Maybe I missed some in the expansions–and if so, please point out where to look–but are there any character roles beyond what are listed on pp. 126-127 of the Core? (Actually, as I type this, I believe I recall that there are some added Medical roles in the Sciences book.)
Will there be details for:
Liaison Officer (Kira)?
Strategic Operations Officer (Worf)?
Morale Officer (Neelix)?
Botanist and Field Medic (Kes)?
Navigator (Chekov)?
I know that Kira and Worf could both technically use the Executive Officer role mechanics, and Chekov could use the Flight Controller mechanics, but I was wondering if there is something more specific to each position.
Kira is probably either an adjutant or just a glorified executive officer with specific responsibilities, as assistant to Sisko.
There’s an SOO role for Worf.
Morale Officer seems to have been something made up for Neelix as a civilian - so probably not a game role. I’d guess he could be a Counsellor?
There’s a field medic role, so Kes is covered.
Navigators (Chekov) are explicitly Conn officers, but if you need to differentiate him from Sulu, he did seem to have Security responsibilities as well.
The bit about Chekov being a Flight Controller just like Sulu brings up another question: Can ships have multiples of certain roles? I know Commanding Officer is a “no” as are most of the Chief X, Y, Z positions, but what about Flight Controller, Operations Manager, and Science Officer?
p. 126 of the Core Rules is not very specific about it, but the general idea is that every chracter has one role, mechanics-wise. They might have a second role within the story (take e.g. Spock, who was a science officer, but also took the responsibilities of an executive officer), but that is not represented in the stats.
I know each character has only one role, what I was asking is whether or not you can have multiple characters on the ship with the same role (e.g., two science officers or a pair of flight controllers–one of which might fancy himself a “helmsman” while the other a “navigator”).
I would not allow more than one CO and not more than one XO. I would say that it was possible to have multiples of the other roles to a maximum of the number of shifts. I.e. you have a science officer of the alpha shift, of the beta shift, and of the gamma shift (and one for delta, if your ship operates that way) but only one can be “effective” at one time. Why do I think so? Because in the military, you just do not want to divide up responsibility.
So you would not allow a helmsman and a navigator to both simultaneously gain the role benefits of a flight controller? In that case, it is probably necessary to have a different role ability for one of them.
Perhaps allow the Navigator to substitute Conn for Science when dealing with astrophysics and such, much as the Flight Controller can substitute Conn for Engineering when dealing with propulsion systems.
It looks like the positions from the Command and Sciences books are semi-permanent roles while the ones from the Operations book are mission-assigned roles. Interesting that there are not additional semi-permanent Operations roles.
I did not see any department limits on Fleet Liaison Officer or Intelligence Officer. Is this correct? Can a Science department officer serve as a Fleet Liaison Officer (actually, I think Jadzia Dax briefly held this position with the Klingons)? Likewise, Intelligence seems a good fit for Security without being necessarily limited to it.
I was under the impression that these are all roles in the command department. Admiral, Adjutant and Strategic Operations Officer are command since all roles appeared so on screen. Kira was once disguised as an Intelligence officer and wore red. And Fleet Liaison Officer also seems like a command division role.
Of course, officers can have double roles and thus belong to other departments.
The Adjutant and Strategic Operations Officer roles specify Command only, and the Admiral says flag officer, but I didn’t see anything explicit regarding the others. I can easily see a security or science department officer working as an intelligence officer, and some projects might find a liaison officer that is in the department most aligned with the project best (a joint medical or engineering research project might be best served by a liaison officer from the medical or engineering department). In all cases, a good score in the Command discipline would still be very helpful.
also people switch back and forth between departments as their job changes, worf was operations department on the enterprise, but when he became stratetgic operations officer it switched to red
To be precise: He switched back to red. In the first season of TNG he wore read (like Geordie, btw). In the second season, he changed for gold, as he joined Tasha as a security officer.
I don’t think that your division is fixed. Changing for Command, Operations or Science is easy, if you have skills that are needed. And since Starfleet officers are heavily cross-trained, any officer should have at least something that is useful in the division they would like to join. In Season 3 or 4 of DS9 (didn’t check), Sisko has a conversation with another officer about easier becoming Captain in Command (so why not join Command?). To further back this up: Even in (at least some) today’s militaries, you can change the branches (i.e. going from army to navy to air force), sometimes multiple times. It is certainly not common, but possible.
I think this also applies to the roles we discuss here in this thread. A character is the executive officer of a ship, until starfleet command (or the captain) decides that someone else gets the role. And a navigator/helmsman can become chief engineer (hello, Geordie! ) if they are suitable for that job and needed. This is, why I would assign a role only to one character at a time. If there are Tuvix-style hybrids, maybe even change it per scene.
Or just assign the role more than once, if that is what suits your game. I don’t care. Rules are guidelines and meant to ease gaming, not to cause problems. If there’s a rule between your game and fun, screw the rule, full-stop.
Is there a dedicated Tactical Officer role, or is it just considered a part of Chief of Security? Would it be reasonable to split these on a ship with a high Security department with one (Chief of Security) handing threats internal to the ship and with personnel (e.g., away teams) while the other (Tactical Officer) handles external threats like starship combat?
To my great surprise, I do not see any “tactical officer” role. This might actually be, because tactics and security are most of the time operated by the same person. I thought of using the Strategic Operations Officer role for a tactical officer, but the mechanic feels a little odd. This is definetly something that should be covered in another rulebook.
By the way – are supporting characters entitled to have a character role?
) if they are suitable for that job and needed. This is, why I would assign a role only to one character at a time. If there are Tuvix-style hybrids, maybe even change it per scene.