A post-game 'in-character' post

This is a follow-up to my previous post about the Star Trek Adventures game we started playing.
I had so much fun playing that game, I felt that a post-game 'in-character' report was appropriate for several reasons: A) it helped improve my understanding of my character, B) helps communicate that character to other players/readers, C) records for posterity the events of that game session, and D) extends the fun of the campaign when away from 'the table.'

I've been a fan of the concept of 'blue booking' as Aaron Alston put it so many years ago, but rarely had a chance to put it to the test. Nowadays, with actual game sessions happening at best once a month, I feel the practice is even more important to maintain connection between players and characters and the campaign world they play in. Hopefully this keeps the momentum going during the long downtimes between actual gatherings.

I should also add that the advent of FaceBook and other widely-accessible social medias, especially those that allow for private and semi-private groups, also can help with maintaining connections and momentum for a game group.

Anyway, all that aside, here's what Captain Joran Kyl, commanding officer of the Stargazer had to report to StarFleet Command after the last game session:

Enjoy!

<<BEGIN Encryption report>>
<<FROM: Joran Kyl, Commander, Commanding Officer: NCC-2893-A Stargazer>>
<<CYPHER codex: SFC.RE.Romeo-Omicron-Foxtrot-Lima-Michael-Alpha-Omicron>>
<<CYPHER key: Wiskey-Tango-Foxtrot-9925>>
<<CONTEXT TAGS ASSIGNED: Unknown contact, sapient rights, Xindi coalition, Conflict report>>
<<BEGIN REPORT>>
Stardate 49124.1

For those just being read into this situation report, here's a summary of my previous mission reports: 
Stargazer's first mission post-shakedown was to rendezvous with runabout 'Charon' and take onboard the contractor repair team, and one Lt.Kadar, and then to proceed into the Paulson nebulae to discover why Federation Automated Communication Post 1337 had stopped all communications. We were able to track down the likely location of FCPA-1337. Only the station wasn't there. Only radioactive dust remained. We extended our search, finding small parts of the obliterated station. Analysis by science team concluded the station had been obliterated by critical nuclear decoupling reaction (i.e. a 'nuclear warhead'), delivered by an ion-powered missile. As of last report, Stargazer was setting out to follow the ion trail left by the missile back to its source.

At Stardate 49123.3 Stargazer encountered a previously unknown stellar system at the approximate coordinates <<INSET.ASTRONAVIGATION.COORDINATES>>. We nearly hit the stellar corona; there was no sign of this system on charts or sensors before automatic collision avoidance dropped us out of warp just in time. 

Immediate sensor scans identified an M-class world in the system, with signs of pre-Warp civilization craft moving about between the other bodies of the star system: the classic signs of a near-maturity and previously unknown and un-contacted civilization. In accordance with the Prime Directive I ordered Sargazer behind the primary star and deployed sensor drones so that we could observe and evaluate this civilization. 

Our initial assumption that this was a pre-warp civilization were incorrect, however, when our sensor drones suddenly went silent and a large modern-technology starship of unknown origin or configuration rounded the corona of the star with shields raised and weapons armed. In retrospection I realize that the unidentified ship must have been on the far side of the M-class planet when we initially entered system and thus we were unaware of it's presence. I ordered shields raised as a defensive measure. We transmitted on universal hailing frequencies our non-hostile intentions only to be met by subspace jamming. Not only did this opponent not want to talk; they didn't want us talking to anyone else either. Lt. Kadar's instincts proved themselves as sharp as ever as she intuited their attack just in time to avoid most of their initial volley, some sort of EMP blast intended to cripple us. Lt. Zynes' limited scans of the ship informed us that she was heavy on automation but light on crew yet she out-massed us a great deal. Roughly equivalent to an Ambassador-class Federation heavy cruiser. Stargazer was not up for a straight-up fight against such an opponent.

{Personal note: In my recovery after WOLF359, I recall spending time with a distant niece and the story from Earth she wanted me to read to her. I don't recall all the details from the tale, but the protagonists use of a 'Briar patch' to their advantage against a larger predator stuck with me.}

I ordered Lt.Tyvass to return fire and Kadar to go to warp back to the Paulson Nebulae. Tyvass scored a hit against the opponents engines, temporarily draining them of power and buying Stargazer an opening to go to warp. With a bloody nose, I doubted they'd give up the chase now and my suspicions were proven correct when we detected the unknown in pursuit. 

En route to the Nebulae, i called a quick team meeting and outlined my plan: I intended to lead our attacker into the Nebulae, where Lt.Zynes' previous extensive mapping of the gravitational fields and eddies would be used to our advantage; we were going to fight back with intent to disable our opponent and then offer them an opportunity to surrender. I asked my XO, Cmdr Delix to take command down in engineering for the meantime. Unlike other captains, I like all my section leaders to know the plan, in case the chain of command gets broken for whatever reason.

Again, i have to call attention to the skill Lt.Kadar has with shiphandling. As we dropped out of warp at the nebulae's edge, she dodged a grav-wave that sent our pursuer into a wild skid to retain control. Tyvass was ready with our guns and put phaser strikes into their engines and weapons. The attacker again tried to use their EMP wave against us, but again Kadar nimbly sidestepped the attack. I asked Chief Ray to power up our secondary core for more power, which he provided promptly. This gave us enough to strike again, knocking their shields out entirely and causing secondary explosions across the enemy's weapon systems.

Having given our opponent a thoroughly rough handling, I decided it was time to try some gunboat diplomacy. I recorded a message, offering them the chance to stand down and that we didn't seek their destruction. 

While the enemy re-established their shields, Kadar informed me she felt 'panic and disorder' aboard the enemy ship. 

I recorded another message: "Surrender or we will end this. Expeditiously." and sent that while ordering Tyvass to load torpedoes.

We received a weak communications signal from someone identifying themselves as "Dr.Okathra," who informed us that he and several others who have been prisoners on the ship have broken free in the chaos, but that the ships self-destruct has been set.

I ordered Tyvass to use our phasers to bring down their shields, then Kadar to bring us close enough for transporters.
Sensors indicated only a couple dozen lifeforms onboard. I ordered security to setup a containment field in the main cargo bay, and the transporter teams to start bringing everyone on the ship over and into the 'cage'. Tyvass headed down to take command of the security situation himself.

I confess: I cut things too close. The enemy ship's core detonated sooner than intended, and the nebulae amplified the explosion. We found ourselves tossed to the floor and main power was lost. Once the bridge was back under order, I left Kadar at con to handle damage control, while Lt.Zynes and I took the long climb down to the cargo bay.

We had to pry ourselves into the cargo bay. We found a standoff: when main power failed, the containment field also failed briefly. Captors, prisoners and my own security people were both inside and outside the containment zone in the aftermath of a wild melee. Tyvass, bloodied but unbowed had just gotten back the upper hand. 

When it was apparent that they were truly captured, the captors all committed suicide or attacked each other with intent to kill to be killed. Security stunned all they could but all but one of the captors died. The risk of toxic exposure to the rest of the crew forced me to leave the dead in the containment field for now. Dr. Okathra and most of the prisoners survived and were taken to medical, along with the surviving captor who was unconscious.

I then made my way down to engineering, finding that Delix had already begun damage control assignments. The explosion had knocked out our FTL and internal communications, and both drive cores were down. Chief Ray was already going EVA to stop a plasma leak from one our nacelles. While bad, this wasn't terminal. <<INSET.REF: CPO. Ray's damage reports>>
Seeing things were well in hand, I left for Medical.

I spent some time talking with Dr.Okathra, who turns out is a Xindi Arboreal. A geneticist by training, he told of how he and his team were conducting research into genetic maladies and the eternal challenge of bringing the various Xindi peoples back together. Wildly controversial among the Xindi population as a whole, he chose to relocate to a lesser known space to avoid trouble. And yet trouble is what he got when his FTL communications were cut, then an unknown ship appeared in their skies. Their Captors took them prisoner, forced them to perform genetics testing of various kinds. The timelines between the lost of communication from FCPA-1337 coincides with the timeline from Dr.Okathra. Assuring him we would do our best to right the wrongs he and his people suffered, I left him in Lt.Kadar's care; perhaps with counseling we can learn more about what happened.

Our EMH handled the autopsies of the dead and the captors and the 'Moreau's' (his term, I'll have to go look up the reference later) with the assistance of Lt. Zynes. While I'm no xenobiologist, here are the big takeaway points:

1. The 'captors' (a dozen humans, one Vulcan, one Tellurite) all underwent extensive biometric and genetic modifications to defy identification. Their remains are currently in stasis.

2. The unidentified humanoids are biogenic composites; a patchwork (in the very literal sense) of disparate genomes that somehow managed to work together. About 90% of the genomes can be identified leaving 10% unknown. Primarily these poor beings are drawn from Xindi species (yes, all six of them). Finally: whatever genetic 'glue' that held them together breaks down quickly after death: the bodies started decomposing before autopsy could be finished.

3. I have one of the captors still alive, but in dire state. The EMH doctor has this individual in a medical coma until they can be stabilized.

<<INSET.REF: Lt.Zynes autopsy reports>>

My ship is damaged, but still quite capable. 
We've taken out the major enemy space-based asset in the system. 
Given the information that Dr.Okathra has given me I feel it imperative to return to the unknown system to rescue any remaining of Dr.Okathra's people. And to hopefully learn more about the people behind these atrocities.

P.S. This has been one hell of a 'milk run' so far.

signed: 
~Commander Joran Kyl, C/O NCC-2893-A Stargazer.
<<END REPORT>>

Review: Star Trek Adventures by Modiphius games

A long, long time ago I picked up a boxed set game purely for the fandom of it.

The original Star Trek RPG, by FASA,circa 1986.

It wasn’t playable, IMHO, but it was nifty to own anyway and it had a small but devoted following. The tactical ship combat board-games were more successful and still ongoing to this day.

Then came along Modiphius. Along with the publication rights to the Elite:Dangerous, Tales of the Loop, Fallout, Mutant Chronicles, Robert E Howard’s CONAN, and Achtung Cthulhu, they recently put out a new Star Trek licensed roleplaying game.

And boy, howdy, is it better than that 1986 boxed set.

Titled Star Trek Adventures, it’s an ambitious -and in my opinion- successful attempt to mainstream the popular science-fiction franchise as a tabletop experience. Part of that success is due to the fact that out of the core rule book they support all three TV generations of the Star Trek universe: Enterprise, classic Star Trek, and the combined series of ST: The Next Generation, ST:Deep Space 9 and ST:Voyager. And it wouldn’t take much to expand that to the spin off series of Discovery, The Mirror Universe, and the plot-lines of the Star Trek MMO as supplemental material.

The core of Star Trek Adventures is Modiphius’ home-grown ‘2d20’ engine. At first I was a bit unsure about this system. Having been burned out on the deluge of ‘d20’ engine clones from the D&D 3.5 SRD flood, I was apprehensive about how Modiphius was going to treat my beloved childhood settings. And yet, the 2d20 engine has impressed me very much. This is no D&D clone, but a slick and relatively smooth new game experience. The fun I’ve had with Star Trek Adventures so far has made me eye Modiphius’s other 2d20 game settings (Corvus Belli: INFINITY and the reborn Mutant Chronicles) as possibilities worth investing in.

It also doesn’t hurt that Star Trek Adventure player characters are good at their jobs. StarFleet trains them very well, and you start the game with a very capable character in the fields they specialize in. 2d20 has a ‘momentum’ mechanic where extra successes generated by one player are banked for other players to capitulate on immediately. This gives your Federation characters a powerful sense of coordination and teamwork.

Character advancement feels slow however. But that fits within the TV-series feel of the game. Similar to FATE’s ‘Milestones’ for advancement, characters in Star Trek Adventures can shift around their abilities after minor milestones, and only improve them after reaching major milestones (‘Spotlights’ as the book calls them). Again, this is befitting the feel of the TV series, where one could argue that major characters were affected by lesser events, and only transformed by major ones that only occurred once or twice a season. But outside of statistical improvements, Star Trek Adventure characters grow by their reputations and service records, which have different effects. In our campaign we haven’t delved into this much yet, but it gives the GM a way to reward characters in alternate ways.

Another advantage of the Star Trek Adventure engine is that it treats Starships as characters in their own right, and this is very fitting of the feel of the show. Ships have the same array of abilities and disciplines that characters do, so it’s easy to see the synergy between ship and crew. Only a few additional details required by the technical details one is used to in a Star Trek game are added (shields, some power management, etc.), but Star Fleet Battles this is not.

Another compelling aspect of the game is that it allows the spontaneous creation of supporting crew as characters when needed, and in fact encourages their re-appearance in later episodes. This allows for players to still participate in adventures when their primary character isn’t directly involved; roll up a redshirt security officer, or a blue-shirted science team member for that away-mission. Every subsequent time a supporting character returns to play, they get a little more detail and stat boosts. This is how you get your Chief O'Briens and Lt. Barclays to become major characters in their own right after a few seasons.

So far our group has played two long sessions and we’ve covered A LOT over those two gatherings. Equivalent to an ongoing story arc. This has probably as much to do with the skill of the GM (not me), as well as all the players understanding that we’re sticking to a TV-esque format. We frame our scenes, transitions and breaks as one would a TV show. It’s been a refreshing restart to my tabletop gaming experience which has been lacking lately.

Titled: “Star Trek: Legacy” our campaign follows the crew of the re-commissioned Stargazer (yes, Picards' old ship) after she was recovered, refitted, and put back into service. In the big chair is a Trill captain, recently joined with symbiote; a Betazoid as her helmswoman, and an Andorian science officer who was raised on Vulcan.

The books themselves are beautiful and well designed. If you’re a Trekkie, and/or looking for a quick and fun game engine to enjoy, I feel confident in recommending this game. Modiphius is continuing to support the line, with miniatures, maps, published adventures and custom dice.

Bumps, Dips and Restarts

Regularly-scheduled campaigns are difficult to maintain. Couples spit; people drop out. Life gets complicated; there are children, jobs, sickness and seasonal activities (summer with kids, holidays,etc). Sometimes games just burn out, which I've somehow managed to do with two campaigns at the same time.

Online games are easier to maintain: someone else is keeping the server's running and patching the client software and usually writing all the 'story' which you and your friends use as a backdrop for your own stories. You (generally) don't have to travel anywhere, just be at your computer or console on time.

Question is: how does one reboot, recover and restart? The quest continues.

Game session postmortem #1

So we had our first actual 'play' session for my new campaign. For myself, it felt like a bit of a rocky takeoff but soared after that. Like any book, movie or composition of music, the beginning is the hardest part. To quote one of my favorite novels: "A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct."

And it all started with a McGuffin.

One of the players has this artifact. Something that by his own definition was ‘dangerous and incredibly valuable’ and ‘he was keeping it to protect others.’ The “glowing ball of doom” as the other players started calling it and how the PC came into possession of it became the focus of the entire game session.

I had originally planned the first game session to test a number of the conflict systems I had drafted into the system; how to handle chases, fights, arguments, etc. I had 3x5 note cards with roughed out antagonists, numbers to roll for and against, etc. Since the player with the McGuffin had the most immediate character ‘hook,’ we started rolling against his investigative skills to see what he could learn about the doohickey. Two close-shaves later, he realized that he wasn't going to get anywhere without the help of the other characters, and so roped them into a scheme to acquire the materials and tools necessary to safely explore further. The potential for profit based on being the first group to understand and perhaps harness what the McGuffin represented got the rest of the party involved.

I will hand it to the other players: they immediately took to the open-ended challenge. Asking questions, devising their own understanding of how the world worked and what the steps they could take were. The tick on my end was to answer their questions halfway: I’d give them information, but not answers; what they needed to ask more questions, which in turn helped them to decide what actions to take to pursue those answers.

i.e. Q: There were six people who went with that PC on the mission where he found the McGuffin… where are they and why aren't they involved? A: They aren't involved because… they’re all dead or in comas after ‘the incident.’

One of my fears of being out of practice was that I wouldn't be fast enough on my feet to deal with questions and actions taken by the players. Since this game session was almost entirely narrative in its content, there weren't any opportunities where being unprepared with system mechanics to become a problem.

I did, however, learn a few things about being prepared.

One: NPC names. I’m horrible with names. So far the named NPCs are “Dr. Bob” and “Burke”, the company man (yes, after Paul Riser’s character from Aliens, and yes, pretty much the same character). Names have power: who are you going to remember better? “Dr. Bob” or “Alejandro ‘The Spider’ Wing-Chen”? In a massively multicultural setting like Eclipse Phase, names can be real ethnic mashups. Not to mention monikers for AI’s, uplifts and so on. To that end, I updated my copy of Inspiration Pad, and wrote a little script to generate mixed-ethnicity names on the fly for me. Some I will pre-generate and keep in a list. Need a name? Take one and scratch it off. I hope to also keep the generator script on hand next time so I can make more as needed. Also for that end, I’m working on scripts for generating details about habitats, corporations, ‘factions’ and so on.

Two: Have stock challenges prepared. The 3x5 card concept seemed to work well; there’s room to write the particulars of that challenge (dice to roll, numbers to beat, etc), but also space to track progress against that challenge (if it takes multiple rolls, hits and so on). Things like bypassing a door lock, base ‘goons’ should the PC’s get into a fight, etc.

And speaking of mechanical challenges: I will probably have to take a serious look at my conflict systems for TURK. My original concepts had detailed sub-systems for arguments, duels, firefights, chases and ‘projects’ for anything else. However Players generally aren't conscious about the system and are more focused on the context of those conflicts. Thus, simpler is better.

Ideally there should be one dice mechanic and one or two models for adjudicating conflict. FATE has three models: Challenges (character vs fixed obstacles), Contests between actors (debates, chases, races) and Conflicts between actors (arguments, duels, firefights, wars). Perhaps that could work for TURK?

Something to ponder further (and in future posts).

So to sum up: it was a good session. The next session will start from where we left off, so no problems getting the ball rolling, so to speak. I also have several ‘homework’ items to provide the players (information they sent requests for and I said I would get it to them later since what they wanted to know wasn't immediately crucial). The story is afoot, and we will see where it takes us!

My new game

I've been quiet here a while now, but not inactive. In fact, I've started my first campaign in years. And not only is it the first time I'll be behind the GM's screen in a long time, it's also the first time running with this particular group of players, the first time with this particular setting AND the first time using a game engine still in development!

No pressure :)

The setting for the campaign is Eclipse Phase. I gotta hand it to the guys at Posthuman Studios; they've done a great job at tackling a complex concept and deliver a ton of game books and online content that is educational and inspiring. Their products are of awesome quality, but they also happily share their setting with their playerbase, having released their game under a Creative Commons license, giving permission to player groups to add to, adapt and otherwise make their own Eclipse Phase games they way they want to (so long as it's not for profit). That very... infological freedom makes the game I have started possible.

You see, instead of the core EP rules as written I am using a game engine I have been working on for the last couple of years in my copious spare time. Taking the core concepts from Roll and Keep, I've been calling my variant TURK: True Universal Roll and Keep engine.

I got the idea to make a TURK:EP game while I was thinking about how EP separates EGO and MORPH that about how Roll and Keep dice mechanics might be a good fit to emulate the EGO determining the dice you throw, but your Morph being the cap on how many you get to keep.

Currently TURK exists as a thoroughly deconstructed set of concepts and principles for handling action, characters and so on. This Eclipse Phase game will be one of the first manifestations of TURK concepts into an actual game. As thought-experiments I've been keeping ideas on applying TURK to many other settings/campaigns/ideas. Some of them may make the light of day here on this blog... *Note to self: if TURK works well, contact Alderac Entertainment*

So far a couple of lessons already learned:

1) You may know your game engine, or at least the intent of your draft rules, but having player feedback is invaluable. Just like any proofreading catches gaffs, inconsistencies, logical gaps and plain typos and misspellings; having someone read and ask questions about your game mechanics is great feedback on where your writing is weak, examples may be needed and so on. It also helps that one of your players is a professional writer and editor *grins*

2) Be prepared with an initial story to tell. Especially with a brand new setting the GM really has a lot to do with setting the themes, mood, tone and feel to feed the player's imaginations and in turn inspire them. My intent is to run a game that strongly follows the player-characters concepts and desired, but first they need a taste of what the world is like. This one I am struggling with at the moment, but the once-a-month schedule is working in my favor: plenty of time to get inspired, write and plot.

3) Everyone having DropBox and Google Drive accounts is a great way to share core setting and game rule information. I was able to share with my players both original setting information as well as my draft (and revised) documents on the rules we're going to play by. It also serves as an online backup for things like character sheets, campaign notes and the like.

More posts to come on this game!