Well, we’re off! Official play starts today on Steadfast, after several months of preparation. For future reference on this blog, I’ll be using the title to differentiate between Out-Of-Character (OOC) postings by me about the game and In-Character (IC) posts by my character, Lt. Cdr, David Rolandson.
In OOC posts, I’ll be addressing elements of jargon that might be unfamiliar to those not familiar with simming in general or Trek simming in particular (like I just did :-) !) and chronicling my personal adventures with trying to run and grow the game. IC ones, on the other hand, will allow you to follow the “show” from my character’s perspective and Mission Logs will summarize the play of the game, edited into a format easier to follow than raw post logs.
It’s worth noting here that I use a custom “stardate” system in my game, which allows a much easier linking of these esoteric time-markers to recognizable systems than other such systems I’ve seen. My stardates follow the following formula:
MMDDYYYY.TTTT
where M = Month, D = Day, Y = Year and T = Time. Month, day and year references will be standard Terran calendar, with time being military time on a 24-hour clock. For anyone unfamiliar with military time, it’s pretty simple: after noon, you add 12 to the hour. So, as an example, I am writing this at 3:12 am, which would be rendered as 0312 in military time. If it were 3:12 pm, it would be 1512. To extend that to a stardate for my current writing time, it would be 01052009.0312 (or Jan. 5th, 2009 at 3:12 am).
USS Steadfast’s IC adventures will begin in early 2385.
Hopefully, anyone who comes across this blog will find it interesting. Please comment either way, as I am learning and all input, positive or negative, is valuable and appreciated :-).
Monday, January 5, 2009
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Welcome Aboard!
Greetings :-)!
Welcome to the "Captain's Blog" for the USS Steadfast, a Play-By-EMail Star Trek roleplaying simulation proudly serving in Task Group Artemis, Task Force 21 of Bravo Fleet. Steadfast is a Defiant Class vessel, newly constructed and currently in final testing before her formal commissioning. Once commissioned, she will be taking up patrol duties along the Federation border between the Romulan and C'hakilian Empires.
Like her class leader, Steadfast is a small, spartan vessel, primarily built for fighting. Her 50-member crew is packed in tightly and must endure more routine hardships than those of larger vessels. Only the Captain, Executive Officer and senior NCO have private quarters and even they must make due with the same 3 x 3 meter, double bunk cabins as the lowest ranking crewman. There are more jobs to do than crew to do them, so almost everyone wears more than one hat', works long hours and there are no 'days off' when in space. There are no holodecks or dedicated recreational facilities, no personal replicators in quarters and very little personal storage space. Even in the galley, the replicators only produce simple rations, though our Chief Engineer plans to work on that :-)!
All this means that Steadfast's crew must integrate well together, working hard not only to meet the challenges of their important jobs, but also to manage their relationships. There are few places to go to avoid someone you have a personal conflict with and the stresses of the job can escalate such conflicts quickly. Also, although equipped with limited scientific capabilities, Steadfast is still a Starfleet vessel, with a responsibility to uphold it's principles of exploration and discovery.
Sound like fun?
You bet it will be :-)! That's because USS Steadfast is a Star Trek simm, a collaborative writing exercise among people who share a passion for writing and Star Trek. Players take on the roles of crew members and guide their characters through the ship's adventures, interacting with other characters and the environment. Unlike traditional RPGs, there are no game mechanics to learn, no dice to throw. The rules of the game are simple courtesy, intended to maximize cooperation and keep everyone having fun.
So, if any of this sounds interesting, come check us out at http://www.usssteadfast.com. Any questions, please don't hesitate to email me at co.uss.steadfast@gmail.com.
I hope to see you aboard :-)!
Mark Beatty
aka Lt. Cdr. David Rolandson
"Ad Astra Per Aspera (A rough road leads to the stars)"
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