Thank you.
I think I have an idea for Vrek's commendation and 'break through' career events. It needs fleshing out but giving his focuses, I think it may have involved adjusting a shuttles's artificial gravity as he flew to external and dragging some particles from a planetary ring to foil an attacking ship and ended up saving some lives by doing so. Not sure if that's too fancy or not
BTW will be slow over the weekend. Got a lot going on!
I am back. And slightly concerned there haven't been any updates since, is it something I said? ;)
Still here.
I'm sure there will be an arrival post at some point soon ;) and an interlude post in Sick Bay I will post shortly thereafter ... and a "Captain on the Bridge" post
After all of which, I imagine we will do the "department heads in the conference room" mission briefing which started so many amazing TNG episodes
Okay. My lap top has died (Looking into it), and my computer access more limited for a bit so my responses maybe a bit slower for awhile. Apologies.
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Reckless, hope you're okay with my adlib on the personnel file? I was amused to discover that Vrek had a chance to punch Wesley Crusher in the face and missed it ;) It occurred to me the Nova Squadron would be normally his thing, so I made a family illness to have him decline only to join in 69 to clean up after the Fiasco Locarno and the squad of 68 made.
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Hey all, I'm leaving on vacation with my family tomorrow for Spring Break. I expect that I will still be able to post, but I may be delayed.
Not trying to make Vrek seem dim but I really wasn't too sure myself ;)
Not trying to make Vrek seem dim but I really wasn't too sure myself ;)
To be clear ...
When introducing a Lieutenant Commander, their full rank should always be used; however, in general conversation they are usually called "commander" even though they are not "full" commanders (which is one rank higher). Simply "lieutenant" is never used because it is one rank lower. [WIKI]
Certainly wouldn't make Vrek a peer of the XO, but wanted to make sure there was a vote of confidence early on. The Klingons I guess can punch each other, and then we will know that Sunshine got promoted also ;)
Sunshine would prefer to wrestle with engineering problems, sir.
(But if Woghrun or anyone else throws a punch, she will happily return in kind.)
Sunshine would prefer to wrestle with engineering problems, sir.
(But if Woghrun or anyone else throws a punch, she will happily return in kind.)
yes ... I took the liberty of deciding Amanda Gordon was part Betazoid, over a week ago actually. I wasn't sure how it would reveal itself, but there it is. So incredibly helpful to me by the way, to be able to make a solid connection between characters, but also to help flesh out Kalos.
Kalos also lost a parent very young, his mother, who was Amanda's aunt.
Still here. :)
Wrapping up this family trip today. Will post tonight.
Before I proceed, I want to note I am aware I am playing my character as a bit out of line (she'd be a bit in over her head day 1 post therapy, I figure, both in learning her role and readapting post injury; further she's big on loyalty to her fellow crew and she feels like the ongoing conversation is attacking the technicians for not doing their job properly, which she feels they did). So I was expecting upper ranks to reprimand her. On that base issue I have no issue, and it makes for more interesting conversation than standard military ship running patter.
But I am a confused on one count and a bit confused and perturbed on another:
On the confused and perturbed part: Kalos, are you co-GMing this game? Because in have never in 30 years of gaming had a fellow player just decide to write something into my backstory and certainly not without checking with me first. Even GMs have checked in with me about adding details to my background; to me that's just standard operating procedure. I am passionate about player agency and very much not okay with that. I have no problem discussing options for connecting characters through backstory--in fact I encourage it--but I want am option to agree to an addition rather than have my story commandeered without my consent.
As it is, for Amanda Gordon I had chosen an obviously human name because I wanted my character to have a certain perception of amd comfort with humans. I dig the idea of a message contributing to how Sunshine got her job but I am not okay with not being part of figuring out how it happened.
So as inspiring a story you may want to tell about my character, you don't get to tell my character's story. I do. I don't get to rewrite or add to your character's backstory either. That's common gamer courtesy, period.
On the merely confused part: I may have written my character's backstory hastily and did not make certain details clear, so here's what happened in a hopefully clearer:
1. Sunshine served under Lt. Amanda Gordon, a human chief engineer, on a small science vessel, the Levesque.
2. Big horrible engineering emergency. Things exploding. Gordon gets hurt.
3. Defying orders to evacuate, Sunshine tries to save Gordon's life, but isn't in time. (She certainly would have heard any spoken last words, however, which is the only last words Gordon would have, because she is a nontelepathic human.)
4. Sunshine finishes the job Gordon started, including holding a critical component in place until she can fix things, literally burning her hand off in the process. She saves the crew of her ship.
5. The only reason Sunshine survives her own injuries is because she's Klingon, basically, and organ redundancies kept her alive, but she could have (So she's perplexed at Woghrun lecturing her about needing to make sacrifices for her crew because she has literally done that.)
With this clarified, I do not understand the implication that Sunshine is defiling Gordon's memory by saying she has made sacrifices for her crew, given Sunshine did so indeed to finish what Gordon started.
If it's simply some idea that she's sullying her memory by being mouthy, I honestly don't really track with that either. Sunshine defied orders to attempt to save Gordon so she wouldn't associate disobedience with her.
So in short I'm at a loss of how to respond to Kalos's post because the first thing didn't happen and the second I don't understand.
Can absolutely be completely redacted.
The liberty though, isn't like co-GMing in any way. It was a minor tweak to a backstory to make it connective. That's all. Does not make Gordan any less human to make her part Betazoid, in fact it makes her a little like Devinoni Ral from TNG Season 3. But if she needs to be human and non-telepathic, then she needs to be.
If the telepathic hand-off were to have actually have taken place, then it could make sense that the Captain would expect the Ensign to hold herself to a higher standard and not act out. In word or in thought.
But again, let's skip it. She can go cool off and speak to the Captain later.
ALSO – valuable to note that the story tweak was created in the interest of fun and enhancing game experience. As a story element, it takes nothing away from the Ensign, and it adds to the Captain being able to interact meaningfully with her.
That said, if the reaction is negative, that sort of is what it is. If the reaction is, “Gordan is mine and you can’t change her.” again, that is what it is. To me, as I said before, she’s a story element, which was very slightly enhanced to make a connection. No part of Sunshine or her background is substantively changed by her mentor being a cousin of her new Captain. But if it feels like a net-minus on the creative front, so be it.
To be honest, if there is no ah-hah element like “wow, that could be cool” that is REALLY too bad and I apologize for stepping on toes. Was legit meant to be ‘neat’ or ‘nifty’ not to soil the backstory somehow. For me, I would have reacted differently and maybe even been excited about the collaboration. Sorry to disappoint.
Reckless, thank you for allowing a retcon.
Kalos (and all, since this is relevant to how all of us interact), all I ask is that you talk to me out-of-character first to make suggestions about how our backstories might connect. I would actually in fact love to discuss backstory connections between everyone here, but the appropriate place for that is between the players here in the discussion thread. All additions and alterations to backstories should be agreed upon between players before adding them to the narrative.
I felt blindsided when you posted an addition to my backstory without talking to me first. I am repeating this because I want to be clear that my problem isn't the idea by itself of changing things, my problem is that you didn't include me in your decision to try to change something I created.
If you had come to me first via DM or posting here in discussion, we could have come up with a plan together about what information about Sunshine is known to Kalos and how it might revealed. I could have had a chance to tell you my thoughts about the role of certain characters I wrote into her story. I expect given a chance to think about adding something without surprises--as a neurodivergent individual I handle surprises very poorly, but the problem of disregard to player agency would remain regardless of my neurotype--I would have been very amenable to building a connection between the two and we could have figured out the best way to make that work. Indeed if you would like to discuss that I would be happy to explore possibilities. Same goes for anyone else--you want to have met Sunshine in PT on the hospital in the station or you knew her parents on the Starbase or what have you, please feel to reach out to me in DM or here in the discussion thread. All I ask is ask me first. Thank you.
Not many folks have had much of a chance to post so I'll be quiet in the gameplay thread for a bit.
Komin, please revise and re-submit your post (in a new post, since edit window has passed) so we have a clearer picture of the amended conversation flow.
Nothing else needs to be posted; the interaction is withdrawn.
The apology stands.Kalos will go to his office to review sector intelligence and wait for the XO to tell him that the ship is ready to get underway.
Reckless, thank you for allowing a retcon.
Kalos (and all, since this is relevant to how all of us interact), all I ask is that you talk to me out-of-character first to make suggestions about how our backstories might connect. I would actually in fact love to discuss backstory connections between everyone here, but the appropriate place for that is between the players here in the discussion thread. All additions and alterations to backstories should be agreed upon between players before adding them to the narrative.
I felt blindsided when you posted an addition to my backstory without talking to me first. I am repeating this because I want to be clear that my problem isn't the idea by itself of changing things, my problem is that you didn't include me in your decision to try to change something I created.
If you had come to me first via DM or posting here in discussion, we could have come up with a plan together about what information about Sunshine is known to Kalos and how it might revealed. I could have had a chance to tell you my thoughts about the role of certain characters I wrote into her story. I expect given a chance to think about adding something without surprises--as a neurodivergent individual I handle surprises very poorly, but the problem of disregard to player agency would remain regardless of my neurotype--I would have been very amenable to building a connection between the two and we could have figured out the best way to make that work. Indeed if you would like to discuss that I would be happy to explore possibilities. Same goes for anyone else--you want to have met Sunshine in PT on the hospital in the station or you knew her parents on the Starbase or what have you, please feel to reach out to me in DM or here in the discussion thread. All I ask is ask me first. Thank you.
Not many folks have had much of a chance to post so I'll be quiet in the gameplay thread for a bit.
My apology is sincere; really didn't mean for pulling the trigger on a connective sub-plot to have caused consternation of any kind.
Nothing else needs to be posted; the interaction is withdrawn.Komin, please revise and re-submit your post (in a new post, since edit window has passed) so we have a clearer picture of the amended conversation flow.
On a point of clarification, has Sunshine still been reprimanded and sent to quarters? That's fine, I just need to know so I can put my character in the right place.
The apology stands.
An apology is nice, but what would be even better is acknowledging and understanding a need to discuss PC relationships with players first before posting about them IC. I don't want to keep harping on about this, but I don't get a sense from you that you actually understand what my concern was, and I want to be sure you do to avoid potential communication issues between all of us here in future. I apologize if this is something better posted to PM; since all players may want to discuss character connections, this is the only reason I post it to the discussion thread. Any future concerns I'll bring to PMs as I don't want to keep putting you on the spot.
Nothing else needs to be posted; the interaction is withdrawn.Komin, please revise and re-submit your post (in a new post, since edit window has passed) so we have a clearer picture of the amended conversation flow.
On a point of clarification, has Sunshine still been reprimanded and sent to quarters? That's fine, I just need to know so I can put my character in the right place.
The apology stands.An apology is nice, but what would be even better is acknowledging and understanding a need to discuss PC relationships with players first before posting about them IC. I don't want to keep harping on about this, but I don't get a sense from you that you actually understand what my concern was, and I want to be sure you do to avoid potential communication issues between all of us here in future. I apologize if this is something better posted to PM; since all players may want to discuss character connections, this is the only reason I post it to the discussion thread. Any future concerns I'll bring to PMs as I don't want to keep putting you on the spot.
My apologies again: the ENTIRE interaction is COMPLETELY withdrawn. The situation is in the hands of the XO, Kalos has left the bridge and is waiting to hear that the ship is ready to depart.
With absolute understanding, I can also apologize for not being clear enough. I get it. Was the end of a long night, I had a great idea, I went with it. My bad. I don't know how many times or how many ways I should say that. I won't do it again. Please also understand, I feel EXACTLY THE SAME.
Having tried to do a cool thing, having in no way intended to harm our characters or the campaign, there hasn't been a single shred of recognition that I wanted to make something happen that was positive. We've got "co-GMing" and "player agency" and "stay in your lane" pretty well covered at this point ... but not even a glimmer of comradery or collaboration or team spirit. Which is okay, it is what it is.
So let's let it go. That was in the wee hours of Saturday morning, and it is now FOUR days later: the ship is still PARKED. Let's not be a Yellow Alert in Spacedock, let's move forward.
I am sorry I did not lift your vibrant enthusiasm up in my previous posts adequately. I acknowledge you wanted to act quickly on what you thought was a cool idea. As I said in my previous posts, I encourage you and all other players to reach out to me if you want to discuss how to tie backstories together; if I come up with an idea I will do the same.
If other folks are waiting for this to resolve to carry on, I also apologize for contributing to any delay. That was not my intention. Reckless has posted material that surely we all can work with to carry on the story.
Moving on.
Responding to the ooc discussion of rolls here. I'd like to defer to JT to make the roll since he hasn't had an opportunity to make a check and I have. This said he hasn't checked in for awhile so I'm not sure he is still with us. So I'll wait a day or so and if he hasn't posted I'll make the check instead, if that is okay with everyone. And yes some techno banter would be good to throw in as well. ;)
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Sorry took more than a day--kept hitting 504s every time I thought to post. J.T. if you're still around and you're having the same issue, sorry for jumping in.
In other news, I found this technobabble generator I think will come in handy.
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The assist isn't really designed that way, and there's mechanical reasons for that, as well as to some degree in-universe reasons. In theory, everyone on the ship is assisting, and when you see pairs of Star Trek characters helping each other, it usually is pairs. In this case, it is Sunshine and Vrek pairing together to solve the issue.
Alternatively, I could have had Sunshine and JT working together (one of them being the primary actor and the other assisting) and carried over momentum from that task to future rolls in the Endurance Divide, but I saw this more as cooperation between the pilot and the engineer or science officer to maximize their efficiency in manuevering.
Random question, but what kind of crew amenities does this ship have? I know we're on an exploratory vessel, not on the Enterprise which was like a space Resort Hotel. But I also know it's a fairly large ship with probably some capacity for "crew morale" support. Do we have a holodeck? Bar? Gym?
Good questions, I was just assuming we had a bar and a gym, because of the roleplay opportunities. But I'm glad you're asking now instead of finding out the opposite later.
Mudbath, Mudbath!
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There is a LOT to read at that link, but it's a pretty good read tbh.
Not sure all of exact numbers matter, and GM can let us know, but there is for sure a holodeck, a few holosuites, gym space, and a Ten Forward.
I liked the part about 10F being a place where rank & protocol were not observed quite so formally. (and once I read the part about the Captain quarters, I wanted Kalos to have secretly beamed aboard 2 Betazoid kittens)
Howdy, friends. I am dealing with some health issues and may be out of communications for a few days.
Please take care of yourself! I was in the ER in January; it's a heck of a way to start the year. Keep us posted.
Good luck, Reckless. Rest up real good.
Get well soon!
The support characters option is interesting. What do other folks think about that?
On the Engines issue do we want to take the threat or the complication? I'm slightly more inclined toward threat, but can work with either. I think some other folks also mentioned threats but I'm not sure everyone has weighed in.
Kalos, thanks for the link to the ship details, super handy.
The support characters option is interesting. What do other folks think about that?
On the Engines issue do we want to take the threat or the complication? I'm slightly more inclined toward threat, but can work with either. I think some other folks also mentioned threats but I'm not sure everyone has weighed in.
Kalos, thanks for the link to the ship details, super handy.
At the moment, I am kind of inclined to split the difference.
Avoid the Engine Complication, accept +2 Threat PoolKeep the Medical Complication, use modified RecklessOption#2
For modified Option#2, I think it would be fun if everyone created a medical character. We could set a timeframe and then basically have 5 different characters, all of whom in principle could be made department head. I think one this mission there could be a good mix of doctors, nurses, and researchers all of whom would be viable.
AND then the captain and Sunshine could create Starfleet's 1st DMH!
As a precaution against exactly what is happening currently and hurting the Bolian crewmembers, the entire medical team and engineering team could create a Dedicated Medical Hologram (DMH): like the standard EMH made popular by the Voyager incident, the Atocha could develop a holographic triage protocol combining medical input and expertise from its staff, but also solicit additional data from Starfleet later on. (A Crusher update, a Pulaski update, a McCoy update, etc.) Kind of like an ongoing downtime project.
Would be cool to hear what we all think; while this is already the most exceptionally diverse crew I could imagine, this would open up the opportunity for us to diversify even more.
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I tend to like simple solutions, so I'm inclined to go with option 1. I'm fine with one of the options that create a player run NPC, however.
Does anyone have any further opinions on this?
I admit I wasn't sure which to go with
My vote at this point is to take the additions to the Threat Pool and move on -- there will be lots of other problems to solve.
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For expedience that might be best.
I like the idea of developing a DMH, though, Kalos, we should work that in regardless. :)
For expedience that might be best.
I like the idea of developing a DMH, though, Kalos, we should work that in regardless. :)
Let's put a stake in the ground?
Tomorrow 04/17 we move forward at 13:00 PDT accepting Threat Pool points for both conditioons.At that time, Yeoman Brevik will have called Ensign Tahlenna to the Captain's ready room also.
Have a good night everyone.
For expedience that might be best.
I like the idea of developing a DMH, though, Kalos, we should work that in regardless. :)
Let's put a stake in the ground?
Tomorrow 04/17 we move forward at 13:00 PDT accepting Threat Pool points for both conditioons.At that time, Yeoman Brevik will have called Ensign Tahlenna to the Captain's ready room also.
Have a good night everyone.
Clearly, I had some space-time continuum issues, because that tomorrow was in fact 2 days away ... but really though, let's take the points and move forward please.
I agree. I'll post Sunshine reporting in tomorrow (actual 4/17 :) ); folks should talk amongst themselves though. :)
For some reason, my campaigns thread wasn't showing any new posts in this thread.
Regardless, I am fine with taking the captain's suggestion.