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Post by Falconer on Mar 3, 2010 20:10:02 GMT -5
D&D campaigns traditionally begin with the PCs in a tavern—meeting each other, arranging monthly rent with the landlord, bribing locals for juicy rumors, hiring henchmen, and scouting out the neighborhood for good spots to buy equipment and supplies.
But Star Trek episodes typically begin with a “Captain’s Log” voiceover explaining the situation, as we watch the landing party materialize on a strange planet (or something similar). I wonder if this might not be the best way to start a Star Trek campaign. You’ve rolled up the characters, everyone groks the basics, so just “railroad” them and get the adventure started!
The interesting thing about how the show is set up, is that the Enterprise is the “town” to which the party returns at the end of each session. (Obviously, a planet typically stands in for the “dungeon”.) The Writers Guide specifically cautions against using bases too much, both for the fact that we ought to feel like the ship is “home,” and in order to preserve Kirk’s autonomy (he can’t just “radio” for orders, because he’s out in deep space).
Incidentally, this feeling is missing in the movies, which usually begin on earth. That means earth is the “town” and Enterprise is the “dungeon”. Not to belabor the analogy, and it’s not a criticism per se, but it is definitely a different feel for me.
Just musing aloud, as usual.
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Post by aramis on Mar 4, 2010 2:39:43 GMT -5
I've found that: - Base = City
- Ship = base camp &/or town
- planet = dungeon
It's a better fit. Inthe city, you get supplies, new missions, etc, but you don't go there all the time, but you often go dungeon to dungeon, town to town between city trips. I tend not to use episode format when running... but then I also tend to run in the SFU. I start with orders from base. I have, however, found it a great exercise to have players write their character's log entries down. I used them in a court-martial session once... And I agree, the dynamic of the movies is very different.
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coffee
Lieutenant
"My chicken sandwich...and coffee." - James T. Kirk
Posts: 84
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Post by coffee on Mar 4, 2010 2:40:56 GMT -5
This is what I always wanted to do when I ran FASA's Star Trek back in the day.
I even wanted to get a tape recorder and have the Captain's player dictate a log entry, but that never panned out.
But yeah, if there was ever a roleplaying game that cried out for starting in medias res, Star Trek would be the one!/
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Post by lstyer on Mar 4, 2010 7:54:11 GMT -5
I wonder if this might not be the best way to start a Star Trek campaign. You’ve rolled up the characters, everyone groks the basics, so just “railroad” them and get the adventure started! Would that even count as "railroading"? It seems like genre emulation to me. Now, if you started every episode that way, or even most, I think it would not only get old, but would start to feel railroady, but I think it would be a great way to start a Starfleet-centered Trek campaign. In such a campaign, the characters have particular "roles" dictated to them within the game universe, so throwing everyone right into their respective roles seems both natural and potentially fun. I wouldn't necessarily expect everyone to stay in their strictly defined role once things get going, but as a starting point it might go a long way toward establishing characters.
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Grendelwulf
Lt. Commander
Second star on the...no... To Infinity and..no.. Ah-ha! Never give up, Never surrender! THAT'S it!
Posts: 147
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Post by Grendelwulf on Mar 4, 2010 13:26:19 GMT -5
Without asking them, I encouraged my players to do log entries periodically if the opportunity arose.
An incident happened where the PC's crew was killed by alien parasites. They rolled new characters and their new ship was sent to investigate their old one's disappearance. The PC's couldn't act on information their old characters knew. A wiley player tapped into the old ship's main computer... ah-HAH! No current logs meant no information on what they faced! Therefore, a landing party had to be sent over!
After that, a ship's records officer often accompanied them or they periodically made notes via their tricorders. One player Captain creatively used his log like Kirk in 'The Tholian Web' to explain things to the crew in event of his going missing.
Ciao! Grendelwulf
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vulcanridr
Lieutenant
I am in your Enterprise, haxoring your tubes...
Posts: 64
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Post by vulcanridr on Mar 7, 2010 17:35:36 GMT -5
D&D campaigns traditionally begin with the PCs in a tavern—meeting each other, arranging monthly rent with the landlord, bribing locals for juicy rumors, hiring henchmen, and scouting out the neighborhood for good spots to buy equipment and supplies. But Star Trek episodes typically begin with a “Captain’s Log” voiceover explaining the situation, as we watch the landing party materialize on a strange planet (or something similar). I wonder if this might not be the best way to start a Star Trek campaign. You’ve rolled up the characters, everyone groks the basics, so just “railroad” them and get the adventure started! I don't necessarily think it should be the captain's log, rather some briefing given by a briefing officer that only includes the specifics of the mission. If you want to be more realistic, each group of personnel (security, sciences, engineering) would get separate mission-specific briefings. That would allow working in rumors, disinformation and just wrong data to be given to the different groups. --vr
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coffee
Lieutenant
"My chicken sandwich...and coffee." - James T. Kirk
Posts: 84
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Post by coffee on Mar 8, 2010 1:41:05 GMT -5
You could just start with the Captain receiving his latest "mission briefing" from Starfleet headquarters.
And, of course, there's always the possibility he's operating under "sealed orders" -- that gives him a chance to roleplay and possibly make the crew really really curious...
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Post by finarvyn on Mar 13, 2010 12:34:51 GMT -5
I look at it this way: if the plan is to be episodic then some railroading is a must. The point of an episode would be to have a short adventure with a resolution by the end of that gaming session. This would mean that clear direction would be needed, and players wouldn't be given the abillity to simply wander about aimlessly. Think of an episodic adventure in the same way as a convention scenario. Also, remember that Star Trek is somewhat military in nature. Unless one of the PCs is the captain, most of the time there would be some restriction about what a character is supposed to be doing since they would be of mid-level rank. Imagine a ST setting where some Ensign can just say "Well, I'm bored. Maybe I'll beam down to the local tavern and listen for rumors."
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Post by aramis on Mar 13, 2010 13:13:04 GMT -5
Finarvyn, that sounds dangerously like several DS9 episodes...
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Post by finarvyn on Mar 13, 2010 17:00:53 GMT -5
Possibly. I didn't watch much DS9 so I can't confirm or deny the parallels....
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