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Thread: My new campaign so far

  1. #1
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    My new campaign so far

    Hey, everybody. Don't know if this'll be of interest to anyone, but I thought I'd post the episode summaries of my ongoing ICON campaign. Right now, I'm four sessions in, and the group is having a lot of fun. I decided to set the series on the Excelsior-Class USS Fearless in the months following the events of Star Trek Nemesis. I used a modified version of "Shakedown Cruise" from LUG's TNG core book as the pilot episode, and I've set the series in the Arteline Sector (for the moment). Anyway, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts or suggestions for where the series can go from here. I know there's a lot of Trek-rpg experience lurking on this board. I'd love to draw on the wisdom of the Collective.

    Anyway, thanks for reading. Here's the synopsis of the first episode, which I re-titled "Judge, Jury Executioner." I bolded the names of the player-characters for their first appearance. To start with, we used the pre-gen characters from the TNG core book.

    Episode 1: ‘Judge, Jury, Executioner’

    A group of fresh-faced lieutenants arrived on Starbase 39-Sierra near the Romulan Neutral Zone, awaiting long-term assignment to the USS Fearless. While waiting for the Fearless to arrive, Lt. Pus, a Vulcan science officer, met with the starbase’s chief science officer to review some mysterious subspace sensor readings from a nearby black hole known as Collapsar 49.

    Pus recognized the sensor readings as artificial transmissions sent from an unknown source into the black hole, which then directed the transmissions into Romulan Space. The Fearless was then directed to investigate the source of those transmissions, a small Harrellian mining facility on a remote moon.

    Meanwhile, Counselor Troy MacClure was approached by Commander Matthew Deleo, the chief intelligence officer aboard the starbase. Deleo asked MacClure to give him regular reports on any valuable intelligence the Fearless may encounter.

    En route to the mining facility, Tellarite engineering officer Jak vin Karka discovered that Lt. Cmdr. Aliok, the chief engineering officer, had improperly modified the aging vessel’s warp engines. The crew suspected Aliok may actually be a Tal Shiar spy and arranged for Dr. Noxana Vasor, a Betazoid, to surreptitiously scan him with her telepathic powers. Turns out, Aliok was not a spy and his modifications were an honest mistake.

    Upon arriving at the moon, the Fearless away team found that the mining operation was actually a front for a Tal Shiar communications post. In addition to illegal Romulan communications technology, the Harellians also harbored a Tal Shiar operative named Tyrion, who appeared to be suffering some sort of psychological distress due to her mental conditioning.

    The Harellians managed to erase most of the Tal Shiar communications sent through the facility, but the away team managed to recover a single message from Romulan space. The message directed the Harrellians to transport Tyrion to Psellus III, where she could receive medical help from a Tal Shiar operative referred to only by the code name “Proteus.”

    Tyrion, in a brief state of lucidity, told Dr. Vasor that DeLeo is actually a Section 31 agent and would summarily execute her if she were turned over to Starfleet Intelligence. In an effort to buy the crew some time and protect Tyrion from her own insanity, Vasor put Tyrion into a state of suspended animation.

    The Fearless then set course for Psellus III to find the Tal Shiar agent Proteus and end the Tal Shiar presence in the Arteline Sector.

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by Derf Evol View Post
    Counselor Troy MacClure .
    You might remember him from such therapy sessions as 'My wife is a Romulan Double Agent', and 'How to sell out to the Federations Enemies when promoted to Admiral'.
    DanG/Darth Gurden
    The Voice of Reason and Sith Lord

    “Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”

    Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
    "Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)

  3. #3
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    Gods, I miss Phil Hartman...

  4. #4
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    Yeah, if I'm being honest, I wasn't super psyched by one of my players choosing the name 'Troy McClure.' But he's one of the best role players I know. 'Pus' wasn't exactly an inspired choice either. But what can you do? Infinite diversity, etc.

    You guys ever have PC's with weird names?

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by Derf Evol View Post
    You guys ever have PC's with weird names?
    "P'b'b'pt."
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  6. #6
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    I'm actually rather fond of joke names. I have a list of names for NPCs which consists of real names of porn stars. My favourite character is named Hannibal Murdoch, after two of the A-Team. Pus I would have had a problem with only in as much as it doesn't follow Vulcan naming conventions, but I would have no problem with it for a Ferengi or Tellarite, or any number of other aliens, especially if the character was a doctor. Troy McClure is an inspired choice for a name, especially if the player had given him some of the character traits of either the Simpsons character or even some of Doug McClure's roles. One of the players in my Trek campaign has a Tellarite who is very short but whose name is Tal, pronounced "tall".

  7. #7
    Is pronounced pus as in pus, or pus as in puss-in-boots?
    Portfolio | Blog Currently Running: Call of Cthulhu, Star Trek GUMSHOE Currently Playing: DramaSystem, Swords & Wizardry

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    I'm assuming as in infected seepings from a wound, which is why I though it would be appropriate for a medical practitioner. Puss would be a neat nick-name for a Caitian character.

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    Other names with jokes built in could be an engineer named Enrico Tesla (Fermi's first name and Nikola's last. I have an NPC character name Steve Traci (Steve McGarret's first name and Traci Lords' first name used as a surname, reflecting that the "actress" took part of her nom-du-cinema from the actor who played McGarret, Jack Lord. Other NPCs I have are Dorothea Patton (Seka's birth name), Alden Brown (Peter North's birth name) and Annette Robinson (Annette Haven's birth name). It's just an in-joke with myself, since I use images of the actors in Stafleet uniforms (courtesy of photoshop) for them in my writeups. Other ones, more main stream, are Marion Morrison (John Wayne) and Dino Crocetti (Dean Martin).

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Derf Evol View Post
    You guys ever have PC's with weird names?
    The old NPC Captain of the USS Venture was captain Benson Hedges. To be honest that was a joke that could have gone on and on with Jack Daniels, James Bean, John Smith, John Player... Just a trawl of the pub and cigarette packets could have carried on...

    To be honest not sure how far Benson Hedges travels outside of the UK.
    DanG/Darth Gurden
    The Voice of Reason and Sith Lord

    “Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”

    Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
    "Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)

  11. #11
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    Common brand here in Canada. Not sure about James Bean. What's the source of that one?

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    Jim Beam Bourbon, popular bourbon here in Australia. Named derived from the James B. Beam Distilling Company.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Beam
    AKA-Dean
    "I will never make excuses for who I am. It is the way I was born. I am a HUNTER. a BONE COLLECTOR."
    Wave Man, the term "wave man" is the English translation of 'Ronin' (Japanese word) and literately translates to "wandering person" and in a modern context a WaveMan is one who is socially adrift or a SalaryMan who is between employers.

  13. #13
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    Owen, you're correct. It's pronounced the same as the word used for the discharge from an infection. And Troy McClure's personality is very reminiscent of the Simpson's character, to the point that he's caused plenty of hilarity in just four sessions.

    I love meaningful names and in-jokes, and definitely encourage players to engage with their characters. But at a certain point, those names just kinda pull me out of the game world, y'know? I didn't bring it up at the table because I tend to err on the side of player choice. Still, I sorta wish they would have gone a different direction with those names. It's all in good fun, though.

  14. #14
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    Ah, I didn't connect James Beam with Jim Beam. D'Oh!

  15. #15
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    Other humourous names from players in my game in the past: Gulab Jamun Singh (named after an Indian dessert, gulab jamun being milk dumplings served in cardamom syrup - very tasty), Major Korran Bilgebottom (not a reference to anything, just a great name).

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