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Post by Geralyn on Apr 12, 2014 3:25:27 GMT
A Brainstorming Session by Geralyn and HSZMV
HSZMV and I were talking last night on the topic of aspects of roleplaying, and I figured this would be a perfect time to pick his brain about a phenomenon I've heard about - and to an extent, seen happen. A lot of people have shared this perception, too: That science/medical officers are either difficult to engage in a hosted RP, or (from some people's experience) deliberately marginalized or neglected. So how does this come about?
It's something that I've been wanting to address for a long time, to be honest, because it just doesn't seem like it should happen, from my perspective. Science officers and Medical staff are essential - ESSENTIAL - personnel in Starfleet. And like any scientific or medical profession in the real world, they have to be doing stuff. Difficult stuff. Important stuff. And yet I keep hearing people say they have trouble being involved with RP using either profession. So why is it so hard to get a science or medical character into the RP?
So, tonight, I decided to do a little brainstorming with HSZMV about it, since he's been an RP Ship GM for longer than I've been in the fleet. I've posted our conversation here, to show you how our train of thought went.
[9:21] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [Also...question from your GMs perspective...] [9:22] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((Shoot.)) [9:22] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [I've talked to a few people who RP in other fleets, and a few in ours, and there seems to be a loss as to how to include science or medical characters in a ship RP] [9:23] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [Unless the entire focus is a research facility,or something] [9:23] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [Thoughts on how to address it?] [9:24] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((So, for science officers, they usually double as the guy who reads the sensors on the bridge... So they would look for cloaked ships and the Black Holes... Doctors are a bit rougher.)) [9:25] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [So you've seen the phenomenon too.] [9:25] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((Generally, they are a mandatory presence on away teams because it's just good sense... but if you're staying on the ship, they generally don't have something to do.)) [9:25] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((I play the Doc on Exodus... and I took it specifically because I couldn't make it all the time and it was the role that would be missed the least.)) [9:26] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [I've spoken to the fellow who GMs our weekly ST: TNG tabletop RPG about it, and he said medical certainly is invaluable on away teams.] [9:26] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [But...yeah. On the ship, not as much.] [9:27] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [His idea for Science is based on how the RPG mechanics work. You have, say, Physical Sciences, with a specialization in Physics. You can still do any of the Physical sciences] [9:28] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [at the base skill level, so they can do things other than their specialty.] [9:28] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((On the ship, I tend to either provide comic relief (my doctor and the EMH get into humorous mischeif)...)) [9:29] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((Other times, I say she's working on her personal projects... she does a lot of work for Starfleet Medical in counter bio-warfare and is an expert on the Romulan Biological Warfare tactics.)) [9:30] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((Finally, for one last solution... the Doc could be the GM's character... because the Doctor tends to be the person who has the least lines and... when there is a medical event on the ship...)) [9:30] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((they tend to be the person who will give plot info, but not do anything to stop it...)) [9:31] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [9:32] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((Don't get me wrong, they're both valuable characters... it's just if all you got is a winning ship, you're not going to have an active medical staff.)) [9:33] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [Winning ship?] [9:36] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: The ship that always saves the day?)) [9:36] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [Like Enterprise...except there's been a few times they took casualties in TOS and TNG, sometimes horrible ones] [9:37] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((Right... but they can't lose all the time.)) [9:37] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((It is one of the flaws of the fact that our RP ships rarely focus on off duty events, which is where the doctors are at their best.)) [9:38] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [Can this be maybe get looked into as a possibility? Or is there a lack of interest in RPing off-duty/downtime?] [9:42] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((I'm sure there isn't... it's really just what the GM does... I had a story that took place during off duty hours... normally I do them when the conflict with the ship's systems.)) [9:42] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [The ship's systems?] [9:43] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((Like, If the problem of the week is going to be that something on the ship doesn't work, it will start during off duty hours.)) [9:44] [Tell] Nazrii@geralynrhig: [Oh, I see. So they need to occupy themselves, allowing for social RP on an RP ship. The doctor can handle the hangovers and occasional scuffles caused by boredom?] [9:45] [Tell] R'Tal Rylov@hszmv: ((Right... and normally I give them the better part of the first hour before I start breaking stuff.))
As you can see, the nature of the posts themselves can make it difficult for even an experienced and/or skilled GM to involve them, but it isn't impossible. This is by no means a complete discussion or resolution on the topic, but the start of what we hope is a dialog on the matter, to see what other solutions or ideas people come up with.
So if you have ideas, or have seen interesting ways to address the issue in various RPs, post them in the comments. Ideas, questions, suggestions, or stories of personal experience where the GM sought to involve the science or medical staff, and rocked the house doing it. We'd love to hear your thoughts!
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tewha7
Member
You can't be a hero unless you're rising above circumstance.
Posts: 141
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Post by tewha7 on Apr 12, 2014 4:38:54 GMT
We have a pretty good model of how to do this, you just need to reach back a bit further in Trek lore. Star Trek TOS had three main characters: Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Notice anything? Two scientists! And they were right in the thick of everything, in every episode. What made them main characters? - McCoy wasn't just a surgeon. He was — and I might even be missing something here — a physician, a psychologist, and a surgeon. In that order! He had different qualifications and experience than Kirk, and Kirk wanted to hear his opinion.
- Spock wasn't just a scientist. He was a logical thinker, and ship's XO. He was also (and ever shall be) Kirk's friend. Kirk wanted his feedback.
Then there was TNG. TNG isolated and marginalized Beverly Crusher. And there wasn't even a science officer as part of the main cast! So all our thinking on this subject is ruined, right? Not so fast! - They added Deanna Troi. Deanna Troi was on the bridge in every red alert. She had unique insights into alien races, and more than that a compassion for those she met. In short, Troi — not Crusher — was McCoy's replacement. I'll certainly grant you that TNG didn't always treat her with enough weight, but for the purposes of RPing a character she was at least there and got some lines (albeit sometimes stupid ones).
- They added Data. Sure, Data was Ops not Science. But despite not wearing blue, Data was Spock's replacement in terms of getting science done.
So my solution to the scientist/doctor problem: Play someone who's qualified to be on the bridge, and qualified to be consulted (even if then discarded) in on decisions. I'm not saying they have to be overqualified super geniuses, just that you should plan them with a place on the bridge. If you play a character with a skill set as varied as McCoy, Troi, Spock or Dax you'll be involved in RP even when there's no medic or harder science needed. If you're playing Crusher, the EMH, Bashir or a specialist in string theory, you're probably going to be outside of main action and overlooked. (And that's COMPLETELY fine, of course, if you're fine with that.) - Medical: Play a doctor/psychologist instead of a surgeon. Think McCoy: How many scenes were on the bridge or in Kirk's quarters, rather than sick bay?
- Science: Play a generalist and good thinker with a useful specialty, rather than a specialist with no abilities outside of his speciality. Generalists are regular cast; specialists are guest stars!
- In either case: Team up with people who appreciate it.
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Post by Ayche on Apr 12, 2014 17:00:21 GMT
Having been the GM of Everest, and then Avalon for a while, I can comment for certain that it can be rather difficult to get science and medical involved. Medical can be hard because you don't want to have the crew get injured or sick every session, and science because we tend to get into a lot of fights...but that doesn't mean you can't get something going, if you plan right.
Doing a story that focuses on, say...a plague on a planet. Medical and science then have to work together to get a cure made up. A minor flu bug is running around the ship, so the medical staff has to work to get everyone innoculated. Standard medical checkups for the crew. But even these can only be done once in a while before they get boring!
Being on the bridge as the medical officer is fantastic, but what happens if you've got other medical staff to attend to? This is where personality quirks can be useful. As HS says during Geralyn's talk, being 'comedy relief' helps to break the monotony for him, and offers a bit of entertainment for anyone else that decides to watch. If you have a character with a proper, strong personality you can spend most of your time just working along side your staff, giving them orders, finding out little things here and there.
It's not as easy to do this as it is with Engineering. Technobabble when working on repairs and maintainence is much easier, as it's not a science... And being a science officer on the bridge can seem a bit boring, believe me, I know well by playing To'Rael. Just being able to have a comment on a situation can be enough to get things engaged, though. Many times Spock would comment, and the captain and bridge crew would instantly turn to him, allowing for a lengthy conversation about the topic. Same could go for medical.
In the end, it really does depend on the strength of the character, themselves. Just like any other character, if you have a toon that's more outgoing, it will be easier to get involved. And it makes things easier on the GM if you have a character as fleshed out as possible, and know how to wing it. For either, personal projects are fantastic. Mirroring what was said above, be a generalist...but don't be at the same time. You can easily be a geologist that's also the chief science officer. You know the general sciences, but you have an interest elsewhere. This could be where your personal project comes from, it could be something that sparks your interest when it just happens to come up.
To'Rael is chief science officer aboard Exodus. He portrays the role similar to Spock or Data, doing the generalized science stuff...but he's also a physical scientist. A minerologist, to be specific, so when something comes up that deals with strange alloys, his interest is piqued. Know where your character's interests lie, and you will have an easy in when it comes up.
I know this is starting to go into rambling territory, so I'll cut it off here. What's been said so far has been fantastic. Basically, don't let your job be the definition for what your character can and can't do, and you will have an easier time.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2014 17:57:22 GMT
Regarding RP with a dedicated GM, what I've done when I've conducted session is each time I'd focus on a different department for the story and rotate to the next for the following session. I'd also try and focus on subplots for characters who may be "inactive" for the primary story.
A Horta on the loose can give something for engineering to track down an solve as a sub plot. while the other characters deal with the main plot. Rare life form reading picked up on the surface not far from the away team to give the sciences something to do during a negotiation.
At times you can tie the two plots together, the primary plot will remain unresolved until a key component of the sub plot is brought over to help solve the overall mission.
There sometimes a bit of prep that needs to be done on the GM's side for sciences and medical. My Doctor Tel'kes story line took a lot of talking to Flynt and looking up viruses and pathogens to make it sound as realistic as possible.
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Post by firebringeraxel on May 2, 2014 22:26:36 GMT
I'm going to make a post like this to each thread just for the sake of covering bases. It should be pretty straightforward knowing what jobs actually fall under each department but I wanted to list specialties within each. Just to give people ideas of the sort of things they will need to have at least a small understanding about as an officer of this type. Science is easily the most complex and science/Medical officers often blur the lines between one another dependent upon their specialties. Hope this helps Also those marked with a tiny "M" are what would generally make the character a Medical Officer and not a Science one.Medical Doctorm- Surgeon
- Pediatrics
- Dentist (As much as it pains me to admit )
- Veterinarian
- Chiropractor
- Psychologist/Psychiatry
Biologistm- Biomolecular Physiologistm
- Botany - Flora/Plants
- Entemology - Insects
- Exo/Xenobiologym - Sentient Alien life
- Exo/Xenozoologym - Alien fauna
- Geneticsm - DNA/Genome
- Hematologistm - Blood
- Marine Biologym - Aquatic life
- Micro Biologym - Microscopic life
- Neurologym - Brain
- Paleontology - Developing history of life.
- Pathologistm - Disease
- Virologym - Viruses
- Zoologist - Fauna
- Nutritionist - Proper dietary needs
- Mycology - Fungus
- Opthomologym - The Eye
- Immunologistm - Immune system
- Parasitologym - Parasitic lifeforms
- Ornathologym - Birds
- Pharmacologym - Drugs and Medication
- Physiologym - How organisms, organ systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in a living system.
- Mammologym - Mammals
- Bioinformatics - Storage, Retrieving, organization, & analyzing of Biological data
Chemist- Biochemistm - Chemical Processes of the Body
Computer Science- Cybernetics - Mechanical augmentation of living beings.
Geologist - Solid & Liquid Matter that makes up a Planet- Geophysicist - Planets Enviroment/Relative to Space
- Meteorologist - Weather
- Mineralogist - Crystals, Minerals, & Ores.
- Seismologist - Earthquakes
- Thermologist -
- Vulcanologist - Volcanoes
- Oceanographer - Salt Water
- Limnology - Fresh Water
- Glaciology - Glaciers
- Paleontology - Prehistoric Life
- Hydrology - Movement, distribution, and quality of water
- Cartography - Study & practice of map making.
- Climatology - Climate/Weather patterns over time.
- Geomorphology - landforms and the processes that shape them.
- Geodesy - measurement and representation of planets, including gravitational field, in a three-dimensional time-varying space
Mathmetician
- Statistician - Statistics, Probability, & Logistics
- Actuary - Business Science/Economist
Physicist
- Engineering Physicist (More likely for an engineer to have as a skill but also applicable to researchers)
- Quantum Theorist -
- Astrophysics - The Universe
- Warp Field Theorist - Warp Travel
Social Sciences- Anthropology - Humankind
- Archaeology - Study of past activity of lifeforms.
- Cryptology -
- Historian - Recorded History
- Sociologist - Social Behavior
- Thanatologist - Death
- Psychiatric Analyst -
- Ecology - Interactions of Organisms & their Environment
- Agricultural Science - Farming
- Semiotics - Signs, indication, designation, likeness, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.
- Mythology - Mythos & legends.
- Sexology - Study of sexual interaction
- Civics - theoretical and practical aspects of citizenship
- Psephology - Elections
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Post by firebringeraxel on Jun 23, 2014 4:11:06 GMT
Update: Added more specializations to the list.
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