Finally got around to making a new OOC thread.  Carry on...

*jumps on first post*

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 2):

Too slow, it says you got message two. Hehehe...

Am confuzzled - I’m guessing Decker is NOT on the away team, despite the GM post?

Also - “Piece of the Action”, original series, had the ships phasers firing on Stun to KO those involved in a Lethe battle between monsters.

…was a weird but fun episode.

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 5):

That was a great episode! I had forgotten that detail though.

I had often thought there should be a series, or maybe a mini-series, where Star Fleet goes back and checks on the planets Kirk visited, and that was one I wanted to see, because the ending implied they would be very advanced.

I would watch that, and I'm not a trekker!  :D  Sounds like fun.

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 7):

I'm not sure where the line is for Trekker, or Trekkie as it was called when I was younger.

I was never the type to dress up for things, but I've known people who would go to things in full Klingon make-up and gear, have the rites and rituals for their kids, etc.

I have watched a lot of the shows, but I haven't seen the last few movies or TV shows. I did enjoy a few episodes of the Orville, which I felt had a nice Trek feel to it.

It was for sure 'Trekkie' when I was young.  At some point the Trek enthusiasts decided Trekker sounded better.  Not surprising - Trekkie was often used in a scornful way by people who weren't fans of Star Trek, as well as the media.

*looks up on wikipedia*  Wow, I have a chunk of that wrong!  O_o  Well, I was young.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekkie

I, myself, have zero issues with fan culture.  I'm not into that kind of thing myself, but if people have fun, more power to them!  :D  And I admit, it does look fun.

My own Trek experience is limited to watching TOS as a kid, and most of the original movies (1-5, I think) at the time of their debuts or on TV.  I tried watching the various shows after that, but none of them really grabbed me.  I've seen the newest 'remakes', and they didn't have the same impact for me as Wrath of Khan, for example.

But everyone's experience is different, as are tastes!  ^_^

We're a little out of sync at the moment. I expect Decker will go on the away mission if/when we get there, but right now the ship is no where near the planet. Given current events, I think he'd probably stay at his console until he needs to leave.

I think the GM was trying to help move things along, but the situation changed.

Also, I could be wrong, but I think our illustrious Captain may have missed my most recent post. Captain, sir?

He did.  Thanks for drawing attention to that.

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 9):

Interesting that you would mention the change in term, it coincides with an issue I have seen discussed a lot on line of late. The bizarre idea that it is the name that is degrading, and that changing will change how people feel about a the activity.

Where I used to work, every three or four years the clerical staff made us change what we called them, because they thought it was degrading, but what they really found degrading was the job, and that wasn't going to change.

I feel it is the same with any fandom, people who feel the need to look down on someone else's hobbies isn't suddenly going to respect that activity because of a name change.

Sad thing is, going by the wiki article it was used almost as a pejorative by the fandom, themselves, for others in the Star Trek fandom.  O_O
This message was last edited by the player at 11:22, Sat 14 Aug 2021.

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 14):

True, but it wasn't the word that was insulting, it was the attitude, changing the word is meaningless.

"A rose by any other name ..."

In reply to CPT Naryss ch'Pertha (msg # 16):

Exactly.

Just to clarify, Decker asking questions as a result of his scan won't count as "the next player action", that's part of his scan action.

By the rules, Decker's action was first, then the creature/ship's.  Next is another PC, and then the ship again, etc.

…assuming we don’t have actual actions to take for the ship-to-ship combat - like, people in the shuttle bay - can we just post whenever?  :)

I was wondering that myself, if I thought I would be taking an actual action away from someone useful, I never would have posted.

RP posts are fine.  Actual combat actions count. ;)

Whew! That's good, not the time to be leeching off turns from the useful folk...

I wouldn't do that to you guys. At least not without a warning so you were making an informed decision.

You all can post your RP and reactions and such.  Anything that impacts the ship combat en situ will require an action!

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 23):

Did we automatically go to red alert when we were hit? just curious.

And if so, does Red Alert summon my staff to sick bay? Or should I do that myself, in preparation for casualties?
This message was last edited by the player at 06:19, Mon 16 Aug 2021.

I’ll post soon

You were last at Yellow alert, and nobody's called for Red Alert (yet).  You weren't hit, ya'll were tossed from emergency evasive maneuvers.  In other words, you were missed - this time!

I'm alive, but all this smoke in the air is killing my asthma.  I come home from work and just collapse.

Going to try to update my games tonight/tomorrow.  Thanks for the patience.

Ugh, so sorry to hear!  :(

I hope you're managing....

I hope everything is okay.  Long silences make me nervous.

Air finally got so bad that I can't go to work.  Home camped out with air purifiers on full blast.

The good news is, now I can finally post.  Update today.  Sorry for the wait!

Glad you're doing well and get a little time away from that air!

Seconded!  :D

With a heavy heart, I'm resigning all my character(s). I'm fighting cancer (good odds). If it's convenient, I'd like to keep this game on my list. It may be that I'll have the energy to check in, hopefully apply for something, in mid-December. Feel free to have my character(s) taken over. For those who wish me well, thank you. I'll not be checking in on this game. Thank you to all who have interacted with me for so long.

Ouch!
Wish you all the best, hope you make a full recovery

Fucking cancer.    My friend, my very best wishes in your fight.
We’ll be happy to hear from you any time you drop in.

In reply to LT Tsolo Kloshe Saghalie (msg # 33):

I'm very sorry. I'm glad the odds are on your side and I wish you the very best of luck. Take care.

I’m so sorry!  Glad to the odds are good, but will send positive thoughts!

I'm so sorry to hear. I've had some (less serious) health struggles and I totally wish you the best.  You're more than welcome to return at any point you're ready!

Sorry I'm overdue for an update.  Learned the Bajoran Engineer from my tabletop game in the Before Times (tm) passed away unexpectedly at the age of 39, leaving behind two middle-school kids.  I saw him a couple months ago at the game store...

TENNAN REIL may have never met a shuttle he wasn't ready to cannibalize to save the ship, but I'll miss his player, Dan.  He was a friend.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:12, Thu 02 Sept 2021.

Respects, and Salutations.

Condolences to his family. That is very young indeed.

I'm so sorry to hear that you lost a friend! Sending my love

That's terrible!  My condolences!

I hope his family has some support.

Ain't gonna lie, been a rough week or so.  On top of a rough year.

I'll brace up and get some posts done tomorrow.  Thanks for hanging in there with me gang.

OOC, I really think it would be wise to send the shuttle thru, and stay outside to Oort cloud with the ship, but it is obviously the Captain's call. If we could send the shuttle thru without the hive ship knowing we it it, bonus.

In reply to DR Ranse Layne (msg # 45):

The issue being it's still a long trip for a shuttle (close to a day, maybe). Also, the shuttle is pretty fragile if there are surprises inside the cloud.

OTOH, Independence has a LOT of shuttles.

I am still of the opinion that the alien ship is defending someone, I would hate first contact to blow up if there is any other option. It is certainly a sticky wicket.

Agreed.

OTOH, if it was easy they wouldn't have sent the best ship and crew in the Fleet!

All the more reason to hope we do the right thing. Hate for the best ship of the fleet to star a war! Then again, maybe my instincts are wrong. that's why we have a Captain, I would hate to be the one having to decide based on what little we know.

The captain is quite willing to make the hard decisions, and accept the consequences.

Mr. GM, I would like to propose the following supporting character:

Lieutenant Kezix
Dept: Science (Asst. Chief)
Race: Denobulan

Control: 8
Daring: 8
Fitness: 8
Insight: 10
Presence: 9
Reason: 11

Command: 2
Conn: 1
Engineer: 3
Security: 2
Science: 4
Medicine: 1

Stress levels: 10

Focuses:  Xenobiology, Geology, Survival

Equipment:
- Uniform, Tricorder, Communicator
- Phaser type-1:  Charge, Hidden1, 4d
- Unarmed strike:  Knockdown, NonLethal, 3d

... and I, for one, welcome our new Lord and Commander.

All Hail, Lieutenant Kezix!

Really?   ooops

This player is neither scientist, nor trekkie.
Either way, though, even if it'll be rough, ch'Pertha is likely to go ahead with this plan.

In reply to CPT Naryss ch'Pertha (msg # 53):

Depends upon how the helmsman interprets your order. ;)

Perhaps Decker should have joined the shuttle crew...

This message was deleted by the player at 00:06, Thu 09 Sept 2021.

Another commissioned officer.  Of course.

^_^

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 57):

I needed a second in the department. I'm afraid a non-commissioned crewperson would be totally inappropriate.

Trying to get back to my Wednesday/Weekend schedule for posting. :/

This is all a ploy to keep me from interacting with anyone but T’Lara!

…our resident therapist is a blessing!

I have just watched the first episode of Discovery.
Seems like something I might watch more of when I get time.

Please, where does it fit chronologically within the litany of Series’?

In reply to CPT Naryss ch'Pertha (msg # 61):

Ah, so many ways to answer this question.

My feelings about Discovery are complicated. I have watched all three seasons and I'm looking forward to season 4, but I had a real rough time with it in the beginning (the first 1/3 or so of Season 1). There are still some things that irk me, but overall it's definitely worth watching, IMO. There is some *fantastic* stuff later in the first season, for instance.

But that's not what you asked.

Discovery begins (2255) 10 years before the original series began (2265). Interestingly enough, that puts it 1 year *after* the original pilot (2254) with Christopher Pike.

Awesome.   Thanks

Sorry for being so quiet lately.  It is the holiday season over here, and we're traveling with the kids.  Will be able to post more regularly by mid next week.

In reply to LCDR T'Lara (msg # 64):

No worries. We're taking things slowly at the moment anyway. Hope you folks are having fun. :)

In reply to LCDR T'Lara (msg # 64):

What holidays? Curious.

We had our New Year, then the day of Atonement, and now it is the Feast of Tabernacles.
School is out for most of the month, and the heat waves of July/August are behind us, so it's an excellent time to do some sightseeing.

Sounds wonderful - enjoy!

Would it be helpful to split into two threads?  One for the landing party, and one for the ship?

I want to confirm who is where.  So far, I have in the shuttle:

CDR Vex
LCDR T'Lara
LT Kezik
LT Harada
PO Amamiya
PO Zogoyah
PO Trainor

That leaves the following onboard:

CPT ch'Pertha
DR Layne
LCDR Decker
And I believe NPCs.

Any corrections or changes?

Yes.

And, that is how I understand it.

Looks right to me.

T'Lara could probably crash it into the planet.  Not sure she's good enough even for that.

This message was deleted by the player at 05:08, Sat 09 Oct 2021.

Conn: 1

Not it.

I add my voice to Those Unqualified!

I think it's Vex.  Is it Vex?

What a typical group of player characters we are!  ^_^

‘What do you mean, nobody took the skill: Drive?’

:)

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 77):

I blame the person who put the landing party together myself. hehehe...

Well, either Trainor or Zogoyah have CONN ratings of 3.  They'd be good choices...

D'rala has a CONN rating of 2, which qualifies her as a mission pilot... but maybe not the best choice.

Of course I asked who'd flying the thing for a reason... ;)

I'll take the helm, retcon my seating arrangements please.

In my mind I assumed there was an NPC pilot but perhaps I should've asked specifically haha!

...it's too late to get that NPC pilot, isn't it?  :(

Your next character can be one ;)

LOL - I almost posted this, but didn't.

The lack of talents on these NPCs can be pretty painful, though. Sure glad I didn't put Decker on that shuttle! ;)

We're both in the same crashingshuttlefrying pan, T'Lara. O_o



-_-


This message was last edited by the player at 20:36, Mon 18 Oct 2021.

Omigod, romanji.  Could you put it in kanji and hiragana?  :)

More seriously, I will certainly appreciate the translations if we get TOO technical.  Genki 1+ 3 years of Apps doesn’t make me fluent.  ^_^. (Also, in truth, zero experience with romanji).

Doctor, why are you on the shuttle? ^_^

Fixed it, thanks. Gah...

If anyone on this website who has played two characters claims that has never happened to them, they are lying.  :D

She's asking the Medtech for assistance with something to do with the Shuttle.

.....

The Medtech with pathetic Conn and Engineering.

.....

What was that about 'next character' again?
This message was lightly edited by the player at 00:55, Fri 22 Oct 2021.

Given the absolute garbage rolls I've received in all of my other games that require a d20, I fully expected Rpol to say 'Okay, now is a good time to give you a bunch of natural 20's!'.

I'm very pleased this did not transpire.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:02, Thu 28 Oct 2021.

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 91):

I grok.

Updates coming tomorrow guys, stay tuned!

Or maybe not... my car got stolen last night.  Got a lot to deal with, will update ASAP

...oh dear.  So sorry to hear.

I came into the OOC ready to do a comedic post (or try to, anyway), and saw that.  No more comedic post.

Please take your time and take care of yourself!  O_o

Update: Car was found not a mile from my house, ditched in front of some sketch apartments. Inside tossed, a few items stolen, nothing worth much. Having it checked over for damage.

Well, that worked out better than it could have.
Luck be with you, my little friend.

Very happy you got it back!  ^_^

When you get it back, consider pissing on each of the tires ... mark your territory, man.

O_o

Is…is that how it works with men?  I have been living in (blissful) ignorance, lo these many years.

Honestly it's made me think of getting a new (used) car... just feels like it's tainted somehow now.  To be fair, it's 20 years old.

I wouldn't piss on the tires, but I might have my Blue Heeler do so...

Updating now.  Sorry for all the damned delays!

It's all good. Glad you're back. Are we all dead?

No.  You just failed to be Evasive.  You didn't roll a 20, and I didn't announce an increase in the Complication range, so... you just get no benefit.

Also, you'd only roll 1 die for the shuttle's assist.  The 5 was first, so we'll ignore the 18.  But, as noted earlier, assists don't count if the initial roll doesn't score at least one success.

You know I thought so, but wasn't sure. Better to roll dice you don't need, then need dice you didn't roll.

Running these secondary characters does give you greater appreciation for characters with talents and more focuses!  These folks don't show up in the opening credits! ;)

....as actions go, pulling a Hudson is less-than useful. O_O

Did you mean:
"When you successfully land a flying machine, aircraft, or other airborne vehicle or device in water, in one piece."
https://www.urbandictionary.co...Pulling%20a%20Hudson

Or:

That… *motions vaguely* That second one, there.

Never actually heard of the first one, but it would have been a better choice!  :)

I feel like I should be startled to suddenly have a Vulcan sitting in my lap.

    ... 'feel' delighted, you mean.

Logically speaking, you could discuss the first thing that comes up!

Tacky and tasteless much? No, thank you, besides, as a Gorn I suspect I wouldn't be delighted. Either way, I would never post anything like that.

I consider myself ... chastised.

I mistakenly believed Daniel Trainor was our pilot, which is why T'Lara took the helms after he threw in the towel.  I'll leave things now to the capable hands of Daniel Zogoyah

OK, I've updated the post to tag Zogoyah. Apologies!

Saw a fun article today. I'm not watching it, but apparently in the newest Star Trek show, the Horta have joined Star Fleet!

LOL.  I used to have a Horta NPC in most of my old campaigns.  On one pirate type ship, he was simply called "The Boarding Party".  :D

The TV show is finally catching up to you!

Next game, I'm playing a Q.

Apropos of nothing in particular. I ran across this (again) today and thought I'd share. I think it's a pretty valid perspective on Humanity's place in the Star Trek universe.

https://www.tor.com/2016/10/17...entral-in-star-trek/

Hehe.    I have seen that one before … and still read it, chuckling, in its entirety every time I see it.
You humans amuse us.

Sorry about my silence.  Life has apparently been taking my sparring advice and kicking me while I'm down.  Will try to post more frequently.  :D

Edit: Hm.  Not much to DO right now!  Let's see....
This message was last edited by the player at 01:09, Wed 24 Nov 2021.

Some good stuff, there, and I recognize some of those commentators.  No surprise it's from Tumblr.  ^_^
This message was last edited by the player at 01:08, Wed 24 Nov 2021.

The real reason humans are so central to Star Trek: Make up is expensive and time consuming!

Absolutely. But this is a much more entertaining and amusing explanation.

True.

I did love the variety in B5 though, humanity seemed like young pups for the most part.

In reply to DR Ranse Layne (msg # 124):

Agreed. Much much love for B5. While younger, smaller, and sadly dormant, in some ways my love for it is on par with my love for Trek.

David Brin's Uplift series has an interesting take on tiny humans in a huge, populated, and OLD! universe.

Now, why don't you just give Decker a couple of warp cores and see what happens.

*evil cackling*

I hear rumors of a re-boot of B5. I would give it a look.

Been years since I read any of the uplift novels, and not even remotely all of them. It doesn't help that the writer had such a negative reputation among the people I know, personally. Things like that irk me.

I'd definitely give it a look, but it would be tricky. There was an interesting premise in Crusade, but studio meddling mussed things up and it got cut short. I would find a re-casting of the original storyline to be HIGHLY problematic.

I've only read the first three Uplift novels, although I've read them several times. All three are comfort food for me.

Casting is a huge issue, especially if they are going to reboot.

JMS has stated that it won’t be the same story as the original.  Not a retelling.

I am of two minds regarding the whole idea.

Interesting. Sounds like it's going to be very similar to the Battlestar reboot (in the sense of taking the basic structure and elements of the original and forging a whole new path).

"Earlier today, The CW announced it was teaming with original series creator J. Michael Straczynski for a "from-the-ground-up" reboot of the original sci-fi drama Babylon 5. With Straczynski set to write the script and Warner Bros. TV involved, the new series is set to focus on John Sheridan (Bruce Boxleitner in the original series), an Earthforce officer with a mysterious background who is assigned to Babylon 5, a five-mile-long space station in neutral space, a port of call for travelers, smugglers, corporate explorers, and alien diplomats at a time of uneasy peace and the constant threat of war. His arrival triggers a destiny beyond anything he could have imagined, as an exploratory Earth company accidentally triggers a conflict with a civilization a million years ahead of us, putting Sheridan and the rest of the B5 crew in the line of fire as the last, best hope for the survival of the human race."

Sounds interesting. While I don't think it is possible, if it as much better than the old version as the new Battlestar was to the original it will be awesome.

I was really turned off by the way they ended the war the first time. If they can re-do that error, it could be something really interesting.

The original cast is irreplaceable, but I have faith in JMS. :)

This got me to re-watch a couple of episodes - the remastered episodes on HBOMax. Amazing stuff! The bar is high - I wish them and him (JMS) luck!

I would LOVE to watch the remastered stuff, but I'm not sure it has full subtitles, or if it's just 'closed captioning' (which doesn't seem to work for HD TVs).

If it HAS full subtitles, we'd probably watch them ASAP - B5 remains one of our enduring favorites.  Season 5 is my only real disappointment (and even that season had some really good points!).

...it's a little frustrating that every Blu-ray/DVD set that comes out for B5 has 'closed captioning' on it, ported straight from the old show, rather than updated subtitling.

I had no clue that the closed captioning didn't work for HD-TV's, how frustrating. I am really shocked they haven't gotten enough complaints to fix that.

Hm. I have sub-titles enabled for all content on my Roku, and I can't remember the last time I didn't see them. I have an older (1080) HD TV. I'm pretty sure I saw them in the episodes I watched over the weekend, but I'll check again this evening.

Not to mention it's an excuse to watch another episode. Choices, choices...

On the subject of B5 and RPGs, our illustrious Game Master ran a B5 game for our group many years ago. Back in the days of tabletop face-to-face play. ;) We did a lot of B5 tactical boardgaming (Google B5Wars if you haven't heard of it), but eventually we got around to roleplaying in the universe.

Bastard GM one-shot my character with a PPG. It was probably the first game session.

I'm just saying. ;) At least gunfire was realistically lethal in that adaptation.

Maybe it works, then.

Yes, sometimes things don’t works out.  We have a number of older series on dvd that are unwatchable now because their closed captioning doesn’t work.

Well, I made the ultimate sacrifice and watched another episode tonight (the end of the Narn Centauri War - so good!). HBOMax and the Babylon 5 episodes on it definitely include CC.

It's possible that whatever you're using to stream just doesn't support it? I use Roku devices (which I love love love) connected to my TV.

I don't know if this makes any sense, but you might check all the devices involved. At one point I was watching late night TV and it was censoring the profanity.

Not a big deal, but odd, the blanks were more off putting that the language ever would be for me.

I double checked my cable box settings, and it said that censoring was off, so I just lived with it for awhile, and assumed maybe they were doing it on the broadcast end or something.

Then one day I was putzing around and found out there was a similar setting in my TV I had been unaware of.

Maybe you have the subtitles on in one place, but off in another?

Hi - sorry I've been away for a bit.  Family losses.  Starting to feel up to posting again.

Regards the CC - I get what you're saying, Dr. Layne.  For this situation, it's something that only happens with old-style closed captioning on non-HD videos.  We've experienced this problem through two HD TV's.  You can set them up for Closed Captioning, read the manual cover to cover...etc.  And no dice.  Then throw in any Blu-ray (HD) with CC (not subtitles), or turn on any HD TV show with CC and they work like a charm.

VERY disappointing for watching our old stuff, so I'm hoping that the remastered B5 reaches Blu-ray or something so I can buy it.  ^_^

...I'm guessing Trainor is still gibbering Hudson-style?

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 142):

Sorry for your losses, glad you are feeling up to posting again.

Nah, I was just screwing around cos I was bored.  It was mostly for comic relief.
Now that we are happening, he'll contribute again like a good little red shirt.

Updating tonight... trying to slog through the holiday madness at work and home.  Pace will be "best possible" until after the holidays, but hopefully back to 2/week after that!

Nobody likes a weisenheimer, Decker. :P :D

Hey, no need to be that way! This is Starfleet. There are no individual victories - only team wins!

You're just mad that I succeeded your ridiculous test without generating any juicy complications (which are, admittedly, often fun) without even using my two re-rolls. ;)

Well, the dice give and the dice take away. Our time will come...

"Oh, Thursday!"

Thank you, Doctor Layne.

I'm sorry, I missed this! My condolences.

Thank you.  :D

Clearly I haven't been checking in here as much as I thought I would.

No worries. We're continuing to take things slow, and in any case you definitely need to take all the time you need.

Hey folks!

I hope you're having either a great or at least minimally stressful week.

This just crossed my path, so I thought I'd share it. It's a damn good deal on most of the Star Trek Adventures (digital) books.

https://www.humblebundle.com/b...modiphius-2021-books

The only books not included are the Gamma and Delta Quadrant books, and the Klingon book. Still a great deal!

I'm still poking around.  It's Christmas time, so I'm sure everyone is busy.  Thanks for the book-link!  Might check it out, though Trek isn't my thing (I know, bad thing to say in this crowd, boo, hiss).

Happy Holidays, everyone! ^_^

M E R R Y   C H R I S T M A S
One and all.  May the season bring you joy; and a few small miracles.


But for those struggling this season … for whom this time of the years is not the happiest time …
My love to you, and I hope you find the strength and support to get through it.

Happy Holidays everyone!  And best wishes to all!  ^_^

Stay safe!

Happy new year, I hope all are well!  It's terrible out there, now.  :(

Guys, I'm sorry.  Omicron is sweeping through the pet hospital where I work and we're down to half staff (but still trying to see the same number of patients, because of course we are).

I hear ya.
I have just done nearly 80hr in 8 days at work, and its not letting up.    We have SOOoo_oo many staff away ... either with Covid, or awaiting test results.

Be well, everyone ... especially those very handsome gents who already have respiratory issues.

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 159):

Hey Mr SC, no worries. No one here expects you to prioritize the game over real life, and it sounds like you've got way more than enough real life to contend with.

Stay safe, or as safe as you can. Let me know if there's anything I can do.

Wow...please stay safe, Command!  And everyone else!  And I'm sorry to hear about the work, ch'Pertha!  O_O

I'm still here, not going anywhere.

Sorry to hear about everyones troubles! Definitely crazy times right now. I'm around still for whenever things normalize for people.

Me too

Guys, with apologies, I'm closing down the game.

2022 turned to 2021 and said, "Hold my beer."

I just can't.

I hope someday to run a game again.  Please drop me an rMail to stay in touch if you'd be interested.

I'll be deleting this game shortly.

Well, it has been a pleasure serving with all of you.

Any chance Starfleet can give us a rundown on what was going on, and the planned adventure? I was really intruigued by what was going on.

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 165):

Thanks for running, sir. Good luck and hopefully we can screw up Star Fleet again in the future.

It was great meeting and playing with the rest of you, too. Take care, all.

Take care buddy.


Note to Decker:  I'm sorry you didn't get to speak IC at ch'Pertha's court marshal

Right??? Talk about a missed opportunity. ;)

Of course, someone (Decker included) could have saved him by blowing a roll at the wrong time and dooming the ship.

Best wishes to all! Enjoyed my time with everyone. Hit me a note if anyone has any other games looking for players or if this one ever comes back up.

I am 100% still here, still waiting, still interested.  ^_^  So if I see anything, will send a message!

...in-game, because I don't have your username.  :(

In reply to CDR D'rala Vex (msg # 170):

I'm still looking for a couple of extra players for my Marvel Heroic game.  We just completed the first story arc, and about to start on the second, so it's a good time to jump in.

link:
link to another game

I miss this game...just saying.  ^_^

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 173):

It was fun.

I agree.

I hope you are well, friends.

Who wants to pick this back up again?

I never quit because I didn't enjoy it.  Life was just kicking my can.

I think I'm in a better place now...

The Doctor is in!

For sure

Absolutely.

Um...yes?  I would love it.  ^_^  I just...dropped in to read, to say that, but heck, if we could continue...?

I may have a way to hunt down T'Lara, as well.

And great that you're feeling better, boss!  ^_^

Also, grand to see you all again!  :D

I'm honored by the continued interest gang! ^_^

I'll give it a few days and see who else is in, then see about scraping the barnacles off...

So I fired off a RTJ to the game I think T'Lara runs.  No answer yet, but it could be lost in the PM's as RTJ's get shuffled to the bottom.

I'll try Rmail now.

Sorry for being late to reply, last couple of days have been hectic.
But I am here, and would be happy to rejoin the game.

Huzzah!  :) another one!

Hailing frequencies open,. Hail! Hail. The gangs all here! LOL

Awesome!

Something I was considering was to move on to a new story to kick us off, instead of trying to go back and remember what I was doing and where we were two years ago.

Thoughts?

Probably for the best, though I wouldn't mind hearing what was going on the last time. I was certain the alien life form was something we should try to communicate  with. If you know, that is.

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 187):

But. But. Decker had just scored an EPIC success!

Can we at least play out ch'Pertha's court-martial?

I concur

I'm good either way, though I will miss that storyline, since we were just getting into it and it was sounding interesting.  But the GM needs to be comfortable with whatever they're doing.

I assume we can say 'It happened, our characters barely got through it and otherwise the status quo is whatever it was when we began'?  Ie, new people are still 'new', etc?

I have some important character work during the last story (a bunch of which is in PM conversation).  Would rather not lose that.

But as noted, am fine with starting something new so long as we keep the old.  :)

...would also like a write-up of ch'Pertha's court martial.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:34, Fri 27 Jan 2023.

And not delete Fury of the Hive?  :)  It's a good read.

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 187):

In all seriousness, I'm fine with moving on, although I am curious where it was going.

It sounds to me like there's a good swath of ya's that would like to continue this plotline.  Am I wrong?

I'm a +0 on it... either way is fine.

How about ya'll?

+1 Continue this storyline
+0 Ambivalent
-1 Summarize and move on to a new adventure.

Votes?

-1

Summarize and move on.

I don't mind either way.

+1 Continue this story

The good news is, we can browse through the two threads and catch ourselves up.

I'm more of the 'continue this storyline'.  I must say, you really caught me with this, Starfleet.

So +1 for me, with the caveat of 'ONLY if the GM is comfortable'.  GM needs to be happy.  You have the veto power here - if you'd rather move on, I'm fine with that so long as we get that summary.  ^_^

By chance, this popped up in my feed this evening. Let's see if this works.

Edited: Nope. Well, let's try this instead.

https://www.facebook.com/Modip...Y72GYKLmFyKGnhdQYChl


This message was last edited by the player at 05:51, Wed 01 Feb 2023.

In reply to LCDR Christopher Decker (msg # 199):

A perfect example of how role playing has turned into roll playing.

Not sure how many of you, if any, are familiar with The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan, a classic module for AD&D, but if played tournament style, you get dropped into the end, and have to find your way out. There is more to the set up, but there is a deeply detailed and illustrated room, and a locked door.

When we played this one back in the day, it was all about reading the descriptions and trying different things to find the key.

Played it with some 5E people, and the player just automatically grabbed a dice and rolled to find the key.

WTH?

I convinced him to pay attention to the details, and he was thrilled when he figured it out for himself.

But it changed nothing, he went right back to rolling the dice to solve everything.

Depressing.

Any other votes?  Seems like "carry on with the current story" is winning.  As I said, I'm ambivalent either way. :)

Make it so ...

Sounds like we pick up where we left off!

OK, now the homework: Go back and re-read the mission posts.  I'll be doing the same.  That way, hopefully, when we pick it back up, it won't be as muddled with confusion over where we are and what we're doing! :)

I'll give us a week or so to catch up, and then kick it (back) off.  K?

I'm all read-up, because I originally came back here to read everything and then whine about it being over.

Sooooo glad I did!  ^_^

If it's hard to pick up RIGHT where we left off, we could have one set of people picking through the wreckage of a shuttle crash and another set in a damaged ship?  No?  Not popular?  ^_^

I'm honestly enjoying the re-read.  Makes me glad you posted to the game, got my attention, and inspired me to rekindle this one. :)

Still got a ways to read but I'm giving us a bit so we can all catch up.

Awesome.  I'll check in more once we get going (right now, 1/2 days or so, I'm slow).

Not feelin' the readin'. I'll just wing it for now.

No worries.  Not mandatory.

For those that ARE backreading, how's it going?  Caught up?

I'm planning to restart this weekend, unless people are ready sooner...

All caught up, myself!  :D

I'm good to go.

Me too.

Ok, so my back-reading tells me that the Sacagawea is within atmosphere ... and plummeting?
The Independent is orbiting geo-syncronious ... having launched probes specifically to establish and strengthen comms with the Sacagawea, but are dying swiftly due to the electrical atmosphere.

We currently have a location lock on the Sacagawea, but that might not last long ... and using whatever opportunities we can to scan the surface?


Tell me, on a rating of 1-10, how stupid would it be to attempt a brief atom intrusion, simply to tractor-beam the Sacagawea, and pull her out of the atmosphere?
(At this point, with the Space-Entity not breathing down our necks, saving his people is ch'Pertha's high priority)

Am I missing anything?  Anyone!

In reply to CPT Naryss ch'Pertha (msg # 212):

Pretty sure the shuttle has contacted survivors and is closing with them. Not sure the people on the ship know that. Could we clarify if the ship heard the message from the survivors?

Good point; that will be worthwhile having confirmation on.

Yes.  The Independence thought the shuttle was crashing, and now that they got a peek through the EM 'curtain', they can see it is instead zipping close to the ground at high speed towards the mountains.

The ship didn't get the clear transmission from the colonists, though, just garbled static.

Ok, so they don’t need immediate rescue.   That’s good

In fairness, we WERE crashing!  :D

Post up, getting back into the character groove.  My obsessive nature is going to force me to go back and change all the old pics, I know it.  :(
This message was last edited by the player at 00:50, Mon 13 Feb 2023.

Hey, Mr GM, did the ship only get a snapshot of the shuttle's situation, or can we continue to track and/or scan the area?

The view was only a snapshot, but it was enough to track where the shuttle was going and the fact that it was still under it's own power.

The atmosphere is still littered with magnetic anomalies that are hard to scan through and block transporters.

I know it's been a while since we dipped into this pond, so apologies... me too! :D

Update soon, busier than usual this week

Ok, thanks for the heads up.

Thats all good with me.
After separating from the (now ex-) this time last year, I have now purchased a new home for my daughter and I.
I am in the physical and bureaucratic throes of finalising, packing and such.

I hope life is good for you all, friends.

In reply to CPT Naryss ch'Pertha (msg # 222):

Grats on the new place! Good luck on your move.

In reply to CPT Naryss ch'Pertha (msg # 222):

Congratulations!

Hooray!  Fantastic!  :)

That's awesome buddy.  Congrats! :)

In general, Thursdays and Sundays are my so-called days off.  I'll try to post more frequently than that, but those are safe bets. :)

Okay, will work up a post but I've made an inquiry with our GM, so I might have more than one coming.  ^_^
This message was last edited by the player at 02:23, Sun 26 Feb 2023.

Huzzah for Decker! I think you have have found a vital bit of info!

In reply to DR Ranse Layne (msg # 229):

Indeed! Hopefully that momentum spend was worth it. I think the GM is going to keep tossing these ridiculous checks at us until we fail catastrophically. ;)

Sorry - short post.  We're not doing so good, here.  But will keep up.

Thank you to Starfleet for bringing game back.  ^_^

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 231):

Nothing wrong with a short post, sometimes just saying you got nothing to say lets the GM and others know they can move along.

Sorry folks, I got the keys to my new house yesterday, and have spent yesterday and today cleaning in prep for moving in tomorrow.
I will attempt to post soon, but I beg your patience, as the rest of this week and weekend will be trying.

Moving is always arduous, but can also be exhilarating. Best of luck on all of that. I, for one, am in no rush.

I feel like the good doctor is studying data. Hoping the GM will roll for me, or failing that tell me very specifically what I need to roll.

No worries. Do what you need to do. I hope it goes (relatively) smoothly.

Good stuff with the move!  Stay safe!  :D

Had some storm damage to the home gang, nothing life-threatening but I gotta deal with it.  And this happens right before I have a friend's wedding to attend this weekend, so... posts will be delayed.  Apologies.

Hope the wedding is fun at least. Knock on wood, hope the home repair isn't too arduous.

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 237):

Ooof. And more rain coming in starting tomorrow through Tuesday.

Best of luck.

Such is life, sadly.  :(. Hope it goes well with the fixes!

How are things going, boss?  Hopefully well...

Playing catch up as usual.  Finally got the repairs done tho!

Huzzah!!! :)

If the injuries aren't life-threatening, there's no reason to use my special ability on them.  So if I take it correctly, I need three successes, I roll one dice. Do I get another one from equipment?

T'Lara adds her own dice to that, I can also use momentum.

All correct?

No extra success from T'Lara's roll.  Got an 18 on the 1d20.

Actually, Azami would roll 2 dice.  2d20 is a normal check.  Then T'Lara rolls a single die to assist.

Ships can assist with some tasks, but in this case, not so much.

Okay, then! We seem to have a momentum pool, I'll use one of those for 3d20.

accursed dice

Any way I can fix this with something after the fact?  :(

No 100% sure what is going on, but can Daniel offer to assist, and add a dice or three?

Woot!  Daniel WAS helping out, as well!

Someone please roll the die for me, or tell me what to roll?

Normally, only 1 assist die is used, although sometimes you can hedge for more.  I'll go for that!

Daniel can roll Reason + Medicine on 1d20 to assist. He'll need a 9 or less to assist, with a "1" counting as 2 successes.  I'll let you roll - that's the fun!

Sorry. Got close!

As to rolling, that's not the fun for me, I prefer role-playing to roll-playing. Some of my favorite games, the DM rolled all the dice.

06:57, Today: PO Daniel Zogoyah rolled 10 using 1d20 ((10)).

No problem, I can roll for you next time if you prefer! :)

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 255):

I suspect it would speed things up a bit, so yes, feel free to roll for me at will. Unless it's more fun for you to have me roll.

As a DM I find I often don't want the player to know the result, for example looking for traps, or listening for a noise.

I played in a group once where the GM let the player totally change their action after a poor roll which let them know a future action would fail. I was shocked. Stopped playing with them soon after, not for the occurrence alone, but it is an example of how a lot of things worked in that game.

Ooof, yes, that's an interesting way of doing things.  Maybe it worked for them, but it's not for me.  :)

Did we succeed?

Update tonight or tomorrow, finally get a day off... yay!

:)

Huzzah!  And great for having time off!  :D

Surprisingly busy, but I got a lot done!

More updates tomorrow, I owe Kezik a response and I'll try to move things along further. :)

Happy Easter to those who celebrate it.

In reply to DR Ranse Layne (msg # 261):

Indeed. Happy Easter.

Sorry for the delayed response, it's been a busy few past days and I missed the notifications.

In reply to LCDR Christopher Decker (msg # 262):

Never a problem, the joy if RPoL is the ability to play at the pace of life.

Though I do often check if there is no alert every couple of days, it isn't unheard of for it not to pop, in my experience.

I wish as a player I could 'bump' my posts sometimes.

Besides, holidays are notoriously busy for a lot of people.

Hope you found all the eggs!

Oooooh, boy. Kezik blew it. I can't wait to see how badly.

He's never gonna get a promotion at that rate.

Felicitations for Easter - belated - and Passover and Ramadan.  Bit of a religious traffic jam this year.  ^_^

Probably not a coincidence. I know Easter sprang from Passover, wouldn't be surprised if Ramadan had a similar history.

It never rains but it pours...

I'll spare you the details.  Updating ASAP!

Working on updates.  Caught a cold, thankfully not COVID.  Plugging away!

Still coughing, but mostly better.  Hope ya'll been well, sorry for the slowdown.  I haven't had a regular cold in a while and this was miserable enough!

Glad you're mostly better. Orange Juice is my miracle cure for a cold!

Yay for feeling better!

Sadly, I'm in the middle of a strike, hence my divided attention.  I'll try to get back here more often...  ^_^

Good luck on your strike. Unions are the backbone of a healthy fiscal society.

I am waiting to post till I hear a reply from my last two actions.

I'll be updating soon.  Just as I was recovering from the cold, I got the stomach flu.  Good times.  Didn't call out sick, but barely made it through the work week. :(

You...are not having a good time.  :(  I'm so sorry!

Dang, that sucks. Saving your sick leave for when you're healthy? LOL.

Mostly recovered, just trying to catch up on all the various things I had to let slide whilst sick.  Would have helped if I took some sick days from work but...

Next time, take those sick days!  Good to hear, though.

Uh, how much momentum DO we have?

The counter was last updated in 2021. *lol*

In reply to LCDR Christopher Decker (msg # 278):

LOL. Too funny.

My bad.  Pool should have 2 momentum left.  Decker, our resident "Momentum Hog", is to blame. >_<  ^_^

I'll own that. But show me just one time, win or lose, when I spent it when I shouldn't have. ;)  There's no 'I' in Starfleet - it's all about the team!

Get that big success!  :D  I'm cool with you using all the momentum!

He didn't tell us how many successes we needed, but that should refill the pool at least a bit, I hope.

I'm just curious to see if our 'solution' involves sky-writing our messages with the ship's phasers.

...that would be one way of doing it, I suppose!

That was pretty good, Decker.  Just ONE more success and you'd have made it! :P :D

For the new player, that's a joke. ;)

And we do have a new player!  Please welcome ENS Turak, our new Vulcan helmsman!

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 286):

Welcome, new helmsman!

Are they going to roll a second character who is on the ground? Maybe one of the locals?

Hello and welcome!

Thank you for the welcome - it’s good to be aboard!

Hooray, new player and new posts!  Welcome, Turak!  ^_^

Sorry about not posting, rough weekend!

AAAAAND I'll take this moment to congrats the bridge group for their success!  ^_^

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 292):

Thank you. It was a team effort. Well me, one other player, and lots of dice.

Team of three!  ^_^

Looks like we're still the only two PO's, Daniel.  ^_^

Seems like it... you know what they say though, it takes two to make a game go right! It takes two to make it out of sight...
This message was last edited by the player at 02:17, Fri 02 June 2023.

Non-commissioned forever!  :D

LOL glad you guys are getting along. :)

And thanks for your patience with the slow pace.  Trying.

Funny thing. While there were definitely crewmen and women in TOS, once we got to the TNG era, Roddenberry kind of nixed them out. His perspective was that the whole ship was crewed by astronauts, highly skilled but well rounded individuals. So while there were still ranks, everyone was an officer. Kinda silly, really. There were oddballs like Chief O'Brien, but he was actually shown as a Lieutenant for much of TNG.

https://memory-alpha.fandom.co...lematic_rank_history

Interestingly, the character of Enrique Muniz in DS9 was a great example of an enlisted engineer aboard the Defiant.  But yes, some of the 80s RPGs suggested there WERE no enlisted on a Constitution-class ship, which is just... silly, to anyone who knows how the Navy works.

It's like...they wanted it to be a military organization while not being a military organization.

So, how's our new player?  :D  Ready to join?

It's all just labels, regardless of if they called them officers or not, there were still people who job it was to be at the bottom.

Every four or five years at my last place of employ, the front line staff demanded a name change, thinking whatever they were called was 'demeaning', but as the job remained the same, nothing else really changed, and soon enough they wanted to change the title again.

In reply to PO Amamiya Azami (msg # 301):

PO Azami - I’m definitely ready to join in! Just tell me when and where.

Absolutely.

There are some important details, mind.  If everyone starts at Ensign, everyone can get anywhere via promotion (I mean, loads won't, but it's possible).

If some people start as non-commissioned, if they want to actually have the capacity to be promoted to a commissioned rank, they need to go to the academy and take courses, then come out as a commissioned type.  Barring something really weird happening, Petty Officers don't get promoted to Lieutenants, as an example.



^_^

The boss will hopefully give you a starting point soon!

Warrant officers are another exception. They're an Army thing, but there might be equivalences.

A lot of things enlisted do in our world though, could be done with tech in the Star Trek universe.

There is a lot that can be done with tech in Trek that, for most of its history, hasn't been. They didn't start showing the use of drones/robots for ship maintenance until very recently. Discovery/Lower Decks.

Assuming Starfleet sticks to a quasi-military format, I think enlisted ranks still make a lot of sense.

Money/accumulation of wealth may or may not be a primary motivation at the core of the Federation, but personal accomplishment and prestige clearly IS, certainly within Starfleet. See the TNG episode Tapestry for a main character example.

In reply to LCDR Christopher Decker (msg # 306):

They could have the format without the title. Nothing stops the Army from calling privates Lieutenants if they want to.

That said, you do see that the mess hall is replaced with tech (except in Voyager) and there is clearly no reason to dig latrines anymore.

"They could have the format without the title. Nothing stops the Army from calling privates Lieutenants if they want to."

True, but ranks aren't just a single continuum. There is a pretty clear distinction between the kinds of responsibilities that enlisted and commissioned personnel have and the work that they do. Obviously Starfleet could use some of the terminology of traditional military structures while using them completely differently, but WHY?  I think a better answer is that the writers often don't have a very good idea of how these things work in the real world.

Agreed, no one is digging ditches or serving slop on board a starship, but all that tech needs to be *maintained*. Trek has very deliberately minimized the amount of work that's taken on by AI. Worf could just press the 'Fight' button on his console and let a much smarter and much FASTER AI coordinate the battle, but that's now how it's done (and obviously, from a story and TV presentation perspective, it would be a hell of a lot less satisfying).

So, it seems to me, that on a Starfleet ship there are still going to be a lot of 'doers', with a smaller number of planners, decision makers, and leaders. It's why I try to make a point that Decker is spending a lot of time assigning tasks to people in his department and then collating the results of their work to communicate it to the Captain. All those various specialists in the Science department have to earn their credits (or do they?) and make him look good! ;)

In reply to LCDR Christopher Decker (msg # 308):

Wow, that was a long way to go to agree with me.

*checks in*

Everything okay?  Hopefully no emergencies?

Not dead.  Trying to get back on my feet, got sidetracked with a ton of RL stuff.  :(

In reply to Starfleet Command (msg # 311):

No problem - understandable!

Awesome.  Glad you aren't dead, and glad the game is still hopefully around!

But real life always comes first!

I think I'm giving up role playing.It has been fun, in fact my main form of fun, for decades, but I have lost interest.

Please remove me from this game.

Very sorry to hear, Dr. Layne!

...also sorry this didn't go anywhere.  But such is life.

It's not this game, I had no issues with waiting, it is that I no longer seem to enjoy role-playing. Though I too wish it had gone somewhere...

Best of luck to all of you in all your gaming!

Sorry to hear that. For what it's worth, I really enjoyed our interactions. If you're no longer enjoying a past-time, though, it definitely doesn't make sense to continue. Take care.

Sorry to see you go, Dr. Layne.  I'll remove you from the game as per your request.

Working the two jobs I've been doing is unsustainable, frankly, and it's chased out all my fun-, hobby- and leisure-time.  I'm hoping to make a change in September.

Sorry to hear, Starfleet.  I'm still around, and hopefully others will be.

Well, happy new year to everyone, I hope you're all doing okay!  :D

And to you, Azami.
May the year be awesome for everyone here.

Hope this year's better for everyone!

I hope it's great for both of you!  :D

I am still here, as always.  ^_^