The Return of Usenko's Star Trek Adventure Game (TM)!

[Morkonan]

...
So the two prisoners get smuggled into this ominous diagnostic room. On their own, they can't fight it (somehow their weapons have been rendered inert!). [/quote[

Overpowered by custom-designed creatures, they are taken by capture-units, which are like spiders on steroids. Big spiders... They are stripped of all things that aren't physically attached to them. Yes, they're naked... The subprocessors consider these articles to be inorganic bits of detritus these foreign organisms have somehow collected. But, because of their obviously tooled and fashioned nature, they are collected and stored for further examination.

[quot]Maybe they're being held for later, though, and get put into some weird organic cell? Giving them a chance to interact with each other and with the environment. The Chief Engineer has an ability to solve problems if he can justify that they are mathematical - what if the alien cell has a "lock" which he can see is a sequence of numbers somehow? And he can "pick" the lock with his ability, allowing him and the Tamarian to escape into the "corridors" of this alien world?

(allowing them to do what?!)

They are placed in a "cell", which appears to be organic, similar to a vacuole, but with several conduits providing breathable air and a sphincter which allows access/egress/ But, the sphincter is obviously closed. So, how to pick this organic lock?

Though most of the creatures are biological in origin, they are artificial and purpose-built animals. Very few are capable of actually processing food or procreating. In short - They typically have internal energy reserves consisting of complex sugars and cabohydrates stored internally. Some long-lived organisms are capable of biological photosynthesis to one extent or another. The largest, immobile, ones typically are either "fed" by transport organisms or the deaths of some of the many temporary species, who's carcasses are carried to them for final processing. Lastly, organisms designed to remove malfunctioning or injured creatures and to generally process the carcasses of those that have ceased to function have a limited ability to sustain themselves and process organic matter into useable energy. Only some of the smaller, insect-like, and populous maintenance creatures tend to have self-contained reproductive and energy processing.

In short - The world computer does not usually deal with... biological waste products.

So, how to "pick" the lock of this organic chamber? Ammonia buildup can occur with stressed and fatigued muscles. In order to send a signal to the mechanism operating the sphincter that it should be relaxed and opened, the captured crewmembers have to pee on it... Or, a suitably large pile of poo would cause the chamber to form a protective abscess/vacuole that may be able to be extended by force in order to access less protected regions.

What are they going to do when they escape? They'll find their clothes and their communicators and scanning equipment, but no weapons. The weapons are recognized as potentially dangerous and have been absorbed for more detail study. The player's purpose at this point is to serve as a means to communicate information about their surroundings and to be able to conduct detailed studies of this area, enlightening everyone with your varied bits of "cool info" regarding the nature of this world.

Of course, eventually it will be time for them to be examined. When it's discovered that they are roaming the labyrinth unsupervised, assets will be sent to capture them again, perhaps with extreme prejudice. Here, the computer has no need or even any inclination to attempt to "communicate" since it's own forms of communication tend to be through organic/biological means, on-planet, or sending complex instruction sets using n-wave/whatever sci-fi stuffs to the larger organics in the solar system.

This is pretty easy. The Tamarians are going to go crazy-go-nuts over their missing crew member. They're going to spout a lot of metaphors that make no sense, but sound REALLY angry.

I've had players who take particular delight in ticking off NPCs.. "I don't care how angry he is, I'm going to do this thing and that is that!" /snicker

...So without the engineer they can't beam up. Of course, the Ship could obviously send down a minor engineer, but . . . out of nowhere a random asteroid has suddenly appeared on their scanners, and they need to suddenly move out of its way or be destroyed! And there is a hyperonic charge coming from the asteroid, so wouldn'tcha know it, they have their hands full getting systems back on line. . . .

Earlier, we discussed how the ship could be placed in danger if it stayed close to the planet. Go with that as well as the pattern-enhancer line. Plus, it gives players on the ship something of very real consequence to deal with - If something is throwing big rocks at them or focusing laser-beams on their hull, they may want to investigate that as well. And, if they discover that hanging around the planet is inherently risky, anyway, due to extremely strong and rapidly fluctuating magnetic fields, well forcing the party apart and giving everyone something interesting to deal with is the order of the day, anyway.

Just remembered something - John Ringo's "The Hot Gate" (Troy Rising series?) Anyway, in that series, humans manufacture giant space-mirrors and use those to focus sunlight. Why? Well, several hundred huge space-mirrors all focusing sunlight on a particular spot in space turns their collective effort into the solar-system's most powerful bajillion-gigawatt "laser" that can easily poof any number of hostile alien spaceships into nonexistence... This very efficient system sounds perfect for your applications. One ship can't hope to destroy enough of these mirrors to make a dent in their collective output. Even if the ship could withstand diving into the star's corona, it couldn't withstand the focused energy output. In short - When you want the ship to move somewhere, you can bloody well make the players move it! (Being an uber-weapon, it's best to use it as a last resort. Though, a nice setup with just one of these mirror-emplacements taking an interest in them would be nice. The focused light from this one probing test causes some issues with the ship, but nothing the ship can't handle, until a detailed scan shows hundreds of these emplacements and there is evidence that they are all now tracking towards the ship's position... )

I have been thinking. There are two ways that the crew could approach this. They could go in scientifically, scanning, learning, doing as little damage as possible. In which case the PSC's response is less 'vicious response to counterattack' and more 'Well, here's a thing'. It's intelligent, which means it's curious. The response to the PC's well-intentioned blundering around still provides jeopardy, but in an accidental way (i.e. scanning which is not intended to cause harm may inadvertently give the PCs minor irritations, headaches, fevers; eventually the computer will want to sample one, abducting him/her/them.

I think that the most important thing up to "mid-game" is to do all that you can do to perpetuate the idea that "all this is just a collection of random, natural, occurrences." The players should be introduced to rampaging monsters, dangerous forces of nature, strange natural atmospheric phenomenon, unusually strong natural fields in space, unusual threats from asteroids, unusually strong and possibly dangerous field readings, etc...

The last thing you want, for yourself and the players, is for them to figure out too soon that anything about this is coordinated by some sort of intelligence. And, it shouldn't appears system-wide until it's time for it to do so.

So, for instance, the first time they figure out that the world's ecosystem is not only artificial, but it actually coordinated, is when these players are captured and brought to a central facility for study. The cooperation between dissimilar species, all seemingly focused on the higher-order activity of setting them up for an examination should be a big clue. But, they could think that these species are communicating to each other instead of being guided. If that's the case, then have this facility located at one of the larger mushroom-like/whatever structures I described earlier. Once they escape their cell, they are then able to witness this structure "birthing" fully formed individuals of various species. Upon birth, these animals placidly leave the facility without interfering with each other. Sometimes, other animals come in and are absorbed by the structure and broken down. (They can see partially digested remains in several chambers.) A particularly poignant moment should occur when an obviously aged and frail creature crawls into the organic structure and is tenderly re-absorbed by what the players may now think is its "mother."

So, that's realization-stage one, IMO. Later, or around the same time, depending on how the separated members progress, as the space-bound crew deal with their issues, they'll learn that everything in the system in space seems to be coordinated as well. When they begin to cause enough of a problem that The Builders are awakened (The large organic physical-constructor creatures of this entirely artificial solar system) they should end up with a suitably rewarding "Ah ha" moment that ties it all together, even for the slower members of the group.

(Realistically? They'll start with scientific methods, and then they'll do something unintentionally damaging - swatting insects maybe, or perhaps attempting to stun a creature to take it as a sample. Giving the PSC the impetus to respond with violence)

Escalation is the key. At first, it seems to be inane and purely by happenstance, with a low threat level. EX: A player is standing on what appears to be a natural crystal formation, but is really an energy collector, and a petite, shy, dear-like creature with a bulbous head approaches. If they player doesn't immediately try to kill it, which my own players would surely due... 'cause they know how I am..., then all that happens is that the deer-like creature gently pushes against the player. That the player is moved off of this crystal, allowing it to function at full efficiency again, may not be something that is noticed until much later.

Dangerous stuffs directed solely at the players make take awhile. For instance, organisms die all the time, either naturally or by accident. So, other organisms come clean them up, digesting them on the spot and either moving on or carrying back this material to a central unit. A few dead critters won't wake the dragon. But, something really unusual, like taking a "sample" of one or killing several or using tranquilizers against them (or similar) will wake the curiosity-bone of the local processing unit. It will dispatch scouts, capture units, soldiers, etc in that sort of order, with increasing danger to the crew until they are captured or eliminated.

In fact, once the local cpu captures those two members, the waves of attacks might stop as long as the players don't do anything further to piss off the local cpu.

The world and then main system cpus wouldn't take notice of any of this activity until the threat level has been upgraded. In fact, practically speaking, nothing the players could do would really draw the attention of the entire system-wide cpu. Even the amount of effort required to completely obliterate their ship and all the crew on it as well as study all the bits and pieces left over wouldn't cause the main cpu to take much note of the activity. A Starfleet invasion, someone mucking about with the star, someone moving major planetary bodies... these things would probably tick it off enough for it to become involved directly and to focus all the considerable resources it has at its disposal.

This is a Kardeshev Type II Civilization construct and it is particularly advanced. This is evidence of a civilization that could have been moving, or may currently be moving, towards Type III status. In fact, it could even be evidence of a Type III civilization and this is just one component in a much larger mechanism that is galactic in scale...

An example of plot advancement, or - The Captain's Log:

1) This place is just plain naturally dangerous. Someone should post a sign or something. Also, it's just plain weird with too much unnatural natural stuffs going on. The Tamarans are friendly, though, and are eager to accomplish our joint goodwill mission.

2) Half the life on the planet could be given to one's children as pets. The other half should never be encountered by anyone that isn't enclosed in a protective Level 3 containment field...

3) These critters seem to get along quite well with each other when they shouldn't be doing so at all. I just phasered something that looks like a cross between a cow and a crocodile. Crocow? Cowacroc? Crodile? Anyway, with big teeth meant for shearing meat, but no evidence of any normal predation habits one would expect in a carnivore. It also doesn't have a digestive system, which I find relieving and terrifying at the same time.

4) Everything here hates us. And, now the ship is out of transporter range because of magnetic field fluctuations causing havoc with its systems. Not only that, but it almost got done in by a c-fractional asteroid... So, yeah, definitely not high on my list of vacation spots. How the heck does an asteroid decide to get-up-and-go that darn quick, anyway? The ship is going to go figure that out.

5) These critters are being grown by that big organic thingie! All of them! It's some sort of weird "mother thing." The ship says there are millions of these structures all over the planet. It's some sort of master-race of mushroom/fungie creatures building other critters, but why? And... why does thing want to stick probes in me and make me into little itty-bitty pieces?

6) Hoary Clap! The whole planet is wired together? All these critters are taking care of all these different sorts of inorganic emplacements and rock formations! They polish them, fix 'em, all directed by these big mushroom things. Is it a planetary society?

7) Ship got their scanner tuned in, finally. Scans show extensive subterranean networks that reach deep into the planet's crust. There's evidence of deeper structures, maybe even extending to the core! The whole planet seems to have been purposefully constructed for something. But what?

It's not just the planet. The ship has encountered similar constructs among the asteroid fields and on the surface of what should otherwise be barren planets. The two gas giants in the system also have unusual weather patters, hinting at artificial influences deep within them.

9) Something just tried to eat the ship... Well, not "eat it", actually, but rather tried to rip it apart with its bare... clawlike-bludgeoning-graspy-thingies. Whatever it was, it was pissed. And big. Scans show that there are more moving towards the ship, coming from inside several different asteroids in the system. They're very big and apparently very unhappy with our presence here. We're going to try to hide in the asteroid field, itself, to avoid detection until we can figure out whether or not we can accomplish this goodwill mission with such things as these creatures against us. Did I mention that they were big?

10) Astrometrics, obviously a high-priority with c-fractional rocks flying around, has determined that there is a constant stream of asteroids, likely artificial, since their composition consists of complex arrangements of heavy metals with crystaline lattice networks, are all moving towards a central point. It's unmistakable when examined, but it's so cleverly contrived we would have never noticed it if we hadn't been trying to track all these threats - Long lines of small asteroids from many different points in the system are moving to intercept a curiously compliant, and unusually small, black-hole. There are no x-ray signatures and it's big enough to take them in, immediately. They're tough enough to resist any tidal forces, as well. There is no way this black hole is natural as no known natural object could have condensed to that size.

11) The ship has sustained major damage, but we have it under control for now. We're heading out under impulse power, the warp engines having been damaged by the latest round of assaults - The entire system is artificial and doesn't want us here. The latest attack was made by several hundred mirrors... Who would have thought that several hundred mirrors focusing the energy from the local sun could have overloaded our shields and killed so many crew?

Astrometrics has confirmed that the progression of messenger asteroids, for that is what they really are, is artificial and contains some form of structured data if one attempts to decipher their formations and movements as "information." As soon as we moved out of the ecliptic of the system, attacks against the ship have ceased. The few "Builders", which is obviously what they are, since they're the only physical things big enough to have moved the asteroid fields into place, have ceased following us and have returned to their resting places.

Astrometrics and Science came together to do some regression studies on the orbits of major satellites in this system. This system could not have evolved naturally. Even allowing for rogue captures and possible interference by the small black hole in the system, there's no way that these planets could have naturally formed this arrangement. Either they were moved there or created in place. Neither hypothesis makes me comfortable.

I am recommending complete quarantine of this system. Every hypothesis as to its origins and purpose points to one conclusion - This system is processing information on a system-wide scale and sending that data into a black hole. It does not want outsiders here.

There is part of me that desperately wants to meet those who constructed this system. I have questions and the answers that they could give us would be invaluable, not only for understanding this system's purpose, but perhaps answers that could help us understand what we are and, perhaps, what our destiny may be.

But, the more rational part of me knows the truth - Any notion of meeting The Watchmakers terrifies me.

(Just my musings, take them as you will.)

[Usenko]

Okay, in the beginning of the session, the Tamarians and the Starfleeters are having a story time over dinner. This was meant to happen last session, but the episode wound up taking too much time.

This gives us an opportunity. One of the characters has an aspect "Impish rogue." An impish rogue in a situation like this would take great pleasure in sabotaging the proceedings in a small way. I was thinking of compelling him (for a FATE point) to tell a completely nonsensical story, composed of utter rubbish, so that the Tamarians start using his story in their conversations with others, giving him a small fit of the giggles every time they do so.

But I want this to have a consequence. Compels are supposed to give the characters some kind of complication. However, the compication shouldn't be so severe that it threatens any other event in the game (and for that matter, the objective of this one is to have the players laughing, long before we get to the serious business of the PSC.

My idea initially was that this would lead to some kind of inter-crew incident, but that didn't seem like fun. Similarly, a reprimand from the captain would be realistic, but not enjoyable, and since the Captain is a PC, I can't really make him do that unless I make it a compel for him (in which case it'd be better if it was a more dramatic thing).

Any thoughts?

[Morkonan]

.... I was thinking of compelling him (for a FATE point) to tell a completely nonsensical story, composed of utter rubbish, so that the Tamarians start using his story in their conversations with others, giving him a small fit of the giggles every time they do so.

Such an opportunity must not be wasted. If you choose the player to read a nonsensical story, there is none more finer than this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_Argon

It should be told with complete reverence for the history of this work. Some of the works of the finest minds in fantasy are not as revered as this - http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/s ... eargon.htm

If you wish to expand this, so the entire party can participate, then you can conduct a reading circle of the story. The rules are here: http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~susan/sf/argnrule.htm

You can easily turn this into a session where any of the players could gain a Fate point or suffer consequences for an incomplete reading... If they laugh, they lose until it comes around to them again.

Setup - Your impish character taps his glass at dinner and offers a recitation of a famous story for the consideration of all present. He presents an archaic looking manuscript, written on flexible sheets, much like the old wood-pulp paper of the Twenty-First.

He can either hand out pages to the crew for them to read or the players can simulate "hearing" the passages by being made to read them from your copy. If the player laughs, his character bursts out laughing in the scene, which makes the Tamarans a bit confused, since they interpret this much like someone reading an important historical or religious text. Any time a player laughs while reading, they have to pass the text to the next player, who must follow the above applicable rules. If they're successful for an entire page (250 words or so) they earn points towards a Fate point. If they fail on the first try, it's OK. If they fail on subsequent attempts, something negative happens. (They spit up their food, causing embarrassment and potential insult to the Tamarans. They poop themselves, they jar the arm of one sitting next to them, etc..) Abysmal failure results in something negative, but funny, that lasts through several scenes.

The point is to involve everyone present, give them the possibility for a reward, reward fun behavior and limit punishment to inconviences, but let those be something their characters would consider realistically and, perhaps, worthy of light reprisals against your trickster.

Added difficulty level - Give players a small point-pool of a three points or so. They can use one of these points to erase a failure on their part OR they can use one of the points to "influence" how another player reads their assigned passages. ie: They're allowed to make silly comments directly at the player, dance on their head, or force the reading player to act out the scene as they are reading it... or get the opportunity to act it out themselves. Better yet - You might devise a fair point-spending system in which the reader or other players can force other players to act out the scene as it is being read. The goal being that by the end of the session, everyone should have had a great laugh and have actively participated in your rogue's little prank. (Tears should be rolling, by the end - It's a damn funny story! Be sure to read the rules. Players need to read this with the appropriate reverence, intonations, dramatic style as indicated by the original text and the passages they're reading. Voicework is a necessity... )

But I want this to have a consequence. Compels are supposed to give the characters some kind of complication. However, the compication shouldn't be so severe that it threatens any other event in the game (and for that matter, the objective of this one is to have the players laughing, long before we get to the serious business of the PSC.

Locked doors are always good. The players need to leave the room, but the door is locked and requires them to "do something else" to either leave or get it unlocked. Sounds simple, but it can be very dire if a character really has to use the restroom because someone dosed their meal with laxatives...

My idea initially was that this would lead to some kind of inter-crew incident, but that didn't seem like fun. Similarly, a reprimand from the captain would be realistic, but not enjoyable, and since the Captain is a PC, I can't really make him do that unless I make it a compel for him (in which case it'd be better if it was a more dramatic thing).

Any thoughts?

Unintended consequences are the starting points for great adventures. Great adventures aren't always "great" though. One time, there was this dragon, you see, and...

Let's see...

Food pranks? The character puts an additive in the food that is supposed to give Tamarans gas... makes them flatulent. But, unknown to the Feds, it causes mild hallucinations in humans. There are plenty of random lists of words and phrases out there as well as combination writing prompts you can choose from. I have methods I can tell you in detail, if you think you'd be stumped, but the idea is that one side of the table is farting all night, but enjoying their meal, but the humans are experiencing strange, but funny, hallucinations. In their hallucinations, however, they have to act as if they're real, as players. So, they will have to roleplay the hallucination, but it won't necessarily be obvious to the characters at the meal. (Akin to daydreaming. ie: The character sees a Tamaran produce a kitten from its jacket. The Tamaran appears to be putting sauce on the kitten and is about to eat it. You character must construct one sentence to say that will ensure this kitten will survive, but the character can not say the word "cat, kitten, feline, pet, animal, eat or food." What does your character say to the Tamaran?" The character does say this to the Tamaran, in reality, but there is no outward sign that he is actually hallucinating at the time. Other characters will have hallucinations and may also have hallucinations that incorporate the statements of the characters before them. IF they come up with a better hallucination than you, using the prompts and statements given by other players, then they win a point towards advancement.)

Sight gags? The trickster replaces the ice-sculpture of a leaping dolphin that was supposed to be in the center of the table with an ice-sculpture of a... human penis. The Tamarans are fascinated by it and keep inquiring as to what it is. The players have to come up with some sort of proper description of this sculpture that makes sense, in-and-of-itself, without letting the Tamarans know that it is, in fact, a fully and angrily erect human phallus... The player that comes up with the best description that doesn't reveal the sculpture's true nature wins something. (Fate point? Other point/reward, commendation from the Captain?

FNG pranks. (Friggin' New Guy) - The prankster tells the Tamarans they need to bring blinker-fluid to the dinner. Or, they should all use left-handed forks. They might have to find fifty grams of landing-gear tire air. They should wear reverse-radiation suits. They should request "the sharpest swords and boarding pikes", obtainable at the human security station, which doubles as a protocol liason in human societies, and bring these to the dinner. They need to go to the forward supply closet and get five double-sided bolts. It is considered a great honor if, when greeting humans, to grab their extended hand and place it upon one's genitalia, as a show of trust... Ship Captains at formal occasions do this with each other and if one refuses to do this, it is considered a grave insult. I wonder how the Tamaran Captain will react if the human doesn't grab his genitalia? He may remark upon this insult all through the gaming session, inquiring as to why the Captain insists on insulting him...

Note: The Captain is not going to write anyone up for a prank that doesn't result in physical harm to anyone. Why? He's not going to make it official and then have to answer to an Admiral or Commodore as to why he can't maintain control of his own officers. As long as no prank results in physical harm, personal property damage, damage to the ship or interference with critical ship systems that result with lost-time/downtime or reduced efficiency, the Prankster should be able to get away with a lot. His character might have to scrub out the bulkheads or something, but the player won't have to do anything or have any negative results. (IMO and so the player doesn't suffer for his character's attributes)

[Usenko]

WARNING: EXTREMELY LONG POST!

Okay, I have the basic thread of how the session will go. . . What do you think?

1) Story time. VERY truncated – 30 second version, with PC’s idea of a metaphor. Good metaphors receive fate points and appreciative “Tembo, his arms wide!” or “Kira at Bashi!” from the Tamarians (this was supposed to be last session, but we ran out of time).

2) As the stories draw to their close, a number of Tamarians take their turn. This turns out to be a fairly difficult business for the PCs, because even with their knowledge of Tamarian language they lack a lot of the background needed. (do quickly – don’t get player characters actually FEELING the boredom!  ).
Complication: One of the characters, because he’s an impish rogue, can’t resist sabotaging things just a little . . .

3) Just when the PCs think the end is never coming, the Captain of the Tamarian ship stands and says “Gideon’s Army at the River.” This means that he wishes to select his away team for the mission. He selects four characters – the first officer, the chief Science officer, the chief Engineer and the security officer. He says to the Captain “The Sun and the Moon in their daily courses.” This should indicate that he is expecting the PCs to take their turn! So now the Captain should discuss with the crew who should be a part of the mission.
*Note: There will be time when the crew arrive planetside to send down any people who are needed and who aren’t there. I won’t start things going crazy JUST yet. 

4) The ship arrives at the planet. Introductory scans indicate that the planet has a strong, fluctuating hyperonic radiation field. A person on the surface would receive a dose ranging from harmless to fatal depending on where they went; it is recommended that a medical officer with anti-radiation protocols should accompany the away team. In addition, the hyperonic fields will interfere with transporter activity; it will be necessary for pattern enhancers to be laid out on the ground where beaming is to happen. It will ultimately be possible to construct pattern enhancers which automatically respond to changes in the hyperonic field, but for now it will be done manually, via a “Fair” roll on engineering.

5) The crew are given a choice of three relatively safe areas to beam down: A series of complex crystalline structures which appear superficially similar to a forest (actually the heat release for the main power system), a circle of different crystalline structures appearing a pond (which has signs of animal-analog life nearby – actually the CPU) and a canyon with caves in it (also bearing signs of animal-analog life nearby – actually a memory stack). In addition there will be an area which is MOSTLY safe, except for unpredictable high-level surges of hyperonic radiation (at high enough levels to require some treatment from the medical people, but only hyposprays).

a. Small dog-sized creatures are coming from all around the area. The creatures are similar to tiny horses or deer, but they walk along paths to the pond. They do not appear to drink from the pond. Seemingly at random, some of them walk into the pond, becoming submerged in the water and disappearing. Occasionally one “kneels” down at the pond, where it stays until it is grabbed by a crocodile-like creature living in the pond. Others walk around the pond and then walk away. Occasionally two creatures will meet at the side of the pond; when this happens, one will walk away following one of the many trails away from the pond, and the other will walk into the pond and dissolve. The creatures will always remain on a trail; if a PC stands in the way, the creature will push gently, but if it cannot move the PC it will wait patiently. The creatures are completely non-hostile even if attacked. If the PCs examine one closely (for this they will need to capture one) they will find that it is a very unusual creature – it has a relatively large brain case, no obvious digestive system or reproductive system, very rudimentary organs.

b. The pond: There appear to be a great number of ponds across the planet. There is a large, more or less circular depression in the ground (approx. 1km across), filled with a liquid that will prove to be mostly water, plus a number of organic compounds. The depth is impossible to determine, but the water is evidently deep. There are crystalline substances surrounding the pond. The crystal structures have a complex klein-bottle like shape. If examined closely, the crystalline substances will prove to be hollow structures, made of a complicated dialuminium-dysprosium matrix, similar to the clay of the ground surrounding them.

If the player characters damage the trails or the crystalline shapes in any minor way (e.g. taking samples of the material), the crystalline shapes will disgorge a cloud of tiny insect-like creatures, which will (on closer inspection) be found to repair the damage, seemingly secreting the crystalline substance or rebuilding the trail. If the PCs capture one of the insect-like creatures, it will attempt to escape, but otherwise it will not be able or inclined to hurt them. If the PCs happen to kill one of the insect-like creatures, the rest will not immediately turn hostile, but three or more incidents will result in another swarm of creatures being released from the crystalline shape, this time armed with stings (which will not cause serious harm, but will hurt!).

Occasionally a salamander-like creature, moving extremely quickly, will dart into the area (On investigation, it will come from the crystalline forest). Bright with heat, it will dive into the pool, with a resulting emission of steam. Cool salamanders run at similar speed towards the forest.

c. Crystalline forest: Trails wend their way through the crystal-like “trees”. Horse-like creatures follow the trails, but do not stop at this place. The trees will be found to be made of a similar dialuminium-dysprosium matrix to the crystal structures surrounding the pond, but they have a cylindrical shape. There are, however, a few of the klein-bottle-shaped stacks in the area, and again if there is any damage to crystals or the trails, insect-like creatures will come out of the stack and repair the damage. If the cylindrical stacks are examined in detail, they will be found to emit a lot of heat, consistent with vulcanism below the ground.

At the base of some of the cylindrical stacks are small (10-20cm) holes. Occasionally salamander-like creatures run out of the holes. These creatures run far too quickly to be captured, and they are glowing white-hot. If PCs try to trap one, it will simply not be able to be lured (it doesn’t eat anything, so nothing will tempt it), and will avoid a hole that has been blocked.

d. Canyon: large and lined with [natural-looking!] caves. There are ramps leading to the caves. Horse-like creatures are constantly climbing the ramps and eventually walking into caves. Once they arrive at a cave the PCs will discover themselves to be inside what looks like a geode. If the PCs examine one of the caves, they may see a horse-like creature reduced (briefly!) to a skeleton by the insect-like creatures, before the skeleton is consumed. The insects will then fly into holes in the cave wall (where they’re disgorging the matter to be recycled, but the PCs won’t know that).

e. The PCs may also visit a MASSIVE depression in the planetary surface – an apparent meteorite crater about 100km across. Strange mushroom-like structures line the walls of the depression, each with a (seemingly random) number of nodules along its length. Occasionally small horse-like creatures burst from the pods. This is actually the receiving antenna for the PSC’s instructions! There are occasional pulses of Hyperonic radiation. When the bursts happen, if the PCs are watching carefully, they may notice that fresh nodules appear long the “stem” of the “Mushroom”. This represents reception and initial processing of the data, which will then be sent to a “pond” for processing and/or a “canyon” for storage.

6) Whilst the PCs on the ground are inspecting these areas, things on the Ship are going weird. A large asteroid has been ejected from a nearby asteroid belt; it is on a collision course for the ship. This will seem to be easily dodged, but when the ship dodges the asteroid it will inadvertently pass over the antenna, just as a burst of hyperonic radiation is being sent off to the Black Hole! So systems over the ship will be scrambled. If the ship crew think of calling the Azure being, they will discover that although he’s recovered from his draining episode, hyperonic radiation is painful to it, and that whilst there is a burst it is unable to act (as well as taking some time afterwards to recover).

7) After spending some time examining one or more of these locations, the doctor will tell the team that he needs a sample. He will not be dissuaded from this; if PCs try to point out that they don’t know what will happen, he will chuckle and point out that all he wants is a few of the insects, to examine the biochemistry – surely that won’t cause too much problem.

He takes a fair number of samples, enough to push them above the magic 3 incidents . . whereupon the insects suddenly turn hostile (and stinging insects emerge). This is not too much of a problem, but he will continue to spray hostile insects, and as he does they get more hostile. Eventually a new breed of insect will emerge, and instead of stinging him, they start to bite him (as in picking pieces of flesh off – these pieces are taken for analysis).

The doctor screams, telling the PCs to beam down his assistant (this may or may not be possible, depending if the engineers are close enough to the Pattern Enhancers to adjust them for the current Hyperonic Radiation level!). By this time, however, some insects have placed eggs under his skin; he is being eaten alive. PCs may discover that if hyperonic radiation is applied to the creatures via tricorders, it will have unpredictable effects; Rolls of + will speed the creatures up, whilst rolls of – will slow them down. This won’t ultimately affect the outcome, the doctor will get horribly eaten alive . . 

As the doctor’s injuries become fatal, he insists for everyone to move away, which they do when they see to their horror thousands of insects emerging from his corpse! Little is left behind, not even bones . . .

Music swells to scary crescendo, CUT TO COMMERCIAL BREAK (i.e. end of the episode).

So . . Is this coherent enough? (Bearing in mind that we will be doing this on Wednesday night!)

[Morkonan]

This looks really good! I think it'll play out nicely!

A couple of questions:

What's the premise that requires the players go down to the planet's surface? (ie: I assume they have to do this, not like my players, who'd gladly weasel out of going through my nicely constructed dungeon in order to ransack some village I barely mentioned three days ago in passing... )

I imagine you'll have some "communication difficulties." How do you normally handle that when the players are split up?

Idea: Is there a way that the players can directly influence their Tamaran counterpart? IOW - Can a player earn an achievement, work towards a personal goal, to increase their skill in working with Tamarans and, possibly, earn (unkown to them at the time) an ability that gives them advantages with working with other aliens. ie: Player "I'm going to try to convince the Tamaran paired with me to do xxx." Increased successes will result in an additional character attribute added to their sheet - Alien Diplomacy and Protocol +1 (Gives them bonuses when working with alien npcs in the future.) With so many unique things added to this campaign, it seems fitting that the players should have the opportunity to gain a special reward.

PS - One thing on the animals - Animals that have no mature digestive system need some sort of energy. Give them internal reserves, like a tadpole's yolk sac, that serves a couple of purposes. For one, its obvious that these are fairly mature specimens, capable of what appears to be, however nonsensical, their adult behavior. For another, since they can't take in external sources of energy, it's obvious that they all have a limited lifespan, perhaps only a number of weeks at the most. (More indications that these are disposable creatures.)

On "off the path" behavior. Have the animals wander off in a random direction for a a short while, then in another if that direction doesn't intersect a pathway. With this behavior, these random packets could find their way back to a known pathway. Pathways, if examined, should be marked like normal animal pathways with pheromones. Depending upon analysis and your world, you could tell the players that evidence shows that some pathways are marked with the pheromones of many different species. Some may not and you can use this distinction to demonstrate different functions that certain creatures may be carrying out.

You've done a great job! I have no worries that your friends are going to have a great time! Their GM has put in a lot of work to ensure that happens!

[Usenko]

This looks really good! I think it'll play out nicely!

A couple of questions:

What's the premise that requires the players go down to the planet's surface? (ie: I assume they have to do this, not like my players, who'd gladly weasel out of going through my nicely constructed dungeon in order to ransack some village I barely mentioned three days ago in passing... )

The crews' orders are to conduct a pre-colonisation survey of the planet - the Tamarians intend to settle there. So an up-close-and-personal inspection is essential.

I imagine you'll have some "communication difficulties." How do you normally handle that when the players are split up?

In fact there won't be communication difficulties AT THIS STAGE. I've decided to move the abduction of the chief engineer and his Tamarian counterpart to the next episode. But for now, the communicators work just fine. At the beginning of the next episode, the captain will discover that communications are being disrupted (gradually - first a few words will be interfered with, then entire sentences, and ultimately there will be totally disrupted comms - as the PSC learns what frequencies the PCs are using!).

Idea: Is there a way that the players can directly influence their Tamaran counterpart? IOW - Can a player earn an achievement, work towards a personal goal, to increase their skill in working with Tamarans and, possibly, earn (unkown to them at the time) an ability that gives them advantages with working with other aliens. ie: Player "I'm going to try to convince the Tamaran paired with me to do xxx." Increased successes will result in an additional character attribute added to their sheet - Alien Diplomacy and Protocol +1 (Gives them bonuses when working with alien npcs in the future.) With so many unique things added to this campaign, it seems fitting that the players should have the opportunity to gain a special reward.

Last episode a number of the PCs earned a bonus to their Rapport skill when talking to Tamarians. Any who didn't earn the accolade will get it if they happen to roll 4+ on talking to them. In addition, the mechanic that I mentioned before still holds - if they have successfully communicated using a phrase, they no longer have to roll on that. This should provide them with an ever-expanding vocabulary.

PS - One thing on the animals - Animals that have no mature digestive system need some sort of energy. Give them internal reserves, like a tadpole's yolk sac, that serves a couple of purposes. For one, its obvious that these are fairly mature specimens, capable of what appears to be, however nonsensical, their adult behavior. For another, since they can't take in external sources of energy, it's obvious that they all have a limited lifespan, perhaps only a number of weeks at the most. (More indications that these are disposable creatures.)

I have considered this - in the place where normally a creature would have digestive organs, they'll have a fat reserve. However, the PCs will have to capture one and scan it carefully to determine this. Of course, should they decide to actually kill and dissect one, they'll find this design feature (as well as a bunch of other cool goodies, like an enormously enlarged brain for a non-sentient life form and, if they roll REALLY well, an organ that responds to hyperonic radiation!). However, killing one will count as one of their three hostile acts!

On "off the path" behavior. Have the animals wander off in a random direction for a a short while, then in another if that direction doesn't intersect a pathway. With this behavior, these random packets could find their way back to a known pathway. Pathways, if examined, should be marked like normal animal pathways with pheromones. Depending upon analysis and your world, you could tell the players that evidence shows that some pathways are marked with the pheromones of many different species. Some may not and you can use this distinction to demonstrate different functions that certain creatures may be carrying out.

I like this! I was thinking of the pathways in physical terms, but pheromones make much more sense, and have the added advantage of being invisible.

You've done a great job! I have no worries that your friends are going to have a great time! Their GM has put in a lot of work to ensure that happens!

Thank you!

One problem though . . I still need to figure out what the hell happens next. Ah well, I have a couple of weeks.

(I have now painted figures for the Player Characters, in classic TNG uniforms. They look pretty good, if I do say so myself. Even my kids are saying "Those look GREAT, Dad!" )

[Morkonan]

....(I have now painted figures for the Player Characters, in classic TNG uniforms. They look pretty good, if I do say so myself. Even my kids are saying "Those look GREAT, Dad!" )

Ooooh! Pics appreciated if ya got 'em!

Waaaay back in the day, I saw some ToS lead miniatures for figures and ships. I have no idea what ruleset they went with, could have been a GURPs knockoff ToS ruleset. (Miniatures were always lead/tin mixes, despite the toxic hazareds. )

There were also some "Traveler" figures/ships that would be perfect for a Star Trek roleplaying game. (I think Traveler still survives and there are figs for it, not sure if they're as good as the old classic ones, though.)

"Gamma World" figs would be good, too. But, they're limited, since the system didn't have a lot of marketing put behind it. Though, IMO, it was a decent system.

Back in the day, you could buy tons, literally, of lead/tin miniatures for practically any sort of game you wanted. I have many happy memories of going to some pretty well stocked gaming and miniatures stores and seeing everything from Zulu warriors, classic orcs, private investigators (C'thulu), and miniature spaceships, all stacked on the walls in display packs, with the weight of the lead adding that mysterious "quality" feeling, letting you know you actually got something for your money.

[Usenko]

Pics will be posted, but I want the PCs to see them before the rest of the internet. So tomorrow night.

These ones are from Victoryforce Miniatures, from their "Goodness no, these are not Star Trek miniatures at all!" range.

[Morkonan]

Pics will be posted, but I want the PCs to see them before the rest of the internet. So tomorrow night.

These ones are from Victoryforce Miniatures, from their "Goodness no, these are not Star Trek miniatures at all!" range.

[Usenko]

FANTASTIC NIGHT!

Firstly, pics of the minis. Light isn't ideal, but the best I can do.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd28 ... Crew_2.jpg

From left we have:

* Captain R'Orshach, Captain (Caitian).

* Lt. Com. Manu Tangaroa, First Officer and Chief Engineer (Human, Maori).

* Lt. J. G. Benji Mbusi, Chief Science Officer (Human, Central African [actual background to be developed]).

* Lt. S. G. Wil Crusher, Conn (Human, European [actual background to be developed]).

* Lt. J. G. Eric Lomax, Chief of Security/ Tactical Officer (Human, European [actual background to be developed]).

* Ens. Briyet, Acting Surgeon (Betazoid)

* Lt. S. G. Navaes, Operations Manager (Vulcan).

As for a report on the night:

All players had great fun.

Highlights of the night:

* PC for Lomax, who is known to be a little bit of an . . unusual thinker, looked at what we were seeing, and said "You know what? This thing is a Planet-Sized Computer!" To which PC for Mbusi replied "You're drawing a pretty long bow there." I said nothing.

* PC for Tangaroa, who had previously not really enjoyed the last session, started to have some fun. When we were looking at one of the data-carrying creatures, he wanted to figure out where it went, so he stole a communicator badge off another PC, and gaffer taped it to the creature. In so doing, he finally managed to come up with a proper High Concept for the character - "Bringing Gaffer Tape to the 24th Century!" He has the unerring instinct to figure out how to jury-rig things easily and quickly.

* PC for Mbusi is an evolutionary scientist in RL, and he started to have real fun. He forced me to make up a lot more background on the creatures on the fly. He had to be persuaded by other PCs to capture and release a data-creature rather than dissect it. I said nothing again. He began to name the creatures we were seeing. The data-creatures he named "Deer-poodles," the energy creatures were "Samalanders", the klein-bottle like crystal structures were "Nooba nooba trees" and the cylindrical crystal structures were "Plume trees."

* When the doctor was mentioned, the PC for Crusher muttered "The Doctor is a woman, didn't you hear?" Since the climactic moment of the night was when the old doctor died and was replaced with the Work Experience Kid, this was hilarious in hindsight.

Game mechanics all worked as expected, and a good night was had by all.

Thanks for your input - I'm having a blast!

Note: Any other moderators? I can't seem to get this image to shrink. Little help please? Usenko

{Over size image changed to link, before Photobuckets third party hosting changes it to a image place holder. - Terre}

[Morkonan]

FANTASTIC NIGHT!

Awesome!

Thumbed and shranked pic:

[ external image ]

(Click for big)

* PC for Lomax, who is known to be a little bit of an . . unusual thinker, looked at what we were seeing, and said "You know what? This thing is a Planet-Sized Computer!" To which PC for Mbusi replied "You're drawing a pretty long bow there." I said nothing.

LOL! You'll have to watch that one. As it's all supposed to be obvious, in hindsight, it's not unusual for someone to hit on the truth early on. Enough distractions, especially when they learn how the animals are birthed, the appearance of some sort of collective action undertaken by what may be large organic life-forms creating them, etc, should help to throw off the trail a tiny bit. But, if it doesn't, then that's fine. A guess for a planetary computer, like "Forbidden Planet" is one thing, but a guess for a computer the size of an entire solar system is something else.

* PC for Tangaroa, who had previously not really enjoyed the last session, started to have some fun. When we were looking at one of the data-carrying creatures, he wanted to figure out where it went, so he stole a communicator badge off another PC, and gaffer taped it to the creature. In so doing, he finally managed to come up with a proper High Concept for the character - "Bringing Gaffer Tape to the 24th Century!" He has the unerring instinct to figure out how to jury-rig things easily and quickly.

You may want to put "safely" in quotes, for future drama. This char should get bonus points for innovation and roleplaying. After all - Duct-Tape (US) is a critical inventory item for the ISS. Astronauts and duct tape

* PC for Mbusi is an evolutionary scientist in RL, and he started to have real fun. He forced me to make up a lot more background on the creatures on the fly. He had to be persuaded by other PCs to capture and release a data-creature rather than dissect it. I said nothing again. He began to name the creatures we were seeing. The data-creatures he named "Deer-poodles," the energy creatures were "Samalanders", the klein-bottle like crystal structures were "Nooba nooba trees" and the cylindrical crystal structures were "Plume trees."

Deer-poodles... Looks like you're going to have to write a lexicon of all these new creatures like the old "Monster Manual" for D&D. You can find blank docs/pdfs online if you need a form to help guide you. I used the Monstrous Compendium 2nd ed three-ring binder to store my custom critters. Though, as a general rule, most were module-specific and never encountered outside of it. However, for Star Trek roleplaying, it might be fun to arrange these as computer entries. Your evolutionary scientist bro might have fun coming up with them. Aaaaand... bonus points for doing so. (Loved ethology when I was in college. Wanted to go deeper into it, but the basic field was still fairly new and just learning how to define itself.)

* When the doctor was mentioned, the PC for Crusher muttered "The Doctor is a woman, didn't you hear?" Since the climactic moment of the night was when the old doctor died and was replaced with the Work Experience Kid, this was hilarious in hindsight.

That's why he's now the medical specialist! Doesn't miss a thing, that kid... gonna go places, nothing gets by him!

Thanks for your input - I'm having a blast!

That's all that matters! Nothing can replace those sorts of good times, where a little imagination mixed with good friends can make the world come alive!

It's just like playing as a kid, with cardboard box castles and tree forts.

[Usenko]

Something fun:

Here's the wiki that I've created for the PCs. They are able to access this as they play, and the plan is for them to update it as they go.

[Morkonan]

Love the visual aids! Back in the day, before teh interwebz, I'd occasionally do some line art to help the players visualize the area or something else of interest. When we resurrected our gaming so as to have an excuse to get together, I ended up using refs again, this time taking advantage of the 'net with good illustrations. Deviantart is probably the best place for hunting those sorts of things.

You should bundle a wiki together just for your "crew." You could use a Star Trek theme and I'm sure there are plenty of Star Trek TNG graphics/buttons/layouts online you could make use of. Set it up as "Log Entries" with internal links to the Federation library computers for detailed entries of locations, flora/fauna, characters, etc.. That's be pretty nifty, especially as the wiki grew.

My nostalgia collection is in notebooks, rag-eared character pages, figures, maps, dungeon keys, binders and even particular dice. These days, it can all be online. Not bad, really, since others can share it.

[Usenko]

You should bundle a wiki together just for your "crew." You could use a Star Trek theme and I'm sure there are plenty of Star Trek TNG graphics/buttons/layouts online you could make use of. Set it up as "Log Entries" with internal links to the Federation library computers for detailed entries of locations, flora/fauna, characters, etc.. That's be pretty nifty, especially as the wiki grew.

Don't you worry, that will be there! I'm mainly getting the PCs to do the building though, because if I do it all I'm kind of doing a subtle form of railroading.

[Usenko]

Well, I've had a while to work on this next episode (RL has been an issue, so last fortnight we played "Fury of Dracula" instead).

I have scripted half of the next session - the Space component. Our heroes in space are going to face perils which should justify the fact that they are separated from the away team when they are needed most.

I have yet to write the away team bit.

So . . Here goes.

1) Captain’s Log.

2) The Tamworth is in deep space, i.e. out of range of the planet for transporting. (Note: All PCs who are currently on the planet – Engineer, Security Chief, Science officer – are replaced by Duty Officers. Duty officers are deemed to have two skills at +2 and one at +3; take a moment to determine the skills your duty officer has, being careful to ensure that they have their specialties covered!).

3) Crusher gets a feeling that the ship is in danger again. Before anything happens he moves the ship.
- Roll a D6 for direction of threat.
- Conn rolls against notice.
-2: Gets a choice of 4 random directions.
-1: Gets a choice of 3 random directions.
0: Gets a choice of 2 random directions.
+1: Is told what direction the threat comes from.
- From nowhere seemingly, another asteroid comes at the ship. It’s large, and if it hits it does D6 damage to the shield facing (Ops opposes as normal).

4) The ship’s sensors are not detecting the asteroids! The duty science officer rolls against Science.
Mediocre – Good: No change.
Good – Great: Adjusts harmonics. Asteroids now visible at 4 hexes range.
Superb: Isolates Quantum resonance! Asteroids now visible.

5) D6 asteroids come flying at the ship. Crew deals with asteroids (may evade or shoot them). At this point the engineer rolls for engineering (if he has not yet done so).
Mediocre – Good: No change. Comms still down. Another asteroid round.
Good – Great: Successful jury-rig. Garbled comm message is heard.
Superb: A fix has been found! Complete message heard.

6) The message tells the crew that the team needs to be picked up urgently (and that the Doctor has been killed). But there is a belt of conventional asteroids (non-hyperonic) between the ship and the planet. This had not been a problem on the way out when time was plentiful, but now it can cost them valuable time. Fortunately there is a gap in the asteroid belt, which will be detected if the crew have been able to isolate the Quantum resonance of the hyperonic radiation (and if not, make sure that the Science officer continues to try each opportunity – encourage use of FATE points!).

7) The Tamworth travels through the gap. The Conn officer rolls for conn.
Mediocre – good: the gap has closed. The ship needs to find another gap.
Good – great: The ship is able to go through at ¼ impulse.
Superb: The ship is able to go through at full impulse.
All crew members are asked to roll for notice. If a crew member gets Good or above, they notice something.
Conn: There is an unusual fluctuation in stellar cartographics.
Engineer: A warp field is opening up nearby. There’s a ship!
Science: I am detecting a warp signature dead ahead.
Ops: Lateral arrays are detecting a warp signature!
Captain: This isn’t right. There’s something nearby.
Suddenly the turbolift opens. It is one of the Tamarian crew members. He looks frightened. “Tergo in the hail of arrows!” he almost screams. “Romeo at the Capulet Ball. The Dark army, encroaching on the land at the end of all things!”
You see what he is pointing at in the viewscreen . . .

BORG.

My image was that the borg ship is just a relatively small one - a scout ship - more than a match for the Tamworth, but not completely overwhelming. As to why it's a Borg ship . . I have tokens for Ferengi, Klingon, Romulan or Borg, and Borg has the terror factor. But why are they there?

1) They are Borg who have been lost in the Zeta Tau IV system for over a generation. The PSC has defeated them and driven them mad. If so the PCs will find that they will fight like animals, but once they are defeated they will send a message begging to be destroyed.

2) They aren't actually Borg at all. If they fight the Borg Probe to a standstill the crew will, on doing enough detective work, discover that the ship isn't made of the usual Borg alloys, but with a high percentage of dysprosium-aluminium alloy, similar to that found in the soil of the planet. Also there are no live Borg drones aboard - just slots! In fact it is a PSC attempt to copy the Borg ship, but without understanding of the nature of its crew.

Does either sound better? Or a third option?

And I need to write the ground component too.

[Morkonan]

Well, I've had a while to work on this next episode (RL has been an issue, so last fortnight we played "Fury of Dracula" instead). ...

BORG.

... As to why it's a Borg ship . . I have tokens for Ferengi, Klingon, Romulan or Borg, and Borg has the terror factor. But why are they there?
...

Does either sound better? Or a third option?

And I need to write the ground component too.

OK...

First of all, you've done a great job so far, really! Happy players, interesting plot, new things for the players to do, mysteries being revealed, new concepts that could be useful later on, a new mythos evolving, etc.

But then, you do this...



Why not just have Satan show up? Hitler? Maybe Sauron could weigh in on the complex political issues of Federation and Romulan politics? Perhaps Darth Vader could help negotiate a new trade agreement between the Federation and the refugees in the Battlestar Galactica fleet?

(You're supposed to be laughing at this moment, not worrying about unjust sarcastic criticism that isn't based on a fond shared enthusiasm for creating and entertaining others. )

If you bring in a Borg ship, in any way, or have anything at all with the Borg, you will undermine everything you have created so far. All of it. Everything may as well be flushed down the toilet as it will become meaningless and trivial as soon as the players, with their own understanding of the Borg having been indoctrinated into them over decades and by millions of dollars of talented television and movie production, have all their experiences thus far being immediately and forcefully brought into stark relief as "survival against the Borg."

Yes, they will poop themselves. And, in so doing, will ignore every independent and interesting action they would have otherwise conceived of taking, themselves, in favor of a standard, by rote, response dictated to them by the immense of amount of conditioning they have as Star Trek fans.

This is Deus Ex Machina in reverse. Instead of having a Greek god descend to save the players from certain death, you're using a established nearly godlike force to inspire fear and to artificially, since you didn't have anything to do with its original construction, introduce "drama."

I've don't know much about Aussie television, but imagine that the writers of your favorite sitcom were trying to come up with an element that would introduce some serious drama and decided, due to a lack of enough of a writing budget and due to episode constraints, since the season is about to end, than they'll just end that season with a cliffhanger by having the Borg show up with their standard "Resistance is futile" line. Yeah! That will get viewers tuning in next season! Nevermind that it's a sticom about a bunch of friends who live in contemporary Melbourne....

Earlier, I mentioned what I called "The Builders", which were large organisms that first moved the asteroids into place and may have, through combined efforts, altered the orbits of the moons in the system or, if taken further, could have even had something to do with building the planets. Think of them as ginormous, hugemongously so, organic bulldozer ships and construction cranes, combined, with an addition of "super-duper-industrial-space-tug-boat" thrown in. (ie: Doomsday Machine" (TOS) big, with nasty manipulator claws and toothy looking maws ringed with chompers designed to pulverize asteroids composed of rock and metal) Up until this time, they were quiescent, not really having any use other than to stand by in case they were needed.

IIRC, I suggested that if you needed a big-bad threat, then this is the sort of threat you would want to throw at the players. Anything capable of physically constructing this system is surely a threat to a starship. They may not have energy weapons, but if they can catch the ship, they can tear it apart, literally... It also serves as a further clue to the players that there exists forces in this system that are capable of being moving parts, or moving them, in a much larger device than just the possibility that there is a computer-planet involved. They're the "tools" of the Watchmakers, or whatever you wish to call the original designers of this system.

I'm not saying you have to go with that. You do you. BUT, if you want a "big bad physical threat" then this is the sort of thing you need to do. Do not "cheese" your way out of having to do some work by needlessly introducing a canned, processed, pretreated, precooked, can of Fiction-Spam in the form of "The Borg."

Introducing elements from other people's work, aside from what is mandatory to allow for shared and enthusiastic fan-based roleplaying, is simply lazy and thoughtless. Lazy, because you're only doing it for a "quick fix" to a "perceived problem with lack of drama" and thoughtless because your players deserve more from you, since you've come all this way on your own without having to grab for a pair of crutches.

By creating a setting, evolving a plot, constructing activity elements and timelines, you're doing many things that a writer would naturally do while writing a work of fiction. Because of that, you need to pay attention to certain "best practices" in order to achieve the best experience for everyone. At its heart, that means that the story needs to come to from you and you need to create the drama, fresh, new, compelling... That doesn't mean you shouldn't talk about it with others or ask for advice, it just means that your friends, your "readers", are play8ng your game, like reading a book, with one goal in mind above all others. It's the very same goal that ALL readers of books attempt to satisfy -

They desire a new experience.

You can not give them that if you throw the Borg at them in this episode. You'll "break" the entire module and destroy the value of all previous work if you do that.

[Usenko]

Okay. Fair calls on all parts. You're right, it was lazy of me, and I can do better. Alright then, let's try to workshop something else.

I have small off-cut pieces I was intending to use for asteroids. I was about to say that I don't have anything else (an oversight on my part - when laser-cutting the tokens, I should have included several "generic alien ship" tokens. But anyways . . ).

HOWEVER - I have some LARGE off-cut pieces. And it occurs to me that these would naturally match the small off-cut pieces, so maybe this would connect with the asteroids.

Yes. . . Obviously we don't want anything that looks TOO much like a Doomsday machine, for the same reason as wanting to avoid the Borg. But something else, an expy, might work.

Instead of the Borg[1] or the Doomsday Machine we have the Constructor. Note that this is (unknown to the PCs) small by the Builders' standards; you describe it as a tugboat (not even a super-duper tugboat!), but it's a tugboat with two main weapons:

1) A massively powerful tractor beam, enabling it to fling rocks (and which can attempt to grab the Tamworth if it gets within 2 hex range).

2) On the dorsal surface a flat area which conceals a bank of plasma torches, which can heat rock to vapour temperature almost instantly. This counts as a triple-power phaser, but only at extremely close range (1 hex).

On the outside it's just another asteroid. But as our heroes detect it, suddenly it emits a burst of light, and moves. So far it's not scary . . but then unlike ANY asteroid they've ever seen before, it STOPS, changes direction and moves TOWARDS the ship.

If the PCs aren't paying attention they might not notice that the Constructor is trying to push them away from the planet. For all they know it's a wandering monster.

I was thinking of having it emit hyperonic radiation, like everything else on the planet, but that seemed too obvious (and I don't necessarily want the PCs immediately connecting it to what's going on down there!). Instead, the burst of hyperonic radiation that nearly disabled the Tamworth was the activation signal for a dormant Constructor - it's RESPONDING to hyperonic radiation, rather than actually emitting it.

Anyways . . .

When they first encounter the Constructor, the scene then switches immediately to the Away team, so this is left hanging. But when we return to space, the Tamworth needs to do battle with the Constructor. The device immediately flings two large asteroids in the Tamworth's direction. It has no shields, but its "hull" (being made of rock) is way tough. They should learn quickly that getting close to it is a bad idea. But it is not a combat vessel; in fact, it was not intended to actually get close to the ship.

(In fact, what is currently happening is that another three or four constructors are in the process of building a made-to-measure starcruiser to face off against the Tamworth, with hyperonic weapons, Space-Wedgie Generators and Space-Puppy Crushers. Our heroes surprised this one; its complex programming means that it will attempt to distract them whilst the others complete the first small combat starships).

Better?


[1] Note that I wasn't really seeing the Borg as the big threat here - hence the fact that it was a scoutship. The idea was that it was a formidable foe which they'd have to work their hineys off to defend against. And then they'd find that (version 1) defeated Borg who were terrified of the PSC too or (version 2) evidence that the PSC had EATEN some Borg generations ago. But yeah, I get where you're coming from, and you're right.

Maybe I can get some of that "Gosh-this-big-bad-is-tough" feeling in the ground zone without spoiling the overall impact.

Suppose this: When the abducted crew members are trying to get out of their bio-prison they come across another vesicle in which they find a lot of partially digested and deconstructed remains. Most are unrecognisable (because they're ancient species that the Feds haven't encountered - gazillions of years old), but they CAN recognise EXTREMELY ancient and mostly deteriorated Borg implants. The conclusion is that long ago this thing used to eat Borg (though the remains are no threat to the PCs, the fact that the bad guy is tough enough to destroy them is not a fun thought). And this way I provide something else for the bad guys to beat up on that shows how tough they were, and I add a continuity nod to the series but without hugely relying on it or turning the scenario into a battle to the death with a known menace.

And . . Maybe our engineer character can use the Borg implants as part of a gadget he builds to get them out of the sticky situation!

[Morkonan]

...Better?

MUCH better! This is yours, so own it all the way through. It's a focus for your own creativity and that's part of what makes it fun, right? So, let Paramount (or whoever) have fun with their silly Borg. YOU get to invent giant space-beasts that treat Borg like space-gnats.

On the design of the Constructors, my original imagery was something like these bits: (You're familiar with them, I'm sure.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(genus)

Hydra diagram gif

Good image:

[ external image ]

So, that's just sort of what I was envisioning, but bulkier, with no "delicacy" about it, anywhere. IOW, the tentacles would look like they were biceps on top of biceps tied together with anchor chain and encased in armor. There's a definite purely "physical" nature that they portray, despite any neat sci-fi mechanics. So, while these beasts may be able to shoot lasers out of their rectums and project and weave powerful force-fields, they'd be just as comfortable grabbing hold of a warp nacelle and physically ripping it off of a defenseless ship. Wherever they go, everything is on the menu.

That's just my imagery and there are some important differences, here. The most important, concerning proper genre translation, is that I don't know how serious or dramatic certain sci-fi things are to your players. For instance, "tractor beams" are, to me, entirely overused in sci-fi. Star Trek did it so they could avoid a bunch of extra costs, just like the Transporter gimmick, and so that they had a way for story hooks where they could immediately introduce drama caused by "helplessness", like tying someone up. It also helps that a ship has a way to directly interact with its environment without having to have gantry cranes. Star Wars used it, in A New Hope, for much the same dramatic reason.

What I envisioned was a shock encounter, a "WTF is that" moment, a "OK, it's big, it looks tough, and it's probably pissed off, so let's move out the way", followed by a somewhat pitched battle where the beast. The beast, which looks like it's just a tough brute, might first try to simply "catch" the ship in its manipulators, like it would when cleaning up a stray asteroid. But, when the ship evades it, it has to reason another way. It's not particular intelligent and has been ordered to "clean up" the player's ship so it doesn't interfere with the mechanism of the computer.

It turns around, focuses whatever field-generator, biomechanically based, it uses for thrust and sends a pulse towards the ship which disables its warp drive and throws multiple systems into chaos, no matter what "shields" the ship has currently active. Then, much like a hydra after disabling its prey, moves in to engulf it and dissemble the pieces that are currently too large to fit in its gullet. Then, if successful, it would move the contents to one of nearby moons where they would be recycled.

However, the difference between my imagining and yours is that you may know that the players will consider tractor beams and emitters just as dangerous, maybe even moreso, than big strong tentacles grabbing the ship like some version of an outer-space Captain Nemo story. If that presents just as much urgency and drama, then use tractor beams and emitters/whatever. For instance, if I told someone unfamiliar with certain fantasy roleplaying genres that I was going to threaten my players with a Level 37 rat, they might not think that was as scary as a their suggestion of a big rabid dog. But, I know that a Level 37 rat would beat the crap out of a big rabid dog every day of the week and twice on Sunday. (Damn, I now want to make a module where players are threatened by a Level 37 rat... I'll name him Willard. They will be terrified. Of "Willard.")

On drama:

Piece by piece, you've been introducing snippets of clues that continue to build on the mystery and heighten the drama. Step by step, "the plot thickens" and the stakes rise, if for no other reason than the scope of their discovery. (Near certain death is a factor, too...) The players see this series of events as two different things. One takes place on the planet, one in space. But, you know they're both the same and that's one of the clenchers for the player's "Aha" moment, when they start to really figure out what's going on. Keep that up, no matter that one series of events is on shore and one is taking place in the deep sea, so to speak. That act alone, building up the drame bit by bit, no matter the locale, will also help to bring "sameness" to both parts, so the players realize that these things are all connected.

On constructing the Big Bad space threat:

I'd let them defeat the first space beast, but suffer casualties, a battered ship, emotional trauma and the dawning realization that they may not be able to complete their objective with the threat of death if they even try to continue.

Then, things would get worse...

A short while after the first, near invincible, beast is defeated, the rest of the system comes alive with even more beasts, some obviously bigger than the first. The ship is obviously in no shape to take these on and, due to damage, it can't easily flee. Solution? Hide in terror and pray enthusiastically. The night is dark and full of terrors.

Incorporating your idea of the beasts making an even more formidable beastie, some of the go hunting for the player's ship while, nearby, many appear to congregate near a very large asteroid near where the player's ship is hiding. (So they can witness events) It becomes obvious that this large asteroid is some sort of component manufacturing center. The beasties, along with some unique, smaller, specialized space-critters appear to be assembling something. Something big. Something with a huge energy reading. Something that, just like the beasties, ends up sprouting a "life signature" about halfway through its construction. When that happens, it also begins to emit powerful sensor sweeps that the player's ship only narrowly avoids, since it's in hiding.

Worse and worse. Soon, that ship will be fully operational. Soon, it will begin searching in earnest. Soon, the player's temporary hiding spot will be discovered. Time to start getting their affairs in order....

[1] Note that I wasn't really seeing the Borg as the big threat here - hence the fact that it was a scoutship. The idea was that it was a formidable foe which they'd have to work their hineys off to defend against. And then they'd find that (version 1) defeated Borg who were terrified of the PSC too or (version 2) evidence that the PSC had EATEN some Borg generations ago. But yeah, I get where you're coming from, and you're right.

Maybe I can get some of that "Gosh-this-big-bad-is-tough" feeling in the ground zone without spoiling the overall impact.

"You will know a man by his enemies." (Can't remember who said that.)

This is good and it's the right trick if you want to imply something quickly. There are so many great stories that allude to a known, powerful, force that had been defeated by whatever current threat the characters were facing. That implies that no matter their current strength, they couldn't have bested that old foe, so they have no hope to defeat this new threat... presumably.

It may also be a hook for your continuing storyline for a campaign.

So, your planet-bound players stumble upon a cache. It's really a dumping area, full of what the mechanism considers to be useless crap. It's obviously a bunch of discarded junk, with bits and pieces of landers, personal weapons of alien manufacture, parts of what is obviously a corridor door from a spaceship, bits of an alien control console for something, some alien medical devices, half the golden record off of one of the Voyager probes that didn't get blasted into oblivion by Klingons...

And, what appears to be some bits of Borg tech. Ancient Borg tech... Precursor Borg tech!

The idea here being that ages ago, the early Borg must have visited this system. To them, it would be heaven. In this system is a perfect combination of biological and mechanical technology combined in a unified purpose. They would have been ecstatic and would have immediately started shouting "Resistance is futile" over every single comm-channel they had. They would have rushed to the planet to plant their Borg flag in the name of the Borg Collective and would have been quickly snuffed out by an irritated Abacus that didn't appreciate being awakened by rude parasites.

One of things the planet-bound players are able to do is to use this Precursor Borg tech to establish an undetectable line of comms with the ship, so the players can know about and interact with each others events.

You need some "magic." IOW, with these separate groups, you have to get them working and reasoning together so they can enjoy each other's predicaments. You have time constraints, so magic is the solution for that. Use this cache of alien discarded tech to do that.. Find a few things for the players that appear to be even more powerful and strange than Borg tech, just to emphasize your point - This place is dangerous.

"We found a miniature black-hole generator in this cache of cast-off components. Due to elemental construction, it was obviously not manufactured in this system. It's not working. I don't think I could get it working. I definitely wouldn't want to get it working. I'd like to go home, now."

If you have to get the players together while avoiding detection, the planet-bound players can jury-rig either some old alien tech or part of the system's internal transport devices to "ride the carrier wave of the old Borg tech" in order to beam themselves to the ship. The system might then think it's got an infection and try to rapidly diagnose the source, of course.

Later, if you wish, you can tell those crew that used this method that they've been infected with precursor Borg nanotech or something.

... And this way I provide something else for the bad guys to beat up on that shows how tough they were, and I add a continuity nod to the series but without hugely relying on it or turning the scenario into a battle to the death with a known menace.

And . . Maybe our engineer character can use the Borg implants as part of a gadget he builds to get them out of the sticky situation!

Yup, exactly so!

But... With all this certain death, with all this overwhelming power, with all of these dangers around every corner, and every turn sprouting more, how are our intrepid and soon-to-be-reduced-to-their-component-parts adventurers going to escape?

When writing a story, it's practically imperative to know the ending. In fact, ideas for dramatic endings are often the seeds from which good stories grow. Every great story, IMO, can be retold by beginning with its ending.

Further, any story that can't be told by first beginning with its climactic ending is just not a good story. Or, it's weird enough that it must be in some strange genre that only aficionados can appreciate.

(Contrast retelling the stories of 2001, 2010 and then Star Trek: The movie. You can retell 2001 and 2010 as they exist now from their endings. But, ST:TM? A space-baby ending constructed from the existing scenes in the movie, as it is today? WTF? Theme is huge in this and helps determine how these stories are constructed properly.)

So, forget everything you've constructed up to this point. Leave it behind you for the moment. Sit there with your tea, coffee, water, soda, beer, whiskey or illicit substances and think...

You're watching the ending of a great movie. It's your movie. It's awesome! The ending is suitably awesome. Maybe it's got a good message, maybe it has a great battle, it might be the first kiss in a tear-jerker love story or maybe its as simple as a tired but relieved Hobbit opening the door to his house, glad to finally be home?

So, what ending do you want? Nothing else matters when you're thinking about that, not even all the work you've done so far. After all, you're the creator! You can imagine any ending you want and then construct the elements necessary to achieve that ending with as much style, drama and flair as you want.

(To help, imagine your favorite movies and television episodes. Think about the ending and then imagine everything else in that story being constructed by the writers in order to lead up to that ending. Think about how every element, every scene, every bit of dialogue is lovingly constructed only AFTER the ending is written and only so that it contributes to the quality of that ending... )

What's your bestest, most awesomest ending imaginable? (Free space-beer for the entire crew is possible, but probably not what you'd really like to have happen. )

PS - Referring to the Borg in the episode's backstory is fine and, as you rightfully point out, contributes to the building up the drama rather than misdirecting it. Also, visual aids are great, but they only serve to fuel the imaginations of the players. You can easily get away with printed out card-stock counters and achieve the same goal. Personally, when using something like that, I think that "line art" is best, since it's not pretentious and obviously is only a suggestion as to the physical appearance. Deviantart.com is a great source of freebie art you can easily search through. Write a physical description, with some flourish, to add further to the presentation if you think that's suitable.

[Usenko]

So, forget everything you've constructed up to this point. Leave it behind you for the moment. Sit there with your tea, coffee, water, soda, beer, whiskey or illicit substances and think...

You're watching the ending of a great movie. It's your movie. It's awesome! The ending is suitably awesome. Maybe it's got a good message, maybe it has a great battle, it might be the first kiss in a tear-jerker love story or maybe its as simple as a tired but relieved Hobbit opening the door to his house, glad to finally be home?

So, what ending do you want? Nothing else matters when you're thinking about that, not even all the work you've done so far. After all, you're the creator! You can imagine any ending you want and then construct the elements necessary to achieve that ending with as much style, drama and flair as you want.

(To help, imagine your favorite movies and television episodes. Think about the ending and then imagine everything else in that story being constructed by the writers in order to lead up to that ending. Think about how every element, every scene, every bit of dialogue is lovingly constructed only AFTER the ending is written and only so that it contributes to the quality of that ending... )

What's your bestest, most awesomest ending imaginable? (Free space-beer for the entire crew is possible, but probably not what you'd really like to have happen. Smile )

An excellent question, and one I have been trying to think over.

I have a broad idea about where this should go, but I'm struggling with the details.

This being effectively a continuation of ST:TNG, there is a certain cadence to the ending that I'd like to use. It goes like this: The situation gets worse and worse, and it looks more and more like severe force is going to be needed (and we may well not have enough force), when suddenly a breakthrough is made. Generally it's a breakthrough from the B-story that gets applied to the A-story which either de-escalates the situation or allows the heroes to prevail.

So how does this work here? Well, the A-story is the planet. The B-story is the combined mission with the Tamarians, and specifically it is learning to communicate with them.

Therefore, the ending should somehow involve both crews, in such a way as it integrates them together.

Okay, so how to do that? I can think of a few scenarios. All of the following are Star-Trek-ish, but the later ones seem more so.

1) In order to escape from the giant PSC, a character from the Tamarians (perhaps the Captain) makes a noble sacrifice, in the process demonstrating that he understands the language of our heroes. He dies so that his friends (old and new) may live. His death somehow either buys the time that they need to defeat a boss of some sort, or distracts the boss to allow them to get away somehow.

2) The crews have managed to get back together on the ship, but it's badly damaged, and even if it were at its best it just doesn't have the firepower to prevail. The crew are preparing to sell their lives dearly and try to launch a warning beacon out into space so that others won't come across the lethal PSC. Suddenly a mixed team of Feds and Tamarians who had previously been struggling to communicate with each other make the big breakthrough and produce . . .

a) Tactical: The hyper-powerful weapon (TM) that can actually defeat the PSC, or at least blast a hole in the defences for a limited time - just enough for them to boogie the heck out of there.

b) Engineering: A form of shielding - recognising that the PSC's technology is based on Hyperonic radiation, they can allow the ship to absorb the energy for a limited time - just enough for them to boogie the heck out of there.

c) Science: Some kind of Hyperonic radiation-producing widget that gives the PSC some kind of false signal that causes it to do something . . "Oh, look over there at that nice distraction!" This fools the PSC for a limited time - just enough for them to boogie the heck out of there.

3) The PSC is just getting ready to blast the "viruses" out of space, when suddenly, against all odds, a message that it is capable of understanding gets through to it. This message is a direct result of some lesson the Tamarians and/or the PCs have learned from each other - perhaps the Feds didn't previously understand that like the Tamarians, the PSC communicates in metaphor too (or perhaps they use the concept of the Tamarians' metaphorical communication as an analogy to enable them to work out HOW the PSC thinks[1]).

Meanwhile the Tamworth's crew are frantically trying every code they can imagine. Then, just as the alien battleships are winding up to fire Hyperonic Lances that will turn the Tamworth to a wisp of dissociated plasma, they power down and the gun turrets return to the stowed position.

In the confused silence that follows, the crew wonder briefly why they're not dead. A booming voice echoes through the bridge: "Ardriel using the abacus. Vermin in the siloes (i.e. "I am the PSC. So you're not just insects?")?"

The crew exult for a moment, realising that they've made contact! But they still need to work out an appropriate message to send. If they don't manage it, the Tamarians will figure it out - less experience points for the PCs! In either case, basically the final message they receive is something like "Okay, you're not vermin. Get off the planet and let me get back to work. And tell your not-vermin friends to keep their distance. My calculations are too important to allow you to disturb me. That's your only warning."

--

As you might be able to tell (from the amount of detail I have given it), I like the last one the most. It seems to be the most quintessentially Star Trek of the three - after all, the milieu is ultimately about communication and understanding between cultures, not getting there firstest with the mostest and blasting the other guys to bits. But it might be a little implausible.

Obviously there are other options, including (but not limited to) combinations of the above three.

Do you have any thoughts?

[1] One aspect of this I like: We can't have the PSC actually becoming best buds with the Feds, because we don't want to either (a) keep coming back here to hang out, or (b) have them swanning around smacking down any enemy that comes around. We want them to remain an inscrutable alien presence, and one that our heroes are anxious to avoid! So using this alien language concept means that they will be able to communicate enough to make contact and say "Hey, we're not cockroaches, don't swat us" but not enough to make friends as such.

[Morkonan]

...Do you have any thoughts?...

Frequently. Sometimes, they're disturbing. But, so long as the courts say I'm not a danger to myself or others, there's no way they can lock me up! (Just kidding. Probably.)

[1] One aspect of this I like: We can't have the PSC actually becoming best buds with the Feds, because we don't want to either (a) keep coming back here to hang out, or (b) have them swanning around smacking down any enemy that comes around. We want them to remain an inscrutable alien presence, and one that our heroes are anxious to avoid! So using this alien language concept means that they will be able to communicate enough to make contact and say "Hey, we're not cockroaches, don't swat us" but not enough to make friends as such.

This is imperative. We already have them with a pet monster, there's no way they can be made to feel invincible every time they show up for a gaming session. Feast and famine, uncertainty, looming danger, hard-won victories... Every time they touch the dice or spend some points, it should make their blood-pressure rise.

OK, I've been brainstorming and have come up with the very same goals as you. You know your audience (players/friends) so, as always, you know what is best for them and what they would enjoy.

1) Everyone has fun. That's the only rule anything has to follow. All ideas must fulfill that goal.

2) All players must feel their individual actions are significant - Everyone has a good chance for glory.

3a) The group of characters needs to be reunited so they can all share in a common experience of the end-game.

3b) The crew, except for a short time, needs to be in "communication" with each other, so they can share in information exchange. There's no use for your creative efforts, and those of the individual, separated, player groups, to go to waste until a "reunion." Everyone should get the full gaming-session experience as soon as possible. (Though, it should be well recognized that there is pretty big intrinsic value in that initial separation and gameplay in this module/session.)

4) The stakes must be as high as the scenario allows. The players have to have the opportunity to win, but they also have to have the opportunity to experience the threat of a loss. Without those two conditions, there can be no drama. Without drama, there is no feeling of "reward" for their session efforts.

5) The players crave new experiences - That's why they're playing. To facilitate that requires creativity and chances for the players to explore their world wherever their curiosity and desires take them, within reason. They should be allowed to be rewarded for their own creative efforts and their curiosity should always yield new fuel for their imagination.

6) Your mythos deserves to be revealed. Your work and imagination also deserves the reward of appreciation from your players. They also deserve as full of an experience as possible, without spoiling its mystery. So, some of the "backstory" here needs to revealed to them in some way. It's icing on the cake, a desert after a hardy meal, a nice cup of coffee at the end of the day or that one beer, shared amongst friends, as they rest from their day's labors.

Some ideas:

A) Reunification:

The players have to be reunited so that they can all interact directly and share the risk/reward experience together. This is also one of their goals, since they all want to survive together.

1) The planet-bound crew and space-crew work out a way to transport the members to the ship using resources they have discovered. Planet - Use discarded alien tech and make it work. Ship - Analyze the unique radiation in the system and figure out a way to piggyback a transporter signal.

Drama/risk - Low tension, unless the players can "fail" a transport and scatter their atoms across the system... Sort of a hollow defeat, though, since the only threat is their own performance.

2) Planet-crew discover one of the intra-system transports the system uses for transporting materials to orbit. It appears to be on a scheduled routine. (Big grubby looking bug-like thing with a hollow thorax-like structure that appears atmosphere-tight. Ship-crew figure out that it journeys to a nearby moon on a tight schedule. Team figures out a way to arrange a roundevous that allows for transporter use transport-ship-to-ship, since it will be out of the planet's radiation corona.

Drama/risk - Pretty high drama and risk for all, since the rondevous would mean all players are exposed to risk. Might be some really good tension as the ship crew dodges/runs from alien patrols and the planet-crew have to deal with riding in a big bug... that ends up having crew of its own - Larval-stage worker-bots being transported to the moon. (ie: everyone is running from everything until the transport takes place, then they're still running from everything, since the whole system is now pretty pissed off)

3) Ship-crew figure out a way to make a break for it and rescue the planet-crew. (Various scenarios)

Drama/risk - I don't particularly like this one, since almost all the creative weight is on the ship-crew.

B) While I'm thinking about it, let's work on that A-Story/B-Story thing. Combining elements:

Both storylines need to mesh together. We also want to emphasize every player's intimate contributions to the team's success.

We also need to combine the Tamaran's in this, since that is the theme of the mission. (Cooperation with an alien race.)

Going to jump ahead here to an idea I had last night, after posting. Yes, I think about this sort of stuffs. Also thought up a new story, fueled by this, but nothing to do with Star Trek.

A couple of idea that guided my reasoning: "You must leave" and telling the backstory so they players can enjoy the mythos you've created through the use of "The Derelict."

Despite all the technology and sci-fi, despite aliens, exploration, dangerous babes in the wilderness, Star Trek has always been, at least the "best" Star Trek (TOS!), what makes us "human." It's our values, both personal and social, our need to discover, to overcome severity while holding to our principles, to actually remain human despite inhuman trials... That's what Star Trek is about.

So, it's time to open the door to some of that by leaving behind the corporeal flesh and blood. It's time to discard the significance of metal, wires and technology in favor of giving the players a glimpse of the fantastic and inscrutable. (Pardon the dramatic leadup, sorry...)

This can be adapted to either the planet or the sheltered interior of an asteroid cave. You can use either focus to emphasize your A+B storyline significance, where the solution comes from the angle that seems, at first, the least significant in dealing with the current dilemma. (As per your Star Trek trope idea)

"The Derelict"

A) The players on the planet discover an intact alien survival suit, obviously ancient, covered in dust, with the mummified remains of a humanoid alien of an unidentified species.

B) The players on the ship discover an ancient derelict spaceship in the crannies of the asteroid cave they've chosen to hide in. (Or, at least nearby enough that they can sneak their way over to it in order to investigate.)

*****
Edit - Either A or B would best begin to unfold, fully, after reunification, not before. That's so everyone is there for the "reveal." They can find temporary shelter from pursuing system-bots, as per "B" below, or they can also transport the survival suit found in "A" with them to the ship, for further examination. Though, it'd be better if one of the players on the planet, who examined the suit, is the channel for "The Reveal" if you choose "B" as the suit should be left behind and not available for further examination after this module is over.
*******

They're sharing their sanctuary with the foreboding that this alien's fate is one they will share. (Foreshadowing) Despite evidence of its advanced technology, it didn't survive. It couldn't get out... ("Drums, drums in the deep... They're coming." Dwarven corpses, a sarcophagus, signs of an obviously failed last stand, there's a reason that scene took place like that.)

There are signs of this alien's "humanity." (Further foreshadowing of their sealed fate) In its last moments, it was obviously considering its fate. It must have died when its life-support gave out. It didn't even try to escape.. It just lay down and died, maybe holding a religious symbol (or socio-political one representing some ideal, for all they know), what appears to be a scroll or a book or an icon or a family photo - Something that was of personal, emotional, importance to it.

The scene is a sad one. This mummified alien was, indeed, very "alien." But, in its death, it was as "human" as you can realistically make it.

The ship/suit is of no practical use in this situation. The tech is advanced, but equally inscrutable. There aren't any easily discernible ways to make it work for them. Unlike most episodes of ST, nobody is going to be able to walk up to an alien command console with an unknown format, no instruction manual, and start programming new instructions for it to execute... There are no obvious resources here that they can use. There's only this sad scene, foreshadowing their ultimate fate, acted out upon their emotions by the corpse of a alien that, perhaps, they could have called "friend" had they known it.

The alien may have been an explorer. The ship/suit appears to be focused on that. There appear to be some personalizations, too, showing that this alien was probably independent of any organized hierarchical structure. ("Replaceable" components appear to be long-ago jury-rigged to suit the alien. There's some obvious artwork (sculpture in the ship, decorative scawls on the suit) scattered about. There's what appears to be a personal console/entertainment device, perhaps manufactured in a completely different style than the rest, showing the alien kept it as a personal possession. (ETC) Heck, you can even place the bones of a pet or the remnants of a houseplant, if you want. IOW - Make it "human" and obviously alone, showing the personae of a lone brave adventurer that was probably exploring and charting new systems when it came upon this one and met its doom.

So, the players find this, get excited, then disappointed when they don't find any uber-weapons. They shrug, call you a jerk for getting them all worked up over "nothing" and abandon "The Derelict."

"You must leave."

There are mysteries in this Universe that will remain mysteries, no matter how much technology and knowledge we gain. If this was not so and did not always remain so, the Universe wouldn't be worth existing within. We are simply not equipped to handle "omniscience."

Whichever player appears to have had the least practical impact on this mission's success, whichever player seems the least engaged, whichever one appears to always be screwing things up or the butt of the other player's jokes, or ire, this one is your chosen instrument for the next bit. That choice may play heavily on your decision regarding where, the planet or space, this takes place. I think it's important, both from a gameplay point of view and your overall thematic point of view of joining significant and seemingly insignificant storylines, for something like this to occur, even if it's not exactly like this. (PS - I know I should use semicolons effectively, I just choose not to..)

The player hears a voice in their head. They hallucinate. Or, if you choose, all the players eventually hear the same voice. (It'd be cooler if the one hearing the voice translates it for the rest, IMO, but they can all, as players, hear it at the same time, just so long as it's clear that the one player you've chosen is the one who is telling them all of this.)

"You must leave" - Something is communicating with them and it appears that it's the "ghost" of the alien in the derelict. Maybe it's some sort of projection implanting itself into their mind(s), some alternate form of life that the alien has now attained or even a true ghost. They don't know what it really is and they will never, ever, be able to discover exactly how this alien or its tech is communicating with them. But, it is. And, its warning is dire.

This is where you communicate the juicy bits of your backstory, the ones that the players haven't yet discovered, and the very important bits you definitely want them to know.

I think it's a mistake, for the sake of the value of "mystery", to have the Abacus speak directly to the players. That's a prime reason why this "ghost" is going to do it for you.

The alien answers questions, though haltingly and with apparent difficulty. It does not tell them everything because it doesn't know everything. It died before it could discover the most critical bits that the players would want to know. It couldn't leave. It couldn't rejoin its race. It gave up... Importantly, it gives no "personal" information. It's your "Everyman" as far as this alien species goes.

The Tamarans - I don't know enough about how they're being used. But, work them into this as well. Imagery of everyone, including the Tamarans, sitting around and listening to all of this comes to mind. They can offer substantial input or even translation help. They can even make this "more human" for you by inserting commentary, parables, wisdom, etc. Whatever you want to add that's extra, I'm sure you can work them into it.

"The diversion"

I thought the same. A diversion would be a good idea. But, how to use it? The diversion must also "cost something." TANSTAAFL Ultimate sacrifices are golden in human lore. I'm reminded again of "The Doomsday Machine" TOS episode and Matt Decker's sacrifice. Yes, he developed an Ahab complex, but that didn't devalue his sacrifice. If you can develop an "Ahab" character, maybe the Captain of the Tamaran ship, that would be awesome. He and some of his loyal crew can use a shuttle, their own ship, or some other ship, maybe the derelict, in some jurry-rigged capacity, or elements of the survival suit in a desperate charge against one of the primary structures on the planet, allowing for surface crew to be rescued, perhaps, as the player's ship does a desperate fly-by of the planet and uses an altered transporter signal to rescue the castaways or something.

Either way, the diversion is a good idea and should be pursued, but with its "cost" as the final creative element. Combine that diversion in juxtaposition with whichever "B" storyline provides the ultimate solution to their dilemma regarding how to escape.

So, the Tamarans or a small contingent of their crew decide to provide the diversion. They have heard the backstory, realize the stakes, but take unusual solace in the fact that they will not die alone, but may join this alien explorer in a shared fate. A fate they don't appear to be uncomfortable with. Maybe they know something about existence that humanity has yet to learn?

(Note: Above, I may have gotten A and B stories/themes a bit confused. It's no problem and you can translate out the refs that don't make sense, I'm sure.)

A brief, consolidating, recap:

1) Achieve the numbered goals, especially reunification of the crew using combined efforts coupled with some form of risk during the attempt.

2) Provide for the addition of the fantastical element (or a similar fantastical element of your choosing) and use it to help convey your backstory without requiring The Abacus to actually "talk to" or "talk at" the players. The players deserve to learn the tidbits, but not all, regarding the neato/cool backstory portions you've come up with. AND, you also deserve to savor their reactions and praise.

3) The diversion is important and must have a cost. It's best to be both emotional/internal and corporal/real as well. Death is good for that, but death without emotional involvement is meaningless, so build that up for whatever character/element is going to be destroyed. You're spot-on with the idea of a noble sacrifice. This system should be a system in which someone dies and its Quarantine Beacon will admirably serve as their gravestone.

4) In my opinion, the players must realize that The Abacus will always think any merely mortal species in the galaxy as "less than insects." It's "above" any line of reasoning more into their existence. It simply doesn't think of them at all in any significant way. Even now, with seemingly everything in the system arrayed against them, it's barely even daydreaming about the task of debugging this current error that could, potentially, cause a -10^235 deviation in one insignificant calculation concerning the atmospheric exchange rate of beetle larva aspiration as it applies to whatever ultimate problem this system has been created to solve for...

5) Have fun.


Lastly - Am writing this layed out on a couch, hunched sideways over a laptop... I'm also waiting on some surgery and dealing with that and have been over the past month or so. So, basically, I'm not at my desk nor in my normal writing environment, so my posts are more rambling and verbose and disorganized than... normal. I'll continue to think about this stuff.