RP Season 4 : The Big Chair

[Kheren]

Greetings to all fleetmates!

With my best wishes for the New Year, let me take this opportunity to announce this year's new RP format: Taking Command!

To stimulate participation and give new challenges and opportunities to our roleplayers, this season will allow all players to take command of a vessel and lead his or her own original story. All the details will be given hereafter and on the next post: A message from Lotus Fleet Command


Of course, this is roleplay and not fanfic; therefore, it will be a story where you will interact with other players in sharing the adventure you will lead. In fact, to help as much as possible everyone to get this opportunity, the RP director will play a character on every ship active, to help with the storytelling if need be, but most importantly to help crewing as many ships as possible and all of us have as many adventures available as possible. Therefore, although a minimum of three players are mandatory to have a ship active, the would-be commanding officer will need in fact only one other fellow player to meet this 3+ players requirements!

The rest, active storyleading and engaging storytelling, will be up to you, if you feel ready for such a challenge.

Needless to say, players who are quite satisfied with playing one character as department head on one of our active ships will still be able to do so just as fully and as well as in the past. 

On a side note, please remember that, when speaking of rank in roleplay, we speak of the  rank of your RP character and not your actual rank in Lotus Fleet or STO! For example, I am an Admiral in the fleet, current Fleet XO and a former Fleet Admiral; this has no relation with my RP character Captain Kheren.

However, if you wish for the opportunity to command (meaning: lead a story), here are the requirements:



ROLEPLAY REQUIREMENTS FOR COMMAND DUTIES:

1- To captain a ship, the player must have available a character of the adequate rank for said vessel the player wishes to apply for (as delineated in the post: Message from Lotus Fleet Command).As usual only a Commander with one or more terms under this said rank may graduate to full captaincy and then, only if a ship and a crew are available (meaning at least two other available players for this specific ship).Other officers that will meet the following requirements will be designated as «Acting Captain» or «Starship Commander» or «Skipper» although their crew may refer to him simply as «Captain» as this will be his position even if not his actual rank. Except in very special circumstances as ruled by the RP department, any new character will be of Lieutenant Junior Grade rank, even one created by a veteran player. So new players as well as new characters will be limited to JOC command. To play on a starship, they will have to apply for a department head position on one of those available.


2- The officer may captain a mission by choosing one of the archived missions available and notify the RP department of his choice, or present an original storyline for approval. Any proposed storyline must be as complete as possible to be approved. See the already archived scenarios as examples of what is expected of a proper proposal. Use the mission idea form to propose your own story for your own ship or for others. You get an award if your story is picked up by another ship and turned into a full gaming session.


3- The player wishing to be captain of a ship must be willing and able to lead the story; which means daily availability. Since you lead the story, the sure way to kill it is failing to respond to fellow players in a most dilligent manner. No more than 24 hours must pass between posts. If no player posts, it is then up to the captain to post and move the story forward. Being the captain and thus GM is a lot of work and a huge responsibility and you have to be up to it for everyone involved.


4- The player-captain must also be willing and able to play at least one other character on someone else's ship. For the time being and until participation becomes higher, this requirement is also mandatory for current characters of actual captain rank (which currently are Syntron and Kheren).For example, I play Captain Kheren on the Horizon but I will also play Lieutenant Jonathan Livingstone on the Phoenix. Jeff T will keep playing Captain Syntron of the Phoenix, but his other Elisha Leone character will have to be reassigned to another active ship (the Horizon if none other). If Jureth keeps command of the Polaris and wishes to lead his own mission/adventure, his other character, Lieutenant Aron'Son, can opt to stay on the Horizon as the Polaris will then become a third independent ship available for play. Returning Lieutenant Sorripto will have to be assigned to another ship than the Phoenix if and unless Commander Riker is himself posted on another one... and so on. Any one-character player like BLZBUB wishing his Commander Rogers to have a command/adventure of his own will have to create at least one other character to assign and play on another ship.

We seek to promote and enhance participation, not dilute it. Since the RP director will have a character on every ship active this season, this means that every active ship will have at least three players dedicated to it. In fact, a ship will be declared active and able to play out an adventure if it has at least three players on board, not just because there is an approved story ready.


5- The captain of a ship must provide the NPC crew of that ship if it is not already established (and is free to change it if one has already been made by a previous commanding officer). Once the ship is commissionned (listed on the RP site as active), the captain will fill up the blanks on the crew roster, although he should require of his department heads (i.e. Other players on his ship) to build up their own department with their own NPCs to interact with. The captain may reserve for himself the NPC assistant chief position of any dept lead by another player to better interact with said player and replace him in case of absence.


6- Posting assignment will proceed as usual for all characters but the RP department reserves to itself the right to reassign officers if necessary to ensure maximum distribution of players throughout the deployed fleet. Players wishing for a command opportunity  may state so on the standard application form. Players wanting to go with only one character or not interested in command positions will proceed as usual, requesting a department head position on one of the ships that will be made available.

It is not recommended for new players to begin as a command officer, having not only the burden of gming an adventure but also having to play another character as well on another ship. Please first experience our RP in the simplest, easiest way possible to familiarize yourself with the whole process. Then you will know afterwards if you really can and wish to expand yourself or just concentrate on your one specific character.



So here it is; the chance to get into the Big Chair. Let's see how much you can enjoy and enrich the Lotus Fleet Roleplaying Universe this year!


Welcome aboard!



Admiral Kheren
RP Director

[Kheren]

To all RPers and fleetmates;

With the conclusion of both the 50th anniversary special and the USS Alsea's latest mission (soon to be novelized along the last USS McKenzie mission), we will return to regular starship play.

The captaining rules above still apply for veteran players. New players can also experience command by applying for a Junior Officer Cruise mission. All players, get ready to board your ship and begin anew the human Adventure to the final frontier... and beyond.

There will be new and exciting things coming up, so stay tuned for the official announcement of ship and crew deployement.


Kheren
RP Director