I’m thinking about trying to throw together a campaign for a crew on a smaller frigate patrol style ship that may just be border patrol work and trading rout anti-piracy operations. Anyone have any good ideas for hooks or experience running games like these?
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I think after the Dominion war, border patrols should be especially exciting. Pirates may try to plunder the remains of the Dominion and the Cardassians, and other powers may try to take advantage of the Federation’s weakened state.
In a recent episode of my campaign, a terror organization managed to get their hands on a Jem’Hadar battleship that had half-finished construction and somehow survived the self-destruct of its shipyard.
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Original Series Trek is also a great place to run this kind of Campaign. The Romulan and Klingon Neutral zone was very hot, and the Orions are always causing trouble. With that much conflict along lanes of space no wider than a solar system, the stories practically write themselves…
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The Sabre class seems explicitly designed around that kind of role, so you should be good to go! 
I ran a game with Icon that used that kind of setting (movie-era) - with a heavy dose of Orion freedom fighters (FASA-inspired) and cross-border espionage. The players didn’t have a ship though - they worked for the Interstellar Customs Regulatory Authority… (customs inspectors basically). You’d definitely be looking at something a lot grittier and “street level”, although there’s still room for weird aliens and spatial anomalies.
I’ve been considering an influence system for the region that the players are in. Sort if a basic background simulation, where choices made influence what happens to various factions. Thwart the Romulans, and their influence wanes which as the GM I can use as a guide for future situations. Maybe the Romulans get more aggressive, or the Orions move in.
Anyone seen a system like that I can steak?
I think this sort of thing would work well in this sort of campaign.
In my campaign, you can gather reputation not only with the Federation but also with several other factions, like the Ferengi and the Klingons (because our ship is technically independent). Each has their own influence and commendations.
Interesting stuff. I was having some ideas about letting the players deviate from the ‘official’ patrol rout in case an information leak would be tipping off pirates so they’re only hitting the random deliveries away from patrol ships.
That sounds rather cool! Reading that post with @Hunting_Phoenix’ influence-system in mind, immediately some ENT-era diplomatic-styled campaign setup came to my mind: The players are the crew of one of the few earth starships and thus gain not only rep with Starfleet on Earth but also with the Klingons, Vulcans, Andorians etc. (maybe even Romulans). Only by keeping rep higher than a certain level, the upcoming founding of a new organisation called “Federation” will be successful… 
Yes, the reputation and/or momentum/threat system as elaborated below.
Coming back to topic: I, too, would recommend using the reputation system as a model to simulate ‘factions’.
Or you just adapt the momentum/threat system and give every faction a pool of momentum/threat: After every mission, for every faction, determine whether the outcome of the mission influenced that faction positively (award one or more points), negatively (take one or more points) or not at all (do nothing). Whenever the players encounter representatives of a faction, for every point within that faction’s pool you as the GM can pull either threat (if the players oppose the faction) or momentum for your group (if the players are allied to the faction), decreasing that faction’s pool accordingly. Basically, this mechanic represents more (or less) influence, resources etc. as the players either support allied or oppose unfriendly factions for longer term.
You can also decrease the pools of two or more factions when they are engaging each other ‘behind the scenes’.
Besides that: First post. Hi there! 