A Sci-Fi Adventure! (Interest Check)

[Nymphadora]

It's still in interest checking so I dunno that you could call anything taken but a few folks have sort of called dibs, I guess.

[Lynnette]

It's still in interest checking so I dunno that you could call anything taken but a few folks have sort of called dibs, I guess.

Well, the dibs list then. I dunno, I'd be fine with mostly anything and I'd hate to crash with someone on something, especially this early on.

[Nymphadora]

Tell us your ship pun! hehe

I THINK the following roles have sort of been requested:
Scientist
Medical
PR
CO
Weapons
Engineer

I may be missing one or two or may have some wrong...

[Lynnette]

Tell us your ship pun! hehe

I THINK the following roles have sort of been requested:
Scientist
Medical
PR
CO
Weapons
Engineer

I may be missing one or two or may have some wrong...

I had several in fact. Namely "When do you think this ship will go off" and "I ship the ______ with the _______"

Well with creepy doctor and average action girl being out of the picture, as well as annoying journalist, a mystical shortening I won't be able to understand until someone explains to me called CO (Of which I in retrospective think might mean either Combusting Onion [Most likely] or Commanding Officer [Less likely]). I can't have a machine oil bath and I can't do a scientific search on your anus, and yes, my sass was included in the price.

On a serious note though, I need to find out what XO means.

[Nymphadora]

I had several in fact. Namely "When do you think this ship will go off" and "I ship the ______ with the _______"

Well with creepy doctor and average action girl being out of the picture, as well as annoying journalist, a mystical shortening I won't be able to understand until someone explains to me called CO (Of which I in retrospective think might mean either Combusting Onion [Most likely] or Commanding Officer [Less likely]). I can't have a machine oil bath and I can't do a scientific search on your anus, and yes, my sass was included in the price.

On a serious note though, I need to find out what XO means.

You crack me up!
Combusting Onion... LOL

[MagicalPen]

DO NOT POST IN THIS THREAD!!

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=221097.0

DO NOT POST IN THAT THREAD!!

Above linked thread provides more information on the game setting.

PLEASE - DO NOT POST IN THAT THREAD!

[Lustful Bride]

I will stick with the PR specialist then.  :P

But could we downgrade the psychiatrist stuff as I can tell im going to have trouble with that. >_<

[Glyph]

I'd be interested in playing the navigations/communications officer. It would be interesting to try to communicate with an alien species that we know nothing about.

[TheGlyphstone]

I'd be interested in playing the navigations/communications officer. It would be interesting to try to communicate with an alien species that we know nothing about.

Gah! Imposter! Begone!


If I might make a suggestion, open up the 'Chief Scientist' position into a set of general science experts based on fields? Hollywood can afford to have the Omnidisciplinary Scientist, but a deep-space survey ship is going to have at the least a geologist, a physicist, multiple types of biologists, etc. - all of whom are vital, and it'd be a bit arbitrary to appoint one of them Chief over colleagues whose work they don't have the faintest idea how to direct or review.

[la dame en noir]

oooo

[Glyph]

Gah! Imposter! Begone!


If I might make a suggestion, open up the 'Chief Scientist' position into a set of general science experts based on fields? Hollywood can afford to have the Omnidisciplinary Scientist, but a deep-space survey ship is going to have at the least a geologist, a physicist, multiple types of biologists, etc. - all of whom are vital, and it'd be a bit arbitrary to appoint one of them Chief over colleagues whose work they don't have the faintest idea how to direct or review.

I agree; perhaps a linguist would also be needed. The crew may need someone to translate any alien languages they encounter.

Also I resemble that remark!

[TheGlyphstone]

That's a good point - the ship wouldn't need a dedicated Communications officer when they don't even know if something exists to communicate with, but a linguistics expert would be a useful specialty for trying to talk to anyone they did happen to meet, and for trying to decipher any possible written artifacts.

[la dame en noir]

I'm really interested in the Xenobiologist >.>

[AngelicBlade]

Combat Engineer, away? :D?

[MagicalPen]

The Comms/Navigation Specialist deals with all the radar and sensor arrays, not to mention on-board communication and communication with the shuttles, drones etc.

[TheGlyphstone]

That seems like a lot of work to be putting on one person's shoulders - flying the ship and also coordinating the offensive drones, while simultaneously serving as a human switchboard between the ship and its manned parasite craft? That is enough work for at least two people, I'd think - Navigation alone is going to be complex enough with a ship like this to be its own officer slot. Radar/sensors should be part of Tactical's responsibility, since they'll also be managing the shipboard weapons and whatever point defense it carries. If our technology base is roughly as it was in Ark Royal, the 'comms officer' isn't anything an automated computer program can't handle if it just involves relaying messages between mothership and parasites or internal messages. Drone operation should probably be a dedicated slot of its own as well - probably a subordinate officer under the Tactical department, or even a team of them depending on how autonomous-capable you want the AI systems to be.

So, to rework my proposal of the duty roster, which you don't have to take but I obviously think makes a lot of sense:

Bridge Officers:
Captain - Oh Captain, My Captain
Executive Officer (XO) - 2nd in command
Navigation Officer - steers the ship
Tactical Officer - manages tactical stuff; weapons, defenses, sensors+radar

Other Key Personnel
CaptainMajor of Marines (because there is only ever one Captain onboard a military vessel, thus a temporary courtesy promotion)
Chief Doctor, keeps the crew healthy
Chief Engineer, keeps the ship healthy
Media Representative/PR Specialist (?)
Assorted Scientists and Technical Experts - geologists, biologists, physicists, xenobiologists, etc.

Ship Crew:
Marines -
Medical Personnel -
Scientific Personnel -
Engineers -
Shuttle Pilot(s) -
Drone Operator(s) -

[MagicalPen]

CO of the ship will have the Rank of Commodore - giving them superior rank over any other ships encountered due to the nature of their mission.

As such, the Marine rank of Captain will be upheld, giving the Marine Captain command of all ground forces, and also the power of authority in various situations.

The Comms + Nav Specialist heads a team of specialist who do most of the ‘busy’ work, relaying the information through the Comms. Specialist to the Captain. An Automated Comm AI would not work - the technology isn’t advanced enough for the AI to make situational decisions. Since Communications with other ships are ‘rare’, such a job is not given to an individual and is thus given to the Specialist.

Its also not quite a Military Vessel, its array of weapons is quite minimal - space normally given to such weapons having been given over to the vast array of sensors and arrays on the hull.

[Lynnette]

I apologize if it has been mentioned before and it slipped me by, but who finances this? Is it a government thing, or is it a private company?

[MagicalPen]

Government funded. Space-faring takes billions of dollars. Its not cheap to manufacture or mine anything yet, so private corporations don't sell ships to the public yet - no one can afford it - and its all run through government contracts etc.

[ragarth]

CO of the ship will have the Rank of Commodore - giving them superior rank over any other ships encountered due to the nature of their mission.

As such, the Marine rank of Captain will be upheld, giving the Marine Captain command of all ground forces, and also the power of authority in various situations.

The Comms + Nav Specialist heads a team of specialist who do most of the ‘busy’ work, relaying the information through the Comms. Specialist to the Captain. An Automated Comm AI would not work - the technology isn’t advanced enough for the AI to make situational decisions. Since Communications with other ships are ‘rare’, such a job is not given to an individual and is thus given to the Specialist.

Its also not quite a Military Vessel, its array of weapons is quite minimal - space normally given to such weapons having been given over to the vast array of sensors and arrays on the hull.

I will admit this kind of confused me. I'm assuming those 40 marines represent a 'police' force, a 'military' force an 'emergency response' force, and a 'menial labor/generic grunt' force, right? They're the guys and gals we see running the cargo loaders, doing non-pc flight ops, manning random stations, and wearing redshirts on landing missions?

[MagicalPen]

Yes - the Marines are multifunctional. They run onboard security - certain parts of the ship are offlimits to most of the crew, while also manning the shuttles as pilots, in addition to being 'general labor' as well - mostly around the flight decks. It may seem like a large force, but the government has invested a lot of money in the ship and wouldn't want some other country trying to board it etc. Lots of sensitive equipment on board too.

[ragarth]

Yes - the Marines are multifunctional. They run onboard security - certain parts of the ship are offlimits to most of the crew, while also manning the shuttles as pilots, in addition to being 'general labor' as well - mostly around the flight decks. It may seem like a large force, but the government has invested a lot of money in the ship and wouldn't want some other country trying to board it etc. Lots of sensitive equipment on board too.

Awesome, that's smart and convenient to do as a GM, it gives you an un-established labor pool to pull from for any number of reasons.

I'm still curious about the nature of the technology we're working with. I can't afford to purchase those books right now or read them before this game is likely to begin. Can you give us a run down of stuff like what the common fire arm is, what kind of propulsion the ship uses, if there's artificial gravity or if we're all in zero-g on this ship? There are drones, so what are the limits of their ability? The ship has few weapons, but what kind are they? Are ship sensors limited to optical and radar, or do we have more exotic things like gravity sensors and life sensors?

Are we completely cut off from communication with earth, or do we send occasional 'carrier pigeon' missiles back to earth via whatever FTL system we use?

I surmise given previous conversation that we have some kind of force field for our suits and the ship.

[TheGlyphstone]

Wait, what other ships are going to be encountered besides other survey vessels once the ship gets past the fringe of settled space? And if they all have commodores onboard, whose commodore actually gives the orders? Commodores in general don't command ships - they give orders to the captains of the ships under their authority, so there'd still be an actual captain of the ship, and the rank confusion thing remains.

Unless this isn't a military ship at all, but a government-funded and privately owned entity. The government pays the bills and provides security troops, but the actual crew and staff are entirely civilian...then we can have commodores commanding single vessels, and Marine captains, and whatever else. Or we can just all declare ourselves Grand High Admirals.

But right now it's a mishmash of military structure with decidedly nonmilitary organization, on a quasi-military ship with a mainly civilian staff component, and I really do think it's just confusing everyone.

[la dame en noir]

book marked

[MagicalPen]

No one else seems to be confused about the Hierarchy. Its rather moot in the grand scheme of things. The CO of the ship rules supreme on the ship, the Marines Captain rules supreme outside of the ship. Everyone else filters down from there.

I am not going to be nity-picky about structure compared to IRL stuff...simply it doesn't exist for space faring so I can wing it where I see fit. This way it makes things less complicated.

The Ship belongs to the Navy, the Navy belongs to the Country. The Country supplies the crew from its military personnel. Technically, there are no civilians onboard. All crewmembers are part of the Armed Forces, specializing in whatever area they specialize. As an Exploration Vessel, it falls under a different Class of ship compared to the Military-Class Vessels that (can) engage in combat with other War Ships.

I will be posting more tech-info later today if not tomorrow.