Star Trek Adventures "One Shot" Mission Thread

Role-playing games
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Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the USS Migizi. It’s ongoing mission: To seek out new life and new civilizations. To keep its captain away from warzones for the rest of her tour. To go boldly where many people have gone before and conduct detailed scans of those areas!

(Doo doo dah doo doo dah doo doo!)

@DJCT @RossM @Snobbydolphin @RogerBW @WolfeRJ It’s another day on the USS Migizi. You’ve all completed your previous duty shift, and you have a few hours to kill before it’s rack time. You’ve decided to attend the weekly Talent Show.

(OOG: I’d like each of you to come up with the talent that the next person has to perform for the group… write what your character does according to the previous prompt, and then pick the next player and what skill or talent they perform for the crew… just think of this as a little “warm up” for Yes And-ing each other before the mission itself starts!)

@RogerBW, please describe to the group Keli’i’s “Interpretitive Dance” routine.

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If you ask Kelly about hula, he’ll give you a short lecture because he knows you won’t hang around for the long one. But what you get alternates chant (universal translators off, please) and dance, and even if you don’t know the story of the Christianisation and Americanisation of Hawai’i, and the gradual recovery of its native culture a hundred years later, you’ll get the gist of it. It takes on something of the solemnity of a religious ritual… and then it’s just a guy dancing with a couple of engineering juniors keeping the beat on drums.

@DJCT, what does Dr Simpson play and sing?

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Dr Simpson likes to play and sing, but rarely at the same time. Thats because his instrument is, of course, the bagpipe. Mostly a student of the mournful pibroch - enjoying repetitions and variation - in mixed company or when medicinal spirits have been taken he has been know to throw himself in to a spirited Black Bear.

So the singing takes a back seat until he is rested, in his cups. Then the Gaelic plainsong is recited with timbre, gravel and a soulful tear. It can quite spoil the mood of those still dancing …

@Snobbydolphin - what are Pavi Zin’s favourite impressions, and why must they all be performed whilst riding a unicycle?

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Pavi Zin has a strong interest in the powerful personalities that have driven the history of the Federation. Growing up, he dreamed of joining Starfleet after meeting a team of Federation archaeologists who visited his home planet to survey and excavate the ruins of an ancient Kurlan settlement. He soon developed a ravenous fascination with the history of the flagship Enterprise he viewed through his telescope as a child, and he scoured data recordings of the heroes who helped write its storied history. He committed to memory and impersonated the speeches of idols like James T. Kirk, Spock, John Harriman, Jean Luc Picard, Worf - son of Mogh, and even pulls off a decent Hikaru Sulu (it’s all about the voice). Though, his impressions veer more toward the reverential than humorous. The unicycle, well, Zin came across an old photo of former Enterprise doctor Beverly Crusher riding one and he just couldn’t get over how whimsical and fun it seemed, so he built his own as a tribute to another legendary individual.

He’s never quite understood why no one else seems to find it as much fun as he does, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t keep trying!

@WolfeRJ - what interesting collection of songs has Rad Torlent decided to treat the crew with on his oboe?

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Although usually a boisterous drinking song and space shanty singer, Rad Torlent observes that Captain Atawhai and some other Dominion War veterans have had a number of somber anniversaries to ponder over the past cycle and that maybe now isn’t the time for “a ferenghi’s transporter bank has an inconveniently placed knob”.

So it seems like time for a quieter, more meditative moment Rad figures. Rad retrieves a bass Oboe from among the ship’s instruments, requests the hologram barkeep to turn down the lights and the gravity and runs through the bass oboe part from Holst’s Saturn and some additional minor variations as newer crew members have their first opportunity to fumble with cocktails in free fall.

@RossM how does Tray Cee’s performance baffle any Vulcan crew present?

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Tray emerged with her quartet, having promised a performance of Beethoven for her Vulcan colleagues. She is accompanied by Dar-ten the only Bolian on the ship and the Randolph twins from Stellar Cartography.

She thanks all for attending before talking briefly about her love of ‘classical’ earth music.

Then they begin…

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The final act is wrapping up when a priority message comes in for the captain from the bridge. Giving everyone a friendly thumbs up, Captain Atawhai leaves The Battering Ram and enters the turbolift. We zoom in on her face, which shifts from happy to instantly concerned as the screen fades to black.

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We return to a scene of the USS Migizi flying at warp speeds, stars blurring in the background.

“Captain’s Log, Stardate 21.876.2. We have received a pair of distress calls, the first from Xerxes IV, an uninhabited Class M planet containing no sentient life except for a Federation science team. The distress signal offers us no additional information, except that the team is in incredible danger. To make matters even worse, a massive ion storm is tearing through this sector and has damaged the USS Sedentary Mallard, a Constellation-class ship transporting vital supplies. We are the only ship close enough to handle both crises.”

We swing the camera towards the bridge of the Migizi, a sense of tension thick enough to feed to a targ filling the air, white knuckles hovering over consoles and controls.

“Captain,” Ensign H’tak turns over her shoulder, “the Mallard is drifting deeper into the storm.”
“Options, people!” Atawhai snaps, her hands gripping the arms of the chair.
“We could follow her in, nab her in a tractor beam, and begin emergency repairs as we try to drag us both out of the storm,” suggests Commander Vega, rubbing his neatly trimmed beard.
“May I remind the captain that we still have people on Xerxes IV that we need to help,” responds the chief of security, stone-eyed Lt. Cmdr Westmark. “I suggest we send a shuttle to the planet.”
“A shuttle? In this ion storm?” Atawhai scoffs.
“The ion storm’s magnitude is directly proportional with the cross-sectional radius of the starship flying through it,” Ensign Suratt says, one Vulcan eyebrow delicately raised. “A shuttle should be able to navigate the short distance relatively safely.”
“Fine! Dr. Simpson, report to the shuttle bay! We’re sending you to Xerxes IV on a rescue mission. I’m sending Lt. Cmdr Zin to assist you… Westmark, who do you trust to keep them safe?”
“Considering how little we know? Torlent is our best bet. I’ve yet to see him flinch at anything the universe has sent us.”
“Perfect. Let’s round out the rescue party, in case it takes longer than expected for us to assist the Mallard… Lt. Cee has degrees in astrophysics, trauma surgery, and xenobiology. Should be able to figure out what’s going on. And an engineer… Cmdr. Wilcomen, can you spare an engineer for the Xerxes mission?”
“Ah, captain,” comes Wilcomen’s distinctive singsong response, “I’m going to need every hand we have to keep the shields up and the warp core stable… hmm? What’s that, Keli’i?.. good point. Captain, I’m sending Lt. Cmdr Keli’i to assist. His terminal shorted out, and they won’t do me much good here.”
“I think that’s as good a team as anyone could hope for. Simpson, Keli’i, Zin, Torlent, and Cee, grab whatever you think is necessary and get down to the planet as quickly as possible! We’ll be back for you as soon as we rescue the Mallard, but use your judgement to evacuate or stay, as you see fit.”

(OOG: A’ight, here we go! Let me know if anyone wants to do anything special to prep for the mission. The information about Xerxes IV in the LCARS is basically “Mostly Harmless,” but I’m happy to fill in any information if you’re looking for specifics that may be buried in the database or previous long-distance scans or whatever. Remember to narrate what you want your character to do, and pick the Attribute + Discipline you want to use.)

(Additionally, the shuttle will need 2 people at the controls: One at Conn, and one at Ops. Usually, the characters that have the highest Conn are the pilots, and that would be Torlent flying and Keli’i on Ops as the highest engineering, but I’m happy to adjust if anyone else has requests or suggestions. Or if you have ideas to help the shuttle navigate the storm… you’ll only be in it for about ten minutes at warp, and then another few minutes to reach the planet surface)

(It is currently August 9th at 10:35pm local time, EST, and I’ll give y’all 24 hours to ask questions or make suggestions or requests before we fling the Shuttle Kidinnu into the ion storm… approximately)

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Keli’i, muttering to himself: “I’m sure there’s a shield configuration that would reduce ion disruption… one day I’ll get the chance to do some tests when it isn’t an emergency…”

He’ll end up bringing a field kit full of multipurpose tools, including spare power cells, and a box of survival rations (“now with flavour”) for the shuttle. How large is the science team? By which I mean, in theory, should the five of us plus them all fit into the shuttle at once?

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Tray Cee is working hard downloading biographical information on the science team. Their personal files, qualifications, areas of specialism, and a manifest of what was delivered to the planet…

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Rad stages out sapient portable survival packs for the team +1 and loading out survival gear particularly shelter and nourishment in case of this turns into a camping trip.

Throughout Rad carries on with the ship’s computer in a casual drawl with periodic bursts of laughter as Rad attempts to get the computer to return a bad pun among its answers.

Rad loads out hand phasers for all personnel but doesn’t grab heavier energy weapons. He carefully stows a few earth moving shaped charges from a seismic experimental pack but nothing antipersonnel. In what draws comment as clearly a bizarre fit of paranoia Rad will stow two personal slugthrowers with some limited ammunition and large sturdy walking sticks. He’ll shrug at any raised eyebrows and say “Ion disruption ammirite?”

For system purposes Rad is contributing Computers + Security while we are still on the ship to learn what it will take to keep a small party of Starfleet personnel alive on a planet similar to Xerxes IV. For completeness and to mold this into the system and make sure I’m getting it, Rad’s Survival focus is in play and his value “if a problem has a known answer Starfleet knows it” is on display as he chats with the Computer about terrifying tales of away team survival in conditions reasonably analogous to Xerxes IV.

Rad seems entirely unconcerned about the ion storm, as opposed to being stranded dirtside and will happily take the shuttle conn encouraging Keli’i to bang on the shield configuration all along, “We’re only going to get to go through this storm once because we’re going to do it right the first time so may as well make it interesting as well, eh? Figure out if these ions have a new flavor to ‘em while you’re about it. Nothing like a shuttle jaunt, a vigorous hike, and some mortal peril, HAH! Won’t have to worry about next month’s vital scans at the sawbones station one bit after our nice outing.”

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@RogerBW You can certainly attempt to modulate the shield frequencies in such a way to minimize the risk to the shuttle. I’d propose Insight + Engineering, but I’m willing to accept a different pair of skills if you are feeling them.

Ion storms are tricky things, so I would say it’s a Difficulty 3 Task (keeping in mind Failure doesn’t mean the shuttle does get damaged, just that you aren’t successful in modifying the shields). You start with 2d20: you can ask somebody else for help (I think to keep things moving at a reasonable clip, anyone who wants to help should do so by suggesting what combination of skills they want to use and then just rolling it… whoever rolls first is the one who helps) and by buying additional dice by spending Momentum (you have none currently) or giving me Threat (I start the game with 2 Threat per player, so I have 10 already).

Alternatively, you can elect to not try and modify the shields: the shuttle should be fine, and any roll, even a Difficulty 0 task, always carries some risk of Complication. Don’t feel obliged to make the roll just because I suggested it! It’s always your choice.

As for the shuttle: it’s a Type-7 shuttlecraft, capable of seating 6 crew and 10 passengers comfortably, or about 25 if crammed in like sardines. It is more than large enough to manage your team plus the entire science team plus a few crates of equipment in a pinch: it won’t be comfortable, but it is definitely manageable.

Plus, it’s the largest shuttlecraft Starfleet has before you get into Runabouts, and the Migizi doesn’t have a runabout.

@RossM The database holds only very rough information on the science team sent to Xerxes IV. The team consisted of 13 members led by Dr. Heidi Schipp. The team is all human, and primarily biologists and xenobotanists, including one Dr. Helena Burlette. @Snobbydolphin, Dr. Helena Burlette was an important mentor of yours during a very difficult period of Zin’s life. Feel free to tell everyone about this if you’d like, or alternatively we can keep it as vague as you like, but you do know the woman and have very fond memories of the time you spent with her.

Other than that, Tray Cee, the information includes a list of names that aren’t familiar to you, and the shipping manifests include mostly standard barrage of modular laboratories and living facilities, scientific equipment, and foodstuff. A small number of Type-1 Phasers (“keyfobs”) were sent to the station, but none of the staff are security personnel, so it was probably just a checkbox on the grant application rather than a specific request or need.

@WolfeRJ Unfortunately the computer doesn’t have a lot of information on Xerxes IV, and other than “M Class” the information is sparse. The science team was dispatched because Dr. Schipp believed that some of the more unique flora and/or fauna may have scientific or medical uses, but it was more of a “Let’s go and find out!” rather than a “I have evidence that these things are going to be useful!” The team has been on the planet for just over a year, and they were scheduled to be independent for another 2-3 years before the first phases of their research was complete.

However, “not much” information isn’t “no” information, so I’d say a Computers + Security (using your Survival Focus) might yield some further information if you cross-reference the planetary scans, the long range sensor reports, and the grant application for the scientific team.

We’re going to make that a Difficulty 2 task: finding the information isn’t particularly difficult, but it’s trying to find anything useful among all the “The following seventeen paragraphs outline the number of socks we require and the specific thread counts for the cots.” Starfleet loves few things more than it loves digital paperwork.

Again, anyone who wants to help (and can justify how and what they’re using to help) is welcome to do so, and you can buy additional dice by giving me Threat (1 for the 1st additional die, 2 for the 2nd, and 3 for a third if you so desire).

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[Keli’i] I wasn’t being entirely serious about the shields - it’s more “one day it won’t be an emergency and then I can actually work on this project”. Stick with the plan, because if we disintegrate in the storm nobody gets rescued.

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Zin does a round checking that everyone has what they need. As he gets his phaser from Rad, he takes a look at what else he’s loading out, gives Rad a smile and a pat on the shoulder saying “Maybe this time we’ll get to play with the good stuff!”

When the name Dr. Burlette comes up, Zin pauses and asks “Helena Burlette?” After the confirmation, Zin shares that she was a major mentor for him during his time at the academy and he was her research assistant at one point. “She’s pretty choosy about her fieldwork. There’s got to be something pretty interesting on Xerxes IV if it brought her out of the academy labs.”

“Tray, let me get a look at those files and I might be able to shed some light on what we could run into down there.”

Zin looks over the files for anything he might be able to put together using insight + science.

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Dr Simpson steels himself and makes sure the hipflask if medicinal spirits is full.

First off he makes sure the medical team are fully briefed on any issues likely to be caused as a result of the Mallard’s rescue - from the storm, physical damage etc - and gets Medical ready to recieve casualties.

The he checks for any info in particular on the flora and fauna of Xerxes IV using Insight + Medicine and his foci of toxicology and xenobiology. [Hopefully that is correct!]

This whole affair of the Mallard is a bit too close to Simpson’s Kobayashi Maru test. He grips the hipflask even more strongly.

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Sounds good! A relatively easy thing to do: Dr. Burlette’s career is well-documented. Difficulty 1 Task.

Looks good to me! You can only use one Focus per test, but the result is the same: you get a Critical Result (2 successes) for any roll within the range of your Discipline (1-5, in this case).

Still a difficult task due to the absence of much information on Xerxes IV, but not insurmountable: Difficulty 2 Task. Remember people can choose to help you and you can buy additional dice. Might be worth waiting to see how Zin’s test goes, since you can then spend any Momentum he generates to buy additional dice without giving me Threat.

Alternatively, David, if you’d prefer I can make this a Difficulty 1 Task, but the only effect of your success would be to reduce the difficulty of Torlent’s own Check (this is covered under the rules by “Creating an Advantage,” one of the things you can do during many tests: rather than accomplishing a specific thing, you make it easier for other players to accomplish specific things. Usually Creating an Advantage is easier than doing the specific task you want to do… phaser a Borg, fix a warp core, whatever… but it doesn’t directly help, just makes everyone’s life a little easier). Your call!

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@Snobbydolphin asked for a die roll:
2d20: 9 + 5 = 14

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My target is 14, so that’s two successes, I believe.

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Yup! The group now has One Momentum that they can choose to spend at any time.

Dr. Burlette is a xenobiologist who specializes in plants with chronological dependencies (ie: the plant behaves radically differently at different times of its life). Her particular field of subspecialization is flowering plants, and she focused most of her research on Klingon plant life, although it was by no means exclusively Klingon.

She also minored in mammalian predators (specifically big cats and cat-analogs). She has a thing for tigers. Her dissertation was on the spread of Klingon Weeping Tulips in the aftermath of Targ migrations.

Coincidentally, she was a lot of fun at parties.

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Tray Cee orders the replicators to produce effective defoliants and anti fungal solutions.

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[Dr Simpson] would be happy to help Torlent. I will roll 2d20, with Insight 12 and Medicine 5 (that means target 17, right).

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