OOC Channel

Nov 26, 2016 6:54 pm
Set this thread up for out of character chat.

Sign up for the official playtest here to get the official playtest material. Let me know if you have issues getting the playtest material, and we'll find a different solution.
Nov 26, 2016 7:02 pm
I signed up there, but can't find the materials. Is it one of those things where they will email them to you some time after signing up?
Nov 26, 2016 7:34 pm
Have also signed up. I'm assuming they'll release playtest stuff manually after the weekend...
Nov 26, 2016 7:51 pm
They'll email a link out to you, took a couple of days for me after I registered.
Last edited November 26, 2016 7:52 pm
Nov 26, 2016 9:39 pm
I have the materials and have been looking through the pregenerated characters. There are so many choices here.
Nov 27, 2016 10:06 am
Since this game isn't public atm, I guess it's ok to share this link: Playtest materials. I might edit this post and remove it later if we decide to make the game public.

I'll give us all a couple of days to absorb the rules, then I'll set up a gameplay thread and we can get going ;) In any case I'm sure this will be alot of learning by doing.

I'll set up a thread for "Character creation" right away (or rather "Character selection" in this case, as we only have pregens, and not a character creation system atm).
Nov 27, 2016 1:38 pm
Thanks for the invitation!!
Nov 27, 2016 3:33 pm
...reading.
Nov 29, 2016 7:07 pm
How are we coming on the character selection? I've read through the first adventure, and it seems tailored to teach the system (no surprise there), so we can probably iron out the details of the system while playing it.
Nov 29, 2016 7:38 pm
Looks like:

Dramasailor: Yolen/Phenna or Krev Glasch Tor/Bera Chim Tor
Cmbrian: Thyran Kaleel
Mr_Tricorder: Sevek
Falryx: blocked on Dramasailor (giving him first dibs to pick his type)
mcneil5: happy to round things out

So I think if Dramasailor can pick who he wants we'll be able to shake it out.
Nov 29, 2016 8:20 pm
I'll settle down on Phenna. :)
Nov 29, 2016 8:22 pm
mcneil5 sendt me a PM, he'll be bowing out (not time to read the rules, which is perfectly understandable). I've invited starwarsrpggm since he expressed interest in the Games Tavern thread.

Do take your time on the character selection, just thought I'd prod you a bit in case someone needs prodding
Nov 29, 2016 9:16 pm
Do we need a 'leader' / 'commander'? Or do we do okay if we don't pick one of the first 2 pregens?

I'm looking between Joshua and Nadim. Joshua has some skill overlap with Phenna, so I'm more inclined to head Nadim as a result.
Nov 30, 2016 8:21 am
This is my first time GM'ing here, so a quick question: I've set up a subforum that I called GM Notes. Just want to make sure you can't see it or access it. Can any of you see or access it?
Nov 30, 2016 11:17 am
Nope!
Nov 30, 2016 11:46 am
Thanks. Then I can put my notes there, so I can access them anywhere :)
Nov 30, 2016 4:35 pm
"Interesting. A secret cache of knowledge out on the frontier, you say?"
Nov 30, 2016 6:57 pm
"Yes, and it can be yours... For a price" The Ferenghi by the bar nods knowingly to you, and sends you a conspiratory wink.

The strange rubbery humanoid that eyed you as you entered the bar stands up from his place near the Ferenghi and tells you off in a stern voice. "Thats it, there will be none of that on my watch. Move along." He waves you on, while shooting the Ferenghi a even sterner look. "You know better Quark. The commander told you many a time that data is off limits. If I ever.."
Nov 30, 2016 9:39 pm
Hrm. It was about time I sought out the medical officer here anyway. I hear he has a thing for frontier medicine too... Getting the signal from the odd constable -- and who has money these days anyway -- Nadim finds his way out of the bar onto the promenade and takes a left. The station is round, after all, he should come to medical at some point.
Dec 1, 2016 7:56 am
Really feeling the potential of doing a game in the ST universe now :D
Dec 1, 2016 4:41 pm
As a GM, I find creating a fun campaign in a universe everyone already knows very well more rewarding and fun, personally. I have the hardest times with newer universes that have less material to choose from. I think this is because I have to make up more of it and do the hard work to ensure it's consistent, etc. Whereas with something like Star Wars, Star Trek or Middle Earth -- all I have to do is pick up a book or hit a couple websites and I'm reminded of "facts" or "reality" about that universe that I can use.

It reduces my workload a lot and helps me focus on other parts of the story.

I was thinking recently that it was weird that Star Trek didn't have a great RPG system... maybe that'll change! :)
Dec 1, 2016 4:42 pm
It is kind of strange. I'm hoping this system turns out to be that system that works well, though we'll see during playtest I suppose!
Dec 1, 2016 7:28 pm
I've usually run homebrew worlds myself, mostly because If I do, noboy else can tell me what's really behind that hill over there. Running something in Forgotten Realms or similar (well established, but I haven't read any of it) seems a bit of a nightmare to be honest.

But the Star Trek Universe or Middle earth? Those I know fairly well, and I think the ST universe is an awesome fit for a RPG. And.. well.. This being a PbP means I get time to look up anything I'm not sure of if I need it (not a luxury I have in my RL game). Looking forward to running this one :)
Dec 1, 2016 7:33 pm
Oh, and we have 2 submitted characters:
* Phenna (Dramasailor) Denobulan, Conn/Engineering
* Nadim Patil (falryx) Human, Medicine/Security

Once the rest of you get your characters submitted we can launch the shuttle to Narendra Station and your first postings!
Dec 1, 2016 7:45 pm
I wasn't sure if the format worked for you or not. I figured I'd throw something up and see what stuck.
Dec 1, 2016 8:04 pm
Yeah, it's a bit hard to fit the info into the custom sheet. But as long as all the info is there, and it's easy for you to reference, it works for me. Falryx chose a similar way of doing it.

Oh, and Falryx: sorry, I was going to check your character for reference, but managed to click "remove character" :o can you resubmit?
Dec 1, 2016 8:22 pm
Shall do!
Dec 6, 2016 11:30 pm
Quick additional heads up:

Tue 12/13 - Fri 12/16 - work travel to CA and CO. Uncertain how active I'll be.
Sat 12/17 - Uh. Rogue One. Duh.
Sun 12/18 - Sat 12/24 - skiing Sun Valley
Sun 12/25 - Christmas

So.. basically scarce between 12/13 - 12/25. If things slow down or stop during this time, that's why. I'll be back and raring to go on 12/26 however.
Dec 7, 2016 8:21 am
Thanks for the heads up.
Dec 7, 2016 11:45 pm
ill post when i get home
Dec 8, 2016 6:30 am
I am reminded of one of my favorite Star Trek clips...

Just like the Federation...
Dec 8, 2016 7:49 am
Hehe. Those two are quite a pair. How DS9 managed to make 3 likeable Ferenghi, and a likeable Cardassian, I'll never know :o
Dec 13, 2016 7:50 pm
Heads up - concocted the plague on Friday -- and now in my business travel time. TBD on how/whether I can get some updates in before the weekend. If not, I'll definitely be updating on 12/26.

Azira -- please feel free to run Nadim in my absence!
Dec 16, 2016 1:00 pm
Sounds like rock is a pillar that needs to be shot and made to fall over the ravine there by creating bridge, correct interpration?
Dec 16, 2016 2:32 pm
Oh, no. It looks a bit heavy for that. Good idea though, but one of you'll probably need to get over and push it over.
Dec 19, 2016 2:26 am
It's against character, but could Thyran have performed a task to find a lever and fulcrum, reducing the difficulty of moving the boulder?
Dec 19, 2016 7:14 am
That's a very good question. Normally I tend to reward creative thinking, so I'd absolutely allow that. However, this Task/Momentum system is very cinematic. It almost looks like Momentum is used to describe actions that make tasks easier, and that the characters are assumed to be doing their best/cleverest at all times. How are the rest of you reading this?

That being said, if I was to run this outside of a playtest I'd probably let players reduce difficulty (some) by creative thinking. I'm just not sure about the consequences to the game system.
Dec 20, 2016 3:41 am
i thought you only made momentum based on FOCUS level, in this case Secuirty =1, neith die roll was 1 so no momentum....did i miss something?
Dec 20, 2016 11:21 am
On page 4:
Quote:
If the total number of successes is greater than the Difficulty, then each success above and beyond the Difficulty of the Task becomes a single point of Momentum
Though FOCUS can give you more successes. From the same page:
Quote:
Each die that rolls a 1, or equal to or less than an applicable Focus for that Task, scores two Successes.
Dec 20, 2016 10:10 pm
OOOOah ooooooo
I understands it now...
Dec 21, 2016 10:43 pm
Can a character assist others as they attempt a task as well as attempt one themselves?

Thyran has Target 16 and 7 CD, so is a good candidate to get an early breakthrough and lower difficulty for everyone. Do any other characters have a similar chance? If not, then I propose he spend a determination for gor 2 successes, spend a momentum, and get an assist to make sure the task is successful, and possibly replace the spent momentum. Then maybe he can get 5+ with 7 CD.
Last edited December 21, 2016 10:54 pm
Dec 21, 2016 11:13 pm
I think Phenna is 12 and 4. If you can drop the difficulty a bit, I can hit it second with some determination for a double success.
Dec 23, 2016 12:54 pm
Cmbrian says:
Can a character assist others as they attempt a task as well as attempt one themselves?
Good question. It looks like it's up to the GM. I would say that anyone who haven't acted may attempt to help (Since the adventure specifies the +1 difficulty for each additional task attempted). Or rather, you may assist, but the difficulty would go up with +1.

Sorry I've been AFK the last days, got a bad case of the cold just in time for the holidays. I'm better now. :)
Dec 23, 2016 2:28 pm
I'll be traveling and spending time with family tomorrow through Tuesday and may not have many opportunities, if any, to post during that time. Also, I'll be gone from December 29th to January 1st.
Dec 23, 2016 3:11 pm
I think it's pretty normal for games to slow down, or all out go on a hiatus over the holidays. I'll probably not check this as often myself, so I'll not worry about inactivity before January.

That being said. I think we've tested this enough for people to take the survey if you want. The link is here: Playtest survey, and totally optional. It's open until the end of the year (they say 24.00 hours Dec 31st, but strangely don't say anything about timezone, so I'm assuming UTC?). I'll take the survey myself some time next week. Thought I'd let the game get as far as possible first.

In any case. It's been fun this far :) Not all of the system is perfectly suited to PbP, but I think we've worked around most of the issues so far. I'm exited to see the spaceship combat once we get there (they promised to include that in the first "proper" mission that will arrive in January).

Hope you have Happy Holidays with your friends and family. And, as we say in Norway: God Jul!
Dec 29, 2016 5:20 pm
starwarsrpggm says:
OOC:
PC Remarks
Presence 12 / Command 4
Advisor - to Patil and the task of identifying the cause of the outbreak
-Intent is to motivate and fcus Patil using the Advisor Talent
-What is the required roll?
Almost forgot this, since we haven't started this, I don't see any problems in allowing Martinez to use Presence + Command to assist Patil (or Sevek, or whomever he wants). To assist, roll 1d20 and use Presence + Command as attribute/skill/focus. If the one being assisted gets at least one success himself, add any successes from Martinez assistance as normal.
AlphaRules1.2 says:
To assist with a Task, each player must describe how his character is assisting the Task’s leader. If the Games Master approves, then each assistant rolls one d20, using his own Attribute, Skill, and Focus (if any) to determine if any successes are scored, while the leader makes his Task as normal. Assistants may not use any means to roll additional dice, though the leader may use Momentum, Threat, Determination, or whatever other methods of gaining extra d20s he wishes. Because these dice are rolled by other characters, they do not count towards the limit of three bonus d20s applied to a Task. However, a character providing assistance cannot do anything else while he is assisting – providing assistance takes time and effort, and the Games Master may determine that only a finite number of people may assist a given Task.

If the leader scores at least one success on his dice, then any successes generated by the assistants are added to the leader’s total. If the leader does not generate any successes, then any successes scored by the assistants are lost.
Characters providing assistance do not have to use the same Skill or Focus as the character they’re assisting – indeed, assistance may sometimes be best provided by someone contributing different knowledge and training.
Dec 30, 2016 4:46 pm
Can Phenna perform a second task to complete the shuttle parts challenge? She has the best chance by far with that focus.
Dec 30, 2016 5:34 pm
Sure. She's basically doing that while the rest are doing something else. The increased difficulty last challenge was because of time constraints
Dec 30, 2016 5:45 pm
OOC:
I'll post up Phennas second shot when I get back from the tattoo parlor this evening.
Jan 2, 2017 9:11 pm
I am not enjoying this game so i will be bowing out. Wish you all a great new year though.
Jan 3, 2017 8:38 am
Sad to see you go, but thanks for letting us know. Happy new year, and hope to see you around.
Jan 3, 2017 2:41 pm
Can Thyran shoot the little bugger? Use Bravery + Security with Ranged Combat Focus vs the beastie's attributes? Since the difficulty is supposed to be 3, maybe he has to have 3 more successes than the lizard?
Jan 3, 2017 6:35 pm
Sure. It makes perfect sense in this context. You'll have to either get treatment from Nadim (and spend two momentum), or spend a point of determination to be able to it though.
Jan 5, 2017 10:22 pm
Have tried contacting Mr_Tricorder but not heard back from him yet. Will give a couple of more days, then move things along.
Jan 6, 2017 5:02 pm
Sorry I haven't been active for a while. Work has been super busy since I got back from the holidays.
Jan 6, 2017 6:18 pm
No problem, nice to have you back :)
Jan 16, 2017 7:24 pm
Ooo! v1.3 of the rules dropped!
Jan 16, 2017 7:32 pm
Azira -- will you plan on running the living playtest?
Jan 17, 2017 8:00 am
Sure, that was my intention. This is a good time to ask though, is everyone having fun? Modiphius said the next adventure should be along "shortly", so hopefully we can get right on that after this one.
Jan 17, 2017 9:23 am
This is a lot of fun! Even though my character seems like a one trick pony, there is plenty for him to contribute.
Jan 17, 2017 5:08 pm
I agree in the one-trick pony element. But that's also kind of Star Trek, in a way. I'm happy to do the next adventure, but will look forward to trying out a new character type beyond the eager frontier doctor. :)
Jan 21, 2017 4:29 pm
Warning: business travel Sunday through Friday. I won't have access to GP during the day as I'm in 5 days of all day meetings (or on a plane). But I may have some night-time slots. Sorry for the slow down, but alas, this is why I PbP. :)

Please move me along (or have someone do it on your behalf) if you need to! :)
Last edited January 21, 2017 4:30 pm
Jan 22, 2017 11:24 pm
Forgot to post this last week, but we now have updated material: new playtest materials. There are updated versions for the playtest characters you have, in addition to new characters that are specially made for the new mission.

It's up to each you if you want to update your existing character or choose another one. The new characters have ranks, I'll let it be up to you to figure out how the old characters fit into the hierarchy. Also, we have starship rules! Haven't gotten time to look at it yet, but It's going to be interesting to see the U.S.S. Venture in action!
Jan 23, 2017 1:29 am
I haven't made up my mind yet, but I'll probably trade in Sevek for a new character.
Jan 24, 2017 12:27 am
I'll definitely wanna monkey with another character type.
Jan 24, 2017 12:40 am
I'll likely keep on with Phenna, see how she grows as things go along.
Jan 25, 2017 6:56 pm
I'm considering playing the next mission as Sabin Jiral, the Betazoid chief of security.
Jan 29, 2017 7:49 pm
Can Thyran go hand to hand with a panther? He's better [6CD] hand to hand than a type 1 phaser [3CD] -- his Type II is out of charge. Hand to hand says size 1, and the phaser says size 2.
Jan 29, 2017 10:48 pm
Not sure if I understand the question. You are in melee with the panther at the moment. Is hand to hand something more than melee? Otherwise I would say, yes, of course!
Jan 30, 2017 12:37 am
I want sure if it's size was a restriction, since hand to hand says size 1
Jan 30, 2017 7:29 am
Oh, no, I think that's the weapon size, not yours:

azira sent a note to AlphaRules1.2
Jan 31, 2017 5:24 am
Love the ST:TAS Spock and the Le-matya!
Jan 31, 2017 5:36 am
Cmbrian says:
Love the ST:TAS Spock and the Le-matya!
I couldn't help myself. As soon as combat started I thought of that episode.
Feb 8, 2017 10:01 pm
That's a 100% success! All major plot points resolved, quite nice.

For the next episode, we'll just have to wait till they release it. I'll let you know when I get it, meanwhile you should figure out what the cast will be ;)
Feb 9, 2017 7:25 pm
Great timing! I just recieved the next adventure. I'll try to read through it this weekend, so we can start whenever you've figured out who our crew is ;)
Feb 9, 2017 7:36 pm
I'm up to play just about anyone.
Feb 10, 2017 1:13 am
Do you think players can get up to speed by using the Summaries 2371 file (and obviously their character), or should we wait until everyone has a chance to absorb the 63pg rulebook?
Feb 10, 2017 7:41 am
Haven't had time to read through the updated rules properly yet, but I think we'll probably be ok with primarily using the summaries.

I understand there has been some rewrites, especially extended challenges. The abilities have changed names, and the Diciplines work a bit differently (Focus success bonus is granted if you roll less than the skill, not the focus) and so on. I'd read through those parts, and the new starships and supporting crews parts first, just to know what your options are now. Then we can hopefully figure out the rest as we go.

I'll try to remind you of your options when there are things we overlook, and double check the rules now and then.
Feb 11, 2017 3:41 am
I'll start looking into the newer rules / characters early next week. Anything we should be aware of adventurewise that will help guide our decisions?
Feb 11, 2017 12:24 pm
I would say the next mission is a standard Star Trek away mission. Not much piloting this time, but everything from diplomacy and/or combat to science and engineering.

I'd say you'll probably need to have a captain from now on though. Rather, try to flesh out a bridge crew: Captain, Chief of Security, Science officer and Chief of Engineering. Someone with medical training is always handy of course, and in further adventures I'm guessing piloting will be a staple as well.

Try to find out what positions call to each of you. We can also try to recruit another player or two to fill any open roles, it seems the adventures are written for "3-7 characters".
OOC:
As a side note. Some of you mentioned this system intentionally lead the characters to be one trick ponies, what do you think of playing two characters to mitigate this?

I've never tried playing two characters before in a RL game (since arguing with yourself in real life is a bit tiering even as a GM), but it might work better in a PbP. Would it be fun, weird or just stressful to play two characters in this game?
Feb 15, 2017 3:17 am
I've never done security before, but I really like the concept of a Betazoid security officer. Also, I think I would enjoy a change of pace from the scientific problem solving to being more of an asset in conflicts and combat. I'm going to switch from Sevek to Sabin Jiral. However, It may be handy to have Sevek available as a secondary character in case we need an extra science officer at certain times.
Feb 15, 2017 1:35 pm
I have no particular qualms about playing two characters.
Feb 16, 2017 2:02 am
Anyone particular want the role of Captain/Commander?

Note that I'm behind on reading up on the rules and whatnot -- lots afoot. And I'm about to head out for a ski vacation next week, so I probably won't be really ready to roll until towards the end of the month. If you want to get started without me, please feel free!

I'd also be happy enough to add more people if they're interested. I think the system is interesting. It's not entirely one-trick, to my mind. Just that certain people are better at certain things (and this isn't really any different than any other system). My character was clearly best at Medicine - but he had some reasonable skills at other things (like Security).
Feb 16, 2017 2:03 am
I wouldn't mind it, though if you want it, feel free. You could always captain and I'd take first officer/Exec. Or Chief Engineer. Something like that.
Feb 16, 2017 2:06 am
I actually do not want the job - I'm feeling a little stretched, so a support role is more my speed for this one. All yours, imho.
Feb 16, 2017 2:07 am
Works for me! I'll look over the candidates and see which I'd prefer.
Feb 18, 2017 2:25 pm
Hey folks - I'm off from today to Friday 2/24 skiing in Oregon. As a result posts may be slow or non-existent depending on family time.
Feb 19, 2017 2:57 pm
Do we want Playtest Pregens 1 or Living Playtest Pregens 2?
Feb 19, 2017 3:02 pm
Ah, nevermind. Read through them both and understand now.
Feb 19, 2017 3:06 pm
Cmbrian -- any thoughts about what character type you'd like? Seems like we've got Captain and Chief of Security covered...
Feb 21, 2017 1:11 pm
I think I'm going to run with Captain Sumek, the Vulcan commanding officer.
Feb 25, 2017 9:28 pm
Ok, just to get this discussion going again, looks like we have a captain and chief of security, looking to fill science/medic and engineering roles?

We can always assign secondary characters later, let's focus on the primary cast so to say. So Cmbriand and falryx: whom do you want to be? ;)

By the way, Cmbrian: did you intend to continue playing Thyran? I do get if there's a senior-officer position conflict there with Sabin Jiral. If so, imho, existing characters should take preference (read: Thyran). In hindsight I should have checked specifically who wanted to continue their characters before opening the floor for selection. In this regard, this system is a bit limiting. There's no problem in being 3 fighters and a cleric in a dnd party, but on the U.S.S. Venture the senior bridge team is a bit more set.

In any case, let's try to get the characters locked down so we can get to the adventures!
Feb 25, 2017 10:10 pm
I'm flexible and can stay science/medic if need be, or will happily move to engineering. I'll defer to Cmbrian and Mr. Tricorder.
Feb 26, 2017 1:31 am
Hey guys -- I think I'll abandon security and take my bottle of scotch to the engine room. Met Doohan when I was a kid. Shook the hand that was missing a finger. Super nice guy.
Feb 26, 2017 1:52 am
I'll probably skew more science than medical then. Will review the pregens.
Feb 26, 2017 1:57 am
I'm thinking either: LT. ANJAR BARAD or CMNDR. WALDEMAR REITER

thoughts?
Mar 5, 2017 7:39 pm
Ok, I think we need a deadline to get things moving. Next week is a bit busy for me, so I suggest we get started the week after (Monday 13th of March). If everyone can get their characters submitted by the end of next week that would be great :)

To recap, it looks like we have:

Dramasailor: Captain Sumek, the Vulcan commanding officer.
Mr_Tricorder: Sabin Jiral, Betazoid security officer
Combrian: Engineering?
Falryx: : LT. ANJAR BARAD (Bajoran Meidcal officer) or CMNDR. WALDEMAR REITER (Human executive officer)
Mar 5, 2017 9:59 pm
Roger.
Mar 7, 2017 11:17 pm
Lieutenant Junior Grade Codral Nosim is loaded and ready for submission!
Mar 9, 2017 3:20 am
Sorry for the delay - work travel monday + tuesday (plus no wifi in the hotel) and I caught the plague AND work has at least 3 crises going on at the moment. I'd like to get an update tonight, but I'm going to glug some nyquil and hit the sack instead. fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Worst case scenario I'll be back among the living on Monday (i'm crash coursing to get well because I'm skiing Sun Valley Saturday and Sunday unless I'm throwing up or have lost a limb).
Mar 9, 2017 4:58 am
I just wanted to let you all know that my wife is giving birth to our first baby very soon. We're inducing on the 14th if she does not go into labor before then. I honestly have no idea how this will effect how frequently I can post once the adventure starts.
Mar 9, 2017 8:31 pm
No problem, I'll move your character along if we don't hear from you in a while. Honestly though, I'd concentrate on my family now if I were you. Those first weeks with a newborn in the house are hectic, and amazing! You really don't want to miss that. Congratulations on the coming baby, and we'll see you again when we see you :)
Mar 10, 2017 2:01 am
Azira is certainly right, those first few weeks are interesting.

I will probably be getting my character up this weekend when I have a moment to deal with it. :)
Mar 10, 2017 2:02 am
I've managed to submit the Commander.

I figured between his emergency medicine and cmbrian's engineer with a decent medical score we were covered. :)
Mar 18, 2017 9:58 pm
So, this week got a bit busy as well, but let's get this party started now.

By the way, i noticed some errors in the characters submitted so far (or did I not notice some customization options?)

Reiter should have 7 in Reason, not 8.
Nosim should have 3 in Conn, not 2, 2 in security, not 4 and 2 in medicine, not 3.

I'm approving the characters to get things moving, but please fix them (or correct me if I've missed something)

I'll have the first post up shortly
Mar 19, 2017 2:36 am
Nosim corrected. Could have sworn I started this with a cut/paste. Guess not.
So Captain is Cmdr Reiter, Science Officer is Sevek, Con is Phenna, and Engineer Lt.(JG) Nosim?

What are Sevek & Phenna's new ranks? And how did you guys who kept your old characters enjoy making up their additional values, focuses, and talents? I was a bit intimidated which influenced my decision to take a new character.
Last edited March 19, 2017 2:49 am
Mar 19, 2017 11:30 am
Afaik everyone has changed chars, but Dramasailor and Tricorder has yet to submit them.

The cast:
Dramasailor: Captain Sumek, Captain of the U.S.S. Venture
Falryx: : Cmnd. Waldemar Reiter, Executive Officer (second in command?)
Mr_Tricorder: Lt. Cmnd Sabin Jiral, Chief of Security
Combrian: Lt. (JG) Cordal Nosim, Chief of Engineering

I put the first post up before everyone submitted so we might get moving. Mr. Tricorder might be afk for a bit though, but I'll just assume his char is "around" until he's back. If we need his char, I'll play his char (but just assume he's on silent vigil for now)
Mar 20, 2017 12:31 pm
Submitted sorry!
Mar 20, 2017 2:36 pm
No problem, approved :)
Mar 20, 2017 2:48 pm
Avatar check
Mar 20, 2017 10:52 pm
All: work travel this week. all day meetings Tuesday and Thursday and a BUNCH of meetings Wednesday. So potential update days are Wednesday and Friday for me this week, sorry for the slow down.
Mar 21, 2017 12:55 am
I'm starting to re-introduce non-baby-related things back into my routine and finally submitted my character sheet for Sabin Jiral. I'm still not sure how often I'll be posting, but I'll post when I can.
Mar 21, 2017 4:50 am
Congratulations, Mr_T!!"
Mar 21, 2017 8:17 am
Congratulations indeed! And as I said before, don't worry about this, I'll move things along if needed.
Mar 21, 2017 1:59 pm
Congrats for sure!
Mar 21, 2017 4:12 pm
Funbabytime!

Good luck and have fun -- and best of luck with all the unsolicited advice you'll receive from parents, friends and strangers. In that vein I'd like to say: there's no instruction book and so far no demonstrable "best way" to raise a kid. Do what works for you and keeps your family unit strong and happy and that will pay off in the end!
Mar 21, 2017 10:42 pm
No instruction book? Nobody told you? We are living in the future, it's here now: Baby Owners Manual. Bought it when we were awaiting our first one. Can't say it got that much use though, who has time to read with a baby in the house? ;)
Apr 8, 2017 3:01 pm
Off to ski for a week! slow-to-no posting likely from me. Generally my intent is to have Reiter swing by his quarters and use the refresher and just happen to pick up, you know, his phaser, to complete the tour. Commander Jiral's suspicions are infectious.
Apr 11, 2017 1:11 pm
OOC:
Sorry! We're at the beach for vacation and this rental has substantially worse internet and signal than any we've had in the past. So I'm here, just slowly able to update things!
Apr 11, 2017 10:50 pm
The confusion about the momentum got me thinking a bit. It works fine as long as I'm following up enough, but now and then you're bound to be posting around the same time, and I can't keep up. There's no reason why you can't update the resource thread though. Check and update the thread when you add or deduct momentum. We could even do that tracking in the main thread if we want, but it might get lost when we have long non-task scenes..

What do you think about this?
Apr 16, 2017 6:38 pm
Works for me. Perhaps we can track in the main thread when we're in a task scene and when it's done, update the resource thread, so we have a record kept when a new task scene starts?
Apr 26, 2017 10:03 pm
Hey folks --

Sorry I've been slow lately. I wound up tearing my ACL on my ski trip and dealing with surgeons, trying to get my flexibility back and handling the return-from-vacation workload has occupied a lot of my time. Then, come evening, I've been kind of exhausted due to the extra work to get my knee into pre-surgery state so I've been crashing early.

I'll try and pick things up -- but I've not forgotten about y'all! I'm just operating at less than 100% and so being a little vicious with my prioritization.

As a result, Mr_Tricorder, don't hesitate to push me (or my character) around if it seems like I'm not participating.
Apr 27, 2017 1:13 am
Thanks for letting me know. Sabin is trying to walk a thin line between taking action and stepping on his superior's toes. Unless you or the GM step in and say otherwise, I'll assume Reiter goes along with Sabin's suggestions.
May 3, 2017 3:32 am
No worries! thanks for driving!
May 10, 2017 9:03 pm
Sorry I haven't been active for the past few days. I've been dealing with a family emergency.
May 10, 2017 9:19 pm
Just a heads up that surgery for me is on Tuesday 5/16. I hope to be more active subsequent to it during my rest period from work. However, keep driving me as you see fit and/or if you think I should be backfilled by someone who can be more active, you won't hear me squabbling over it. Your call, azira.
May 11, 2017 6:50 am
Can't blame a guy for getting surgery, so no, I'm cool with that. I'll assume Reiter has his hand full keeping track of Tajenko and the Nausicaans, letting Jiral tackle the immediate situation. I'll bump you guys along if need be.

Good luck with the surgery, and hope you get well soon.
May 15, 2017 4:46 am
Yes -- best of luck with the surgery!
May 21, 2017 1:20 am
I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. We had a family emergency with one of my cousins recently and my wife and I ended up hosting family for a few days. Shortly after that, work ramped up as I was applying for a new position (I didn't get it, but that's beside the point). On top of that, my sister-in-law is getting married in Maui, so that's where we are now taking a little family vacation for the wedding. I may not be back online to post in the game before I get back home, so others can feel free to push my character along if needed.
May 21, 2017 9:58 am
No problem. I should perhaps have pushed things along a bit, but I've been a bit busy myself, and since Falryx was a bit afk I just let it slide.

Story wise though, I don't have a problem with the party members in Main Engineering (Dramasailor and Cmbrian) pushing the story along till Tricorder/Falryx are back. We can assume the walk up to the bridge took longer than we thought, and we'll just merge the timelines/parties when the time comes.
Jun 4, 2017 6:27 pm
All!

I'm alive!

(insert picture of frankenstein)

That said -- has anyone picked up Star Trek: Bridge Crew? If you have VR, it's an expensive game -- and the content is a little light, but WOW you do feel like you're in the Star Trek universe.

catching up on where we are.
Jun 4, 2017 9:26 pm
Welcome back!

ST:BC looks amazing, makes me want to get a HTC Vive. Ah, well.. One day..
Jun 6, 2017 4:56 am
Hi all! I may be more out of pocket than normal this week. In Seattle on business and then flying home all day Saturday.
Jun 7, 2017 3:40 am
You picked a good week -- awesome weather here this week -- at least until towards the end of it. :)
Jun 8, 2017 1:52 am
It's been interesting so far. Haven't had a chance to see much beyond my hotel room though.
Jun 8, 2017 3:43 am
Here for Nanog?
Jun 9, 2017 4:11 pm
Nah, I'm IT support for our radiation safety and environmental health and safety teams. We're having the annual conference down by the ferries and they invite me out so I can better help them from a tech perspective.
Jun 22, 2017 11:24 am
Sorry I've been away so long. New responsibilities at work are taking more time than I anticipated, now quarter end is upon me. I won't be reliable for another few weeks -- should I withdraw?
Jun 22, 2017 1:13 pm
Up to you, Cmbrian. I appreciate you letting us know, and I do get that stuff gets in the way some times.

If you'd like to stay I could just nudge Cordal along a bit while you're getting sorted. Seems like most games slow down a bit for summer right now anyways though, so might not be that much of a problem.
Jun 23, 2017 4:14 am
Cool. Thanks!
Jun 30, 2017 4:06 am
Are we missing something or do we just have to power through this discovery?
Jun 30, 2017 6:38 am
Yes and no. It seems like the adventure is set up so you'd have to "power through" to find out what this is. You could always do other things to try to deal with the problem directly though (but it will be harder, since you'd effectively working in the blind).

I have a feeling you're "supposed" to have more momentum and determination by the time you get here though. I hand-waved the relocation instead of having you roll for trivial tasks that could generate momentum or complications (which I find is normally a good idea, but kinda throws off the balance in this system). The rolling to climb thing was getting old. But yeah, I'll add some momentum to the pool and see if that resolves it. Keep in mind, the way the extended tasks work they get easier to handle once you get breakthroughs.

To be honest though, I'm beginning to think this system might need some work to handle PbP gracefully

TLDR:
I messed up by skipping trivial tasks that could have generated momentum for you. I'll adjust the momentum pool to fix it.
Jun 30, 2017 3:16 pm
It is a pretty clunky system for PbP. I think tabletop or roll20 style would work pretty well when being reflexive and responsive can really shine.
Jul 31, 2017 12:56 pm
I'm going to be out of touch for the next two weeks.
Jul 31, 2017 8:07 pm
Allright. Seems like things are still going slow all over, so I'll not push things on till then. If people start getting back I might step in for jiral though.
Aug 13, 2017 3:07 pm
Roger that. I apologize for being part of the 'slow all over'.
Aug 14, 2017 7:33 am
No worries, been busy with real life myself, so the site being a bit slow suited me perfectly. Are we all back now though?
Aug 16, 2017 4:17 am
I'm probably 2-3 weeks from "really back" (school starting for the kids).
Aug 19, 2017 3:38 am
I'm back.
Aug 31, 2017 6:44 am
So, it's been a couple of weeks. Everyone back now? ;)
Aug 31, 2017 4:22 pm
I think I'm back and good on all fronts. :)
Sep 1, 2017 3:32 am
Present! I'm a little every-other-day at the moment, but the kids start school next week. I'll be more aligned with a daily update once that starts (less faffing about).
Sep 4, 2017 10:04 am
Ok, let's see if we can get this show on the road again. I posted a short summary of the situation in the game thread.
Sep 20, 2017 10:02 am
That's a wrap for Episode 1: Fading Sun.

I must say, I've enjoyed the banter and your characters, but I don't think the system works well for PbP. The missions themselves looked intriguing when I read them, but they didn't translate as well as I thought they would. I feel the system got in the way of the story more than it supported it, I hope that's different in real life.

So, I won't be continuing the live campaign. If any of you want to continue I'd be happy to hand over the game to someone else, but this system doesn't really suit my style of GMing.

Thanks for playing, and thanks for your patience when I mucked about with this system. I quite enjoyed the roleplaying even thought he crunch got in the way some of the time.
Sep 20, 2017 11:08 am
Thanks for running it Azira. The story did have good bones and I imagine being in a face to face game would greatly eliminate a lot of the system sluggishness. Too much of the resolution mechanic in this is a back and forth reactive feeling thing, with the momentum gains and burns and such.
Sep 20, 2017 9:26 pm
Thank you for running it, Azira!

I'm happy to have gone through the system. But there's a certain level of intended cooperation/aid and coordination that makes it difficult for PbP to be the right interface. I think you're right that the extended-task nature of the system makes it harder on PbP because it fundamentally slows down the narrative and pace -- all for some die rolling (I run into that in TOR from time to time).

I wonder if there are other campaign styles that might work for Star Trek (e.g. where everyone is a captain of their own vessel working together in some way) that could work with PbP. I've got the hardcover CRB and will need to read through it and think about it. As a system, I don't dislike it -- and I do like the Trek universe.

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