armed with Type VI phasers and 13.3cm photon microtorpedoes. Runabout often carry a rollbar-mounted sensor module.
The game is labelled "Mature". What is meant by mature in this context? Star Trek is at its best when it deals with topics of resolving conflicts between societies and individuals, and often explores clashes of competing philosophies. This may lead to some though-provoking and intense scenes, and death may lie in wait. It will not, however, stray into anything darker than PG-13 material. Foul langaue will not be permitted beyond the odd "hell" or "damn". basically, if you couldn't say it on televised Trek, you can't say it here either.
What will be the format for posts? Action will be described in the third preson in the present tense, as in: Jim walks onto the bridge and crosses to his seat. Dialogue will be in quotation marks and bold-faced with italics for emphasis, as in: He snapped,
"Scotty, I need Warp nine now!". Thoughts are to be in quotes and italics bold for emphasis, as in: Scotty though to himself
"Hold yer bluidy horses, Sair!" Telepathic communications will be in angled brackets marks and bolded, as in: Spock began the meld -
<My mind to your mind... Our minds are one..> OOC comments should be on a separate line at the foot of the message in red and prefaced OOC:
OOC: That's all for now, will post more tomorrow!
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:15, Sun 03 July 2016.
