Interest check: Star Trek Frontiers

[GloomCookie]

Hey everyone, Linna here.  I've been hinting at a new game for a while now and I've decided to start a thread to keep interest going and to give everyone a sneak peak as to what you can expect when the game opens.  I'm super excited about this project and I've put way too many hours into this already, but here it is.

Star Trek Frontiers


Set late in Kirk's original 5 year mission, Frontiers explores the universe from a new and unique angle based on a blend of history and what we've seen in both the Original Series and Animated Series.

Starfleet, the heroes who keep humanity safe, are still ever watchful but now have new threats emerging from the frontier of Federation space. New enemies who strike from the shadows and retreat before anyone can get a good look at them.  Plus, the Klingons and Romulans are starting to get a little antsy, and are probing the borders to gauge Starfleet's strength. It's a frightening time to be on the frontier, but where can they go?  Their ships are now homes, their engines converted into power plants to keep the lights on. All that stands between them are 500 crew in a lone ship.

So ok, to kind of get things kicked off, I thought I'd go over some of the inspiration for the game and what you can expect.  First, this isn't JJ Abrams at the helm, this is me. You're not going to see super sleek ships with giant breweries for engine rooms. What you will find is a ship built to both explore, defend, and provide aid to anyone who needs it. You know, what they did in the Original Series, only with a more kickass crew: you guys!

There will be a ton of reference material available to everyone, and I expect you guys to use it. I'm not going to sit here and roll dice or try to get you to read cover to cover, but rather than hand you everything, I'm going to let you explore and find out. Heading for, say, Vulcan?  Look it up and discover things. This way, when something happens, you're genuinely surprised when you aren't given a big glowing hint about what to expect. Makes me sneaky that way.

The game is based off the original FASA Star Trek RPG, but we're not going to get into the ridiculously overcomplicated system. I'm an engineer and even I had to build a massive excel sheet to keep track of the rules, and they still confuse me sometimes. But, you will get to use the character creator to randomly make a character with a random, complex history and then fill in the blanks from there. Maybe you were a model student but screwed up your first training voyage... or maybe even got promoted straight into a good posting.  Life is screwed up sometimes, and no matter how good or bad you are, sometimes things happen without you really intending them to come out that way.

Also, I'm getting this out of the way now.  NO DRAMA LLAMAS!  Seriously.  Starfleet recruits the best and the brightest, and you're not going to get selected if you are a delicate flower who can't stand up for yourself. You're meant to be a leader or at the very least, someone competent with your craft so that when shit hits the fan, you're confident you can do what it takes to jump in and save the day, or know it's out of your league to fix and do what you can with what you have.  How many times did Kirk face off against gods and tyrants with just his wits?  Be like Kirk: so awesome he can stare down a supercomputer aiming to irradiate Earth.

So that's it for now, please let me know if you're interested.  If you are, just a simple wave would be appreciated so I can take a list of names on who to update, and I'll keep you posted every three days or so with how things are progressing.  So far I have about 20% of the Starfleet Medical Reference Manual finished, about 50% of the Academy Handbook ready, and we're going to just use the FASA Federation Manual as is with a few notes from me about what's different.

Below is our first look at some of the history that has definitely changed, because it's more fun that way. If it helps your characters, great, or maybe you're interested just for the sake of curiosity. Let me know what you think and have fun!

Today's History Lesson: The Eugenics Wars (1992 to 1996)

The origins of the Eugenics Wars were said to have been traced to a group of international scientists who worked during the 1960s-1970s who had laboratories in Haiti and Pakistan as well as Chad along with their headquarters in North Yemen. These progenitors of a super race worked in the poorest countries on Earth as it was easy to bribe the officials into silence and hire human guinea pigs for their work. Unknown to him at the time, Ralph Offenhouse supplied this cabal with equipment from electron microscopes to computers, drugs and even chemicals which broke export regulations and smuggling laws.

The wars' roots lie in the "Chrysalis Project", an ambitious program of selective breeding and genetic engineering in the 1960s conducted by a group of scientists trying to create a new, artificially improved breed of men and women: smarter, faster, stronger than ordinary human beings, a super-race to take command of the entire planet. Designed and facilitated by a group of world-renowned geneticists and biochemists, the top-secret Chrysalis Project involved creating human embryos genetically superior to those created through the random genetic shuffling of ordinary reproduction using techniques that appeared to be far beyond what humans were capable of at the time. Free from any government's authority, Chrysalis was a private consortium that answered to no one, having complete autonomy. Chrysalis had its headquarters located in the Thar Desert, thanks to its remote location, the Chrysalis endeavor was completely isolated. The main complex was hidden beneath the ruins of an ancient Rajput fort.

Like so many others of their generation, the members of the Chrysalis Project nurtured dreams of making the world a better place. They believed, however, that a better world was impossible without better people to live in it. Democracy, socialism, psychiatry, religion... all these avenues to Utopia inevitably run into the inherent limitations of human nature, at least as we presently know it. Only by improving the human species itself, through controlled genetic manipulation, can we ever hope to overcome the ills that have perpetually plagued the peoples of the world: poverty, war, disease, and so on. They believed we cannot depend on environment and heredity to produce such individuals as Albert Einstein or Martin Luther King, Jr. at random. At Chrysalis, they were taking chance out of the equation, producing an entire generation of superior individuals, capable of completely transforming civilization as we know it. The Chrysalis Project endeavored to give their genetically enhanced creations full rein of the planet. To do so, the engineers of this project intended to release a bacterium. A genetically modified streptococcus, to be precise, capable of devouring soft tissue at an accelerated rate. In order to infect the world's populace, they procured a quantity of ICBM missiles equipped with specialized biowarheads to use as implementation vehicles from moles in the Soviet germ warfare program, Biopreparat.

The genetically engineered Augments of the Chrysalis Project were mentally and physically superior to ordinary men and women. They were five times stronger than the average person, their lung efficiency was 50 percent better than normal, their heart valve action had twice the power of an average human, and their intelligence was double that of normal humans, which gave them superior analytical capabilities compared to ordinary humans and an increased capacity for absorbing new information. The problem was that, as one Chrysalis scientist wrote before he was murdered by an Augment, "Superior ability creates superior ambition." The so called supermen felt that their superior physical and intellectual abilities gave them the right to rule over the rest of humanity. To that end, they conspired throughout the 1980s to seize power through the use of behind-the-scenes manipulation, brute force and "puppet leaders" who answered only to them.

Of all the genetically enhanced manipulators who rose to power during this period, none were as ambitious or as ruthless as the man known as Khan Noonien Singh. The son of Dr. Sarina Kaur, Khan Singh's presence was felt throughout the world, perhaps most discreetly. He fought against Soviet soldiers outside Vladimir Lenin's tomb, where he stopped a coup, and maintained the safety of President Mikhail Gorbachev while he was attending the summit in Reykjavik, Iceland. He was rumored to be all over the Asian and Indian subcontinent, inciting the 1987 pro-democracy uprising in South Korea, fighting alongside the Afghan rebels in their guerrilla war against the Soviet Union, personally arranging the 1988 plane crash that killed General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, leader of the Pakistan's military government, returning democracy to India's nearest neighbor and rival. Khan was also credited with the so called "natural" death of the Ayatollah Khomeini.

Aided and abetted by power-hungry individuals in various governments, business organizations, and independent agencies who allowed themselves to fall under his domination, Khan attempted to gain control of the entire planet. In 1992 Khan quietly seized power over much of Southeast Asia and the Middle East through blackmail and strong-arm tactics. Dozens of "figurehead rulers" either answered to Khan or in some fashion allied themselves with him. He ruled his dominion from what he called the Great Khanate in the remote parts of India. His fellow "supermen" took over key positions of power in South America, Somalia, the former Yugoslavia, remote parts of the South Pacific and in sections of North Africa. Khan's Great Khanate was centered in Chandigarh, India and had a secondary command center on Muroroa Atoll, "Chrysalis Island", of the Tuamoto islands in the French Polynesia. On June 14, 1992 from Muroroa Atoll, a former French nuclear testing area (Centre d'Experimentation du Pacifique), Khan launched the Morning Star satellite into orbit, giving him the ability to damage the Earth's ozone layer. On July 10, 1992 Singh held an assembly with delegates from nations in Southern Asia and the Middle East, where he demonstrated Morning Star's abilities and issued an ultimatum, "if I fall, the world falls with me". The satellite would later cause an increase in the hole in the ozone layer that was publicly blamed on the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.

Various incidents of violence around the world were spurred by Khan and his fellow Augments throughout 1992, such as civil wars in Liberia, Peru, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Somalia, Sudan and elsewhere; race riots in Los Angeles and food riots in Albania. On June 14, 1993, Khan held a summit with 6 of his most powerful Chrysalis siblings, where he attempted to unify them to create a new world order with him as the prevailing voice. The summit was a failure as Khan's dream of unity collapsed when the Augments' enhanced ambition caused them to turn on one another, spawning the Eugenics Wars.

Carried out through mostly covert operations, the war did result in massive causalities that the legitimate governments publicly said were rogue terrorist incidents or natural disasters. (TOS novels: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 1, The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Volume 2) The outbreak of the war limited the efforts by Earth in its attempt at manned space flight with those resources instead being diverted to the global war that was being fought on the planetary surface. A massive impediment by the various nations against the Augment threat was the fact that the various intelligence bureaus failing to cooperate with one another or share their gathered information. This allowed for a number of military defeats to be suffered at the hands of the Augments and thus lengthened the war.

During this time, in their eagerness to assert their self-proclaimed destinies as rulers of the Earth, the Augments sparked civil wars and unrest all over the globe, in Eastern Europe, Liberia, Somalia, Peru, Haiti, Rwanda and elsewhere. Though the public-at-large was aware of the majority of such events - most never knew that the events were in fact all related to one another. Indeed, the public was kept entirely ignorant of many of the related "battles" of the Eugenics Wars and even Khan himself was not known to the majority of the world.

One notable incident of the war occurred on 30 September 1993, when Khan was lured to the Ajorra caves in central India by Vasily Hunyadi, the Augment force behind the Serbian government, who attempted to assassinate Khan by triggering an earthquake caused by an underwater concussive charge place by Hunyadi. This earthquake was in the previously-considered aseismatic region of Maharashtra. The death toll from this quake was over 10,000 and entire villages were destroyed.

Khan attempted to retaliate on 7 February 1994 during a submarine battle under the Mediterranean Sea between Khan's forces and Hunyadi's. However, his effort was thwarted when the ballistic missile submarine S.G.K. Kaur was attacked because of the no-fly zone imposed by NATO. A couple of months later, on April 21 Dr. Donald Williams of the Chrysalis Project gave to Khan the genetic sequence for the flesh eating strain of streptococcus-A developed by Sarina Kaur. Khan would begin human testing of this carnivorous bacteria on October 2 of that year.

On August 29, 1994 Hunyadi addressed the United Nations in defiance against the economic sanctions and the NATO peacekeeping presence to declare that Serbia had nothing to apologize for. During his speech, members of the Army of Eternal Vigilance (AEV) released sarin gas, a nerve toxin, into the council chambers, suffocating to death many ambassadors and tourists and also Vasily Hunyadi. The AEV was an anti-government militia based in Cochise County, Arizona. It was commanded by an Augment named Randall "Hawkeye" Morrison. Morrison had teamed up with Khan to eliminate Hunyadi. Morrison's ambition with nerve gas was notorious, the AEV attempted to release Sarin gas at both ends of the Eurotunnel at its opening to the public. When this strike was stopped paranoia consumed Morrison. He attempted to kill all his followers but they escaped and Morrison committed suicide.

On March 17 of 1995, Khan acquired over 200 bio-warheads from the former Soviet Union. Eventually, after learning the secrets of the Chrysalis Project, Khan redeveloped the flesh eating streptococcus that his mother developed and prepared to devastate the planet with its presence. On September 5, 1995 Chrysalis Island was attacked by a joint Russian-American strike, a ten-kiloton nuclear device destroying Khan's biological warfare lab and his doomsday weapon. The cover story was that France had privately resumed nuclear testing in the area of the old Centre d'Experimentation du Pacifique.
With his weakened arsenal and with the major superpowers of the world now aware of Khan's plans of genocide, air strikes from American B-52 bombers and a ground assault from the Russian Spetsnaz eliminated Khan's henchmen and palace. On January 10, 1996 U.S. forces bombed Khan's "terrorist base" in Chandigarh as well as several other Augment bases in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Sudan.

Facing certain defeat at the hands of combined forces from multiple nations, the very next day Khan and 84 of his Augment followers secretly escaped Earth aboard a stolen prototype vessel of the DY-100 sleeper ship christened the SS Botany Bay.  The failure by Earth's intelligence agencies in sharing information meant that they were not aware of this fact which allowed Khan to escape from the planet at the end of the Eugenics War. This ship was developed using technology reverse-engineered from the Ferengi ship that crashed at Roswell, and launched from the secret American facility nicknamed "Area 51". Khan headed for outer space with the dream of someday ruling a world of his own making. On board the ship, the crew were cryogenically frozen to allow them to remain in suspended animation.

In 1996, the USS Enterprise was sunk in the Sea of Japan. Also, at some unknown point, the cities of Tokyo was nearly completely destroyed while New York City was destroyed in its entirety.

Towards the end of the war, there had been a small peace movement, trying to stem the tide of destruction. Upon failing this task, they decided to leave the Earth in search of a more peaceful world. They constructed a spaceship, launching themselves into space in suspended animation in 1997.

[AndyZ]

Keeping an eye on this.

[CaptainErotica]

Definitely interested in this!

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

That's quite an exciting setup you've got there. I'm happy to see something based on TOS and the long-forgotten animated series...The later programs came on at times in my life when I just had too much going on, so I never really got 'into' Voyager and the other revival series.

I do have to say that randomized-background CG isn't necessarily one of my favorite things (nightmares of Original Traveller tabletop where the game became "Who can actually get a character to survive character generation with the dice this cold?").

[Thorne]

I preferred DS9 myself, but ... this is of interest to me.

I'm willing to try the randomized background thing at least once, even accounting for the dice hating me. A lot. ^^;

[GloomCookie]

Holy crap you guys! I was gonna update this morning but I was running late, so I thought "Meh, I'll update tonight. Won't be too bad."  It's 9:30 and I just got home. Thank goodness I had most of the update ready for you to poke around with. I'll try to have these out every 3 days or so, and use it to both keep interest alive and also write the history of Earth as we go. Don't worry if you don't want to read it all right now, I'll have it in the main game manual before it's all said and done.

So yesterday I found several reference materials and consolidated them down into a number of books. These are auxiliary materials that will be useful but not critical. One of them, the Starfleet Medical Reference Manual, might be useful to anyone playing a medical officer, but otherwise it's not absolutely critical. I still have to get the main sourcebook, the one that will combine history, standard terms, vital information about key systems, etc. into one place that will serve you guys for the majority of the game. The biggest issue currently is finding topics to cover that you will need to know. If you have any suggestions, go ahead and let me know!

The game should be up and running around July 1, giving me a bit of time before I have to start panicking. I probably will but meh, that's normal. I still have a lot of material to go over and such, but I was going to let you guys know I'm going to make this as easy to slip into as possible. You don't have to know a thing about Star Trek to get into this game. If you just like the concept, I'm open to getting you into it. We can worry about lore and such later on.

Time for questions and comments!

That's quite an exciting setup you've got there. I'm happy to see something based on TOS and the long-forgotten animated series...The later programs came on at times in my life when I just had too much going on, so I never really got 'into' Voyager and the other revival series.

I do have to say that randomized-background CG isn't necessarily one of my favorite things (nightmares of Original Traveller tabletop where the game became "Who can actually get a character to survive character generation with the dice this cold?").

Carnival, if you want I can let you see the generator... I built it over a year ago and it still (somehow) works, so if you want to copy it and take a stab at how the random rolls go, I'll be glad to let you. Same goes for anyone else. Just go to File > Make a Copy and save it to your own Google Drive, then poke around.  Any questions you have about it, I'm more than willing to answer.  And yes, all those species are available to play as. There's also the Star Trek IV sourcebook with a variety of other races, though please ask before you choose to play one.

I preferred DS9 myself, but ... this is of interest to me.

I'm willing to try the randomized background thing at least once, even accounting for the dice hating me. A lot. ^^;

Poke around a bit. I'm sure you'll find it's not so bad. DS9 is my second favorite because of Ben Sisko's Mother Fuckin Pimp Hand, also known as the Defiant. I'm sure it was a clerical error and when Sisko found out, he slapped on an extra pair of phasers just because.

Today's history lesson: World War III (2026 to 2053)

Historians traced the earliest phases of the war as far back as 2026, with factions of eco-terrorists launching attacks responsible for as many as 37 million deaths. In addition, it is possible that a further root cause of World War III lay in the political destabilization of several European nations, including France, which was torn between the Trotskyists and the Neo-Gaullists, circa 2024. At the time of the final conflagration in the 2050s, one side was composed of the New United Nations, including the United States and the European Union; the other side was an alliance known as the Eastern Coalition. The war's origins went back decades, but by the year 2051, Lee Kuan had emerged as a general in the military hierarchy of the Eastern Coalition, helping to overthrow the emerging democratic movement within the government of that political bloc. This ultimately helped to cement the ECON's hard line opposition-stance to the United States's policies, bringing it into direct military conflict within two more years.

The final catalyst-events for World War III were a series of confrontations between the New United Nations and the ECON over oil fields located in Antarctica and Taklamakan, a few months before the first major nuclear salvos are launched. Rioting breaks out in several major American cities during the days immediately leading up to the war, with fires and looting prior to the nuclear strikes as people attempted to flee the impending target zones with their lives.

At precisely 0230.26 hours Eastern Standard Time, on 1 May 2053 (an event later known as the "May Day Horror of '53"), the Eastern Coalition launched a first strike comprised of intercontinental ballistic missiles, bomber attacks, and portable nuclear weapons, against major North American and European cities, combined with a simultaneous Interface viral assault against the New United Nations computer infrastructure. Much to surprise of the ECON political leadership, the New United Nations immediately retaliated with nuclear launches of their own, as well as bomber and satellite-based attacks against targets in the Middle East and Asia. Many Pacific nations side with the Eastern Coalition against the United States when fighting finally breaks out. Other political groupings, such as the Muslim Bloc, are likewise hit extremely hard during the nuclear exchanges, despite being non-aligned with either side during the war.  The detonation of nuclear weapons over cities (in the multiple-megaton range) such as London, Moscow, Berlin, New York City, Chicago, Boston, Dallas, Toronto, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Mecca, Riyadh, Samarkand, Karachi, Singapore, and New Delhi killed nearly half a billion people instantly. Smaller detonations occurred over Hong Kong, Beijing, and Ho Chi Minh City. Un-detonated or failed nuclear devices were discovered in or around targets such as Washington D.C., Denver, Paris, Madrid, Rome, and Istanbul. Of the hundreds of ICBMs and bombers launched by the United States and allied forces, only one in five makes it into the air, due to EMP weapons and viral attacks against the military computer networks — of these, only a fraction detonate properly.

Conventional military forces on both sides were quickly moved into offensive position against their respective foes — on 3 May 2053, the First, Eighth, and Sixteenth Fleets under New United Nations command carry front-line troops into the Bay of Bengal, and the ECON launches a massive invasion of the North American continent, sending troops and military aircraft southward through Canada. Targets in New England (including Massachusetts), Minnesota, the Rocky Mountains, and the Midwest are hit hard by ECON forces, the U.S. military's defenses along the Canadian border failing utterly. The United States Air Force and United States Army both fight back against the invaders, but lose many fighters and ground soldiers to the enemy. Certain military units are abandoned in enemy territory during the war, including a New United Nations brigade under the command of Colonel Green in Kashmiristan in late May. Finally, the Eastern Coalition's governing palace is destroyed by American forces, killing ECON founder Lee Kuan.

The post-atomic horror that followed severely destabilized global civilization; terrorist organizations and rogue states often detonated small-scale "suitcase nukes," while toxins and biogenic weapons were released. Drug-addled soldiers were often sacrificed in conventional battles on the ground after much of the planetary computer systems failed; numerous small-scale conflicts created chaos throughout the globe as warlords fought over the scraps of civilization. As a result of the ICBM detonations, an enormous dust cloud envelops the Earth, resulting in several nuclear winters. Sovereign nations, including the United States, essentially cease to exist following the war, the country falling into barbarism, carved up into fiefdoms controlled by competing warlords (including Colonel Green's despotic reign over the Pacific Northwest). Without federal resources to fall back upon, most local governments were unable to feed their own people; chaos and anarchy would reign for generations afterward, well into the 22nd century. The President of the United States, President Mendoza, survives the initial days of the war, but finds herself in command of very little afterwards.

The war culminated circa 2053, when several of Earth's governments met in San Francisco to declare a cease-fire, effectively ending the war. In the end, most of the world's major governments collapsed, and over 600 million people had died just from the immediate combat. Despite the end of actual hostilities, the after-effects of the war referred to as "the post-atomic horror"—lingered for decades to follow. Rule of law broke down in many places, and legal systems were abolished, with the suggestion to "kill all the lawyers" from Henry VI being taken literally in some places. Asia was particularly devastated. Much of the United States economy was ruined, with the population reduced to standards of living less than that of the victims of the Great Depression a century earlier. So great were the horrors that human genius Zefram Cochrane had himself implanted with a pain-inhibiting chip in order to cope with the world around him. Nonetheless, his Project Phoenix was able to secure backing, and led to first contact only ten years later.



Linna's thoughts:  I thought for the longest time WWIII and the Eugenics Wars were one in the same, but since I did a whole big history thing on the latter last time, it's clear that opinion has changed. Part of this is because it leads to a much darker timeline, with humanity having a very dark past that colors their perception of how they fit into the universe. Most "civilized" states such as the Klingons and Romulans see humanity as backwards for nuking their own world, and with good reason. Propaganda definitely depicts the savage humans dropping nuclear weapons on unprotected planets and then settling on top of the still charred and radioactive ruins. Not to mention that numerous cultures were completely erased in a flash, leaving little for the survivors to build upon. It would take decades, even with Vulcan assistance, to rebuild humanity into even a shadow of what it was. For the average person, the legacy of WWIII has definitely led to a redefining of what it means to be human. The nation states of old were burned away, leaving echoes of their glory behind for the people to aspire to, even if the reality was far, far different.  The two big nations, the United States and Soviet Russia, were the now dead titans that had battled it out and left ruin and devastation in their wake.

I wanted to point out something important. The number of casualties, 600 million, refers only to the number of people who actually died in combat. What came after, the post-atomic horror, was barely hinted at in First Contact, when they showed people living in shacks in the Montana wilderness. Paranoia ran high that the Eastern Coalition would return, like the boogie men of old, and that was in the middle of nowhere. Imagine the horrors of seeing both ECON and NUN forces marching in lock step under Colonel Green, rolling through the Pacific northwest and ruling with an iron fist. The horrors of the war went far beyond those who died in combat, and likely led to casualties of almost two billion over the next few years when famine and chaos spread. No centralized government and irradiated crops that don't grow would lead to famine and death in horrible conditions. By the time the Vulcans showed up, Earth's population was probably down to around 5.5 billion people, which is still a lot. But how do you bury that many dead?

Vulcans must have this interesting history, given the state they found humanity in. This backwards, barbaric people who killed off almost a third of their own people in some of the most horrific ways possible somehow figuring out the secret to faster than light travel just a few years later. I mean, a long lived species like the Vulcans with their own violent past must have been reminded of some horrible things when they found Cochran's home.  Yet I think that's ultimately why they stuck around to help humans... they saw the potential there. They saw a species that had nearly killed themselves off and were still able to make something just a few years after the devastation, and they saw a glimmer of the hope Surak must have felt when he united the Vulcan peoples so long ago. And to then turn around and have this upstart species join forces to defeat one of the most dangerous threats in known space at the time AND find common cause with two other species to form a full Federation?

Next time, we'll be taking a look at the next major conflict in Human history, the Earth-Romulan War.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

I poked around in the attic and I still have my old FASA books, including the kay-dets' and Officers' manuals and a handful of others. Reviewing the system (and your worksheet) I'm reminded that this isn't QUITE on par with Traveller (where you could quite handily die in character generation) but it still has some of the uneven-ness. Depending on your dice, you might end up with a youngster with moderately low skills and little experience outside of the Merchant Marine, or a grizzled veteran, highly-skilled and with esprit and reviews out to here due to constant Constitution-class assignments. There was a whole time-period back in the late-70s, early-80s where that sort of thing was pretty typical in many RPGs (Twilight: 2000 had a really rough one where you might "muster out" with an army private with minimal experience and expertise...Or roll your way into the special forces and come out as Dick Marcinko's even-more-badass love child). I guess I don't remember that variance fondly, because more and more as time has worn on and we've moved into (what is it now, fourth?) later-generation RPG storytelling ideals, more and more control over the character concept has become taken for granted. Even in early D&D the option was inserted pretty quickly for things like 'roll 4, take 3 and put them in whatever order you like' when people realized they weren't terribly eager to play their worst possible dice rolls which horrendously limited character and class choices.

Still, as I said, I've dug out the books and eyeballed the spreadsheet and it's workable. Will we be able to shift around our 3d10 attribute rolls?

Goodness, that's a dark little bit of history, even if "suitcase nukes" still makes me smirk every time someone brings them up (really due to certain people who still to this day constantly panick about "stolen Soviet suitcases nukes"...the smaller the device, the less leeway available in maintaining critical mass...And therefore, the shorter the shelf life. Anything pared down to a "man portable" system won't last more than six months.). I do rather like the insight into the Romulan/Klingon/Vulcan POV about it.

The Andorians must really have fits about that recent human past, given their combination of 'extremely warlike race' with 'high ecological priorities.' Hm. That gives me an idea...

EDIT: Fiddling around with the spreadsheet a bit...Something seems to be bugging as far as the automatic fill for F29, H29 and J29.

[Caradoc]

I may be interested in this one myself. Well, no, I know I'm interested, it's a matter of time. But potentially, yeah. I haven't RP'd Star Trek in a long time.

[GloomCookie]

I got home and started on this and it was so much fun I can't help myself. Here's a bonus history lesson!

For much of the last century, soldiers, historians, and politicians have debated the many unanswered questions about the Earth-Romulan War of 2156 to 2160. What was the cause of the war? Why did the Romulan Star Empire attack the deep space stations of the United Earth (UE)? What did the Romulans hope to achieve? Some have suggested that the UE should be blamed for the war because its aggressive sensor probes and starship patrols led the Romulans to believe an invasion of their territory was imminent; according to this line of reasoning the Romulan attacks upon the UE space stations were preemptive and launched purely in self-defense. Others say that the UE sought war in an attempt to spread human civilization throughout the galaxy.

However, a consensus has slowly been building among Federation historians that the Romulans' attacks were the first step in a campaign to conquer and return to their ancestral homeworld of Vulcan. Some 3 millennia ago, Vulcan was being torn apart by civil and religious wars. Amid the chaos, several factions left Vulcan to establish new societies in nearby solar systems. However, the exiles soon fell to fighting among themselves, leading to repeated cycles of schism, war, exodus, voyage, and resettlement on alien planets further and further from their homeworld. Most of the new off-world colonies withered and died through war, starvation, inbreeding, and natural disasters, but finally, after a hundred generations and a journey of 60 ly, a robust colony was established on a planet orbiting the star Gliese 431, which we now know as Romulus. Over the subsequent centuries, the Romulans built an interstellar society, but they never forgot how they had been exiled from their homeworld. They vowed to return one day and punish their erstwhile oppressors.

In 2153, Romulan ships on patrol from their base at Gliese 480.1 (also known as Taugus) encountered 3 ships of a previously unknown race: Humans. Having the tactical advantage, the Romulans destroyed one of the UESN ships and were even able to glean valuable intelligence from the debris. They learned that the inhabitants of Vulcan still thrived under the teachings of Surak and had allied themselves with the Humans. The Romulans were astounded by the energy and ambition of the Humans, who had progressed from steam power to supraluminal flight in little more than two centuries. If the Vulcans were allied with such a bold race, any Romulan efforts to conquer Vulcan might soon be in vain. While they were now at rough technological parity with the Humans, the Romulans would have to strike quickly before the Humans gained an insurmountable advantage. However, in the likely event that the Humans chose to defend the Vulcans, who had become their important partners in science, culture, and trade, how were the Romulans to prevail? The Romulans concluded that the only way to prevent the Humans from defending Vulcan was to a pose a greater, existential threat to the Humans themselves. To this end, the Romulans planned to attack and occupy the UESN bases in the Gliese 440 and Luyten 143-23 (Innes' Star) systems. These systems were the most antispinward outposts of the UE, and their capture would provide the Romulans direct, unrestricted access to all the major UE population centers. With their core star systems under threat of invasion, the UE, the Romulans concluded, would have little choice but to abandon their Vulcan allies.

Pre-War Strategy and Positions
The UE Stellar Navy (UESN) had established Deep Space Stations Yu-lei and Shen-shu (named after the mythical Chinese guardians of the Gates of Hell) in the late 2140s in the Gliese 440 and Luyten 143-23 systems to monitor the antispinward approaches to the UE core from as-yet-unidentified "over-the-horizon" threats. The close spacing of these stars (0.6 parsec, or 2 light years) allowed the twin stations to host the Aker Array (named after the two-headed Egyptian lion god), an advanced long-baseline passive and active subspace sensor system that provided high-resolution omnidimensional imaging to a distance of 1.5 parsecs. Dedicated subspace communications links connected the two deep space stations to each other and to the Centauri system 3.4 parsecs spinward. After the 2153 skirmish in the Taugus system, the twin stations had received enhanced weaponry and refueling and maintenance facilities to serve as bases for defensive patrols by the Amarillo-class cruisers UES London (CC-33) and UES Al-Qahira (CC-45), the Pioneer-class heavy cruisers UES Firebrand (CH-35) and UES Sentinel (CH-37) as well as a squadron of 5 Archer-class patrol craft (UES Leyton, PC-61; UES Winstead, PC-72; UES McKeggan, PC-75; UES King, PC-78; and UES Castillo, PC-80).

Owing to the unprecedented range and resolution of the Aker Array, the great distances (at least 1.9 parsecs) to the nearest Romulan-controlled star systems GJ 1128 (now known as Qualor) and Hipparchos 54298, and the perceived limitations of enemy warships, the UESN was confident that a successful attack upon the Aker Array stations was extremely unlikely. Indeed, the UESN did not even believe its own fusion-powered ships capable of succeeding in such an attack. However, if the Romulans were to attack, the UESN did not doubt its ability to detect the attack before or soon after its launch and thereby to marshal the UESN fleet to defend their deep space stations and the core star systems of UE space.

In the years following the Kursk Incident, Romulan warships undertook aggressive scouting missions from numerous systems bordering areas controlled by the UE and Andor. Romulan scout ships launched from long-range motherships probed the Andor-held systems of Tlolu (Beta Hydri) and Shressh (Zeta Tucanae) and the UE-held systems of Utopia (61 Virginis), Gliese 440, and Luyten 143-23. These incursions met with stiff resistance from UESN and Andorian intrasystem defensive ships and interstellar cruisers, which were tasked with their own missions of "reconnaissance in strength." These scouting missions often led to tense stand-offs, warning shots, pursuit, and the loss of several small ships. Both the UESN and the UE citizenry feared that these border skirmishes would lead to full-scale war with the Romulans. But where, when, and how would war start?

Unknown to the UE, the Romulans had, for the previous 3 years, devoted the greater part of their national energies to assembling a great invasion fleet in the Beta Corrolis system (Gliese 293), which was 3.1 parsecs from Shen-shu (Luyten 143-23) and beyond the range of high-resolution scanning from the Aker Array. The tip of the Romulan spear was an immense, powerfully armed cruiser known by the UESN code name Cabbage. Cabbage-class cruisers had been developed from an existing interstellar cruiser for the express role of carrying out large fleet attacks across interstellar distances. Although the original cruiser had been designed to operate independently with a balanced load of fuel and payload, the Cabbages carried larger numbers of missiles for ship-to-ship and ship-to-surface attacks and a powerful plasma weapon at the expense of fuel, which was to be carried by accompanying tankers.

Cabbage-class ships weighed an estimated 500,000 tons. Behind the 118-m-diameter hemispherical command hulls was a spherical fusion reactor that powered 3 pedunculated warp nacelles mounted in a 120-degree configuration. The fusion reactor also powered a single axial impulse drive unit with thrust shapers for travel at sublight speeds. The main weapon was an extremely powerful plasma cannon that, although not capable of supraluminal speeds, was effective at ranges up to 5 million km. This plasma cannon had been designed to destroy enemy ships, space stations, and even surface installations. Cabbage cruisers also carried a variety of fusion-powered, warp-capable, fusion-tipped missiles for defense and long-range attacks against ships and fixed targets.

Cabbage cruisers had an observed maximum speed of wf 2.9 and a cruising speed of wf 2.6, which were slightly better than those of the UESN's fusion-powered Amarillo-class cruiser. However, because of the inefficient fusion reactor, which powered both the warp and impulse drives, range at cruising speed likely did not exceed 3 ly despite the large deuterium fuel tanks Cabbage carried. Therefore, to attack across average interstellar distances in the Romulans' push into UE space, refueling en route could not be avoided. Predictably, handling at both warp and sublight speeds was extremely poor and can best be described as sluggish. However, because of their great size, Cabbage cruisers could absorb enormous amounts of damage and remain in action.

The Attacks on Stations Yu-Lei and Shen-shu
Since December 2155, the Aker Array had suffered a series of unexplained technical problems. One day, the subspace emitters might drift off proper alignment, preventing a coherent sensor beam from being produced. Another day, the communication link between Yu-lei and Shen-shu might become unstable, preventing the array from operating at its full range and resolution. As soon as one problem was fixed, another would arise. The engineering staff was overwhelmed and becoming increasingly frustrated, so requested that additional technicians be dispatched from Centauri; however, they were not expected to arrive for at least 4 months. Until the problems were solved, the Aker Array could not operate at full capacity or reliably detect or identify approaching ships. In addition, UES Firebrand was having problems with its integrated logic systems and remained in port at Yu-lei. To this day, the problems that plagued Yu-lei and Shen-shu have never been satisfactorily explained, but sabotage has not been ruled out.

On March 15, 2156, the Earth-Romulan War started with the attack on the Yu-Lei and Shen-shu stations by a combined force of 25 Cabbage cruisers and numerous support ships. The invasion fleet, which had likely left the Beta Corralis system at least 150 days earlier for its 10-light year journey, had been sighted by UES London on defensive patrol some 4 days before its expected arrival, but this was far too late for reinforcements to arrive from the Centauri system. The stations did their best to prepare for the attack, but it became increasingly clear from the size of the approaching fleet that any defense would likely be futile. Stations Yu-lei and Shen-shu and the Aker Array would certainly be destroyed, and both star systems would be occupied by the Romulans. To minimize loss of life, the UESN Admiralty ordered the stations to be evacuated. UES London and UES Firebrand, although not yet fully repaired, left for Centauri with most of the stations' crews 2 days before the attack. The other cruisers, UES Al-Qahira and UES Sentinel, were ordered to engage the invaders with their missiles but then to fall back towards Centauri. The Bison transports UES Gugalanna (AP-32) and UES Taurus (AP-44), which had put into Yu-lei for repairs, could not be made spaceworthy in time and were scuttled by their crews. A small group of volunteers stayed behind to man defensive missile batteries and Archer-class patrol craft in attempt to destroy as many attacking ships as possible.

The 25 Romulan Cabbages dropped out of warp about 100 million km from Gliese 440 and Luyten 143-23 and began firing their missiles at a distance of 20 million km. Middle- and long-range missiles fired from the cruisers, stations, defensive satellites, and emplacements on planets and moons intercepted approximately 70% of the first waves of Romulan missiles and severely damaged 5 Cabbages (2 at Yu-lei and 3 at Shen-shu) In addition, 3 remotely piloted Archer-class ships (UES Leyton, UES Winstead, and UES King) rammed and destroyed 3 more Cabbages. However, the Aker Array components in solar orbit in both systems were, as expected, completely destroyed by subsequent waves of Romulan missiles. The Cabbages continued to fire their missiles at any UESN assets they could identify and then used their beam weapons to turn the surfaces of planetary bodies and moons to black glass. This first action of the Earth-Romulan War later became known as the First Battle of Hell's Gate.

The victorious Romulan fleet made no effort to pursue the retreating UESN ships but instead took up defensive positions in the two systems. The next few months saw the arrival of 10 additional Cabbages, as well as scores of support ships, including such Cabbagevariants as tankers (Tonsil class), subspace sensor/communications ships (Rodent class), and troop carriers (Syrup class) so that the systems could be used as bases for attacks upon the UE and Vulcan. By the summer of 2157, the Romulans were ready to take the next step in their campaign to conquer Vulcan, which would end at the Battle of the Vela Gap.

United Earth on the Defensive
Perhaps more than any other class, the Archer class of system patrol ships were responsible for saving the outer colonies of the United Earth (UE) during the perilous early months of the Earth-Romulan War. These tiny ships were often all that stood between the mighty Romulan war machine and thousands of colonists on the planets within striking range of the Romulan Empire.

Archer was designed in the early 2150s to serve as a semiautonomous intrasystem patrol vessel for protecting colonies and performing police actions against raiders and pirates. The UE Stellar Navy (UESN), whose strength at that time was still at its extremely low prewar levels, had barely enough ships to patrol the major space lanes and protect UE core worlds, much less to defend colony worlds at the far reaches of its territory. The UE frontiers were simply too vast to be reliably protected by the UESN's lumbering interstellar cruisers, such as those of the Alexander class, which could barely make wf 2.3. To provide for colonial defense, Archer-class ships were to be based singly or in pairs at each border system, where they would operate under nominal local control. Unlike larger UESN cruisers, the 62-m-long Archer carried only a small, high pressure 6N-4A fusion reactor, a single Firefly inline warp nacelle, and a small supply of deuterium. This drive system allowed Archer to respond at moderately high warp speeds (wf 2.7) to trouble within 500 au of its base but not to travel to other star systems.

All Archer-class ships were all built at the Monarch R&U Shipyards in orbit around Mars and were transported to their bases 4 at a time by specially modified Bison cargo ships similar to the later Yorktown-class carriers. These small ships could be based in orbit around colony worlds, at asteroids or space stations, or even at tenders far from any planetary body. Archer required little maintenance (a support team of 30 was standard) to be kept in a constant state of readiness and could be launched on a mission with its crew of 20 in as little as 15 minutes. Because of their relatively modest drive systems, Archers had more room available for sensor and targeting systems, lasers, and missiles than did interstellar ships of similar displacement.

The lead ship of the class, UES Archer (PC-59) was launched in the summer of 2154, just as the Romulan threat was finally being publicly revealed. In view of this threat, the initial order of 25 ships, which was believed adequate in peacetime, was immediately doubled. Through 2157 some 73 Archers entered service with the UESN. Even before the formal declaration of hostilities between the UE and the Romulan Star Empire in March 2156, Archer-class ships had already begun countering incursions by Romulan raiders and scoutships. For example, in May 2155 an anomalous energy signature was detected by orbital sensors near the UE's Utopia colony at 61 Virginis. The single Archer based there, UES Suri (PC-74), was sent out to investigate and soon detected faint sensor traces suggesting the presence of a small, stealthed Romulan ship. The two vessels played a desperate game of cat and mouse for 3 days before the intruder was destroyed.

In the valiant but unsuccessful defense of Deep Space Stations Yu-lei and Shen-shu in the war's opening action, the First Battle of Hell's Gate, 3 remotely piloted Archer-class ships, UES Leyton (PC-61), UES Winstead (PC-72), and UES King (PC-78) rammed and destroyed 3 Cabbages. Two manned Archers, UES McKeggan, (PC-75) and UES Castillo (PC-80), managed to destroy a further Cabbage apiece. Amazingly, 54 of the UESN crew who volunteered to remain in-system and fight aboard Archers and at surface installations survived the Romulan attacks by hiding aboard these Archers in the systems' asteroid belts. They were rescued when a UESN relief force recaptured the systems in the Second Battle of Hell's Gate the following year.

Archers did much to blunt Romulan thrusts in the desperate days following the attacks on Yu-lei and Shen-shu. In the first 4 months of the war Archers were credited with the destruction of some 25 Romulan ships, including 6 half-million-ton Cabbage-class cruisers. In June 2156 2 Cabbage and 3 smaller Elbow-class cruisers attacked the Utopia colony. The 4 Archers UES Pemberton (PC-60), UES Haar (PC-66), UES Suri (PC-74), and UES Hachez (PC-92) and 1 San Francisco-class corvette (UES Taipei, CL-73) based there engaged the attackers near the system's Kuiper belt. Four of the Romulan ships were destroyed (including 1 destroyed in a suicide attack by UES Hachez), and the fifth escaped back across the frontier.

With the introduction of shipboard matter/antimatter (M/AM) power systems in 2158, the UESN launched an improved version of Archer, designated the Curran class. Although outwardly resembling Archer, Curran, which was also constructed by Monarch R&U, was powered by M/AM fuel cells similar to those carried by the famous Minotaur fighters. However, unlike Minotaur, Curran did not carry a fusion reactor capable of creating and sustaining a warp field for interstellar flight. Minotaurs were usually carried internally at warp speeds by Yorktown-class carriers and released deep within enemy territory. After attacking a target within 300 au of its release point, the Minotaur would rendezvous with the Yorktown and be carried back to UE space. However, if a Minotaur were unable to rendezvous with the carrier or if the carrier were destroyed, the Minotaur could return to UE space at low warp speeds using its onboard fusion reactor. In contrast, Curran's fusion reactor was used only to power internal systems and the sublight impulse drive; warp drive was powered only by fuel modules. Within these replaceable modules, 10 of which were carried by Curran, matter and antimatter were stored, then reacted at narrowly controlled rates. However, because Curran was never expected to cross interstellar distances under their own power, a large fusion reactor was unnecessary. This weight savings allowed Curran to mount more powerful sensors with which to detect attacking ships. They could also achieve higher peak speeds (wf 4.6) than could Minotaur or Archer for intercepting enemy ships and making attack runs.

In the last 2 years of the war, 30 Currans entered service with the UESN. Although Curran was a more powerful attack ship than either Minotaur or Archer, it did not achieve the fame of either of these ships because by the time it was introduced the tide of the war had turned in the UE's favor. In the latter half of 2158, UESN task forces, spearheaded by powerful second- and third-generation M/AM-reactor-equipped cruisers and carriers had begun their drive towards the Romulan homeworlds. Although the UE's outer colonies were still under threat of Romulan attack until early 2160, by 2159 the Romulans had begun to withdraw from their most forward bases and to consolidate their defensive sphere around their core worlds. Thereafter, Romulan forces made only occasional nuisance raids against the UE's outer colonies, which were now much more heavily defended than in the early years of the war.

Archer and Curran were purely defensive patrol craft that took no part in the great UESN offensives of the last 2 years of the war. However, by defending the outer worlds of the UE against Romulan attacks in the war's early years, they saved the lives of thousands of UE citizens and held the line until the UESN was itself ready to go on the offensive.

The Battle of Vela Gap
In August 2157, UES Bowen (CCM-2) was on deep space patrol from Starbase Jordan, a recently established UESN base in the NN 3622 system, to the Vela Gap, a potential invasion corridor previously unguarded because of the limited range of fusion-powered ships. Bowen crossed a Romulan subspace wake 4.5 ly southeast of Gl 440, site of the destroyed UESN Deep Space Station Yu-lei and now occupied by the Romulans. Bowen followed the wake like a shark following a trail of blood and discovered a trio of Romulan Tonsil-class tankers. Bowen destroyed the tankers and proceeded along their likely course; 66 hours later, Bowen's long-range sensors detected a 50-ship Romulan armada. Bowen shadowed the armada and dispatched a warp message torpedo reporting the discovery to Starbase Maxwell in the Gateway system (Ross 128). Seventy-one days later, a 15-ship task force, spearheaded by the UESN's new M/AM-powered ships, arrived from Centauri and engaged the enemy fleet. The Romulans, caught in deep interstellar space without their tankers, gradually lost their ability to maneuver at warp. After a fierce, 3-day action, which became known as the Battle of the Vela Gap, the remnants of the badly mauled and surrounded Romulan invasion fleet self-destructed to avoid capture.

In the aftermath of the Battle of the Vela Gap in September 2157, the United Earth (UE) resolved to launch an offensive into Romulan-held space. However, the United Earth Stellar Navy (UESN) had never undertaken an invasion of such magnitude in its 80-year history. To spearhead the attack on enemy worlds, a number of new ships were needed. The Farragut-class fleet monitors (FMM-1) were designed as a platform to mount heavy fire support for bombardment of ground-based targets from high planetary orbit. Like many other heavy warships, Farragut was based on the reliable Bison design. The ventral forehull was modified to carry accommodate a drop bay for Grand Slam orbit-to-ground attack missiles. Unlike ship-to-ship missiles, where speed and maneuverability were key, ground attack missiles were slow, but optimized for descent through a planetary atmosphere. These missiles were especially designed to take out hardened surface and subsurface installations to soften resistance prior to landing. Farragut also carried an Ultra Zeus orbit-to-ground pulse laser mounted in a ball turret, for intercepting missiles launched from the planetary surface. However, no Farragut-class ships ever saw action in their intended roles; the projected troop landings on Romulan-held worlds never took place. The Romulans fought so ferociously to defend their planetary holdings that a direct orbital assault was usually impossible. Instead, most task forces had to resort to stand-off bombardment of a Romulan planet, a much more destructive and time-consuming operation. In other assaults, the Romulan bases would self-destruct by detonating their fusion reactors rather than succumb to enemy occupation.

Mobile subspace transmitters represented a revolutionary leap in interstellar communications. Even before the United Earth Stellar Navy (UESN) transitioned from a defensive war to an offensive war, timely and reliable communications between frontier units and fleet commanders was essential. After its launch in 2157, the Marconi-class subspace communications cruiser (ACSM-6) played a vital role in the offensives into Romulan-held space. These ships were made possible by the pioneering but flawed Baikal class of the late 2140s. Although faster-than-light (FTL) starships had, by 2154, been used by Earth for nearly a century, sending messages at similar speeds was a different matter. Early subspace transmitters, which were first deployed in the 2110s, were extremely large: the transmitter generator had volumes of more than 60,000 m^3, and transmitter dishes spanned 200 m or more. Power requirements were correspondingly enormous to send a message over interstellar distances. As a result, a mobile subspace transmitter remained impractical for all but the shortest-range transmissions. In contrast, the equipment needed to receive a subspace message was small enough to be easily mounted on most warp-capable starships.

UES Marconi finished construction in July 2157, and was immediately rushed to the front lines. Although they arrived too late to participate in the Battle of the Vela Gap, Marconi-class ships are credited with the early detection and interception of 5 Romulan task forces in their first 6 months of service. Marconi-class ships brought several immediate benefits to the battlespace. First, a Marconi could accompany a frontier patrol force (often led by an Amarillo- or Krechet-class cruiser), and provide continuous updates to the nearest command base concerning the force's location and disposition. When an enemy ship was detected, a warning could immediately be sent to all nearby ships by subspace. If reinforcements were needed, they could also be summoned much more rapidly. As the UESN began to push into Romulan space in mid-2158, Marconi ships were also teamed up with the new Powhatan-class escort cruiser on hunter-killer missions. A "wolf pack" of 3 Powhatans would accompany a Marconi across the border into Romulan space, using the superior sensor capabilities of the Marconi to search for targets of opportunity. These missions, combined with the long-range precision attacks launched by Yorktown carriers and Minotaur fighters, did much to clear Romulan space in preparation for the coming UESN invasion.

Perhaps the most notable action involving a Marconi was the Battle of the Krakowski Void in June 2158, where timely intelligence on enemy movements relayed by subspace from UES Popov (ACSM-9) allowed an outnumbered UESN squadron to outmaneuver its Romulan opponents and destroy a staging area in Sector 19.

By early 2159, 8 Marconi-class ships had entered service. However, the Conqueror-class heavy cruisers were nearing completion as well. These new cruisers were capable of faster speeds (up to wf 4.1), thanks to the new SSWR-III-D M/AM reactor. To prevent the slower Marconis from becoming a tactical liability, the remaining 6 ships of the class were constructed with the same SSWR-III-D reactor and improved Jaguar Ia nacelles to allow them to keep pace with their escorts. Two of these "block 2" Marconi-class ships participated in the Battle of Cheron in 2160.

In June 2158, the M/AM-powered Minotaur fighter (P/A-33) and the M/AM-powered Yorktown carrier (CVM-5) were introduced in an attempt to overcome the operational limitations of early M/AM ships by combining the speed and range M/AM-powered warp flight with the maneuverability of high-impulse fighters. Yorktown was based on the Pioneer-class cruiser, which had entered service in 2154 and had itself been developed from the Bison-class transport. Whereas Pioneer had a large fusion reactor, a single midline Pachyderm III warp nacelle, and two auxiliary directional Jaguar I nacelles, Yorktown carried a new SSWR-III-B M/AM reactor and four paired Jaguar III warp nacelles. The impulse drive and its fusion reactor were moved to the extreme stern. At the front of Yorktown's cylindrical forehull, which had been lengthened by 20 m, were sensors and the navigational deflector, command centers, the computer core, crew facilities, and life-support machinery. In the center section of the forehull were docking cradles and missile-loading equipment for 5Minotaur long-range fighters. In the aft section of the forehull were support facilities for the Minotaur fighters. With a displacement of some 670,000 tons, Yorktown was by far the largest Earth-designed warship produced to that time and would not be surpassed until USS Excelsior (NX-2000) was launched in 2281.

Minotaur was approximately 50 meters long and carried a hybrid warp drive system consisting of 6 M/AM power modules and a fusion reactor. Although capable of warp flight, Minotaur normally did not travel interstellar distances under its own power; instead, each power module allowed Minotaur to make a linear or slightly curved wf 4.5 jump of up to 100 au (approximately 0.0016 ly or 15 billion km) with its single 16-m-long, midline warp nacelle. If several jumps of varying length and direction were made, the Yorktown carrier could stay safely hidden and out of range of defending fighters and missiles. The fusion reactor powered the impulse drive and could also be used for somewhat slower warp flight (wf 2.8) for short periods. The relative simplicity and small size of the warp drive system and the absence of facilities for long-term life-support allowed Minotaur to be quick and maneuverable at sublight speeds. Minotaur's crew of three (commander/pilot, weapons officer/navigator, and engineer) were seated in an ejectable cockpit module in the foresection of the 26-m-long command hull. Minotaur normally carried 16 single-stage, warp-capable, fusion-tipped Corsair missiles, which had a range of 10 au (1.5 billion km, or the approximate distance from Saturn to Sol) and a top speed of wf 5, and 4 nose-mounted pulse laser cannons for use at sublight speeds. A 6-m-diameter targeting sensor array was installed in Minotaur's nose.

A Typical Yorktown/Minotaur Mission
The September 30, 2158, attack by the Yorktown-class carrier UES Saratoga (CVM-27) and the four other ships of the 3rd Fleet's 14th Carrier Assault Group against targets in the Qualor system was typical of strike missions carried out by the Minotaur/Yorktownsystem. The goal of this mission was to destroy active subspace sensor arrays in preparation for a planned large-scale advance into Romulan space. (Like early subspace radio transmitters, active subspace sensors of that time were too large to mount on most ships.)Saratoga, accompanied by the Powhatan-class escorts UES Cyane (CEM-22) and UES Choctaw (CEM-31), left Starbase Bolivar at her cruising speed of wf 3.1. After the final "go code" was received by subspace radio from 3rd Fleet Central Command, Saratoga and her escorts accelerated to their supercruise speed of wf 3.9 for the 6.2-ly, 38-day journey to the Minotaur launch point in Romulan space. Several hours before Saratoga reached the launch point, the M/AM modules, deuterium, and warp missiles were loaded onto theMinotaurs, and the flight crews entered the cockpits. When the three ships reached the Minotaur launch point 98 au southeast (galactic coordinates) and below the targets they cruised at high sublight speed while the five Minotaurs were undocked and exited throughSaratoga's ventral bay doors, a procedure taking approximately 30 minutes. Using their M/AM power modules, the five Minotaurs made the first of their jumps to their targets. Once the fighters were safely away, Saratoga and Cyane headed for the rendezvous site, while Choctaw took up silent station along the planned return route to discourage any pursuit attempts. Two of the Minotaurs, Gwendoline (#814) and Thumper (#922), made jumps of 62 au (5.6 minutes), 41 au (3.7 minutes), and 55 au (5.0 minutes), easily outrunning Romulan defensive missiles and point-defense fighters. When 9.4 au away and still traveling at wf 4.5, each Minotaur fired 6 missiles at the targets; 30 seconds later, the missiles' warheads detonated and the sensor arrays were destroyed. Gwendoline and Thumperveered away from the targets, then travelled by separate indirect routes to the rendezvous site. After all five Minotaurs had safely redocked, Saratoga and her escorts returned at wf 3.9 to UE space.

End of the War
The final Bison-based ships to be built during the war were the Conqueror-class cruisers (CHM-69). These cruisers, introduced in 2159, were basically improved Tannhäuser-class ships with smaller, more powerful SSWR-III-D reactors, new Typhoon B2 warp nacelles mounted outboard above the centerline, and an upgraded sensor suite. New weapons included a forehead-mounted, high-velocity "missile rifle" with a rotary feed system and a ship-to-ship version of the Ultra Zeus ground-attack laser cannon first used in the Farragut class. These immense cruisers provided valuable service during the last year of the war. Leading numerous task forces ever deeper into Romulan space, Conqueror launched steady missile barrages that were instrumental in the destruction of the Romulan fleet. Conquerors served most prominently at the Battle of Cheron in August 2160, where a massive UESN task force ambushed a Romulan fleet in its staging area and eliminated the remnants of organized Romulan resistance. This defeat left the Romulan homeworlds open to UE invasion and forced the Romulan government to sue for peace.

Linna's thoughts on the war:

The Earth-Romulan War was something romanticized in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror" when it was hinted of a savage war where both sides were hurtling towards each other in what amounted to tin cans with warp engines and nuclear bombs that they flung at each other, and I have to say it's not far off. The ships of this era were tiny compared to the Enterprise and other ships that would come later, and they were often cramped with no room to get around and very little in accommodations. These were ships built for a war in which the admiralty knew they needed a lot of ships really fast, and they were playing around with technology they didn't really understand at the time. Matter/antimatter engines were a new thing, and there weren't any detailed manuals on how to run these things beyond "Good luck!"

To be a pioneer in this era was one of my early thoughts but I decided that it wouldn't be nearly as much fun. I had a blast writing this and I hope it encourages you guys to wonder just how screwed the Federation would have been had the Romulans gotten the upper hand and pressed the advantage, because they would've prefered to nuke everything and leave it a smoldering ash if they couldn't keep it. There's a reason no one knew what a Romulan looked like: they destroyed everything, including themselves, rather than surrender. And given how tight the quarters were already, there wasn't any quarter to be given, so human crews knew they would either win or die. That kind of war leaves deep scars, and it's no wonder people are distrustful of Romulans to this day.

In case you're wondering, the Romulans are still a very enigmatic species even once their relationship to the Vulcans was realized. The Romulans simply do not trust anyone beyond their own, and even then they don't trust them entirely. Romulan relations with the Federation are simply "This side is yours, this side is mine, keep it that way" and that's that. They weren't happy with the war and still aren't, but most of their calmer heads realized that Earth had full right to bomb them out of existence with nuclear fire. If the situation had been reversed, Earth would be a smoking ruin and nothing would remain hinting there'd ever been a space-faring species on the planet.

This early victory would go on to kick off what would be known by many as the Age of Imperialism, when Starfleet was riding the military high of victory and could do no wrong for the better part of a century. Colonial expansion kicked off in a major way, Starfleet built newer and more advanced ships, and the Federation actually nearly splintered when the other races began to fear humans would take over the Federation as their own private empire (an interesting note is this can be seen in Klingon attitudes in Star Trek VI when Chancellor Gorkon's daughter remarks "The Federation is a homo sapiens only club"). This would come to an eventual end, but it would take brushing up against another major player to do so and a bit of cleaver political maneuvering to accomplish this. From it we would see a rebirth in the scientific and exploration side of Starfleet, and it would eventually lead to the great and wonderful Constitution class (yay).

Next time we'll talk about the first and latest war with a major power: The Four Years War. Hope you're excited!

[Muse]

  I'm very curious about your game Linna, but I don't believe I know this system? 

[GloomCookie]

I poked around in the attic and I still have my old FASA books, including the kay-dets' and Officers' manuals and a handful of others. Reviewing the system (and your worksheet) I'm reminded that this isn't QUITE on par with Traveller (where you could quite handily die in character generation) but it still has some of the uneven-ness. Depending on your dice, you might end up with a youngster with moderately low skills and little experience outside of the Merchant Marine, or a grizzled veteran, highly-skilled and with esprit and reviews out to here due to constant Constitution-class assignments. There was a whole time-period back in the late-70s, early-80s where that sort of thing was pretty typical in many RPGs (Twilight: 2000 had a really rough one where you might "muster out" with an army private with minimal experience and expertise...Or roll your way into the special forces and come out as Dick Marcinko's even-more-badass love child). I guess I don't remember that variance fondly, because more and more as time has worn on and we've moved into (what is it now, fourth?) later-generation RPG storytelling ideals, more and more control over the character concept has become taken for granted. Even in early D&D the option was inserted pretty quickly for things like 'roll 4, take 3 and put them in whatever order you like' when people realized they weren't terribly eager to play their worst possible dice rolls which horrendously limited character and class choices.

Still, as I said, I've dug out the books and eyeballed the spreadsheet and it's workable. Will we be able to shift around our 3d10 attribute rolls?

Goodness, that's a dark little bit of history, even if "suitcase nukes" still makes me smirk every time someone brings them up (really due to certain people who still to this day constantly panick about "stolen Soviet suitcases nukes"...the smaller the device, the less leeway available in maintaining critical mass...And therefore, the shorter the shelf life. Anything pared down to a "man portable" system won't last more than six months.). I do rather like the insight into the Romulan/Klingon/Vulcan POV about it.

The Andorians must really have fits about that recent human past, given their combination of 'extremely warlike race' with 'high ecological priorities.' Hm. That gives me an idea...

EDIT: Fiddling around with the spreadsheet a bit...Something seems to be bugging as far as the automatic fill for F29, H29 and J29.

The spreadsheet is mostly to get a general background and then we go from there. Once play starts we won't be using dice or anything, just gives me a rough idea of what your character can and can't do. For example, if you have a luck score of, say, 30, and you enter into a high stakes poker game, it's not very likely you'll win. But, that being said, I do love random so I might make a roll behind the scenes to decide if you win or not.

I don't like pure random chance determining everything because that's never the actual case. How you do something can have a major impact on if you succeed or fail. If you have a high charisma but act like a total ass, you're not going to get as far as someone who smiles and is very calm and patient. If you have a broken piece of gear and you try to fix it with just your bare hands, it might work if it's simple, but will fail if it's lots of tiny electronic bits.

So yes, there will be moments of random chance, but they're balanced by how you do whatever it is you're doing.

Also, I'll take a peek and see if I can find the error. I have the actual excel sheet it was built from. I'm going to see if a friend has the really big one I made way back...

  I'm very curious about your game Linna, but I don't believe I know this system? 

FASA made this RPG way back as a potential game when all they had was the original and animated series. They crafted a universe and put in their horrifically unbalanced mechanics, then it was all for naught when Gene Roddenberry wanted a more peaceful Federation and axed the project when The Next Generation came out (which explains why there's only a season one TNG sourcebooks). The system works, but compared to more modern systems it can be a bit clunky and so I don't plan to use it that much beyond character generation. As I said above, it's mostly a tool to add a tiny bit of random into the mix because I'm a horrible person like that.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

If you really want to see an unbalanced pre-Gene Roddenberry-Pacifism-Putsch version of the Trek universe, there was a kind of a board game called Star Fleet Battles at one point. I remember that it had Larry Niven's Kzinti in it, because they appeared in one of the animated series shows, as well as a bunch of other fleets and empires that I think were only briefly hinted at back in the day.

[GloomCookie]

If you really want to see an unbalanced pre-Gene Roddenberry-Pacifism-Putsch version of the Trek universe, there was a kind of a board game called Star Fleet Battles at one point. I remember that it had Larry Niven's Kzinti in it, because they appeared in one of the animated series shows, as well as a bunch of other fleets and empires that I think were only briefly hinted at back in the day.

Where have the Kzinti NOT shown up? :P

Seriously, those furrballs are everywhere.

[orderNchaos]

I'd definitely say I'm interested.  Anyone who is going to put that much time and energy into the interest thread to prepare the ground for the game is likely going to make a good DM for a game.

[paradisic]

Similarly, undoubtedly interested.

[GloomCookie]

Good evening my lovelies!  I have had a very busy week so getting to write in the books has been difficult. BUT! I do have several of the books ready, and today you get to see one of them. This book was compiled from several pieces and places but should contain everything you need to know to find your way around the ship you will be calling home.

Constitution Class Deck Plans

Like I said this is compiled from several places from the highest resolution images I could get my hands on. This is the ship that you will be living on for the episodic play we'll be engaging in, so while it's useful to get to know her, it's not required. Hell, nothing is required, but it is meant to help you find information yourself so you can write elegant posts and not need me to tell you every little item in the universe. Just take a peek and figure out what you can, then go with it. I'm here for the big stuff, like the burly Klingon about to rip you in half and wear your guts as garters, not what some guy is poking around his tray in the chow hall.  Unless I need him to further the plot of course.

I'm glad a lot of people are showing interest. It's great seeing people who enjoy the universe and see the potential of what it can be. I hope half this enthusiasm carries over into the game because then we'll be having a blast and just rocking out. We're still on course for a July 1 start (I have that Monday off so I have a long weekend to write for you guys!) and I'll have everything ready by then. I will be opening up character creation as a handy Excel sheet so that all you have to do is type in the fields and it'll spit out the BB code so you just copy paste. Why? I'm awesome like that.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, gripes, etc. please let me know and we can sort them out.  Thank you all so much for showing interest!

Today's history lesson is going to be different. There is so little information regarding the Four Years War that I finally had to admit defeat. However, that doesn't mean I don't have a history lesson on the Four Years War for you. It's just in a much more awesome form!  A short essay followed by a very well done documentary that I think will entertain a lot of you. So sit back and enjoy.

Today's History Lesson: The Four Years War (2252 to 2256)

Birth of the Federation
The period of relative peace following the Earth-Romulan War was one of Earth's most prosperous periods, with some even calling it a golden age. The defensive alliance formed between Andor and Earth, with the gentle guidance of Vulcan to counter the temperments of Tellar and the other powers, formed the United Federation of Planets in April of 2161. However, as is clear even today, the powers were united through politics, but not mindset. The pacifistic Vulcans ran counter to the warlike Andorians and militant humans, while the Tellarites wanted to expand their mining rights far beyond their pre-Federation borders.

To further complicate issues, Earth's shipbuilding was now on par with the Andorians, and humans took to the stars when the defensive outposts along the now established Romulan Neutral Zone came online. Earth's United Star Fleet became the model for the Federation's own Star Fleet, though at the time most of the production of starships was conducted by private corporations. This emphasis led to numerous contracts being rewarded to Earth's corporations over Andorian ones, much to Andoria's annoyance. This would not be the last time political maneuvering would win Earth advantages that would strain relations with the other powers.

Expansion by new colonies along the frontier were fueled by the cheap and plentiful Bison and Reid Flemming class ships sold off after the war, leading to the Federation Council setting clear boundaries on where colonies were allowed to expand. That didn't stop all colonies, and many took off for the darkness only to later beg for assistance from Starfleet later. Starfleet was slowly being hollowed from within by the Council's decreasing of funds or allocation towards the exploratory arm of Starfleet rather than the military, stretching Starfleet's resources further and further.

To counter the lack of funding, Starfleet allocated funds towards the development of a new generation of heavy cruiser, the Hyperion class, which launched in 2194. Among the numerous advances onboard was a subspace radio that didn't require its own dedicated starship to broadcast. The ship also carried the first practical transporters to be used by Starfleet. While the ship was otherwise only a marginal improvement over the earlier Moskva class, which began to take on the saucer-shaped primary hull and cylindrical secondary hull common to Starfleet vessels today.  Perhaps the most famous ship of the Hyperion class was the U.S.S. Triton (NCC-866), which was the first Starfleet vessel to make contact with the Klingon Empire.

The Triton Incident
Throughout the end of the 22nd and early 23rd century, traders would probe beyond the edges of the Federation, hoping to establish trade routes with yet undiscovered cultures in the hopes of cornering a lucrative market before Starfleet could survey the worlds and announce their presence to others through official channels. Some of these independent traders, operating in the galactic southeast past the Donatu system, approached the sector Starfleet commander at Starstation McCall with complaints that all attempts to establish trade relations with a race they called the "Clingans" had been forcefully rebuffed. They requested that Starfleet "encourage" this race, with force if necessary, to accept diplomatic and commercial relations with the Federation.

As modern first contact protocols had not yet been introduced, Triton's captain, Natalia Thibodeaux, decided to beam herself and a diplomatic first contact team into the Great Hall on Kronos on October 11, 2218. Unfortunately, the Klingons had assembled in the Great Hall to celebrate their "expulsion" of the H'urq 11 centuries earlier and killed 7 members of the first contact team. Thibodeaux and 13 members of the team managed to beam back safely, but U.S.S. Triton was severely damaged and nearly brought out of orbit by Klingon attacks. A total of 32 crew members were killed. By the time Triton limped back to Starstation McCall, the Federation was on the verge of war with the Klingon Empire.

Cicatrix IV and the Battle of Donatu
While the Triton incident wasn't the best first impression, diplomats were able to smooth affairs over with the Klingons and keep the peace.  However, it was only a matter of time before the Klingons would let their own nature encourage them to push against Federation expansion. As the Valley Forge class began to come into service, the Klingons began to push into Federation territories, launching light raids on commerce and colonies beginning in 2227. 

However, no major engagements were fought until January 20, 2244, when contact was lost with the Federation border monitor station on Beta Tetsuwan XII. Fourteen hours later, a squadron of 12 D6-class cruisers attacked the Federation colony on Cicatrix IV. They were engaged there by U.S.S. Cougar (NCC-1468) under the command of Captain Timsig Surrha which managed to disable two of the Klingon cruisers before destroying a third and herself by ramming the enemy vessel. Nearly all 1,000 inhabitants of the colony were killed by a ferocious orbital barrage.

On January 22, the Klingons were intercepted near the fifth planet of the Donatu system by a task force of 10 ships led by Commodore Ibrahim Proulx of U.S.S. St. Petersburg (NCC-1467) . Although the Klingons were forced to withdraw after the destruction of 6 more of their vessels, U.S.S. Dallas (NCC-1496) and the Siegfried class dreadnaught U.S.S. Simpson (NCC-1603) were destroyed and U.S.S. Franz Joseph (NCC-1233, Lancaster class), U.S.S. Proteus (NCC-1478, Valley Forge class) and U.S.S. Lysander (NCC-1592, Siegfried class) were damaged.

Please watch this documentary to continue.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Good grief, the things fandoms can do these days.

We used to think we were doing pretty good when we had an APA that lasted five years, and most of those were run off on mimeographs.

I just about bit my computer screen when it cut from the D-7 launch to "Tune in next time, if we get a budget!"

(I sure hope they get the budget.)

Also, another very nice writeup. As an old TOSser (HAH!) I admit I'm less than familiar with a lot of the "add-on" history that has come into being through both studio and fan delving into different aspects/possibilities of the Trek universe, and so I am finding these history write-ups very enjoyable.

[GloomCookie]

Good grief, the things fandoms can do these days.

We used to think we were doing pretty good when we had an APA that lasted five years, and most of those were run off on mimeographs.

I just about bit my computer screen when it cut from the D-7 launch to "Tune in next time, if we get a budget!"

(I sure hope they get the budget.)

Also, another very nice writeup. As an old TOSser (HAH!) I admit I'm less than familiar with a lot of the "add-on" history that has come into being through both studio and fan delving into different aspects/possibilities of the Trek universe, and so I am finding these history write-ups very enjoyable.

Thank you. I'm trying to build a consistent history that everyone can refer back to time and again. It's not absolutely vital, but it does give everyone an idea of why the Federation is confrontational with the Klingons, why the Romulans keep hidden away, why there are still deep scars on Earth from the Augments and WWIII. With much of the culture wiped away, people need something new to latch onto, and part of culture is influenced by history. If you were born in, say, San Francisco, you might still have a deep cultural history. But several cities in Europe were obliterated and so there's nothing there anymore except debris.

I keep hoping I get questions so I can delve deeper on some of these topics. I'm having a blast writing it all for you, and hope to keep adding more and more as time goes on.

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Questions. Hm. I'm presuming (as you already mentioned the various races available in the chargen spreadsheet) that we're far enough along that multi-species crews are a thing. I've been mentally kicking around an idea for an Andorian SecChf...Seems like an appropriate combination. So...Any major divergences between the Andorians-as-presented in places like Memory Alpha (which I've been prowling the past few days...Very broad, but without much depth), and the Andorian-Human history in your own version of the setting?

[Thorne]

And from the assorted series.. caveat here, the only one I completely turned my nose up at was Voyager. I haven't gotten around to the animated series yet. ;p
I've been working my way through Enterprise, and the Andorians come up a fair amount in the first two seasons. Vulcans having flaws is entertaining the heck out of me, to be honest - more so than I thought when I started the series. Um. Where was I ...

Not sure what I'm planning to throw. Still have a lot of 'buh.. well ..' floating around, and a rampage through the character folder isn't helping any.
As a result, not very many questions. My technobabble isn't really up to running an engineer... Still thinking about it.

[GloomCookie]

Questions. Hm. I'm presuming (as you already mentioned the various races available in the chargen spreadsheet) that we're far enough along that multi-species crews are a thing. I've been mentally kicking around an idea for an Andorian SecChf...Seems like an appropriate combination. So...Any major divergences between the Andorians-as-presented in places like Memory Alpha (which I've been prowling the past few days...Very broad, but without much depth), and the Andorian-Human history in your own version of the setting?

Andorians in this game are wrestling with a very war-like past and yet trying to improve themselves. They are like humans in many respects, with a lot of energy and trying to find non-destructive uses for it. The reason they haven't expanded like humans is due to the lingering remnants of a dying empire: The Vegan Tyranny. Once a great civilization, they were around just late enough to encounter the Andorians, and so the Andorians learned to fear travelling into space. It was only the disappearance of the Vegans and the arrival of humans that began to shift Andorian attitudes towards the stars again. With humans beginning to venture out into the universe, the Andorians blazed their own path. With human worlds so close to Andorian ones, it only seemed natural that the two form a defensive pact with each other. If a human world came under attack, Andorians would defend them, and vice versa. This resurgence in shipbuilding meant Andoria would soon have (and maintains to this day) the second greatest shipyards, surpassed only by the yards above Mars.

Andor was neutral throughout the Earth-Romulan war, at least in theory. In reality, Andorians were supplying arms and shipbuilding components to Earth to build their navy. With Earth's requirements in hand, it was only a matter of time before there was a mutual standard at both yards, with Andorian components becoming interchangeable for Earth's. Even a few Earth ships later in the war were entirely built at Andor's yards, which at that point didn't matter so much given that Earth was on the offensive and plunging deep into Romulan space. Even if the Romulans found out, there would be little they could do to stop it.  The close working relationships established during the war led to Andoria becoming one of the founding four to build the United Federation of Planets after the war ended.

It was Andor that introduced Earth to the Tellarites, the pig-like species with a natural talent for engineering and mining. Tellarite business with Andor was blunt and to the point, as was almost everything with Tellarites. It was during the war when materials were needed in bulk that outpaced what Earth and Andor together could produce that they turned to Tellar, who took the opportunity to supply both materials and schematics for installations that would prove instrumental later in the war, such as the rebuilding of the Akers Array and the numerous outposts to watch for Romulan involvement. The contracts for those outposts were given to Andor yards, using materials mined from Tellar. While the two species don't exactly get along (Andorians being hostile when agitated and the Tellarites loving to provoke them), they are both valuable members of the Federation.

And from the assorted series.. caveat here, the only one I completely turned my nose up at was Voyager. I haven't gotten around to the animated series yet. ;p
I've been working my way through Enterprise, and the Andorians come up a fair amount in the first two seasons. Vulcans having flaws is entertaining the heck out of me, to be honest - more so than I thought when I started the series. Um. Where was I ...

Not sure what I'm planning to throw. Still have a lot of 'buh.. well ..' floating around, and a rampage through the character folder isn't helping any.
As a result, not very many questions. My technobabble isn't really up to running an engineer... Still thinking about it.

Speaking as an engineer who has heard technobabble... don't. It's a cheap and lazy cop out that makes technology seem like magic. There are very clear processes going on that can be rationally comprehended. Technobabble only promotes ignorance of how science works and makes me very, very sad.

Also, I'm trying to work out how things work and put them in the handbook so that you, as a player, have simple diagrams to explain how this stuff works. I can describe a piece that MIGHT be broken, and you can tell me what you do about it. You must interact with things to figure out in a logical manner how the thing works and I tell you what happens.  Oh, and expect pictures. Lots of pictures as you post and you get to figure this stuff out ^_^

[Thorne]

Speaking as an engineer who has heard technobabble... don't. It's a cheap and lazy cop out that makes technology seem like magic. There are very clear processes going on that can be rationally comprehended. Technobabble only promotes ignorance of how science works and makes me very, very sad.

Also, I'm trying to work out how things work and put them in the handbook so that you, as a player, have simple diagrams to explain how this stuff works. I can describe a piece that MIGHT be broken, and you can tell me what you do about it. You must interact with things to figure out in a logical manner how the thing works and I tell you what happens.  Oh, and expect pictures. Lots of pictures as you post and you get to figure this stuff out ^_^

I'm an artist by trade, but I spend a lot of time around people who occasionally sound like they're speaking a whole other language. Totally legit, but at some point, I completely lose track of what they're talking about. I get that; when I start in on something I know a lot about, there's a lot of specific terminology that just doesn't track for someone without the specific knowledge I have.

Now, if you think you can provide enough information that I can sound like I know what I'm talking about where a warp engine is concerned... might be fun to play an engineer. Not all my favorite Trek characters were engineers, but there are a bunch on the list.. ^^;

[GloomCookie]

I'm an artist by trade, but I spend a lot of time around people who occasionally sound like they're speaking a whole other language. Totally legit, but at some point, I completely lose track of what they're talking about. I get that; when I start in on something I know a lot about, there's a lot of specific terminology that just doesn't track for someone without the specific knowledge I have.

Now, if you think you can provide enough information that I can sound like I know what I'm talking about where a warp engine is concerned... might be fun to play an engineer. Not all my favorite Trek characters were engineers, but there are a bunch on the list.. ^^;

Ok, lets see if you can understand what I'm trying to say in this portion straight from the handbook.

Glossary
Antimatter A type of matter whose electrical charge properties are the opposite of 'normal' matter.  For example, a 'normal' proton has a positive charge, but an antiproton has a negative charge.

Antimatter can be used to interact with, modify, or destroy normal matter.  When a particle of antimatter is brought into contact with an equivalent particle of normal matter, both particles are annihilated, and a considerable amount of energy is released.  The controlled annihilation of matter and antimatter is used as the power source for the warp drive systems used aboard starships.

Deuterium (or heavy hydrogen) is an isotope of hydrogen which contains one proton and one neutron in its nucleus, and one electron orbiting the nucleus.  Naturally-occurring hydrogen consists of less than 1% of this isotope.

Dilithium is a naturally occurring crystalline material used in the warp drive systems of many starships.  Dilithium regulated the matter/antimatter reaction in a ship's warp core because of its ability to be rendered porous to light-element antimatter when exposed to high temperatures and pressures.  It controls the amount of power generated in the reaction chamber, channeling the energy released by mutual annihilation into a stream of electro-plasma.

Electro-Plasma In high-power mechanics, electro-plasma (also known as warp-plasma or drive plasma) is a super-energized plasma used to transfer energy from a central power source using plasma conduit transfer.  In matter/antimatter reactions, dilithium controls the amount of power generated in the reaction chamber, which produces a steady stream of plasma.  Electro-plasma is the main power transfer medium.

An EPS (electro-plasma system) feeds from a warp core on a starship, a fusion reactor on an instillation or starbase, or an impulse reactor on a non-warp spacecraft.  Besides the large warp plasma conduits (power transfer conduits), there are smaller plasma conduits, with EPS taps that transfer power as electricity to all subsystems connected to the power transfer grid.  If a plasma conduit or EPS tap ruptures, the contents could set off a plasma fire.

A fusion reactor is an energy generation unit that employs deuterium fuel to yield helium plasma, which is typically used to power the impulse drive or is sent through the secondary EPS system to power other systems.

The impulse engines (also called impulse drive) is a type of propulsion aboard Federation starships that uses conventional Newtonian reaction to generate thrust.  Limited to sublight speeds, the impulse drive is essentially an augmented fusion rocket powered by a fusion reactor.

The intermix chamber is a major component of a starship's warp core.  Its functions include the maintenance and regulation of plasma pressure within the core.

A nacelle is a large outboard structure that houses a warp-drive engine.  The interior of the nacelle is dominated by two rows of massive semi-circular warp-field coils that serve to transform the ship's drive plasma stream into the subspace field that makes faster-than-light speeds possible.  The warp coils create a subspace displacement field, which "warps" the space around the vessel allowing it to "ride" on a spatial distortion, and travel faster than the speed of light.

Power Transfer Conduit On a Federation starship, a power transfer conduit (abbreviated PTC) is an advanced type of plasma conduit, used for carrying warp plasma from the vessel's warp core to the drive nacelles.  The conduits are magnetically shielded against the superheated warp plasma, and are roughly 0.6 to 1 meter in width.

Along with carrying the warp plasma, the power transfer conduits also contain manifold links to the electro-plasma system (EPS), where electronic energy is bled from the warp plasma in the form of microwaves, providing electrical energy for the vessel.

Overview


The warp system aboard a starship is nearly universal throughout the starfaring empires of the galaxy, and the system can be summarized as shown above.  Deuterium and it's opposite counterpart, anti-deuterium, are fed from storage tanks to the intermix chamber, where they are combined in a controlled reaction using a dilithium crystal to produce electro-plasma.  This plasma is then channeled primarily to the warp nacelles but can also be fed to the electro-plasma system (EPS) and distributed to secondary systems. 

Deuterium is also used to fuel the onboard fusion reactors, which produce power for the EPS and the impulse drive, which moves the ship when not at warp.  During an emergency, in which the matter/antimatter system is offline but has not caused a warp core breach, the fusion reactors can provide electro-plasma to the warp nacelles, though not at the same rate as the matter/antimatter system.

[Thorne]

That might cover enough ground to keep me from tripping over my feet... it certainly clarifies how it all hooks together.
Out of curiosity, which book did you pull that out of?

[GloomCookie]

That might cover enough ground to keep me from tripping over my feet... it certainly clarifies how it all hooks together.
Out of curiosity, which book did you pull that out of?

One I'm writing myself.  Yes, I'm actually writing a book just for this game with diagrams and information so you can play without having to read an entire universe worth of material.

[Koekje]

Oh for the love of all of Starfleet, the Romulan Empire and the future invasions of the Borg. I want in on this! :D

[CarnivalOfTheGoat]

Once again, absolutely awesome explanations.

I have tended to think of the Andorians as "warlike, cautious" as opposed to the Klingon "warlike, aggressive" and the Romulan "warlike, xenophobic." I distinctly recall that one of the few Andorians who turned up in TOS with any kind of speaking role had a somewhat wry/rueful sense of humor...But it was a very humanly-identifiable sense of humor.

It occurs to me that, although you didn't say anything about it in your reply, I may've jumped the gun in asking about the Security Chief role...Will we be playing bridge crew?

Yes, it's easy to learn to be cautious/defensive around Vegans, especially if you're dining out with them (I kid, I kid, I'm only an occasional and frugal meat-eater myself).

[GloomCookie]

Once again, absolutely awesome explanations.

I have tended to think of the Andorians as "warlike, cautious" as opposed to the Klingon "warlike, aggressive" and the Romulan "warlike, xenophobic." I distinctly recall that one of the few Andorians who turned up in TOS with any kind of speaking role had a somewhat wry/rueful sense of humor...But it was a very humanly-identifiable sense of humor.

It occurs to me that, although you didn't say anything about it in your reply, I may've jumped the gun in asking about the Security Chief role...Will we be playing bridge crew?

Yes, it's easy to learn to be cautious/defensive around Vegans, especially if you're dining out with them (I kid, I kid, I'm only an occasional and frugal meat-eater myself).

Hehe. Yes, everyone gets a distinct personality in my games. You don't have the cookie-cutter guys who just stand around grunting and it's supposed to be implied their soldiers. You'll walk into a room and maybe overhear a conversation like this.

The doors slide open to reveal a mostly deserted cargo bay. Large racks each containing several storage pods that stretch almost the entire length of the bay, punctuated only by paths for the fork trucks to get past.  There is a desk nearby, with two crew wearing the yellow of support there. One has his feet up on the desk while the other is telling a story, her hands overly exaggerated as she tells it.  "Ok so then, there I am, in the headlights of this police cruiser, the only thing keeping the officer from seeing everything I have is this teddy bear, and the officer just kinda looks at me and says, 'Ma'am, normally I'd say something like drop the bear and put your hands up, but just hold the bear right there until I get a blanket out of the trunk.'"Roaring with laughter, it takes the two a minute to compose themselves, still chuckling a bit before the the storyteller notices your approach. "Oh, hello, sir" she says, turning to address you fully. The guy immediately pulls his feet back and he leans forward, sitting up straight and trying to appear professional and ready to do his job.

In regards to being bridge officers, that's a no. Bridge officers are often shown as the senior most people, and I only send one, if there even has to be one, senior officer per away mission. Instead, the honor and duty of heading down to extremely dangerous worlds falls on the expendable junior officers who will often have a noncom with them to provide guidance and pull their asses out of the fire.  It also means you get to explore more of the ship.

[Mister Ugly]

I am interested in an 'old school' Star trek...I am looking over your excel and the rules [found a pdf copy]

<MU

[GloomCookie]

Hey everyone, Linna here. I thought I'd post an update for you all and let you know that things are ok. We are still proceeding according to schedule, we will still launch on the first and I hope to open up character development this weekend. I'll be on Skype talking directly so if you have questions, you can listen in or become part of the conversation. I'm super laid back and hope I get a lot of you talking about the wonderful universe of Star Trek.

I was productive this past weekend, but not towards the game. I wanted to spend a little time getting issues in my real world ironed out and I even managed to put in a new planter for some flowers. Makes me happy and I'm sure the neighbors won't mind a few pretty flowers. It also gave me a little bit of time away from the game and work which is what I truly needed. There's a lot going on right now at work, mostly because we finally have enough breathing room to tackle a few issues that have plagued our program since before I came onboard, and I'm juggling that and trying to help out our newer members, but I still enjoy coming on here and writing for you guys.

I'm planning to do a write-up on the Federation government for next time, but for now I wanted to give you guys just a general update on how things are going and make sure everyone's still super excited for the game. I'm still very open to questions and I can't wait. For now, since I don't have any history or the like for you, I've decided to open up the other books for you to look through in case you aren't aware these things even existed. Please remember that some of this material is 30 years old, so it's not going to be entirely relevant to this game, but it's still worth a look just to see what's there.

The Star Trek IV Sourcebook

FASA: The Romulans

FASA: The Triangle

FASA: The Federation

The Starfleet Medical Reference Manual

The Starfleet Technical Manual

Constitution Class Deck Plans

[Thorne]

I don't use Skype, and I don't plan to start. I'll spare you the rant that usually goes with that. ^^;
I'm otherwise happy to talk, here, or via Hangouts or g-talk, or whatever it's called this week.

Otherwise, I've been mucking about with the sheet generator and tying it in knots. Had a good time, was vaguely confused by the results. I'll figure it out, or not, I'm not too worried.

[GloomCookie]

I don't use Skype, and I don't plan to start. I'll spare you the rant that usually goes with that. ^^;
I'm otherwise happy to talk, here, or via Hangouts or g-talk, or whatever it's called this week.

Otherwise, I've been mucking about with the sheet generator and tying it in knots. Had a good time, was vaguely confused by the results. I'll figure it out, or not, I'm not too worried.

I guess I could host it on Discord. I mean, I'm kinda tired of Skype hogging system resources anyway...

[GloomCookie]

Good evening my lovelies and welcome to another update with me. So today, I wanted to discuss foreign relations with you, since I figured some of you are getting a kick out of the history lessons and we've kinda run out of history. I might do an explanation of the Constitution Project... oh hell, let's do both. Also, I will be doing a Skype call on Saturday (PM me for my address) and a Google Hangout on Sunday, both at 6 p.m. CST (GMT - 6). This is to go over character ideas, what you can expect, and to just have a great time.

So with that said, let's discuss politics!

Inside the Federation
The Federation is a political body made up of multiple layers, each one having differing levels of power and authority. The most basic level is that of an individual city or territory, depending on the charters in place. These are where you get zoning permits, local utilities, and other fun things. Above that sits the planetary government, responsible for things like planetary defense, disputes between territories, allocation of resources, etc.

Beyond the planet there are sectors, with each sector governing as few as one to hundreds of worlds, depending on how borders fall. Each sector has a Starfleet presence, often in the form of an administrative base, which allocates resources and defends the locals. There isn't a form of government at this level, though there is a Starfleet Commander. From each planet is assigned a representative who travels to Earth, where they represent their planet in the Federation Council. Each world's census determines the authority of that world, though Earth, Vulcan, Tellar, and Andor all have permanent seats on an inner council that can, if necessary, overrule the wishes of the other council members. This arrangement is primarily due to their status as founding members and that they have, thus far, shouldered the greatest burdens during conflicts with the other powers.

The President of the Federation is elected every 6 years, and serves as both commander in chief of Starfleet and the head of the Federation Council. While presiding over the Council, he has the authority to call for a vote on issues once deliberation is done, as well as veto issues that do not pass with a super majority, though through tradition the President often sides with the majority. The role of commander in chief gives the President the authority to override Starfleet, such as when a situation has the potential to boil over into an actual war, such as a planned offensive into hostile territory.

Andor
Andor or Andoria is one of the founding members of the Federation, and perhaps the most akin to humans of the four. Andorians are an energetic race who have been exploring the stars several hundred years longer than humans, though their first encounter with an alien race was the Vegan Hegemony, a race of advanced cybernetic beings that went extinct about the time humanity invented warp travel. While initially hostile to other races, they have since become important members of the Federation. To many races, Andorians come off as paranoid and hostile, but only at first, and mostly due to their history with the Vegans, but soon warm to individuals and become very friendly and sociable. Their diplomats are very persuasive, and their shipbuilding is second only to Earth's. Many of the most famous designs seen throughout the Federation come from Andor, with their most famous recent design being the Miranda class light cruiser.

Andor's relations with Earth are perhaps the strongest, as the two powers were friendly rivals prior to the Earth-Romulan War. While Andor never officially engaged the Romulans in battle, they did supply hulls, weapons, and supplies to Earth during the war and even after. Their relationship with Tellar began to improve at this time, buying materials from them for the war effort and then later trading raw materials for mining ships and components for modular bases that could be built on asteroids and other bodies. It is only with Vulcans that Andorians have issues, mostly owing to bad blood from the first official encounter with Vulcan when an Andorian warship fired on an unarmed and unshielded diplomatic vessel, destroying it. While the two races are now amicable, there is clear tension between the two, made only worse by Vulcans refusing to aid Andor against the Vegan threat.

Tellar
The Tellarites are another founding member of the Federation and take pride in being the most stubborn member. Tellarites consider it customary to argue about everything, even if the other person agrees with them, and will even play devil's advocate just to strike up an argument. This stubborn nature is not without merit, however, as Tellarites use this to find every conceivable flaw in a design or train of thought before it is implemented. While they are ill suited for space travel, their stubborness has led them to become exceptional engineers, especially mining. Tellar itself is riddled with mine shafts, most featuring advanced and cleaverly constructed bracings that can withstand intense earthquakes and disasters.

As Tellarites love to argue, their relationships with other races are strained most of the time. They will argue every facet of a treaty just to argue, making it a miracle they ever joined the Federation at all. However, Tellarites are also very good traders, able to spot a good deal for themselves, and it is suspected this was why they chose to ally themselves with the other founding members of the Federation. Their activity on the Council is limited, but they often bring a kind of logic even the Vulcans cannot deny to proceedings, even if their method of arriving at such conclusions will annoy even the most stoic of Vulcans. Their main contribution to the Federation is mining, with Tellar designed or led engineering projects throughout the Federation.

Terra
Terra, as it is commonly known to non-humans, is home to the human race, and now home to the Federation government.  Most of the planet is covered in rich, lush vegetation due to replanting efforts following Earth's Third World War, though the scars of centuries of conflict still can be seen in places. Humanity is one of the most resilient species in the Federation, leading efforts to expand further than ever dreamed possible and using intuition to find new solutions to problems. This energy has led some longer-lived species to compare humans to a cancer, growing out of control, but others find it charming that most humans never give up, but rather keep trying until they find a solution that works, even if it isn't perfect.

Humans are, for the most part, considered by many aliens to either be loved or hated. To allies, they're the best friends to have, while others like the Romulans and Klingons see them as threats. The ability to adapt, plus the naiveté of Earth arriving so late on the scene, gave humans an advantage in that, frankly, they had no grudges with existing empires to get in the way of diplomacy. It was often only races that attacked first that drew human ire, which led to costly wars that humans would often win through tenacity and a willingness to throw more steel and bodies at the problem than most enemies would account for. It's for this reason that humans dominate Starfleet, though it has also led to tensions between other members due to humans wanting to use military might to solve problems when diplomacy could work just as well. Only time will tell how humans adjust to new threats on the horizon as they are reined in by both foreign empires and the Federation Council.

Vulcan
Vulcan is a desert planet that is home to one of the longest-civilized races in the galaxy. For over 5,000 years, the Vulcans have followed the teachings of Sarak, of non-violence and pure logic with no major wars, though several off-shoots of the Vulcan people have branched away due to philosophical differences, most notably the Romulans. While the philosophy of non-emotion is the goal of every Vulcan, most understand that emotions are part of life, while others wear it as a badge of superiority and flaunt it against other races. Regardless, most Vulcans are pacifists, believing that diplomacy can resolve all issues.

Vulcan is one of the most influential members of the Federation Council, often negotiating with other races to keep the peace that would otherwise spill over into armed conflict otherwise. They are patient and tolerant, though even Vulcans have their limits, and they abhor violence of all kinds. Their participation in major conflicts such as the Four Years War was limited to non-offensive systems, many Vulcans expressed their interest in leaving the Federation.  This would not be the last time such desires for non-violence ran counter to the other powers, though many Vulcans logically conclude that not every race can or will negotiate and such an alliance would be beneficial. Only time will tell if the Vulcan peoples will continue to remain part of the Federation.

Foreign Affairs
The Federation classifies any world that is not a member under three categories: Protectorate, Minor, and Major Power.  Protectorates are worlds that have not developed warp travel, varying from stone tool users to on the verge of launching their first warp vessel. These worlds are declared off-limits to Federation citizens, letting the world develop naturally.  Minor powers are any powers that have warp travel but are limited either by resources, location, or simply by neighbors such that they do not expand beyond a handful of worlds.  These are worlds that make ideal candidates for membership, either now or in the future, depending on the world's natural tendencies.  The final group are major powers, and these are groups that rival the Federation in scale, technology, or military might.  To date, there are only two major powers: The Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire.

Klingons are an aggressive species that have been expanding through military might for almost 400 years, with periods of consolidation and instability the only reason they haven't expanded further than they already have. Klingons believe in a complex honor code that praises both strength and cunning in roughly equal measure. The Klingon desire to win permeates every part of their society, with major houses, or groups of similar Klingon families, excelling at their chosen profession. It is considered an honorable profession, for example, to be an engineer who designs great things, as this is considered a noble and necessary task. There is a Klingon expression that "One obtains honor through achievement to the best of their ability."  Failure is not unknown to Klingons, though to fail is to lose face and some honor. The Klingons originally saw the Federation as a cancerous growth that would consume the Empire, though now they see the Federation as worthy rivals that require adapting to face their latest enemy.

Romulans are an off-shoot of the Vulcan people that broke away in sub-light colony ships travelling at close to the speed of light. They arrived on the class M world of Romulus and began to carve out an existence, though the world was very harsh and only the strongest survived. This mentality of survival of the fittest has permeated Romulan society, with some communities even going so far as to kill children with birth defects rather than spend the resources to keep them alive. This harsh mentality has colored their view of other races and their own cousins, the Vulcans. Most Romulans want to reunite with Vulcans, but cannot see beyond military conquest. This thinking led directly to the Earth-Romulan War, a deadly conflict that sent the Romulans into isolation that has lasted over a century. That's not to say the Romulans are completely idle, however. Due to Vulcans being a common group in the Federation, Romulans have no problems blending into Federation society as spies and saboteurs, though Starfleet Intelligence routinely finds a percentage and converts them into double agents. This low-key cold war has led to each side watching the other's movements, ready in case of an attack that the other isn't willing to launch for fear of another war.








The Constitution Class Project



The Federation and Starfleet at 75 Years
The year 2236 marked the 75th anniversary of the United Federation of Planets (UFP). Although the Federation continued to have disputes with several other regional and local powers (including the Klingons, the Kzinti, the Orions, and the Tazzi), none of these conflicts threatened to escalate to full-scale war. Starfleet, also celebrating its 75th year, was an important reason for these long years of peace. The fleet's powerful warships and explorers discouraged most potential foes from directly challenging the Federation. Starfleet's primary front-line cruisers in 2236 were the ships of the Valley Forge class. In service for less than 10 years, Valley Forges continued to enjoy a superiority over comparable ships of the Klingons and other hostile powers. The 44-ship class had performed admirably in missions of exploration, diplomacy, and defense throughout the Federation and outside its borders.

However, Starfleet was already looking beyond the Valley Forge class to the production of a more powerful "supercruiser" able to undertake missions even further beyond the borders of the Federation. Recent breakthroughs in weaponry, sensors, and propulsion suggested to Starfleet Command that 20 years, the average interval between the introduction of main cruiser classes, was too long a wait for Valley Forge's successor. Although Valley Forges were generally regarded as extremely fine ships that were expected to lead Starfleet into the second half of the 23rd century, their designed capabilities had been constrained by financial considerations during their development in the early 2220s, a time when the Federation feared a coming era of "imperial overreach." However, with the Federation's most dangerous potential adversary, the Klingon Empire, only now slowly rebuilding itself after yet another period of self-destructive internal strife, the Federation felt confident enough to once again seek out new life and new civilizations far beyond its well-defended borders.

Two Heavy Cruisers: An Heir and a Spare
In October 2236, Starfleet's Ship Specifications Review Board, in San Francisco for festivities marking Starfleet's 75th year, convened at Fleet Headquarters to discuss the possibility of constructing a successor to Valley Forge. The projected new class was to have greatly improved speed, range, firepower, and scientific facilities and be able to undertake unsupported missions lasting five years with a crew of more than 400. Such a ship would displace some 200,000 t and be significantly larger than Valley Forge (which displaced 136,000 t). Most of the Board's technical subcommittees were confident that the design and construction of the lead ship of a new class could be completed by 2241, barring unforeseen technical roadblocks. However, whether such a new ship was possible depended in large part on its matter/antimatter (M/AM) reactor. Previous ships of this size (such as Quetzalcoatl and Siegfried) had been underpowered, unwieldy behemoths rather than the wf-7 superships that Starfleet had hoped for.

Representatives from Hellas Planitia, Mars, the site of Starfleet's main M/AM laboratory, reported results of preliminary computer studies for a new reactor, the SSWR-XV, which was to exploit recently developed theories for increasing the efficiency of M/AM interaction. Instead of using a large, open cavity where the reactants are injected and annihilate each other based on random molecular contact, two long magnetic constrictors fed fuel into a much smaller reaction chamber, where a centrally mounted dilithium crystal focused the reactants to annihilate in a more precise and controlled reaction. Hellas Planitia engineers hoped to at least double reactor output and endurance while reducing reactor size by 50%. Such improvements in reactor performance, along with enormous new nacelles already on the drawing board, would finally enable the construction of a heavily armed wf-7 exploratory cruiser, which Starfleet had been attempting to develop, without success, for the last 30 years. The Hellas Planitia engineers assured the board that the new SSWR-XV reactor would be ready for production in 2241, allowing a new ship built around the reactor to enter Starfleet service by 2242.

Although the new ship would rely largely on evolutionary refinements of technology already in use, its development was not without risks. In particular, some members of the board were concerned that the feasibility of this large new cruiser should hinge on the development of a reactor that existed only as a computer model and was at least five years away from delivery. Despite the assurances of Hellas Planitia engineers, their developmental forecasts had often proved unrealistically optimistic and minimized the difficulty of overcoming obstacles, which were often not initially apparent. (Indeed, Hellas Planitia engineers confidently reported that the reactor had already been designed and was functional and simply needed to be reconstructed physically.)

To ensure that a new exploratory heavy cruiser would be in service with Starfleet by 2242, Admiral Shrelev IV of Andor suggested that a second ship project involving less risk be undertaken with a reactor expected to be available in the near term rather than half a decade away, if ever. Admiral Shrelev IV suggested that this second ship be built around a new version of the SSWR-XIII reactor, which was then in the advanced stages of physical testing at Hellas Planitia and slated for refit into Valley Forge-class ships in 2238. A scaled-up version of this reactor might easily achieve output levels, if not efficiency and compactness, approaching those projected for the SSWR-XV.

By the end of 2236, Starfleet Command had issued directives for the development of two new classes of heavy cruiser. The first, to be called Constitution (NX-1700) after the famed wooden frigate of the 18th century (still afloat at Boston after 450 years), was to use the new SSWR-XV reactor and employ the time-tested layout—a command hull disc connected by a thin neck to a engineering hull supporting two nacelles—used for most first-line Starfleet cruisers for the past 75 years. The second class of heavy cruiser, to be called Pyotr Velikiy (NX-1670) after the czar who created Russia's Imperial Fleet, was to be designed according to Andorian design principles around a second new reactor, the SSWR-XIII-B, based upon the reactor, now designated SSWR-XIII-A, already in development for the Valley Forge class. Production of the Pyotr Velikiy class would continue past the first ship only if the Constitution project failed or was significantly delayed.

To simplify the design processes as much as possible, both Constitution and Pyotr Velikiy were to use several common components, including the main navigational deflector and sensor suite, weaponry (both beam and projectile), deflector shielding and defensive systems, bridge module, life-support systems, warp nacelles, and computer systems. Of these components, the final two were most notable. The Sabre nacelles were not of revolutionary design but were extremely large, both in terms of overall length (155 m) and as a percentage of each ship's projected displacement. They were designed to handle extremely high warp-plasma pressures; in theory, they would allow a Constitution-class ship to achieve speeds as high as wf 12, were sufficient power available. Construction of the enormous nacelles required the development of specialized centrifugal forges to produce the extremely large warp coils of unprecedented purity. The computer system was developed by wunderkind designer Dr. Richard Daystrom based on his duotronics theories. In 2243 at the age of 24 years Dr. Daystrom would win the Zee-Magnees prize for his groundbreaking work in logic systems.

Work on Pyotr Velikiy Starts on Andor
The Pyotr Velikiy project was an enormous coup for Admiral Shrelev IV and the Andorian shipbuilding industry. Andorian shipyards had previously constructed Starfleet light cruisers and scouts, such as those of the Kestrel and Capella classes, but had never both designed and built a more prestigious heavy cruiser class. Granted, Pyotr Velikiy was intended at the outset merely as insurance against the possible delay or failure of the Constitution class and was not guaranteed to enter production beyond the lead ship. However, Admiral Shrelev IV was confident that if the Andorians were to design and build a superior ship, Starfleet would have no choice but to allow production of at least a small number of Pyotr Velikiy-class ships, regardless of the status of the Constitution project. Starfleet had first suggested that Pyotr Velikiy be developed by Andorian staff in San Francisco and built at Utopia Planitia, Mars, so as to increase cooperation between the parallel project teams. However, Admiral Shrelev IV lobbied strongly for the Pyotr Velikiy to be both designed and built at Andor so that resources and facilities built there could strengthen the Andorian shipbuilding industry. He also argued that dispersing shipbuilding throughout the Federation, rather than concentrating it dangerously in the Sol system, made sense from a strategic point of view. An added advantage of basing the Pyotr Velikiy project at Andor was that Starfleet oversight was lessened, freeing Andorian engineers to pursue their traditional design solutions to warp flight.



Andorian starships have traditionally been built with a single, flattened hull confined to the horizontal plane with integrated nacelles; in contrast, starships designed on Earth in the last 75 years featured both a disc-shaped command hull and a dependent engineering hull with nacelles on long supports. Andorian warp field theorists felt that the greater cruising efficiency of a warp field with a minimal frontal profile outweighed the disadvantages of lower rates of roll, pitch, and yaw than with a bi-level warp field favored by Earth designers. Accordingly, Pyotr Velikiy featured a command hull 142-m-long and 123-m-wide with nacelles attached at the rear quarters with extremely short outboard supports. The dorsal hull had a laterally delaminated command promontory whose outer layers were removed outboard to reveal a smaller-diameter promontory underneath. A similar structure had been used for the Capella-class scout and found beneficial for refining boundary-layer transhull warp-field dynamics. Behind the main promontory was a semilunar "collar" holding additional crew spaces and laboratories. The main navigational deflector traded a large frontal profile for a longer resonance tunnel and was attached to the front ventral part of the command hull. The SSWR-XIII-B M/AM reactor was too large to integrate into the command hull and was placed, along with its associated fuel stores, in a separate engineering hull connected directly aft by a short, thick neck. Twin main shuttlecraft bays straddled the root of the neck, while a third, smaller shuttlebay was placed at the stern of the engineering hull.

Because the Pyotr Velikiy class, like the Constitution class, was intended to explore far beyond the borders of the Federation on independent missions lasting as long as five years, maintenance of warp capability far from support facilities was a primary concern. Although Federation M/AM reactors had generally proven extremely reliable, the projected demands on the warp drive of the new classes were unprecedented. However, because Pyotr Velikiy's SSWR-XIII-B reactor was expected to be less powerful than Constitution's advanced SSWR-XV reactor, it would need to operate at higher percentages of maximal output to achieve desired cruising speeds. Starfleet feared that such stressful operating conditions would increase the risk of a reactor malfunction, which might strand a ship hundreds of light-years from Federation space. Against such an eventuality, Pyotr Velikiy's warp drive was designed to be operable at lower speeds (wf 3.2) on fusion power alone. For this reason, the "impulse" system of Pyotr Velikiy was abnormally large (60 m long) and powerful and was supplied by two large deuterium tanks in the rear ventral command hull. If the M/AM drive were to experience irreparable malfunction or complete failure, the now-redundant engineering hull would be detached to decrease weight. The nacelles, which were attached directly to the command hull, could continue emergency warp operations with power from the fusion reactor. The fusion reaction could also be used to supplement the M/AM reactor to achieve higher warp speeds. Because she carried both a high-output fusion reactor system and a larger, less efficient M/AM reactor, Pyotr Velikiy was an extremely large ship, displacing some 280,000 t, versus 190,000 t for Constitution.

This degree of redundancy in the warp-drive system had not been employed in Earth-designed military starships since the Earth-Romulan War (most notably by Yorktown-class carriers, which operated deep within enemy space) but was still common at this time in Klingon ships. For example, the Klingon D5-class cruiser, introduced in 2224, had carried a large fusion reactor to allow routine maintenance of its main M/AM reactor while traveling at warp speeds, and the D7-class cruiser, introduced in 2250, had twin M/AM reactors. That such redundancy was required for Pyotr Velikiy reflected in part how revolutionary Constitution and its new reactor were to be.

The development and construction of Pyotr Velikiy proceeded quickly and without major difficulties. Indeed, Pyotr Velikiy had already been flight-tested at warp speeds with temporary Merlin II nacelles (the type used by Valley Forge and related classes) and power from its fusion reactor alone in December 2238, less than two years into development. In April 2239, the main SSWR-XIII-B M/AM reactor arrived from Hellas Planitia and was installed in the secondary hull of Pyotr Velikiy. The Sabre nacelles, delayed because of impurities causing microfractures in their large warp coils, were finally attached to Pyotr Velikiy in September 2239. Static testing soon began but revealed some minor problems related to the extreme intrahull length of the plasma conduits. After additional conduit shielding was installed, Pyotr Velikiy began full-up flight-testing and in July 2240 reached a speed of wf 8.1, which compared with Valley Forge's top speed of wf 7.6. Pyotr Velikiy (NCC-1670) was officially handed over to Starfleet in a ceremony at its Orbital Headquarters above San Francisco in March 2241, just as troubles with the Constitution project began to surface.

Constitution's Troubled Development
From 2237 to 2240 design and construction of the spaceframes of USS Constitution and the following 4 ships of the class proceeded smoothly in orbit above San Francisco. Although considerably larger than Valley Forge, Constitution was not significantly more complex, outside of its main M/AM reactor and warp nacelles. The 129-m-diameter primary hull with asymmetrical promontories carried the updated bridge module, an enlarged sickbay, the duotronic computer core, extensive scientific laboratories, and spacious berths for officers, crew, and diplomatic guests (including those not from class M planets). All phaser emitter ports and torpedo tubes were concealed behind retractable hull plates. A large sensor in the ventral promontory allowed Constitution to scan deep below planetary surfaces from high in geosynchronous orbit. The impulse deck was of a new, compact design and disturbed the smooth contours of the rear primary hull only slightly.



Constitution's secondary hull, suspended from a deep but strikingly thin connecting dorsal, was fronted by a 28-m-tall mount for the main navigational deflector. The large deflector was necessitated in part by the much higher speeds projected for Constitution. Behind the deflector, the hull tapered back gently for an additional 90 m to the main shuttlecraft bay in the stern. Within the secondary hull were engineering spaces for the warp drive system, including the compact SSWR-XV reactor, deuterium tanks, AM containment bottles, the dilithium control room, and plasma conduits. A large section of the hull was dedicated to cargo bays, workshops, fabrication gins, and recreation facilities.

In late 2240, disturbing rumors began to emerge from Hellas Planitia that all was not well with the SSWR-XV reactor project. Both the SSWR-XV reactor project leader and the director of Hellas Planitia resigned or were dismissed in the spring of 2241 following large-scale staff defections the previous fall. An emergency review by the Federation General Accounting Office in July 2241 revealed that certification tests at several developmental milestones had been partially or completely falsified to give the erroneous impression that development of the reactor was proceeding according to schedule. By this time the reactor should have already been undergoing high-stress endurance testing but not yet even been run at 75% of full power. Problems with the reactor were numerous; perhaps the most severe were power surges and drops during reactor step-up and step-down, the development of retrograde eddies in the plasma swirl chamber, and extremely high rates of dilithium matrix instability. Worst of all, the SSWR-XV, which had been undergoing bench testing at Hellas Planitia since early 2239, was said to be at least 24 months away from spaceframe mating and perhaps 36 months away from full-up flight testing.

The delay of the main power plant rippled outward to affect construction of the Constitution spaceframes at the San Francisco Starfleet Yards and work on other starship projects planned or already in progress. As the delivery date for the SSWR-XV reactor was pushed back months, then years, Constitution's various design and construction teams on the ground and in orbit became dispirited and lost hope that the ship would ever see service. Reports in the popular press harped on the increasing cost of Constitution, funds that might better be spent elsewhere. A large percentage of the design and construction facilities and manpower in the Sol system were now being used by or had been reserved for the Constitution project, but most sat idle. Lawrence Marvick, a young systems engineer in San Francisco, complained that to pass the time he and other engineers ran endless simulations of increasingly unlikely scenarios, such as the crash landing of the command hull on planetary surfaces. If these facilities and manpower were shifted away from Constitution to other starship projects, they might not be available later when the Constitution class finally entered full-scale production. As a result, Constitution's delay slowed all other projects in the Sol system.

As an indication of the importance Starfleet placed on the Constitution, Commodore Robert April, Commander of the 4th Fleet, assumed direct control of the project in August 2241. Rear Admiral Beatrix Nguyen, head of Starfleet Propulsion, was assigned to Hellas Planitia to personally oversee development of the SSWR-XV reactor. With Starfleet oversight and a new sense of direction, the Constitution project again began to move forward, but several valuable years of development had been lost. The 2242 target date for Constitution's joining the fleet was clearly impossible to meet and would likely be missed by additional several years.

What was bad news for Constitution was good news for Pyotr Velikiy. While not wishing to appear to be taking advantage of problems at Hellas Planitia, one of the Federation's most important research centers, in August 2241 Admiral Shrelev IV and the Andorian government quietly began campaigning for early production of additional Pyotr Velikiy ships. However, supporters of shipyards based in the Sol system resisted any diversion of funds, construction facilities, or manpower to the production of what they considered a second-rate "stop-gap" ship. They insisted that any problems with the SSWR-XV reactor and the Constitution project were firmly in the past now that Commodore April was in charge and that full-scale production would soon be underway. The Andorians countered that it was for exactly such a situation that the Pyotr Velikiy project was started and that a failure to begin production of additional Pyotr Velikiy-class ships while the future of Constitution was still in doubt only ensured that Starfleet would have no new heavy exploratory cruisers in 2245, other than Pyotr Velikiy herself.

Pyotr Velikiy Impresses in Service
As the original target date for Constitution to join the fleet came and passed in January 2242, Pyotr Velikiy was showing itself to be an extremely capable and reliable vessel. In service with the 4th Fleet, Commodore April's former command, Pyotr Velikiy undertook the first survey mission beyond the Hammadi-Burke Hollow, an area of dense interstellar matter impenetrable to long-range sensors. On that mission alone, Pyotr Velikiy charted 15 star systems and made successful first contacts with two neighboring, newly warp-capable races, the Laag and the Konnir, previously unknown to the Federation and unknown even to each other before being introduced by Pyotr Velikiy. During speed runs in deep interstellar space, Pyotr Velikiy reached wf 8.5, at the time a record for Starfleet ships.

As word of the success of Pyotr Velikiy spread, sentiment among the fleet's officers and crew grew for the class to enter at least limited production. However, Starfleet Command continued to support production of only Constitution, which it maintained would prove to be the superior ship. However, political forces outside Starfleet pressed for production of Pyotr Velikiy. Chief among these were several races, including the Andorians, the Tellarites, and the Zakdorn, and numerous Earth colonies that sought to break Earth's near-stranglehold on ship construction. They felt that the construction of a major class of heavy cruisers outside the Sol system would lead to the establishment of other Starfleet yards throughout the Federation. Dispersing ship production made good strategic sense, as Admiral Shrelev IV had suggested in 2236, and made good economic sense as well. Bowing to political pressure and sound reasoning, Starfleet and the Federation Council finally decided in November 2243 to construct 5 additional Pyotr Velikiy heavy cruisers (NCC-1671 to NCC-1675, block 2). The first new ship was named USS Shrelev II, after a hero of the previous century's war against the Romulans and a grandfather of Admiral Shrelev IV.

Klingon Attacks Spur Pyotr Velikiy Production
In January 2244, just months after limited production of the Pyotr Velikiy class had been authorized, the Klingon Empire launched surprise attacks against the Federation at Tassem-Loki III and Donatu V. While some defense analysts maintained that Starfleet vessels now in service had successfully repelled the Klingon attacks, others called for increased construction of warships of all types, particularly heavy cruisers that the Klingons could not match. Obviously, these analysts said, the Klingons had overcome any internal strife that had prevented them from turning their ambitions outward and were now likely to mount further attacks against the Federation. Concerns over future Klingon attacks persuaded Starfleet to order production of 14 additional Pyotr Velikiy ships (NCC-1676 to NCC-1689, block 3). Instead of these ships being built for peaceful exploration and diplomacy as originally intended, they were being built mainly to bolster the Federation defenses against a newly resurgent and aggressive Klingon Empire.

USS Shrelev II (NCC-1671), the first of the block 2 Pyotr Velikiys, joined the fleet in August 2244, less than a year after construction was ordered. The block 2 ships were similar in most respects to Pyotr Velikiy herself, but included slightly modified Sabre nacelles and an improved automated cargo handling system. Block 3 ships, which began to reach the fleet in June 2245, had a higher-capacity, more sensitive weapon-targeting system, more powerful beam and projectile weaponry, improved damage control facilities, larger sickbays, and strengthened energetic shielding, all of which were intended to enhance Pyotr Velikiy's war-fighting capabilities. Although these changes came at the expense of scientific facilities, Starfleet judged that strength in combat was more important now that the Klingons were apparently attempting to expand their empire through conquest.

Little did the Federation know that the attacks of 2244 were considered a humiliating failure by the Klingon Empire and had led to yet another bloody struggle for the chancellorship and a redirection of imperial ambition. Instead of territorial expansion through military action, the goal of the Klingon Empire was now a quasi-peaceful, yet opportunistic competition with the Federation. The short-range D6 cruisers, built expressly for fast cross-border attacks, were to be replaced by a new long-range cruiser, the D7 (launched in 2250), whose role in the new-look Klingon Empire closely mirrored that of the Constitution and Pyotr Velikiy classes.

Constitution Finally Enters Service
USS Constitution (NCC-1700), the lead ship of her class, finally joined Starfleet in September 2245, more than 3½ years late. However, it soon became apparent that the wait had been worthwhile. Constitution was an extremely fast (wf 9.1), warp-dynamic ship with superior defensive and scientific capabilities which met and exceeded the expectations of Starfleet. USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), named for the 20th century aircraft carrier of the American Navy, followed in November 2245 and was placed under the command of Commodore April as a reward for his rescuing the Constitution-class development project from almost certain failure. The Constitution class went on to become perhaps the most famous cruisers in the history of Starfleet. In particular, the voyages of USS Enterprise under her third captain, James T. Kirk, have become legendary throughout the Federation. These mighty ships enlarged known space to a greater degree than any class before or since and were never bested in ship-to-ship combat. Production of the 50-ship class continued until 2268.

However, no fewer than 16 of the first 30 Constitution-class ships were lost, a reflection of the dangerous missions these ships undertook far beyond Federation borders. At one point in the mid-2260s, the rate of ship loss rivaled that in the mid-2160s, when four Daedalus-class ships were lost in a period of 6 months. However, unlike these earlier losses, those of Constitution-class ships could not be attributed to a single mechanism, such as reactor failure. USS Constellation (NCC-1710) was destroyed battling a 3,000-m-long, planet-consuming berserker weapon believed constructed by a long-dead race for a forgotten war. USS Intrepid (NCC-1708), with a crew of 400 Vulcans, was overpowered and destroyed by an immense single-celled organism of unknown origin. The remains of USS Virginia (NCC-1715) and her crew were found scattered over a cubic light-year of interstellar space near the Keshab Rho XVI system; the cause of her destruction was never determined. USS Excalibur (NCC-1705) and USS Lexington (NCC-1709) were severely damaged during a training incident with an experimental M-5 computer system installed aboard USS Enterprise. All hands aboard USS Exeter (NCC-1706) were killed by a virus brought aboard by a survey team from the planet Omega VI. USS Defiant (NCC-1717) vanished through an interdimensional rift near Tholian space.

The Constitution design proved extremely versatile and served as the basis for numerous variants, including a single-nacelle scout (Hermes class), a twin-nacelle transport tug (Ptolemy class), and a triple-nacelle dreadnought (Federation class). With numerous upgrades and refits, original Constitution-class ships served with Starfleet in various capacities until the 2330s. In 2271, USS Enterprise was extensively refit after its fourth 5-year mission; a new class of ships (Enterprise class) was built in her image. Ships of the Enterprise class and several other descendent classes (and their derivatives) are expected to remain in service at least into the 2390s.



After Constitutions began entering service in large numbers after 2248, the 20 Pyotr Velikiy-class ships were relegated to less adventurous missions and began to be converted to allow them to serve in other roles, including combat transports, armed tugs, and Marine landing ships. Starting in 2250, many Pyotr Velikiy-class ships were refit with the smaller and more powerful SSWR-XV-B reactors to bring their performance closer to Constitution standards. In some ships the large engineering hulls were retained and the spaces vacated by the smaller reactor were converted to other uses, such as shuttle maintenance hangars and cargo bays. The impulse fusion reactors and their large fuel bunkers, no longer required as a back up to main M/AM reactor, were decreased in power and size. In other ships, the engineering hull was completely removed, leaving only the short, bobbed stump of the connecting neck. The installation of the new M/AM reactor and the removal of the engineering hull decreased displacement by some 50,000 tons and significantly improved warp and impulse performance. The configuration of these latter ships—a single command hull with nacelles directly attached—was subsequently used for a series of ships derived from heavy cruisers with a standard command hull/engineering hull layout. The first of these classes was the Miranda class (NCC-1833) of 2265, based on proposals for the refitting of the Constitution-class heavy cruisers.

[GloomCookie]

Well everyone, I'm sure you've all been waiting for this!

Character Creation is now open!

Please keep in mind I will be adding to your character creation stuff and sending PMs when I'm done to ask questions and offer suggestions/comments. Please do not take these personally as it's kinda my job to make sure characters work for the campaign.  And of course if you have any questions, do let me know so I can help you out.

Kisses!

[orderNchaos]

One small thing about the CS setup that you have is that with your questions people have to build the character sheet as they go, but if for some reason they lose their browser or have to restart your computer you lose everything you did.  Is there a way to save this data as we create it so we don't have to keep filling out the CS or save the information to a word document?

[GloomCookie]

One small thing about the CS setup that you have is that with your questions people have to build the character sheet as they go, but if for some reason they lose their browser or have to restart your computer you lose everything you did.  Is there a way to save this data as we create it so we don't have to keep filling out the CS or save the information to a word document?

Sure!

Page 1
Player Name on Elliquiy

Page 2
Character Name
Species: Andorian, Caitian, Deltan, Edoan, Human, Tellarite, Vulcan
Gender Identity: Male, Female, Other
Prioritize Physical Attributes from 1 to 5: Strength, Endurance, Intelligence, Dexterity, Charisma, Luck
Basic Color Description: Select a color for Eyes, Hair, and Skin
Height
Weight

Page 3
Planet of Origin
Family Status (optional)
Brief Personal History
Career Track: Officer, Warrant Officer, Enlisted
Division: Tactical, Operations, Engineering, Science, Medical, Flight Operations, Intelligence, Diplomatic Corps., Marines
Personality Type: Choose from long list
Greatest Personal Achievement (optional)
Worst Personal Failure (optional)
What Made you Join Starfleet?

Page 4
Moral questions for officers only

Page 5
Warrant Officer Specialization (Warrant Officers Only)

Page 6
Submit

[Arklytte]

THIS!  THIS!  ALL OF THE THIS!!!

I love all the old FASA products!!  Of course, like you, I found their actual mechanics to be...interesting.  But they always put together the best games!  Shadowrun is still one of my absolute favorite settings (again, minus the ridiculous mechanics).

Anyway, if you're still accepting recruits I am definitely interested!  One of my earliest exposures to online RPing was way back on BBS'.  Back in the dial-up modem days.  And Star Trek freeform games always seemed to be the most popular.  They are still near and dear to my heart.  :)

Hoping to hear from you soon.  :)
Ark

PS: FYI, I just got accepted to E, but I'm a very experienced RPer.  I've been playing various games for over 30 years (as evinced by my reference to dial-up :D), so I'm not a n00b.  Just new to E.  :)

PPS: I'm going to talk with a friend, the one who referred/recruited me to E, and see if she's interested in potentially joining as well.  Assuming it's cool for me to join too.  :)

[GloomCookie]

THIS!  THIS!  ALL OF THE THIS!!!

I love all the old FASA products!!  Of course, like you, I found their actual mechanics to be...interesting.  But they always put together the best games!  Shadowrun is still one of my absolute favorite settings (again, minus the ridiculous mechanics).

Anyway, if you're still accepting recruits I am definitely interested!  One of my earliest exposures to online RPing was way back on BBS'.  Back in the dial-up modem days.  And Star Trek freeform games always seemed to be the most popular.  They are still near and dear to my heart.  :)

Hoping to hear from you soon.  :)
Ark

PS: FYI, I just got accepted to E, but I'm a very experienced RPer.  I've been playing various games for over 30 years (as evinced by my reference to dial-up :D), so I'm not a n00b.  Just new to E.  :)

PPS: I'm going to talk with a friend, the one who referred/recruited me to E, and see if she's interested in potentially joining as well.  Assuming it's cool for me to join too.  :)

Yes we are still accepting :) The more the merrier.

[orderNchaos]

Sure!

Page 1
Player Name on Elliquiy

Page 2
Character Name
Species: Andorian, Caitian, Deltan, Edoan, Human, Tellarite, Vulcan
Gender Identity: Male, Female, Other
Prioritize Physical Attributes from 1 to 5: Strength, Endurance, Intelligence, Dexterity, Charisma, Luck
Basic Color Description: Select a color for Eyes, Hair, and Skin
Height
Weight

Page 3
Planet of Origin
Family Status (optional)
Brief Personal History
Career Track: Officer, Warrant Officer, Enlisted
Division: Tactical, Operations, Engineering, Science, Medical, Flight Operations, Intelligence, Diplomatic Corps., Marines
Personality Type: Choose from long list
Greatest Personal Achievement (optional)
Worst Personal Failure (optional)
What Made you Join Starfleet?

Page 4
Moral questions for officers only

Page 5
Warrant Officer Specialization (Warrant Officers Only)

Page 6
Submit

Linna,

I submitted my concept for my character.  Let me know if you have any questions.

[Golden Spider]

Count me as interested yet i do not inderstand the system or how you say you are going to go about GMing this.

Also i only really skimmed

[GloomCookie]

I've managed to get everyone's career randomly generated who's signed up so far. We've had a lot of variety and I'm really excited about that.  I'll be around this weekend to help with any character creation issues and we'll start posting tomorrow (July 1) evening.

Kisses!