I really tried it the way you suggest, but the crew don’t get it.
During the mission briefing the superior officer of the crew directly said: “The three are of duty, so bother them not with every nonsense. You are in command of this ship, and they are still inactive!”
I thought, with this said, it would be clear, but maybe it wasn’t
Then the answer to that would be either they can’t be found on the ship, or they aren’t answering their door/comm. And if they try to do a ‘security over-ride’ of their door, that could lead them into disciplinary action for abusing rank privileges.
My group hasn’t had a problem with too much focus on guest stars. Occasional encounters with known characters are fun, but they just add a little atmosphere, interact a bit, and the player characters remain central to the story.
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I think it’s worth keeping in mind, that Players will (and should), expect that any NPC brought into a scene has a purpose–even when they end up being a red herring or a cameo–but that it’s not always clear what that purpose is.
I think that how high a profile that NPC is, can also be confusing to the issue when that profile is high, as their inclusion “surely must” be particularly important.
For this reason I tend to name drop occasionally, but rarely introduce an established and particularly well known NPC directly. The galaxy is a big place after all. So as a GM, while I like having canon characters referenced for comparative purposes, I’m not inclined to use them as NPCs.
However, having such well fleshed out NPCs with iconic roles in the lore of the setting, means that I can re-skin them as similar archetypes if I want/ need to, without having to deal with the ramifications of the PCs casually running into a Hero of the _______.
I suppose this is more of a personal aside, than a direct response to the current discussion, but I thought I’d offer my take, in general, on Modiphious providing them, and how I choose to use them.
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If I remember correctly, they were produced because there was a (big) demand for them. The writers weren’t originally going to bother.
That seems reasonable. And, again, it’s certainly a useful peek inside the minds of the Devs, within the context of who (mechanically), the celebrities of the Trek-verse are and how they’ed be stated.
I think you should eliminate major characters from appearing in anything but a strictly background role. It sounds like your players can’t handle it - or they are not confident enough to swing with your pitches.
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Sadly I have to agree with you in both.
I don’t see anything wrong with hero worship or players trying to constantly bother NPCs. If it get’s out of hand, there could even be severe consequences.
I mean Kirk is a captain, it is inappropriate for officers below his rank to constantly bother him. This behavior should be reprimanded by the CO of the ship or (if the CO is also a player) by the CO’s superior officer on the insistence of Kirk.
You as a GM have all the power. And if your players are displaying behavior that is clearly inappropriate or wrong, it should have consequences. Maybe even up to a demotion or court-martial.
I am of the mind that it’s fine to play the canon characters…
but if not playing them, then cameos should show use of a player’s resources , not GMPC use.