Trinity Universe: TEF OOC

[ProfPotts]

Okay - it's the worst part of running a game ::crazy , but I'm ready to bite the bullet & accept characters now...

In order to try & preserve my sanity, please could everyone just send their characters & background via normal PMs (&, if possible, all on a single PM). Also, remember to include a breakdown of where the character's bonus points have been spent. Try not to forget all the little details either - like Qualities for Attributes, or the character's Nature, or which branch of TEF training he or she undertook. Oh, & don't try to make the character sheet look 'nifty' in any way - that usually just makes it hard to read - a simple 'list' format is fine. Taking the time to check your spelling also makes my job easier. There are probably other things too, but those are a few of the problems I've encountered in the past.

Cheers all. ::thumbsup

[ezekiel]

::nervous

See this is why I don't start any games...you give me an inferiority complex. ::wink

In this game Medicine is the skill used to heal (or 'repair' or physically alter) biotech (Engineering is for hardtech). The ship's Damage Control officer can identify how much damage the vessel has taken, to which locations, & can also attempt to reduce the immediate penalties from vessel damage (in a manner similar to a character using the Resistance Ability to ignore wound penalties) by activating various damage control procedures.

Bahamut take note, if you ever dreamed of cooking up a Rex engineer, now's the time. Plus on the upside he could double up as medic in a pinch...

In order to try & preserve my sanity, please could everyone just send their characters & background via normal PMs (&, if possible, all on a single PM). Also, remember to include a breakdown of where the character's bonus points have been spent. Try not to forget all the little details either - like Qualities for Attributes, or the character's Nature, or which branch of TEF training he or she undertook. Oh, & don't try to make the character sheet look 'nifty' in any way - that usually just makes it hard to read - a simple 'list' format is fine. Taking the time to check your spelling also makes my job easier. There are probably other things too, but those are a few of the problems I've encountered in the past.

Just to be sure...does the way I usually do my sheets qualify as 'nifty'? I usually just put headers in bold, the rest in normal script. ex.

Dexterity 4 (Graceful)

firearms 3

stealth 1

Pole-Dancing 5

Stamina 3

Endurance 2

Resistance 2

etc.

[Prince of Boredom]

Alright, the new guy needs some more help.

Other than those present in Adventure and Aberrant, are there any Trinity specific specialties for the following skills:

Awareness, Survival, Bureaucracy, Command, Military Science, Etiquette

Thanks.

[phoenix]

If you guys feel that disallowing order members as characters is too restrictive, or just silly or something, then that's your opinion & you're entitled to it. But I don't run these games looking for arguments (honestly  ) - there's plenty of space on the rest of the site for that sort of thing. I think I've made the simple premise for the game clear enough &, where appropriate, explained my reasons for the choices I've made. Do me a favour & respect that, please - I don't think that's too much to ask.

My comment wasn't meant to be a shot - sorry if it came off that way. More than anything I was just making fun of my own one-track-mindedness. ::wacko I actually like the change, politics & in-game bickering make my brain hurt..

Just to be sure...does the way I usually do my sheets qualify as 'nifty'? I usually just put headers in bold, the rest in normal script. ex.

Yeah, that's what I do too - I got the idea that Prof didn't want people to do something bizarre like fill out the XL character sheet and email it to him as an attachment, but I'll go through and make sure I didn't indent or anything either before I send it off.

Dexterity 4 (Graceful)

firearms 3

stealth 1

Pole-Dancing 5

::laugh

[ProfPotts]

Just to be sure...does the way I usually do my sheets qualify as 'nifty'? I usually just put headers in bold, the rest in normal script. ex.

Yep that's fine.

Yeah, that's what I do too - I got the idea that Prof didn't want people to do something bizarre like fill out the XL character sheet and email it to him as an attachment, but I'll go through and make sure I didn't indent or anything either before I send it off.

Yeah that's pretty much it - I've had some weird ones come my way in the past. Generally speaking previewing the PM to make sure it's readible before sending it usually helps.

Other than those present in Adventure and Aberrant, are there any Trinity specific specialties for the following skills:

Awareness, Survival, Bureaucracy, Command, Military Science, Etiquette

Pretty much anything that could be lumped under the Ability heading can be a speciality - you aren't limited to what's in the books. In any case, none of them really have anything weird & Trinity-only listed (well, maybe 'non-human forces' as a speciality for Military Science).

TEF Missions

The Jump Ship:

A TEF Leviathan Jump Ship serves as a mobile base for the four Scarab-class explorers which can ‘piggy-back’ on the larger vessel. Standard protocol is to jump to a target destination, release a Scarab, and then jump to the next destination, until all four Scarabs are released. The Leviathan then returns to the first jump point, picks up the first Scarab, then continues on to pick up the other three. When all four Scarabs are back on board, the ship heads towards the next four jump targets. Since it requires roughly a week for the Leviathan to recharge its jump engines between jumps, each Scarab’s mission lasts at least a month. However, since each jump takes anywhere between a day & a week a Scarab could be alone for two months, or even more. Each explorer generally carries enough supplies for three months in any case, just to make certain.

The Leviathan’s crew isn’t made up entirely of TEF officers; much as the TEF themselves would prefer that. The magnitude of Clairsentient talent required to navigate the massive vessels, not to mention to find new targets to explore, means that ISRAn involvement is a necessity. With the other orders reluctant to allow any such endeavour to proceed with only one of their ‘sibling’ (or ‘rival’) orders involved, the Trinity agreed to allow each order to contribute to the project – with the strict understanding that they weren’t to interfere with the TEF’s mission. As such Legionnaire troops help protect the Leviathan, Orgotek engineers help with maintenance, & Æsculapian doctors help man the medical facilities. The Ministry & Norça also have representatives on board – who generally have less help to offer, & more ‘cloak & dagger’ to engage in than even the other orders. This sometimes results in rivalries between the TEF personnel & the order members, & the jump ship’s command officers wage a constant war against the low-key inter-order politics that threaten to damage the mission. When they’re on the Leviathans between missions, the Scarab crews often have mixed feelings between the added comforts of the base ship, & the sordid political intrigue they themselves have chosen to not indulge in.

Protecting the Leviathans is a mini-fleet of two-dozen Locust fighters, & the ship itself has quite a compliment of weaponry. The Legionnaire troops on-board are ready to repel any would-be invaders (& often, after a few months without action, champing at the bit to bust some heads). The biggest (or, at least, the loudest) problems between TEF & order personnel often occur between TEF security staff & Legion ‘jar-heads’ – the TEF thinking of the Legionnaires as dumb brutes, & the Legionnaires thinking of the TEF officers as wimps. Brawls are more common than anyone would like to admit.

As a ‘base’ the Leviathan provides for Scarab repair & restock between missions. It also acts as a central information store for all data brought back by the explorers, & as a rest & recreation facility for the mission teams. On the jump ship each team member gets a separate cabin of their own, the food in the galley is better & of a wider selection, there are full-immersion holo-sim booths, gym & sports facilities, & other entertainments. It’s not a holiday camp, but the facilities are far better than on the small Scarabs. More importantly the jump ships are equipped with ‘psicomm’ technology that allows instantaneous real time communication with Earth (& other psicomm units). So far this technology can’t be incorporated into most vessels, as it takes the power of the jump ship’s ‘tesser’ AI biocomputer to correctly align the psicomm equipment for communication over interstellar distances. In this way the explorers’ data can be sent home without the need for additional, time consuming, jumps.

Stored on the jump ships are vast banks of psi-active crystals which store psi co-ordinates. These are imprinted with the psychic data needed to perform a successful jump, & multiple copies are created for every location the ship visits or the navigators sense. These crystals, although each can only be used once, enable the jump ship to return to locations beyond the range of its clairsentient navigators’ talents. In theory each TEF Leviathan will be able to spend several years exploring space before returning to the Sol system, each new jump taking it a little further, & expanding the range of human experience. The psi crystals are guarded under heavy security, because their loss would not only void a large part of the ship’s mission, but could result in a ship stranded many jumps away from home.

The Process:

The ISRAn navigators spend their time scanning the stars for interesting targets to explore. Of primary interest are worlds potentially habitable by humans, but also on the list is any target with evidence of valuable resources, evidence of alien life (or, even better, civilisation), unusual astrophysical phenomena, & similar such things. Strategic targets, such as aberrant colonies, are to be noted, but left alone – the TEF aren’t on a military mission. Of course, it’s expected that some explorers may well encounter evidence of aberrants or taint (long distance clairsentient scans aren’t all that detailed after all), in which case it’s up to the individual Scarab Captains as to what measures need to be taken.

When the jump takes place it is usually targeted far enough away from any life-sustaining worlds that it takes the Scarab explorer about a week to reach its destination after being dropped off. This is to guard against the negative effects of the psychic backlash that the jump process causes. Because of this precaution, an explorer on a mission usually waits until its base ship contacts it on its return before heading back – the week it takes to return to the jump point is needed by the Leviathan to recharge for the next jump in any case.

In some cases the explorers have more than a single world to look at – some systems have a variety of interesting phenomena to tempt the curious. In this case it’s usually up to the Captain to decide which to explore & which to simply send probes to observe, although on occasion the top brass of the TEF will have specific mission parameters they expect to be followed.

The probes carried by the Scarabs can accelerate much faster than a human body could stand, & are therefore much faster in a vacuum than the Scarab itself. Standard procedure on a mission is to launch probes quite early, & spend the travel time to the target destination observing & analysing the data they send back. Hopefully by the time the Scarab catches up, the team will have chosen a suitable location or two which they can focus their personal attentions on. If a single world is the target, then multiple probes are usually launched, to cover as much of the surface as possible.

Once a target is reached, the two Locusts are sometimes used as aerial scouts, although good probe data can allow this part of the process to be skipped. Once a suitable landing site is found, the Scarab descends through the atmosphere (if, indeed, one exists) & makes planet fall. The TEF team then explore on foot, collecting samples (geological, botanical, biological, hydrological, etc.), performing close-range scans, & - most important of all – having a good look around. The TEF has no ‘prime directive’ – humanity is interested in aliens, after all! It’s the Captain’s call as to what level of contact to initiate with any natives located, but it is to be remembered that all TEF officers are considered ambassadors for the species, & are to act accordingly (this is one of the reasons why trigger-happy Legionnaires don’t get to go on missions…). Evidence of civilisation is a high priority as well, so if there are any buildings or other artefacts, then they’re usually worth having a look at.

Success & failure:

A mission’s success is generally rated on how much information is uncovered. Finding aliens, artefacts, or similar ‘cool’ things is usually considered a big plus, although anything that furthers human knowledge is usually worth a pat on the back. Poor ‘first contact’, dead or wounded team members, damaged & lost equipment, & similar things are usually seen in a negative light.

Amongst the team itself those of a higher rank write reports on the performances of those under their command. These reports can include official commendations or reprimands, which go on the officer’s permanent record. An officer with too many reprimands will soon be reassigned to less arduous duties (such as cleaning the bathrooms on the jump ship), discharged from TEF service, or (if the situation demands it) prosecuted on criminal charges. On the flip-side, an officer with many commendations is in line for medals & awards, as well as promotion prospects. Generally the first officer handles crew reports, although these are drawn from the reports of the senior branch officers where appropriate, & the Captain can always add his or her own comments to a report as well. A Captain gets commendations or reprimands based on his own superior’s view of his performance – which is usually a reflection of how successful the missions under his command have been. Any officer will only get one commendation or reprimand per mission, & only for exceptional situations (performance above & beyond, or gross negligence). [Commendations & reprimands are features of an officer’s service record, & as such will be posted, along with the circumstances by which they occurred, in the appropriate thread]

Between Missions:

With a month or two between missions the Scarab crews don’t spend all their time in R & R. Usually their duties are fairly mundane: collation & sorting of data from their last mission, further tests on recovered samples, & preparations for the next mission. The Scarab Captain liaises with his TEF superiors (the Leviathan is commanded by an Admiral) & the ISRAns to select the next mission target. Scarab crews between missions often seek out their counterparts from the other explorers to swap tales & engage in friendly one-upmanship, as it often quickly becomes evident that the rest of the jump ship crew don’t really share the same outlook as an average TEF mission officer. The officer with the best story from the last round of missions wins the praise of his or her colleagues, not to mention several rounds of drinks in the galley. Revealing embarrassing incidents which occurred to your team-mates is usually worth almost as much, in social terms. Besides that, crews between missions often take the opportunity to further their educations & training (for cadets it’s not really a choice…) – the explorer mentality usually lends itself to a thirst for knowledge & a drive to push one’s own limits. If any slackers get through the rigorous TEF training net, they usually don’t last long.

[ConcreteDragon]

Prof--Do the biosensors for the Scarab need to be formated, like gunnery? If so, I would like to know what the tolerance is for my Clairsentient SciOfficer. ::thumbsup

[ProfPotts]

Prof--Do the biosensors for the Scarab need to be formated, like gunnery?

Nope.

[Bahamut810]

Attributes: 7/5/3 – this is for both psions & neutrals. TEF officers need to be fit, smart, & able to play nice with others. As such no character with any attributes at ‘1’ will make it through the TEF academy.

I was just thinking about this...what does TEF have agenst ugly people? ::wink

[ProfPotts]

I was just thinking about this...what does TEF have agenst ugly people?

If you're talking about not allowing characters with an Appearance of 1, well that's because Appearance that low would require a character not only to be ugly, but to make no effort in their appearance at all either - i.e. to be a total slob. Since TEF teams have to be stuck together for months at a time on really small vessels, that sort of thing just isn't good for anyone involved. ::wink

In any case, who'd be ugly enough for an Appearance of 1 when there's perfectly good cosmetic surgery available? Appearance 2 is 'plain' or 'average', Appearance 1 has to be something incredibly bad - so bad that medical reconstruction, in an age of elightened technology & near-instant psionic healing, would be an appropriate measure.

Also, you don't want your teammates mistaking you for an aberrant, now, do you... ::squid

[ConcreteDragon]

So, just give him an Appearance 1, and 2 to 3 levels in style (to represent makeup, disguise, etc.)

Just don't wake up next to it in the morning ::crazy .

[ProfPotts]

If you check-out the text for the Appearance Attribute you'll notice that it's not all about looks - a lot is - but there's also an element of how you present yourself, & what sort of first impressions you give. The people who are likely to be dealing with frist contact situations need to be able to make a good first impression, if nothing else.

After all, this is a Storyteller game - where the Attributes are a bit more three-dimensional & holistic than most RPGs.

[Asbjørn]

In most 21st century air forces fighter pilots have ridiculously high ranks; not because of their administrative skills or command responsibilities, but to support their own ego and to make sure not too many people can boss them around. Does that apply here too? Is a pilot necessarily (at least) a lieutenant, and if so; does the mandatory dot of Command apply too?

I don't particularly want to make an officer - since I can use the points for other things - but if you have to you have to...

[ProfPotts]

As stated before, rank isn't related to branch in the TEF. It's only related to position on the ship in the case of the Captain, first & second officers.

All characters with the Status Background need to follow the rules for minimum Command.

The TEF doesn't have seperate 'fighter pilots' who do nothing but sit around waiting for the next time they fly - all TEF personnel are expected to be able to help out with all aspects of a mission. With only 16 people in the world they usually live in, a pure 20th-century style fighter pilot would be total dead weight. No one in this game should think they can have their character cry, 'that's not my job!' when asked to go & explore - since that's what they're all expected to be in the TEF to do. Characters who train with the Pilot branch are no exception - it's an Exploration Force with a pseudo-military command structure, not a branch of the military.

In any case, all TEF people are officers - the ranks go from Ensign to Captain (for PCs). Only those Cadets who are still completing their training are of lower rank. Of course, the TEF is part of the larger Trinity, so there are others around of lesser 'rank', just not within the TEF itself.

[ProfPotts]

By the way guys, as I put up the datafiles, please take the opportunity to note those instances where characters have served together, or attended the academy at the same time. I.e. some of the characters will actually know each other before play begins.

[Prince of Boredom]

Looking at the illustration of a Scarab in the core book (p. 287), this is how I'm seeing the layout

Hey, was wondering if anyone could sacn this in and e-mail it to me, just so I have a visual representation to go with the Prof's explanation?

[ezekiel]

*drools*

Man I wish someone could do that too! I vaguely remember the drawing and only because of the quirky orientation of the ship. By the way, what the size of the ship? I got the directions and all but I didn't get the size of it (or I don't remember) Comfortable enough? Submarinish?

[Asbjørn]

I could do that. But wouldn't that be violating a bunch of copyright laws and make White Wolf mad at us?

[ezekiel]

yes, so you definitely shouldn't do it.

[Asbjørn]

SInce you're the closest we have to an expert on this, ezekiel... Is scanning it and putting it online any different than scanning it and mailing it to people, or are both alternatives equally naughty?

[ezekiel]

Putting it online is definitely worse since it amounts to "Publishing" or "Distributing"...email would be the same as mailing.

...

But is there a reason that you think that mailing a copied picture isn't naughty? Or did you mean emailing vs online posting? My purely legal side says if EON has any contacts with WhiteWolf and they respond quickly, it might be worth just asking their permission, that's foolproof. My practical side says that fat chance anything'll happen if you do mail it and if something does happen, it's a Cease and Desist letter. But don't quote me on that second part... ::wink

[ConcreteDragon]

What if you were to change the Artwork by about 10%. My wife uses "sampleing" in her art work, and seems to think that 10% would make it OK.

Just a thought. If you were to put in ProfPotts locations as lables, wouldn't that make it just like a character sheet? ::unsure

[ezekiel]

The book gives express permission to photocopy the character sheet.

I can't vouch for US copyright but there's no 10% rule in Canadian copyright. Copyright gives the creator sole right to produce or reproduce the work in any substantial part thereof. There's no clearcut rule though I'm fairly certain that using 90% of a work is substantial. There's a percentage rule for patents as there's a need for novelty in the inventions. For copyright the work needs to be "original", so if your wife's work can truly be considered new art and not derivative art then its protected.

But I think there's a right to derivative art in the US, I'll have to check up on that. Off hand like that, I know lots of musicians get sued (successfully) for using sampling though. It's not the exact same rights but they're similar.

[ConcreteDragon]

Thanks for the clarification, ezekiel. ::smile

I just wasn't sure.

[Chieftain]

Hi there guys. Finaly back in the neibourhood now and looking to get back into the action.

I'm thinking about filling the role of the Damage Control officer but I was wondering what the group currently needs at the moment?

Where are we at the moment on orders/primary psi?

Do we currently have any Teeps or legionaires?

[ProfPotts]

You know, one of the reasons I chose to use the Scarab to begin with was the presumption that everyone would at least have access to the core book for the game (where the picture I'm talking about is located). Since that's apparantly not the case, I guess I'll add some more detail to the description at some point. One more item for my 'list of things to do'... ::rolleyes

[ezekiel]

I don't think you can add much more detail to the description you made, I'm only curious as to the size of it (I'm not even sure the picture gives the size.) You can't really ask for a more detailed description of the ship in my opinion...

[Asbjørn]

Well, that's easy, at least:

A Scarab is 80 meters long and close to 95 meters wide. From it's keel to it's 'back' (what the hell is the right word here?!?) it's roughly 30 meters. The standard model has a U-shaped cargohold that measures 15.000 cubic meters - or 60x50x50 meters as rectangular space. The whole thing has a mass of 10.000 tons.

By comparison - and all this is from me measuring the image in the book - a Locust fighter is 10,5 meters long, 7,5 wide and just over 3 meters tall.

A Banji Kestrel IV - the FSA signature frigate - is 280 meters long and has a mass of 60.000 tons.

[ezekiel]

do you mean 30 meters high? Keel to Mast sorta thing?

Thanks by the way!

[ProfPotts]

I've got a load of new PCs waiting in my in-box - I just thought I better let you all know I'll be getting back to it once I've worked the Aberrant D20 fever out of my system... ::crazy

... New books smell so good... ::lookaround ::tongue ::wink

[madcat82]

Oh no... he have an addiction...

Quick, get some ninjas...

Dark voice from behind: What do we need ninjas for...

I dont know, but they are bloody cool...

Dont worry Prof, we are here to help and drug you up ::biggrin

::ninja ::ninja ::ninja ::ninja ::ninja ::ninja

[ProfPotts]

Okay, I know I'm being far too slow getting this thing off the ground, & that's just not good enough. Therefore I've decided to start the game with a 'prologue': I'll set a scene in the officers lounge aboard the jumpship - prior to any missions or anything - to allow PCs to interact, be described, & generally to have their characters & relationships established.

I'll make an effort to get the last couple of PCs datafiles up soon.

As I post NPC crewmembers datafiles, they may well make an appearance in the prologue as well ::wink .

Once (or, at this rate, 'if'... ::lookaround ) I get everything sorted out, we can jump from the prologue straight into the first mission.

[ezekiel]

Zip pa dee DOO dah!

Zip pa dee AY!

It's here, it's here! ::biggrin

[ConcreteDragon]

::biggrin I second that emotion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

::biggrin ::hehe ::biggrin ::hehe ::biggrin ::hehe ::biggrin ::hehe ::biggrin ::hehe

[Prince of Boredom]

Hey Prof. Quick question I had after going over the Datafiles again. Ensign Soto's background talks about her parents both being assigned to TEF Extrasolar service shortly after it's creation. Just curious if CAPT O'Malley may have run into them during his time on the TEF Hubris?

[ProfPotts]

... Ensign Soto's background talks about her parents both being assigned to TEF Extrasolar service shortly after it's creation. Just curious if CAPT O'Malley may have run into them during his time on the TEF Hubris?

Chances are he'd have met them, if not served with them - what with them all being 'pioneers' of the Force & all. ::wink

[ProfPotts]

Okay - I think that's all the PC datafiles dealt with... now for the NPCs (but maybe not tonight ::sleeping ).

[malkboy]

Is that dealt with or death with? ::tongue

[ProfPotts]

'Dealt' - the 'death' bit comes later... ::devil

[malkboy]

I see what we have to look forward to now... hear that guys and girls.. death.. pretty soon it'll be dismemberment too..

[tooho]

::blink Don't we have enough of that on a regular day? Must there be more? ::tongue