Posted by Captain Emmeline Davis (Commanding Officer) in ANNOUNCEMENT: GM Interactions
Hello, everyone!

We have a really great learning opportunity here to discuss. In STF, we have Gamemasters that are tasked with running the overall plot of a particular mission (sim). There are a few exceptions to this on ships that have a different setup, but in general, most ships in STF have a Gamemaster assigned that has graduated from our Gamemaster Training program. We take this really seriously because having qualified, experienced Gamemasters makes the roleplaying experience way better for everyone. On the other side of the coin, though, that means that, when it comes to the main sim on a ship, the Gamemaster has complete control of the plot line. Most good Gamemasters do allow for players’ actions to determine the course forward, but it’s very important to let the Gamemaster the time to step in before assuming something happens successfully or the way that you think it will. Gamemasters are tricky and imaginative and you never know what the next twist will be, even if you think the path forward is obvious. :) Gamemasters also have to work to make sure that the main sim timelines make sense, so one timeline being pushed forward more rapidly than another can cause issues if the Gamemaster is trying to knit a huge master plan back into itself (I’ve seen at least one insane two year long sim with six or seven main sim “threads” that all got pulled together in the end – it was incredible).

If there is something that you would really like to explore, you’re always welcome to start a side sim! We typically pretend that those exist outside of main sim space, so if your character is on the away team, it’s still fine to pretend that you’re on the ship. I like to try to figure out if the side sim is before, during, or after the main sim because that lets me know if I can include any character development in other posts.

So, keeping this in mind, as you read through the posts on the ship, you might see that I had to void a post that did not make sense given the flow of the main sim. We have a long document that manages our Gamemasters called “OGRE” that you can find in a roughly accurate form here: https://www.star-fleet.com/library/bookshelf/charters/charter-gmd.html. Here’s the part that is relevant to this situation:

Under extreme circumstances in which one or more posts are irreconcilable with the actions in one or more other posts; with the laws of STF, reason, or decency; or with previously established RPG events; a Gamemaster may declare the posts in question to be null and void and must include a statement of explanation. Any voided post may be appealed to the Gamemaster Director by the voided member. If the Gamemaster is also the Gamemaster Director, it may be appealed to the Assistant Gamemaster Director. The Gamemaster Director may overturn any appealed post void with written statement of explanation.

GMs do their best to avoid having to void any posts (or at least they should be!), but please know that there is a process if it ever happens and you think that it shouldn’t have. Hopefully, no one will be appealing my voids to the Gamemaster Director. ;)

I also wanted to issue a reminder here that all members of the crew should ideally read threads with Main Sim in their topic line. It’s always fun to read everything that goes on on the ship too, but GMs will assume that you are reading anything that says Main Sim so be sure that you’re following along!

Finally, let’s take a look at where people are in the main sim on the ship:

Sickbay: Lieutenant Kyle Anders, Cadet Aaron Williams, Cadet Ven Miya, Lieutenant Junior Grade T’Saie

Holodeck: Lieutenant Junior Grade (Cadet) Henry Rodier, Cadet Benem d’Qorvos

• Sarah, CO

As the resident GM, and probably the first one many of you interacted with, (Though Sarah did write OGRE so I am not the only licensed GM on the ship) I want to thank Sarah for this post. I have served in the GMDir chair and been a GM before and we try REALLY hard not to use the void button. No one likes to use it, and with the edit feature most of us will try to get you off line to update your post but if it goes too far off the rails we may have to do a void just to clean things up.

There is another lever in OGRE I want to bring up and that is the death warning. GMs, despite having complete control of the Sim, cannot by statute kill, maim, or otherwise permanently alter your character without your permission. HOWEVER if you do something really really stupid (think walk outside an airlock without a suit) we can issue you a death warning. What this is, is a notice that if you keep on down a certain path you will likely die and I will have no logical way to save you. It gives you a chance to self void, rework the post, or otherwise change things for the better.

No GM I know wants to pull either of these levers, it causes paperwork and emotions get involved, so please be kind to your furry nosed GMs!

Geoff, GM