Origionally post to the old forum by [TomK]
I know it’s early days yet, but I’ve been playing around with campaign ideas. Thus, Star Trek: Pioneer was born… Enjoy, and I look forward to some constructive criticism and any additional tasks you might think of.
“It’s easy to cling to your principles when you’re standing on a vessel with its bulkheads intact, manned by a crew that’s not starving.”
+++The mission.+++ To transport colonists and supplies to a newly discovered M-class planet (fourth planet in the KAM 81-10Σ star system) rich in resources, minable asteroids, etc. Probe contact. Players are junior members of the crew of the escort assigned to the colonists’ ship. Relay back to confirm delivery, wait for reinforcements. Enough supplies for 1 year (standard procedure). Colonists can name the planet when they get there.
+++Ships.+++ USS Valiant (NCC-14), the Columbia-class starship. USS Strehë (NAR-12), a DY-800-class cargo/colonisation vessel, carrying colonists, supplies and building materials.
+++Background/Timeframe.+++ The year is 2165. It’s a time of great enthusiasm and hope. War with the Romulans is over. The Federation is four years old, with member the Andorians, the Vulcans, the Tellarites and the Humans all working well together. The Franklin was lost one year ago on the date of the first session. The Romulan Neutral Zone has been established and the Earth Outposts on the border are shiny and new. Deneva has not yet been colonised, and Admiral Archer is a Rear Admiral coming to the end of his posting as Director-General Exploratory Division (DG-ED).
===| PHASE I – Initiate! |===
+++Mission Briefing.+++ As outlined above. Admiral Martinez gives a full run-down of the mission, which is simple enough. Run through the situation; a succinct who/what/when/where/why of the mission; how it is to be carried out (Phases: Phase 1 is loading supplies and making ready (two weeks), Phase 2 is the flight itself (no known difficulties, but ‘actions on’ just in case), Phase 3 (landing and unloading), Phase 4 (patrols and exploration), Phase 5 (arrival of reinforcements, hand-over/take-over, travel home)); and then list command positions, communications arrangements, administration for the trip, and end point.
+++Loading supplies.+++ Extended task to load stuff correctly. Complications and failures mean stuff has to be left behind, or colonists must be left behind. Alternate difficulties could lie in the communications between the colonists and the escort’s crew, or even the Space Movements staff at the starport.
+++Lay-over.+++ A stop-over at Starbase 10 to off-load supplies leads to discipline issues with the crew. Investigations must take place prior to departure.
+++Navigate a nebula+++ close to the KAM 81-10Σ star system that wasn’t on the charts. Drop out of warp. Can scan for extra credit. Allows a source of fuel for starships and power generators.
+++Emergency.+++ Minimise damage to craft, colonists and supplies on crash landing after what seems like an asteroid impact. End on a cliff-hanger, if possible. (Abandoning ships is a viable option, as is launching the shuttle-craft. This will have significant repercussions on the remainder of the campaign.)
===| PHASE II – Recover! |===
+++Landing and Shelter.+++ Sorting out the stores, making sure colonists are alright. Taking stock of what’s left. Depending on successes during Emergency, this will allow slightly more stock to be present. Failures reduce stores from Food, Water, Energy, Crops, Labour, Vehicles, Sensors, Scientific Supplies, Medical Supplies, Oxygen reserves. Shuttle craft busted. No warp capable shuttles.
+++Clean-up.+++ Lots to do, burying the dead, cleaning up broken supplies, etc.
+++Lost.+++ A group of colonists managed to launch a shuttle without command approval, crashing some ways away from the main body. An away team must be sent to investigate and bring back survivors. Successes and speed of mission will influence results. 40pax missing.10 died on impact.
+++First Contact.+++ Local fauna are curious. Set up a perimeter, man it, and secure supplies. Not predatory, just opportunitistic. No intelligent life at this stage. Successes in Landing and Shelter will determine whether this is easy or difficult, are their enough supplies, people, etc., to run the security grid. Alternate options? Sonic? Pheromonal?
+++Storm.+++ A cyclonic system rumbles over the top of the crash site. Successes in Landing and Shelter determine how much warning they get, and the scope of the damage, incl. casualties.
+++Stolen Supplies.+++ Someone steals essential equipment from a warehouse. Initial inspection looks like local wildlife, but digging deeper reveals inconsistencies (based in part upon how the First Contact scenario played out.
===| PHASE III - ESTABLISH! |===
+++Best Site for a Base?+++ Survey teams must be sent out to establish a good, solid, permenant colony site. 3 possible locations, one of which is a ruin (see below). One is unstable geologically (lose some away team surveyors with Failures, but are able to be recovered with good checks and Daring. Only one is truly suitable. Successes in the Landing and Shelter stage will allow better pre-visit assessments, and appropriate gear to be taken.
+++Federation Day.+++ Celebrations must be made for the establishment of the colony (name?) and of the Federation itself (May 8). But something is amiss: colonists are lethargic and grumpy. Local spores are causing the disruption!
+++Imitator.+++ An unwelcome visitor, a crashed member of Species 8472 (Undine), having read new thought patterns, has infiltrated the base to steal supplies for their shuttle. It appears as one of the human, Vulcan, Tellarite or Andorian females (higher the rank, the better) and murders any that seek to stop it. Resistant to all phasers, can morph and change. Protecting its tech, and its friend (still in the wreckage of their ship).
+++Strange Fluctuations.+++ Energy readings from established weather sensors go off the charts for 10min before debris falls nearby. (Another ship has entered the system and been destroyed.) Wreckage may hold supplies; might also have been raised by local fauna (see +++First Contact+++).
===| PHASE IV – Explore! |===
+++Ruins.+++ Space-travel capable civilisation left before asteroid belt contacted (every 2000 years or so, and the reason the asteroids took out the ship in the first place – it wasn’t where it was supposed to be). They might still be in the system on one of the other planets. They built (originally) surface cities, but were forced underground, then eventually off the planet.
+++Assessing culture.+++ None of the above facts is readily evident. Ruins contain catacombs/underground areas, with AI-based security systems. Glyphs, inscriptions, then finally, once power is restored (Extended Test to use a Federation power source, or translation for working out the power-up sequence for the ruin. Access allows information about the planet, its fauna and flora, history, people, etc.
+++Relocating?+++ Moving the colony to the ruin shouldn’t be too hard. If using Fed power sources, much easier to power up lights and stuff, but harder to power up the systems in the ruin. If fixing ruin’s power, much easier to interact with alien tech, much harder to power lights and Federation tech.
+++Over the Wire.+++ A group of colonists go rogue and decide that the Federation leadership is sub-par and they are going to take the gear and do it their own way.
+++Launch a shuttle to map the planet.+++ Assessment from space of geography. Run into civilisation’s last sign, a small satellite with a Rosetta Stone-style puzzle. Also see a band of asteroid craters from the last time the belt crossed paths with the planet.
+++Restore warp engines on a shuttle.+++ Build a shuttle back up to warp-capable flight, in order to visit nearby systems. Limited speed, limited stores of dilithium fuel, but then access to the nebula and asteroids becomes possible, and the colony can start mining or harvesting resources.
+++Deal with ancient defence grid.+++ Cause of crash in first place.
+++Passing Traders / Possible Invaders.+++ The colony is visited by an alien ship, aiming to sell wares to the locals and perhaps gain some rare commodities in turn. Are they just traders, or perhaps they are looking to see how well defended the new outpost is: perhaps it would be better to simply commandeer it instead?
===| Phase V - Reinforcements! |===
+++New News.+++
+++Repairs.+++
+++Final Farewell.+++
+++Final Report.+++
