Post by Falconer on Apr 13, 2020 13:03:18 GMT -5
The old school Trek games—Starships & Spacemen, Star Trek: Adventure Gaming in the Final Frontier (in its “Beyond the Final Frontier” expansion), and Where No Man Has Gone Before 2.0—have similar tables of ranks which function as level titles. As you gain XP, you gain in rank, and as you gain in rank, you are rated to command ever-better vessels.
I’m using STAGFF as my base rules in this as in most areas, but, there is one major area where I disagree with it, and agree with the other RPGs. S&S and WNMHGB both assume you will command your own ship no matter what your rank is. I think BTFF is “correct” in its assumptions (eg., that most of these ships would require Commander or above), but, for game purposes, I am fudging it. I’m saying that Starfleet is short staffed, so, de facto the vessels are being commanded by lower-ranked officers. In my imagination, the campaign will proceed as follows (i.e., when the highest-ranked person in the campaign reaches a certain rank, they can command…)
Lieutenant — Hermes
Lt. Commander - Saladin
Commander - Siva
Captain - Constitution
Commodore - Bonhomme Richard
Admiral - Federation
I have been leaving the Ptolemy out of it because, though they are good ships on paper, they just don’t feel adventuresome. Maybe that should be reconsidered.
Anyway, the campaign needn’t follow this exact format (changing ships exactly according to this programme), but, it feels like a good rough outline to me.
I also came up with this rule for starting rank:
roll d100; 01-80 is Ensign, 81-90 Lieutenant, 91-95 Lt. Commander, 96-99 Commander, 00 Captain. At the beginning of the campaign, there are only Ensigns and Lieutenants; new characters joining a campaign in progress may not roll into a rank higher than an existing player character. If you roll above the highest rank allowed, demote to that rank.
I’m using STAGFF as my base rules in this as in most areas, but, there is one major area where I disagree with it, and agree with the other RPGs. S&S and WNMHGB both assume you will command your own ship no matter what your rank is. I think BTFF is “correct” in its assumptions (eg., that most of these ships would require Commander or above), but, for game purposes, I am fudging it. I’m saying that Starfleet is short staffed, so, de facto the vessels are being commanded by lower-ranked officers. In my imagination, the campaign will proceed as follows (i.e., when the highest-ranked person in the campaign reaches a certain rank, they can command…)
Lieutenant — Hermes
Lt. Commander - Saladin
Commander - Siva
Captain - Constitution
Commodore - Bonhomme Richard
Admiral - Federation
I have been leaving the Ptolemy out of it because, though they are good ships on paper, they just don’t feel adventuresome. Maybe that should be reconsidered.
Anyway, the campaign needn’t follow this exact format (changing ships exactly according to this programme), but, it feels like a good rough outline to me.
I also came up with this rule for starting rank:
roll d100; 01-80 is Ensign, 81-90 Lieutenant, 91-95 Lt. Commander, 96-99 Commander, 00 Captain. At the beginning of the campaign, there are only Ensigns and Lieutenants; new characters joining a campaign in progress may not roll into a rank higher than an existing player character. If you roll above the highest rank allowed, demote to that rank.