Posted by Commodore Geoff Joosten (Gamemaster Director) in Alt Ship Charter Proposal - USS Leviathan

Posted by Fleet Captain Adam W. (EGO) in Alt Ship Charter Proposal - USS Leviathan

Posted by Commodore Geoff Joosten (Gamemaster Director) in Alt Ship Charter Proposal - USS Leviathan
Posted by… suppressed (16) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Alt Ship Charter Proposal - USS Leviathan

In the interest of continuing to diversify our main fleet ships and offer something a little different for players, I would like to propose a new alternate role playing area:

• USS Leviathan - Anomaly Recovery Unit

The USS Leviathan is a modified Mjolnir-class starship, assigned to a classified Starfleet division called the Anomaly Recovery Unit (ARU).

ARU History

As Starfleet continues to explore and expand across the four quadrants, their vessels draw attention from all manner of new species and races - not all of them friendly. In previous decades, the resolution of hostile or dangerous encounters was considered the responsibility of the discovering vessel, with additional assistance only provided in extreme or catastrophic circumstances. This approach often resulted in significant loss of life from top class, flagship crews. Additional to this, there were times when a definitive resolution proved impossible to achieve and in such circumstances a dangerous anomaly was sometimes left minimally guarded (such as with proximity warning beacons).

The Anomaly Recovery Unit was therefore created as a highly-trained, highly-specialised task force whose sole purpose is to investigate, capture and contain those ‘anomalies’ considered dangerous or otherwise highly unpredictable. Containment is initially achieved using bespoke containment units onboard the ship and then ultimately by delivering any captured anomalies to the ARU Headquarters on Starbase 237.

Sims on the USS Leviathan

Sims on the USS Leviathan are based around crew interactions with these anomalies and will usually follow a discovery > investigate > capture > contain pattern. The Leviathan operates as a self-simming environment, offering all crewmembers the opportunity to create a unique anomaly and then direct a sim regarding the capture and containment of that anomaly.

For this purpose, instead of a standard GM role, the USS Leviathan offers a custom title of “Mission Director”, to be held by the player currently delivering the main sim.

Playing on the USS Leviathan

Other than the above, the USS Leviathan will utilise the common STF command structure, including all standard Starfleet departments, ranks and chain of command. The exception to this will be the GM role as already specified.

Therefore, Character Ranks on the Leviathan will count towards Member Rank in the same way that they do in standard RPG areas. Additionally, the CO and XO positions will count towards any club-wide limits currently in place.

The Leviathan will be a second character ship only and will not accept new players.
The posting rate for all crew will be that of a medium paced ship (3/5/7 days).

The Leviathan crew will include the following Command roles as they exist in standard RPG areas:

• Commanding Officer (CO)
• Executive Officer (XO)

The Leviathan crew will include the following Department Head roles as they exist in standard RPG areas:

• Chief of Security (CoS)
• Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
• Chief Science Officer (CSO)
• Chief Engineering Officer (CE)
• Counselor (CNS)

The Leviathan will also offer the following common swing positions as desired:

• Chief Intelligence Officer (CIO)

Custom Positions on the USS Leviathan

In addition to the standard roles mentioned above, the USS Leviathan will offer players the opportunity to roleplay a selection of custom ARU positions, either as a standalone swing role, or as an additional duty assignment along with their standard role.

Recovery Task Force

• RTF Commander - head of the Recovery Task Force, the frontline unit deployed in all capture and contain scenarios
• RTF Operative - member of the Recovery Task Force

ARU Research Division

• Novel Researcher - cleans cages, feeds anomalies and performs any ‘hands on’ experimental tasks deemed too dangerous or otherwise undesirable for senior researchers
• Senior Researcher - co-ordinates research effort in their chosen discipline (security, medical, science, engineering)
• Consultant Researcher - specialises in highly-focused research of one particular level of anomaly

Current status of the Leviathan

Currently the USS Leviathan is operating as an X Fleet vessel, where we have an active roster of 18 players and achieved a post count for our first month of 1113 posts.

Leviathan and ARU mythology

There is a wealth of additional detail on the ARU and the RTF available on the current USS Leviathan MOTD: https://www.star-fleet.com/core/xfleet/leviathan/

Further details can also be found on the following google document, which currently serves as a living document for ARU/RTF lore: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/134TwyEIkZNR3HNv2cguSap6oSx9PFGovgvnPaClJck4/edit#slide=id.g6514dc85620e01f_0

Thanks and credits

I would like to thank the entire Leviathan crew for their contributions towards ARU and RTF lore, in particular J Ridgley and Jay Luistro, who were instrumental in the creation of the ARU and RTF structures and finer details.

I think Sharon’s idea is very exciting on multiple levels! It side steps the issue of the gm shortage currently plaguing the club by offering a new self Sim rp environment, as well as a very interesting story and mission set up.

Personally, I think it would be a crying shame not to have Leviathan in the main fleet.

-Dave Eads

I believe the concept of this ship is fantastic and exciting, the first month of progress of the idea in Xfleet has seen more activity in a month than entire fleets achieve in the same period.

I support the creation of this ship wholeheartedly, it would still come under the same 90 day review period so it’s progress can be tracked. Listening to the people I talk to on the crew, they have a passion and love for the concept that I havent seen anywhere in the club since Sharon took over the Viking.

I think it’s a pity the concept wasn’t brought on to one of the ships the club decommissioned last term, but I believe the current concept has shown fantastic creativity and promise that deserves an opportunity for main fleet recognition.

-Dave

One of my feed back points for consideration would be how would this alt-rpg handle new or rather secondary characters? Do they accept either? Ala like the Chernov can accept new members, or the like the Merrimack is a second character only ship. While I agree the concept would be great to see I would personally like this point to be considered for adding on whether they accept new members or are a second character only ship etc to be in the charter.

Robert Archer

Second character only was in there.

I don’t know that this sentence in FCOMM is satisfied by what is currently in the charter:
“The charter must also include minimum standards that the RPG must maintain in order to remain a commissioned environment.”

Adam W.

Hi Adam,

thank you for this. You’re right and I completely forgot to cover this! So how about if I add the following:

“The Leviathan must maintain an active and healthy roleplaying environment and continue to function as an Anomaly Recovery Unit ship. If it deviates from these specifications it will be decommissioned.”

Would that satisfy the criteria?

Thanks.

• Sharon

As far as I know it would.

Adam W.

Unsurprisingly, given my general love for all things Alt and unique and creative in the club, I wholeheartedly support this concept.

That line would definitely meet the requirement that Adam identified.

Congrats Sharon and team.

‘Novel Researcher’ - my initial first thought when I saw the role on the Leviathon MOTD made me think “they are researching literature?” Then on reading further, I realised quickly it didn’t mean that at all. It’s suggesting they are new into that field of research, is that correct?

Russell

Hi Russel,

Thanks for your question. You are completely right. Level 1 researches or Novel Researchers are new to the field, ranging from ensign to lieutenant JG and make up the bulk of RTFs frontline researchers and often coming into contact with anomalies in the field. These are best described as the RTFs junior officers gaining their first experience within this unique environment.

• Jake, XO of the Leviathan.

I know I’ve already commented with my support, but the more I read, the more I really am blown away by the structure you guys have come up with…

For the sake of expanding on the self Sim system you guys are using, could you explain a little bit more about that? From what I’ve read it’s kind of mission by mission, in a rotating sort of schedule.. Will you be doing more than one mission at once? Or one at a time? I’m not trying to poke holes here, BTW, I’m intrigued and I think there might be an interesting system here that can be polished, refined, and possibly used on other ships…

Thanks again, and rooting for you guys!
-Dave Eads

Thanks Dave.

So, we’re doing one sim at a time and basically anyone on the crew who wants to have a turn can do so. Some have no interest in taking on the ‘Mission Director’ role while others have 2 or 3 different anomalies planned out already. So I think that will balance out nicely.

So the basic system we have right now is, you come to myself and Jake with an anomaly idea and if we think it will work then we add you to the list for upcoming sims (and the same person can be added multiple times if they so choose).

Then we just take each one in turn and run it as a main sim. Of course there is also plenty of side simming going on, but that’s more character-development type stuff.

And if ever we run out of crew who want to play the ‘Mission Director’ role, then myself and Jake have some anomalies in reserve for us to run the sim ourself (in fact, Jake is currently our first ‘Mission Director’ and is in the middle of our first main sim in X Fleet).

Thanks

• Sharon

That’s so cool! I appreciate the info!
-Dave Eads

Hi David,

Just to add to what Sharon had said, to clarify and define what we mean by an ‘Anomaly’, essentially we will be working towards containing one main ‘Anomoly’ which our main sim will revolve around and will be led by our ‘Mission Director’ these will be our more dangerous cases, and require perhaps several departments coming together for a desired end result. That being said there can be side Sims with minor less dangerous Anomolies, this can be in the form of one’s we haven’t discovered and have appeared either in the ship or in local space or even ones that have somehow escaped our temporary containment cells. These will be passed by the command staff to ensure they are balanced and not interfering with the main sim.

The opportunity these side Sims present is that even during a particular quiet period in the ship, for example during transit from one location to another we will always having something to keep us busy outside of the normal writing techniques such as parties, character development, holodecks and so on, in which these are all still encouraged and often written by the crew.

Further to that our ship will make frequent stops to the RTF starbase to deliver the contained Anomolies which is located in a nebula between Ferengi, Breen and Cardassian space. (Again a map had been drafted as an RPG resource) This will alow players to develop thier character on a shore leave like scenario, and allow plenty of opportunity for new players to join IC and departing player to leave.

• Jake

Wow, that’s pretty in-depth! I like it!
-Dave Eads

So I had a couple thoughts that might be beneficial to the charter and perhaps benefit the club at large. The concept of a Mission Director sounds cool though the idea of a rotating sim runner has me a little cautious as the sim could stagnate or everyone goes to side sims. With that in mind, and assuming that the CO and XO would likely fill in in the case of the sim halting or Mission Director having real life issues, I think it’d be good for either the CO or XO to be licensed GMs though ideally both being licensed would be my preference.

Now I know what you’re likely thinking, why go through that trouble if a sim flops or the Director leaves and there is no need to have a GM on hand? I have two reasons: first is that while this type of environment should work fairly well, I think it’d be harder to jump start if it falters. Second, and this is my main reason here, what if the Leviathan and it’s unique Mission Director system were used as like a GM training ship? Not that anyone would need to become a GM, but with either the CO or XO licensed they could Mentor whoever is running the sim and that could be their Trainee period. They’d need to do the exam before running a sim but since they were likely crew on the ship before thinking of doing an anomaly, why not get the training period over with at the same time?

With two licensed GMs in command of the ship both could mentor whoever is running the sim, trade off as needed, or tag team every other sim just to have a break. If the sim fails then either could easily continue it to completion or hand wave it away and start something else. I do highly recommend that whoever is running the sim have an outline prepared beforehand for the command officers to have on-hand in case they need to take over.

Anyway, these are my thoughts and I think it could alleviate our GM shortage if incorporated correctly.

Matt

Hi Matt,

thanks for your feedback and I agree that a GM Training Ship sounds like a great idea. But it’s a great idea for a different ship. Getting involved in official GM training is not the remit of the Leviathan and I personally feel it would be unfair to expect us to make it so.

I’ll be totally honest with you, the ‘Mission Director’ role was created as a direct result of us being in X Fleet. As you know, we’re prohibited from adding a ‘GM’ on an X Fleet ship and personally I don’t like using the name ‘Storyteller’ for a GM-style role because I believe every person who contributes to the RP is a storyteller in their own right.

But I wouldn’t be going to all of this trouble to add a complex ‘Mission Director’ concept to an already complex alt-RP idea if I didn’t believe it now to be the right fit for us. Putting aside all of the clubwide issues on GM shortages (which, in an ideal world, should have no impact at all on the viability of an alt-RP), the very nature of the Leviathan lends itself to an episodic, ‘monster of the week’ style of simming that, in my opinion, works brilliantly with a different ‘director’ for each episode. It keeps the sims fresh, it keeps the enthusiasm high and it allows all players to contribute to the ‘anomaly’ side of the overall Leviathan and ARU mythology. In fact, interest from the crew has been so keen that we already have our next three sims planned out and a potential fourth one in the works. And that offers us a measure of main sim ‘security’ that possibly even some regular main fleet ships lack.

As for your suggested requirement that either the CO or XO (or both) should be fully-qualified GM’s, again, it’s an interesting idea for a ship whose primary purpose is to train GM’s. But that’s not the Leviathan. And to be perfectly honest with you, I feel like this suggestion slightly negates all of the important qualities needed from a good CO or XO in their own right. There is, in my opinion, a LOT more to running a successful ship than simply having a main sim and it doesn’t automatically follow that, just because someone is qualified in running a main sim, that they’re equally qualified in doing all of the other things a successful ship needs. And vice versa.

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that, in my own opinion, there are only a very few select players in this club who could lay claim to being equally skilled as both a CO and a GM (and two of those already hold main fleet CO roles). So reducing the potential command pool for the Leviathan (or indeed any ship) to such a small number almost guarantees it for failure in finding (and keeping) a command crew, right from the off.

So in summary, I don’t share your concern that rotating ‘Mission Directors’ will cause sims to stagnate. In fact, I believe it actually does the opposite. And while I appreciate your concerns on ‘unqualified’ CO’s and XO’s being on hand to ‘fill in’ for our Mission Directors, I don’t see that as in any way different to how, on standard ships, a CO or XO will ‘fill in’ when a ship is between sims or without a GM (and indeed I have done this myself, countless times, in the past, as a main fleet CO and XO).

Thanks.

• Sharon

Not to be “that guy” especially as a lame duck GMDir, but I would just like to raise the following points of concern:

The specific section of OGRE that applies here is:

A Self-RPG Mission is one in which there is no explicit Gamemaster. Instead, all members of the crew have equal control over the storyline. In order for a ship to be considered for Self-RPG status, the ship’s CO must provide viable reasons why his ship is suited for self-RPG status. He must also provide proof that guidelines are in place maintain a pleasant role-playing atmosphere. The petition will be granted with unanimous approval from the Gamemaster Director, appropriate Fleet Commander, and ship’s CO. The CO shall be required to report to the Gamemaster Department in place of a normal Gamemaster, but will not have the full authority of a Gamemaster.

First this “Mission Director” seems like a main fleet version of a storyteller which is a role that was explicitly prohibited from the main fleet. If it smells like a GM, acts like a GM, and looks like a GM it’s probably a GM. In order to be self-sim compliant the Mission Directer piece would need to be removed and a plan submitted that allowed the ship to meet the guidelines. Note: I am not against self-sims, I am against creating GMs that aren’t GMs

Alternatively, we can do a little hop-scotch and pull a jury nullification and say that OGRE should be updated to reflect the changing times. This approach would allow the mission director to stand as a concept, but we would need to update the section relating to self sims to read something along the lines of: He must also provide proof that guidelines are in place maintain a pleasant role-playing atmosphere. As part of these guidelines the CO must detail how conflict in storylines will be resolved

If, Sharon, you wish to update your charter to be OGRE compliant then I am comfortable moving forward, otherwise I would propose we, for lack of a better term, table the conversation on this charter util OGRE can be revised.

Geoff

Does OED V meet this requirement in OGRE? To me that ship and the proposed one sound similar and it would make sense to treat both the same. I haven’t played on the ship, but OED V’s PRISM’s sound like there tends to be a particular person steering a particular PRISM. If someone could correct me if I’m wrong about that I’d appreciate it.

Adam W.

I have never played OED V either so I would be interested as well…

Geoff

You know, I’ve long wondered the same thing about the PRSim concept on Oed V, and I have played on Oed V on and off over the years, and I’m pleased that Adam and Geoff have brought it up.

This item has been something I’ve been meaning to ask the GM Department about. I had presumed that it had been discussed and approved between the Governor who had come up with the concept, the FComm-6 of the day and the GM Director of the day.

I wasn’t part of Oed V at the time and had no part to play in the planning and/or implementation of it.

At the end of my 2nd stint as Oed V Governor in May of 2012, PRSims weren’t in place.

I’ll investigate it further and post what I learn in a different thread. As I don’t want to derail the discussion of the Alt Ship Charter Proposal for the Leviathon with this investigation, so I’ll post it in a new thread.

All I’d say on the issue of Adam and Geoff never being on Oed V - come and join us, we don’t bite … unless you like that sort of thing, of course. :D

Russell
Governor - Oed V