Star Trek RPG - Setup thread

[choie]

Part 2 of "Welcome Aboard, Ensign Kylah is ready for, hopefully, your enjoyment. CIAS and I wanted to get it up* before the next couple of Velir/Kylah scenes, for reasons that will eventually be made clear.

And I humbly beg your patience for those scenes, btw. This is kind of an important plot/character issue and due to timezone differences we needed to coordinate. Should hopefully be ready later this evening. Sorry everyone!

* Damn it, why is everything now sounding like a double entendre? Especially after this section of the story...

[general_urko]

Part 2 of "Welcome Aboard, Ensign Kylah is ready for, hopefully, your enjoyment.

Geez! Talk about being a Jerk Magnet!

[Elendil's Heir]

..."I must tell you I'm picking up vibrations here at the house. I'm almost certain there's sex going on around here." -- Michael (Jeff Goldblum), to Sarah (Glenn Close)

Thanks. It's been a looooong time since I saw that.

[anyrose]

EH, please let me know when it's roughly 2100 game time. Collins needs to say goodnight to Cooper, but she's not going to just leave him asleep after he's all appreciatived-out.

[Elendil's Heir]

Go ahead and do it now, thanks.

[general_urko]

Kudos EH for the nice stretch of time for crew--uh, "interaction"...

And kudos all for great posts!

[anyrose]

And to you as well

[general_urko]

As Graham taps her shoulder, Collins playfully moves her elbow back towards his gut. She notices Booker is looking towards the helm and navigation stations. She muses to herself that Graham is going to have has handful if he tries to pursue both women at once.

Alternate universe Bro Graham says, "Hey baby, I've got two hands..."

[Elendil's Heir]

Kudos EH for the nice stretch of time for crew--uh, "interaction"...

And kudos all for great posts!

Glad to, and likewise.

[choie]

Kudos EH for the nice stretch of time for crew--uh, "interaction"...

And kudos all for great posts!

Agreed, thank you very much for your patience and giving us the luxury of all that offtopic stuff, EH! It was fun to read everyone's contribution and to collaborate with y'all too.

As Graham taps her shoulder, Collins playfully moves her elbow back towards his gut. She notices Booker is looking towards the helm and navigation stations. She muses to herself that Graham is going to have has handful if he tries to pursue both women at once.

Alternate universe Bro Graham says, "Hey baby, I've got two hands..."

Ah, but only one...

heart! What did you think I was going to say?

[CatInASuit]

Geez! Talk about being a Jerk Magnet!

Be nice, or all the food Graham eats is going to taste like cardboard

Love reading all the pieces and thanks to EH for allowing the interaction.

[Elendil's Heir]

Of course. Remember Rule 4: "This is a role-playing game, and I encourage you to write about anything which gives further meaning and depth to your character, both on- and off-duty."

[Elendil's Heir]

The planet's namesake: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anubis
The ore carrier's owners: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Dytallix_Mining_Company

Ardule was also a planet mentioned in the ST:VGR-era USS Monitor RPG which I used to run and in which WES and general_urko were players. I like including little crossover references like that now and then.

[general_urko]

A little bit of apocrypha.

[general_urko]

Hearing Kylah's voice and the subtle insinuation behind them leaves Rangin wondering how he is going to apologise, let alone when
Rangin makes a few last sweeps across the panel leaving the sensors to continue their calculations and turns in his chair to look at the viewscreen and then slightly further on so he can see Kylah at the communications area.

If the bridge wasn't so full of people, Rangin would quite happily go up right now, but that is just not possible. If Kylah does look across to him, Rangin will nod briefly in her direction.

OK, this is hilarious: before I checked the forum this morning, I was wondering how this group could manage some sort of knock-down drag out argument or high emotional drama in the middle of a crowded bridge... C'mon Rangin, go for it!!!

[choie]

Hey if it's drama you're looking for, Nia can always bitchslap Bennett and start a cat fight (or in her case, a lizard fight). Of course Bennett wouldn't stand a chance. One swipe and that dainty little twiglet would break apart. She probably has avian bone syndrome like whatshername from 30 Rock.

...Except Nia would have to be the jealous type to do that, and she so isn't.

There is a rather convenient--suspiciously so--configuration on the Bridge right now! Hmm, what is our GM up to?

[anyrose]

Suddenly, Kylah and Rangin disappear from the Bridge and reappear in a well appointed hotel suite. Q's head appears from one of the walls. "Oh, will you two get over yourselves and just get it on already? For the love of Picard!"

[general_urko]

Hey if it's drama you're looking for, Nia can always bitchslap Bennett and start a cat fight (or in her case, a lizard fight).

I was only thinking that, I wasn't going to actually say it...

[Elendil's Heir]

...There is a rather convenient--suspiciously so--configuration on the Bridge right now! Hmm, what is our GM up to?

Remind me again who suggested that Nia be a helm officer, knowing that Bennett was a navigator?

[choie]

Ha! I wasn't actually talking about Nia and Bennett, but rather the main PCs all being on the Bridge at once, even Rangin who's never been on the Bridge before and both Security officers.

Besides, I definitely didn't suggest Nia as a helm officer with any thought about Bennett's job, because... well, among multiple other reasons, at the time I never even knew she was a navigator. I always looked on her as a glorified Julie Summers (was that her name? Lauren Tewes's character from The Loveboat?).

[Elendil's Heir]

Ouch. That hurts.

In any event, she's been a navigator from the earliest posts of the first mission, has appeared in several scenes in that capacity, and is listed as such on the crew roster.

[choie]

Oh I'm sure she has! Remember, from my POV, there have been few Bridge-centric scenes since I've been playing the game--the missions I've participated in have all been off-ship--and when there are Bridge scenes, the folks sitting at Helm/Nav rarely say much. Vargas and Singh understandably get the bulk of the dialogue/action, as one would expect.

Meanwhile, when we're off on a mission, the ship's been either incommunicado or out of range (Mission #2) or our contacts were almost entirely the captain and first officer and a teeny bit of Thalen/Villa (Mission #3). I don't look at the crew list all that often and even then I just sorta blip past her name since if I am on that page, usually I'm just there to refresh my memory of the layout of the ship, or to identify a character who's been newly introduced (like the various security folks we met down on OCIII).

Plus, with the greatest respect to a certain PC's fictional amour, Bennett's just... not hugely distinctive except as the gorgeous but somewhat lackluster (personality-wise) object of Graham's affections.* Way back in 2012 or so, she did have some scenes w/T'Var saying that she still cares about her abusive boyfriend (who's not on the crew list, interestingly--his name's Matthew but there's no one by that name there), but she's never mentioned him since, nor have we ever seen them together.

So, overall, it hasn't been her Navigation career that's been noticeable about her, not nearly as much as her role as New Crew Liaison Officer--after all, she's the only NCLO we've got, whereas there are a few other Navigators. And it's as the NCLO job that's highlighted, since it lets her troll for fresh meat interact with the new PCs.

So, there it is. Were it not for Graham's romantic intentions, she's kinda off my radar. And I always hoped he'd get paired up with Collins, anyway! At least before they started calling each other sis/bro, which makes shipping them a tiny bit ickier.

* And to be fair, we haven't seen her enough to learn more about her personality or have it develop past light banter. I imagine that'll change soon enough.

[general_urko]

Oh, mee-owww ^2

[anyrose]

Collins could not do her job effectively if she was enamoured of a fellow security officer. She'd either be too distracted, or too busy making sure he was safe, possibly at the expense of others in her mission. (Yeah, yeah, I know)

[CatInASuit]

Everyone's going on shore leave with only a skeleton crew left behind...what could possibly go wrong?

[Elendil's Heir]

Well, one-third of the crew is hardly a "skeleton crew." But you never know...!

[choie]

Suddenly it strikes me that it'd be ironic if the mission/crisis/whatever ended up occurring up on the ship while the PCs were frolicking down below on the planet!

Of course then we could have that Hayes, Johnson, Dobson and Nia adventure everyone's dying to see.

Collins could not do her job effectively if she was enamoured of a fellow security officer. She'd either be too distracted, or too busy making sure he was safe, possibly at the expense of others in her mission. (Yeah, yeah, I know)

Heh. Yes, I'll avoid the easy snarky response. But she could just as easily end up on a mission with Cooper, too; then what would happen? Cooper's less able than Graham to handle a dangerous situation. Plus he's an NPC and thus much more likely to croak at a moment's notice!

[general_urko]

Suddenly it strikes me that it'd be ironic if the mission/crisis/whatever ended up occurring up on the ship while the PCs were frolicking down below on the planet!

Of course then we could have that Hayes, Johnson, Dobson and Nia adventure everyone's dying to see.

Now I feel odd not having a secondary PC...will have to think on that...

[general_urko]

Duplicate post

[choie]

New PCs are all the rage this year. It is rather gauche to have only one. Or maybe Graham could accidentally be left behind, or get beamed up at the last minute.

(I don't really think we'll be left out of the mission, EH, before you bonk me on the head.)

P.S. You can delete those duplicate posts entirely. Click "Edit," then look down at the buttons to find the "delete" button. Click that, confirm that yes, you want to delete the sucker, and then... poof! It's gone.

[anyrose]

EH is right about the TOS crew not changing before shore leave, but the TNG crew do from time to time, as do members of the current day military

[CanadianGirl]

Say "hello" to Crewman Felice Dobson, Security Specialist

[choie]

Welcome aboard, Dobson!

[anyrose]

I'll probably forget to swap out accounts when posting as Dobson, but there she is.

[anyrose]

[choie]

Very cool. Wow, they look like sisters! Impressed by the stolid Dobson's fancy hair piece. Clearly she's got a secret girly side to her.

And due to a funny optical illusion with the all-black leggings/boots and the way she's standing, it kinda looks like Collins is either a) footless, b) has horse's hooves instead of feet, or c) is trapped in a few inches of cement. Like she was trying to make an impression for her Hollywood Walk of Fame star and sunk inside by mistake.

[Elendil's Heir]

It could be a lot worse: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Van_Mayter

[general_urko]

It could be a lot worse: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Van_Mayter

Ouch! I wouldn't even wish that on Rangin...

[choie]

Ugh yes, I remember that episode very clearly, and that death in particular!

[Elendil's Heir]

Just a word of caution on additional player characters....

I don't encourage everyone to get them. I let choie develop a new one, Lt. Onn, at her particular request, but did not intend or expect for everyone else to then get one. Some players such as WES have filled in for other departed players in playing already-established characters (as with Dr. Brownlock) in addition to their own in the short term. Some such as anyrose have played previous NPCs (like Dobson) when their own PCs were incapacitated. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or energy to run a game for ten-plus PCs. I encourage you, instead, to focus on the PCs you already have. If you want to kill off or have your current PC transferred and develop a new PC, please PM me, and we'll discuss it. Thanks.

[anyrose]

Not to mention cias and Chef Johnson

[CatInASuit]

Ship's Cook Johnson (don't call him Chef, he's second in command of the galleys and the real Ship's Chef will be pissed) is purely a cameo background character to appear in stories, add a little spice to things and, above all, play chess with T'Var.

He's one of those below deck staff that never really gets a mention unless the script demands it, but is probably played by a Hollywood Actor* slumming it for the kicks of appearing in the show.

He's only going to get involved in things if EH requests it, or if I think it would be hilarious (but still with EH's permission).

* First person to say Steven Seagal will find bad things happening to their accounts.

[Elendil's Heir]

...* First person to say Steven Seagal will find bad things happening to their accounts.

Hey, shipboard cooks and chefs can do all sorts of interesting things!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Siege

[anyrose]

Okay then, that's how Dobson shall be relegated as well. Only when called for.

[CatInASuit]

...* First person to say Steven Seagal will find bad things happening to their accounts.

Hey, shipboard cooks and chefs can do all sorts of interesting things!: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Siege

If you have no problems with Johnson being a cook as well as having a hidden Spec Ops background, I can live with that.

Okay then, that's how Dobson shall be relegated as well. Only when called for.

You can always write stories about Dobson if you get bored. Tell us why she is so taciturn and stoic.

[general_urko]

A universal translator:

On Monday, Harry Shum, the Microsoft executive vice president who oversees the research operation, was bursting with pride while demonstrating Skype Translator, a new product that incorporates years of work by researchers to convert voice conversations from one language to another in real time.

Continue reading the main story
Mr. Shum gamely agreed to conduct a portion of an interview using Skype Translator. Mr. Shum sat in his office, and I sat in a conference room down the hall looking at Mr. Shum’s face on a computer screen. I asked questions in English, and Mr. Shum responded in Mandarin, his native tongue. He answered a question in Mandarin about the impact he says Skype Translator can have, and the software spit out an English transcript and synthesized recording seconds later.

The software made mistakes — Skype transcribed his name as “Hairy” — but it got the point across. “Today we have a lot of obstacles of communication,” Mr. Shum said, according to the Skype translation. “Because we speak a different language, you speak English, I speak Chinese, if we are not able to understand the two sides, the world would have a lot of problems.”

[anyrose]

nm

[general_urko]

As Rangin sees Kylah standing by the door which obviously is not opening he walks up and peers though one window, the inside is dark and quiet with a few instruments displayed. "I don't see anyone in, I guess its closed." He turns to face her as yet again she looks down, not meeting his gaze.

"You know, you never mentioned you played the zither, it takes a lot of skill as I understand it. If I asked politely, once it has been repaired, would it be possible to see you play it naked ?"

CIAS maybe Rangin left off a word. Just trying to help a brother out....

[choie]

Poor Velir, he never gets a chance to react to anything Kylah says, she just keeps moving forward leaving him mute. If he doesn't break up with her over sexually accosting him, he might do it for never letting him get a word in edgewise!

[Elendil's Heir]

Some guys like a girl who knows what she wants and takes control....