Keep these in mind and you'll do fine:

1. When in doubt ask.
   If you're stuck in-game or out-of-game, not sure how to react or feel like there is anything preventing you from posting, either drop a line in any OOC chat or send me a PM. If you don't get an answer within 24 hours, poke me via PM. While I may not update every day, I do keep an eye out for PMs and questions.
   
   
   
2. It's your character.
   I spend my day trying to figure out plot lines and run encounters. I do not memorize character sheets. If there is important information pertaining to your character it is your responsibility to bring that up, not mine to remember it. You are the advocate for your character, it is your job to give them every advantage they can have. If you have questions, see Rule #1.
   
   
   
3. If you have to leave, drop me a line.
   If you're going to be absent for longer then a week, or your RL schedule means you're going to be busier then normal, or school is starting and RL has to be adjusted...whatever the case, drop me a PM before you disappear for longer then a week. If you haven't posted in several weeks I will view you as an AFK player. I will then begin to NPC your character if they are vital to the plot, finding a replacement player, or working them out of the story. If you disappear for two weeks without prior warning, don't be surprised to find that you no longer have a character. This doesn't mean I can't work you back in, but it would ALL be resolved much better with a bit of forewarning. Even if you don't KNOW but just THINK you might have difficulty posting, see Rule #1: When in doubt, send a PM.
   
   
   
4. If you take too long, I will advance the story.
   PbP can be slow enough without spending weeks/months trying to create a plan. I've seen this happen game after game after game where when the party has to make a decision nothing gets done and the game grinds to a halt while people just mill around without anything to do. When you are ready for the scene to advance you can notify that clearly by writing in an OOC line at the bottom:
   
   OOC: READY!
   
   This will signify to both me and the rest of the group that you're ready to move on. When the majority is ready (or I get bored :P) the game will advance. I will post a default plan and if the plan hasn't changed before then, then that is what you're going to be doing. If you don't like it you'd better speak up and get a new plan in the works before I get bored and hit the fast forward button.

General Posting

For posting I will be doing the following:

• "Speech is bolded" to help make it pop. I know some people interpret that as always shouting but that isn't the case. Caps locked text is shouting. The purpose is that if you're skimming the thread you can quickly pick out what is being said versus is thoughts or other descriptions.
  
• "Speech is colored by the target's opinion of you.". If someone is speaking to you as a friend or ally they will talk in blue. If they are hostile it will be in Red and neutral is just black. This helps convey tone and context that are can be lost.
  
• Out of Character is Orange Orange is a reserved color for OOC comments and mechanics. Battle damage, reminders about this or that, asking you or letting me know that you are ready to move on with the game etc.

For players I ask that you post in 3rd person format as that tends to be the norm and I find 1st person posts from different people to be difficult to read.

---

Combat Posts

I would like you to use the following format for combat posts:

Underneath your descriptive post I would like you to clearly spell out each action you are taking and post your dice roll results in orange "OOC" text.

For example:

I prefer to run games right out of the book(s). Therefore players will be restricted to character options available in the various Modiphius Entertainment published books.

When it comes to custom races I am willing to listen to proposals for attributes/traits/talents to better represent the multitude of species in Starfleet however from my perspective the Core and Beta Quardrant books give you 21 species to play as so I am disinclined to expand that further.  For some species instead we can probably just re-skin an existing species that is of similar type to fit.

For example, Nausicaans are a group of strong and sturdy warriors. Sounds like you could just lift the Klingon race and re-skin it.

Other races will be heavily restricted due to the setting and timelines involved. During this time period there aren't any ex-Borg in Starfleet and any other Delta Quadrant race would likewise not be known at this time.

Even if you don't have a copy of the rulebook you can still participate!

Rules
Basic mechanics are assemble a dice pool of Attribute (e.g. Presence or Daring) and Discipline (e.g. Command or Security). Add the two numbers creates your target number to roll under on 2d20. Count the successes. There are ways to buy more dice using either Momentum (gained by succeeding more than is required on other roles) or using Threat (gives the GM tokens to spend to do bad stuff later on but gets you more dice now).

A simple task has a 1 success threshold while almost impossible tasks require 5 successes to pass.


For more information here is an excerpt from the quick start rules: Quick Start Excerpt

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Setting & Lore
The game will be set in 2371 (Star Date 48311). This is classic Star Trek: The Next Generation setting corresponding to around Season 7 of TNG and Season 3 of DS9 and Season 1 of Voyager.

For more information on anything and everything canon about Star Trek you should head over to Memory Alpha
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:26, Fri 12 Apr 2019.

To create a character follow this guideline:

1. Select Species
   Available Options Include:
   Andorian, Bajoran, Benzite, Betazoid, Bolian, Deltan, Denobulan, Efrosian, Human, Klingon, Rigellian (Chelon or Jelna), Risian, Tellarite, Trill, Vulcan, Xindi (Arboreal, Primate, Reptillian, Insectoid), and Zakdorn.
   
   (For half-breeds pick one race to be the dominant expression, either in terms of personality, culture, or physical characteristics).
   
   
2. Select Environment - where were they born? Where did they grow up?
   Available Options: Homeworld, Busy Colony, Isolated Colony, Frontier Colony, Starship/Starbase, and Another Species Homeworld.
   
   
3. Select Upbringing - what kind of family raised you? Also did you accept their ethics or rebel?
   Available Options: Starfleet, Business/Trade, Agriculture/Rural, Science/Technology, Artistic/Creative, Diplomacy/Politics
   
   
4. Select Starfleet Academy Track
   Available Options: Command (Command or Conn), Operations (Security or Engineering), Science (Science or Medicine).
   
   NOTE: If you decide to play an non-enlisted crewman then you do not attend the academy. Instead you gain the equivalent experience some other way, either through a Starfleet technical academy or real world experience or some other source of knowledge.
   
   
5. Select Career - due to the starting nature of the game everyone will be asked to select a Young Officer by default however more experienced officers are acceptable and so normal/veteran levels will be accepted on a case-by-case scenario.
   
   
6. Roll for Career Events - during your time at the academy/real world/prior starfleet experience there were two notable events that helped shape your path. Roll 2d20 and the results will be incorporated into your character. I would prefer players to roll however I may waive that and allow players to pick a single event on a case-by-case situation.
   
   
7. Select Rank and Role - most likely players will start as Ensigns or Crewmen but actual rank will depend on the particular character involved.
   
   As for role some options include (but aren't limited to): Comm Officer, Flight Controller, Medical Officer, Science Officer, Security Officer, Operations Officer.

Please do not just link me to a finished character sheet. I don't find those very helpful in understanding who a character is.

Instead please provide me with the step-by-step guides of what options you are picking at each stage.

For example:



Even better is if you give insights into why you picked something over other options. For example in the above I was thinking that this person would come from "Space Austrailia", a frontier colony that had a lot of venomous indigenous lifeforms and thus the colonists became experts in treating and handling venom and other toxic elements of the environment.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:48, Sat 13 Apr 2019.

I have set this game as "General" and that is how I expect the game to stay. To clarify that just consider what is shown in the Star Trek shows/movies.

Language
Traditional swearing is not allowed. Instead you will need to future it up with some creative cursing ("This place is smellier than a Klingon's armpit") or otherwise keep it PG "Blast it, why is this ship always falling apart!")

Romance & Sex
While I encourage romance and some sense of sexuality in play as part of characterizations note that this is always handled in a mature and respectful way. Nothing will be described beyond passionate kissing and anything more intense will be handled "off screen." If you are involved in a "sex scene" then it will fade to black and skip ahead to the aftermath. The dirtiest language you'll use is through euphemism but again, overall keep things PG.

Violence
Except in rare and specific moments there will be no excessive blood and gore. Phasers will inflict scorch marks, there will be minor cuts and blood smears but please do not go into excessive graphic detail about organs and guts and viscera.
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:36, Tue 14 May 2019.

For easy reference I'm putting challenge dice translations here: