Workings of the Embassy
| Embassy of Duronis II • USS Thor |
|---|
Introduction
In 2004 the Embassy was just a dream. It began life as a project on the drawing board, or rather a set of threads on the Forums. This allowed the dream to be shared with all across the fleet and a number of UFoP players worked on its creation long before I even got involved.
By the end of 2004 the dream became a reality. With players throughout the fleet having brainstormed the Embassy's setting, we as a crew took their idea and expanded on their foundations. As we strive to build an entire planet, culture and history we record our facts and our missions here on the wiki.
But the creation is quite like no other -we're planet based, we often do diplomatic, political and science based missions rather than all out action and as such simming on the Embassy can be a little different too.
Whether your an experienced Embassy crewmember or a new player joining our little group, there are times when we all need to put our hands on a piece of info telling us what we can do as a player within our group.
This page tries to offer a wealth of information on how to be a player with the Embassy group. The website and the wiki offers a wealth of IC info about the Embassy setting and the Star Trek Universe, but hopefully this page can act as your first port of call when you have a question on being a player or what to do!
-Capt. Rocar, Oct. 2005
Aims and Goals
As we began our adventures on Duronis II we had a number of aims and goals which we would work towards. This article details them:
Also, if anybody is interested in reading the original brainstorming behind the Duronis II Embassy creation then they are available here:
This can be quite an amusing read. You'll see what we inherited from our friends across the fleet and perhaps be able to reflect on how our sims and the details in them compare to their original ideas. Perhaps you could even bring back a forgotten idea and get it into one of your posts to make that dream become a reality.
As we move on as a crew their are three main goals which we ought to all walk towards:
- The Embassy group will always be tolerant and understanding: Open to all races, sexualities, ages, religion and gender etc. This is both IC and OOC.
- Stay within PG13 but push the boundaries of what we explore in your sims. There's no reason we cannot have disabled characters, homosexual characters or even extremist characters. Likewise, our writing should explore the issues that affect societies -damaging the environment, poverty, war, drug use etc etc. Anything we see in the news would likely make an aspect of Laudean society worth exploring.
- Do not be afraid to seek out new ways of simming or offer an original of looking at the Star Trek universe. Everyone can have an idea and its up to Ensigns and Lt.Jg to lead a mission on in its plot just as much as a LT.Cmdr.
Two Tiered Simming System
It is important to understand the two tiered simming system on the Duronis II even if your not always seeing it in use!
Sometimes a player's RL commitments mean that they remain excellent high quality writers but in a mission environment they can not always keep up with pace and feel bad for holding people up with replies. In the two tier system these players move to (for lack of a better expression,) Part-Time embassy based characters. These part-time players remain Embassy based whilst the other players will be the ones sent out on the more traditional high-powered and fast moving away missions.
Going Part-Time is not a handcuff though. Come each "shoreleave" (or point at the end of a main mission,) Part-Time players will get a chance to volunteer for the next mission and return to full-time with the crew. Or they can choose remain at the Embassy on a PT basis. For example, if a player suddenly has exams coming up in the next month or if they're off on holiday with only internet-cafe access then then they can take a step back for a few weeks.
Those Part Timer (henceforth referred to as PT) remaining at the Embassy will therefore be able to continue simming at a slower rate without holding up an actual mission. Our planet based Embassy setting allows for something exciting: contrary to what might usually be the case with being a PT.
If you ask to be a PT then you are actually taking on an important responsibility: You will be tasked with exploring the Laudeans, their society, their history -everyday life. In essence your mission is to write a sim that explores an aspect of Duronis II or Laudean society. And you write it as and when your RL time permits.
To give you an example, Lt.Cmdr Jenkins (a made up person,) has been playing with the UFoP for nearly 4 years and is a great writer who has ties to the Embassy group and other players there; she does not want to quit and won't transfer. But she has to revise for exam and work 40 hour weeks and cannot keep up with the mission pace. So she take on her PT embassy based role. What I expect from her (and other players in that situation,) is that when she writes a sim it should not just be about her pottering about the Embassy complex but it should go and explore the Duronis II setting separate from the mission... so for example she could go shopping round a market in Lokesh or she could go witness a coven or she could meet an old man and talk about what life on Duronis II was like before the revolution!
If she wanted she could just write a short story about a fisherman at the other side of the planet...anything that helps establish what local life is like there! These writers can really do some in depth exploration of the Duronis II setting and give a real vibe to the planet -even though their post will not be tied to the focus of the main mission everyone else is on.
Captain Rocar keeps a number of NPC/secondary characters but only one or two are ever needed in a mission. The others are there to facilitate those undertaking this second tier PT role. At the end of the day, 4 quality sims a month from these players setting out the background of Duronis II is better than loosing these good writers all together because their RL prevents them from simming at the rate of the mission.
New ways of Simming
In establishing a planet based sim we have done something new. But the novelty need not end there. In addition to running our regular missions, we sometimes like to try out a new way of simming within the standard format accepted for our usual mission.
Although most are missions are traditional, so far we've done two kinds of things to make a mission a little different. The first was a Murder Mystery in which we surprised everyone with the death of a main character. Each member of our crew was then e-mailed (in a direct OOC) a set of three clues pointing to the culprit. Alone these clues were useless but once the crew all shared their clues by writing them into their sims then they could work together and it became a solvable murder mystery that everyone strove to solve.
The other new mission we did was insert a different type of puzzle into a sim. The crew could only overcome the obstacle blocking their mission once a player completed the puzzle and included their solution in their sim
Details of how these missions were organized and run are printed below:
The Murder Mystery Sim
OOC: Sent to Everybody
This Morning Lt.Jg Furlong was due to report for work at 08:00 hours. When she did not show, the Administration Offices were unable to reach her and as per standard procedure Embassy Security were notified.
Scans traced Lt.Jg. Furlong’s com.badge to the Captains’ Library. This is one of several Libraries in the Embassy however it is reserved solely for Officer’s of Captain Rank or above. As such only Rocar and any visiting Captain have permanent access to the room.
Captain Rocar was called down and gave the Security Team access to the room. Upon entering the small Library, Rocar and the Security Officers for Lt.Jg. Elaine Furlong lying dead on the floor. The Murder investigation must now begin...
These are the suspects:
- Captain Rocar Drawoh Hilzarie - [had access to room]
- Elaine Furlong’s Ex-Husband - [had access to room]
- Lt.Cmdr. Aiowyn Shartara - (Although not a Captain, had access to room because she is Rocar’s PA)
- The Laudean Scientists - still in the Embassy at the time of death (could they have been in the room?) i.e. Prof Quasimalda, Dr. Kalahari and Dr. Noree
- Lt.Jg. Webb - (Closest friend of Furlong, could he have been in the room)
NB: These are the ONLY suspects... the murderer is definitely one of the above so please do not accuse anyone else –for example if a set of clues happens to point to Cmdr Sheriden it is a coincidence. You should only look for clues that point towards one of these characters above and equally clues that prove it could not have been them!
You will shortly each receive three details regarding the murder. These three pieces of information must be incorporated into your sim. It is up to you how you do this –for example you may send each detail in a separate sim, or you may choose to sim both details at once. You may also decide to reveal only half a detail and then reveal the second half of that detail in your next sim.
You may elaborate on details. For example if you receive: “1. On the night of the murder you were in the bar drinking with Rocar till 8pm” then you must convey that, however you can speculate on this detail and it is up to you what you drank/talked about/your mood/why you left, etc.
You should volunteer your pieces of information through dialogue in your sim –for example simming your character going up to one of the security officers and telling them something you feel is significant. Likewise, if someone tells you something that doesn’t quite make sense you should ask everyone else if they know anything else. Eg. If Lt. Johnson tells you “She was murdered using the Andorian death grip,” then you may ask if anyone knows what an “Andorian death grip is?”
You are all detectives as we at the Embassy wish to catch the murderer ASAP. Your pieces of information will make little sense on their own –but once combined with other peoples clues they should point clearly to the murderer. In a week and a half/ 2 weeks (or before depending on how quick we sim our details,) Rocar will call a meeting in the conference room and you each have to say who your character’s investigation has led you to believe is the guilty culprit.
If there are any questions please e-mail: Captain@Embassy.starbase118.net and I’ll reply ASAP.
Don’t hold back...feel free to get right in and start simming your clues to one another –its up to you how, could be anything from an official report after visiting the crime scene to just gossiping about it with other characters in the corridors!
Have fun!
Captain Rocar
PS. Clues labeled with a ** are pieces of information you should mention as soon as possible (because they explain the basic plot –eg why someone is a suspect).
Individual Clues(Three per player)
Gabriel: Medical - El-Aurian
Your character must go the the library and examine the corpse.
1. On medical examination of the corpse: the body's time of death was between 9pm and 10:30pm
2. On medical examination of the corpse: the cause of death was a heart attack, though there is also a stab wound (that could have caused shock and cardiac arrest.
3. You know and may point out that Lt.JG Cyrus Webb's telepathy is very strong... strong enough to know the victims feelings...and possibly do more?
Tarn: Medical (you don't examine the corpse) -Trill
1. After collecting your child from the Rocar residence on the night at the ball (at the Embassy several weeks ago) you walked back to yours. On the way you walked passed a shuttle hanger where you saw Webb and Furlong together, very close and she was in her night clothes.
2. Using medical knowledge you may point out that Laudeans can not kill (nor cause heart attacks) through Fielding.
3. You were talking to Lt.Webb till 10pm on the evening of the murder (about your wife and the mission etc)
Renora -Science -Bajoran
1. You saw Lt.Cmdr Aiowyn Shartara and Furlong arguing loudly with each other at 8:30 pm just outside their quarters, you were surprised as you noticed the two of them spend a lot of time together.
2. You heard a male voice in the Library at 9:20pm -you were off duty and heading towards the gardens.
3. At 9:45pm you saw Lt.Cmdr Shartara in tears in the garden –sat on the bench by the rose bushes. She was very upset about something and you took her back inside.
Creed -Intelligence Officer -Terran
1. You had been exploring an intelligence report that linked some of the Laudean scientists (on our last mission with the RESOLUTION) to some extremist Laudean organizations. The 3 scientists were Dr. Kalahari, Prof. Quasimalda and Dr. Noree. Your intelligence suggests Kalahari is a high ranking coven leader of the Fielding League and that Prof Quasimalda has ties to a terrorist group known as the Fala'r who want off-worlders off Duronis II: “Til’ahn for the Laudeans”
2. You were warned the Fala'r terrorist group were planning an attack on one of the Embassies. The Fala'r want off-worlders off Duronis II : “Til’ahn for the Laudeans”
3. Just before leaving the USS RESOLUTION you picked up traces of an unknown source onboard the vessel downloading info from the RESOLUTIONs computers. This access point was near the Laudean scientists quarters and included personnel information –including info on Captain Rocar and Ktarians and other senior staff –including Lt.Jgs Webb and Furlong.
Torrance -Chief Administrative Officer -Terran
1. At 9:45 you were in the bar, so was Furlongs ex-husband (though you did not know it was her ex at the time,) who came over to you and started chatting you up. Barmen Albee and Bertok also saw this.
2. Furlong told you several weeks ago that she knew something about her ex-husband that scared her...a dark secret he'd never want to get out.
3. At 9:30 you briefly saw Rocar in the bar leave with a bottle of expensive wine.
Dar -Chief of Security -Bajoran
1. You were called to the corridor by the Captain's Library at 10pm due to the Laudean scientists being in an unauthorized area of the Embassy...you took them away to the security office until about 11. Whilst in the corridor there were no voices from the Captain's Library.
2. On examination of the stab wound you see that it fits with a defensive stab move in the Zantar'Lik -a Ktarian Martial Art that involve knife attacks with a form of stabbing in a precise way, shape and place. Its difficult to learn.
3. Furlong's ex-husband has a security record of violence though he has never been convicted due to lack of evidence or prosecutors.
Hilzarie - Counselor -Betazoid
1. Whilst on an evening stroll with her husband (in the garden), at 7:45 you saw Webb looking at Furlong talking to her husband (in the garden) and sensed a pang of jealousy.
2. You were with Rocar for the entire evening and all night, taking a stroll round the garden between 7:15 and 7:55 (you were seen by Sheriden, Furlong and her husband and Webb) you then went home where Rocar cooked at 8pm. You ate 8:40pm. Later, around 9:40 you went to use a holodeck program with Rocar and spent the night there. There was however twenty minutes you spent without Rocar, between 9:15 and 9:35 as you went into the bathroom to shower and change into something special.
3. You sensed a sudden pang of shock/surprise and pain from Furlong who was otherwise calm...suggesting she was surprised by someone she knew and not a stranger. This was at 9:25 and you thought little of it as you were in the bathroom, the emotion soon passed.
Pulak – Security Officer – Vulcan
1. At 09:10 you caught Furlong’s ex-husband at one of the Embassies security check and he had a knife on his person. There was no blood on the knife and you let him through due to his rank (and privileges accorded to it,) and him not doing anything wrong.
2. You continued your patrol and at 09:17 you saw Captain Rocar rushing out of his quarters in a hurry to get somewhere. At 09:34 you saw him arrive back with flowers and an expensive bottle of wine in hand –still in a hurry so you did not stop to speak to him.
3. Continuing your evening security shift patrol, at 10:15 you find a blood stained knife, it was in the garden about 200m from the rosebushes and an open window.
Xoet – Science
You must go to the crime scene and run tricorder scans!
1. You detect a high residue of Fielding Energy in the Captain’s Library. –suggesting a Laudean had been in the room and used Fielding even though they should not have had access to this room.
2. The night of the murder you were going over analysis of the USS RESOLUTIONS sensor findings on the Sandbar in the Duronis system, you went over these finding with all three Laudean scientists (Prof.Quasimalda, Dr Kalahari and Dr. Noree) –the four of you were going over these findings until 9:30pm
3. If a Security Officer presents you with a knife, then your forensic tests reveal that the blood on the knife is Furlong’s. You also find the knife’s handle has Furlong’s ex-husbands finger prints on it in addition to Rocar’s, Webb’s and Pulak’s. You may also discover footprints in the Garden –belonging to Rocar, Hilzarie, Furlong & her ex-husband, Shartara, Renora, Pulak, Hope and Sheriden.
Sheriden – Deputy Chief of Mission - Terran
1. You asked Lt.Jg Webb to fix the replicator in the Captains’ Library (where the murder occurred) and gave him temporary access codes for the room.
2. You will remember that Rocar used to teach the Zantar'Lik to John Stone on the USS CONSTITUTION when off-duty. You presume the Zantar'Lik is a sort Ktarian Martial Art but could be cookery or flower arranging for all you know.
3. You saw Lt.Jg. Furlong’s ex-husband give her a bouquet of flowers at 7pm but she slapped him and walked off looking upset. You tried to stop the argument but were politely asked to stand down. Later you were with Hope and surprised to see them again around 7:45 together in the garden smiling and laughing –looking happy.
Details kept on record but not sent out: time of the night:
Murder takes place between 9 and 1030 in a room only Rocar, ex-husband, Webb and Shartara have access to but which scans show a Laudean has been in.
Rocar
9-915 with Gwen 9:15 –seen rushing in corridor by Pulak 9:30 –seen by Pulak rushing in corridor 930 – 1030 with Gwen
Webb
9 – 10pm talking to Doctor Tarn 10pm – 10:30pm ?????
Ex-Husband
7pm argue with Furlong 745 chatting in garden with her laughing and smiling leaves her as she goes she Shartara ??? 910 seen with a clean knife 920 His voice in Library 930 Commits murder 945-1030 in bar with Torrance
Laudeans
9-9:30 in meeting with Xoet 930 -10pm ??? 10pm – 1030pm with Dar –caught somewhere they shouldn’t be!
Shartara
830 argument with Furlong in quarters ??? 945 -1030: crying on bench in garden then Renora takes her home
What the crew thought?
If you did this mission please write a feedback comment here!
Puzzle Sim
Coming soonish
What the crew thought?
If you did this mission please write a feedback comment here!
OOC Involvement
There's a large number of things you can do to get involved and help run the Embassy. But the most important place to get active are:
- Cataloging things on our wiki.
- Volunteering to write a Monthly report on what we've done in our mission this month.
- Once you reach Lt rank, Mentoring a new officer.
- Taking part in discussions here:
Fleetwide
As a player on the Embassy you are also part of the wider UFoP wide community and should try and help out the fleet a little bit if you have some spare time. Remember the UFoP takes a lot of running and things only get done when people volunteer.
Good places for you to get involved are:
- The Advertising Team (helping to promote the UFoP and ensure we get new players)
- The News Team (who's articles get published Front page of our site
Socialize across the Fleet
As a community of Star Trek fans, we are not limited to having something in common withjust our own group. Try and use the forums whenever you have a spare second (for example I check the threads that interest me 5 minutes before going to lunch!)
Also you may wish to join one of our guilds and meet people with similar specific interests:
- Readers Guild - For those who play characters who are telepathic or empathic, this guild acts as a point of reference on information concerning these unique circumstances.
- Lambda Alliance - Helping to create diversity within our RPG, the Lambda Alliance is for members of our group who are/are supportive of/play characters who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered.
- Guild of Vulcans - For Vulcan characters and those interested in Vulcan culture.
- Guild of Trills - For Trill characters and those interested in Trill culture.
- Guild of El-Aurians - For El-Aurian characters and those interested in El-Aurian culture.
Survival Material
Promotions
Okay so you're dying to get your character promoted but you're not sure what you still need to do or how to achieve it?
Then Go to: UFOP: SB118 Promotions
Generally you will find the promotions from Ensign to Lt.Jg will come quicker and that with each rank it will go slower/take longer to get promoted.
As you rise up the ranks, it becomes more about how you help others: -how you've helped the command staff with OOC work? How you've driven the plot forward? But most importantly how you've helped lower ranking officers. Even the best writer in the world will not make it past Lt.Jg if they are not nice to new officers and help them out or don't get involved with ooc work in addition to writing plenty of great sims!
It really isn't about how long you've played your character in the group and how many missions you do... Promotions do need to be earned, and unfortunately you have a captain who's little tough in promoting people. But, that way you know you really have achieved something when you get a promotion.
If you want to get promotions look to have a finger in every pie and help out as much as you can -become part of our online community and not just a writer ;o)
Details in Sim
Ever watched Star Trek V and thought "hold on they've past that deck twice now" when Spock and Kirk fly up the turbolift? Or perhaps been confused in Star Trek First Contact when the number of decks on the Enterprise changes from 24 to 26?
Most of us don't notice these things, but those that do get irritated by them. So even if Paramount cannot remember how many decks a ship has from one page of script to another...we should at least try to do better and get continuity in our sims.
As we develop the Embassy and Duronis II there are countless facts that we establish that it would be nice to keep "Embassy canon" from sim to sim. Your first port of call should be here the wiki... of course for that to work you need to catalog facts you've sim here too!
Additionally:
This is our Guidebook and offers lots of great trivia to help you get accurate details in your sim! Check it out for:
- Background: An overview of the background of the embassy.
- Duty Posts: More explanation on the jobs each staff member holds.
- Promotion Info: More information on how staff members are promoted.
- Embassy Defenses: Explanation of the embassy's defenses and alert statuses.
Also, if we're using a vessel -make sure you check up on what vessels we have available to us:
Not only does this tell you what craft we have but it also allows you to gain access to:
- How many we have?
- The ships' names and NCC numbers
- Their stats eg size and warp speed ability!
- Where they are kept!!!!
A quick check at the above link and you know where to go to get a runabout for your sim. You know how fast it can go and you make sure we have consistency in what our runabouts are called!
- o) I really don't want to see sims where you go and use the runabout River Thames from a non-existent shuttlebay in Rocar's rose gardens anymore than I want to hear that Star Trek IV's humpback whales are about to be returned to Alaska for release back into the wild when Dr. Gillian Taylor told Kirk and Spock that Gracie was "very pregnant." (Humpbacks give birth in warm, south Pacific waters, say Hawaii, during the winter and later migrate north for summer.)
Know thy neighbors
Being planet based its very important to know who our "adversaries" and "friends" are. After your own character's race then you should know the most about Laudeans, Romulans and Zalkonians.
The Embassy section details Laudean culture and society. For example did you know their is a traditional Laudean form of greeting (equivalent to a handshake)? When you sim a Laudean its nice to include these little details and they can be found on the wiki.
Our Website also has some key info: Laudeans on our website
This includes:
- Spacial Geography: Detailing the spacial geography of the Duronis system. and its inherent worlds.
- Planetary Geography: Background on the planet's country-states and their geography.
- The Laudeans: An exploration of the Laudean people and their culture.
- Laudean Government: A profile of the current central government in power.
- Laudean Fielding: More information on the Laudean "fielding" power, which enables the Laudeans to sense energy fields..
- Laudean History: A brief background on Laudean history, including information up to the Revolution.
When you sim a Laudean its important to describe their appearance in keeping with what we've established so familiarize yourself with this: Laudeans
The Romulans are known well enough. Part of the joys of our setting is that we get recurring characters eg Senator Or'Lok, the Romulan Ambassador. Or like Gul Dukat in DS9 our recurring Reman villan D'Vreoux.
Memory Alpha article on Romulans
Again, when simming a Romulan character its nice to include as much little details as possible! Maybe the odd Romulan word or a Romulan game they like playing or eating a canon Star Trek Romulan food.
The Zalkonians are diferent all together. Once again, there's very little canon stuff on them so you have free artistic license to make it up. This is a different kind of simming to simming the Romulans who have such a wealth of canon facts at your disposal.
Do however bear in mind things we already established about them in previous sims (for example that the Zalkonians are a Suzerainty or that they're socially inept and slightly xenophobic) and of course the canon facts,
Memory Alpha Article on Zalkonians
You'll see from the above article that some Zalkonians are evolving into to non-corporeal life-forms. But you must remember that the Zalkonian people were frightened by those undergoing the change and their government began exterminating anyone showing symptoms. As such a member of the Zalkonian delegation would not be walking around and have omnipotent powers/ be turning non-corporeal.
For the sake of the sim we say none of these kind of Zalkonians are on Duronis II. Remember, in the UFoP you can not play these kind of races (eg. a Q) and so your Zalkonian characters must adhere to that rule.
The Mentor System
When a new player or Ensign arrives at the Embassy from the academy, they are assigned a mentor. This is usually a Full Lieutenant or higher and would usually be their department head or someone with experience in that department. These mentors introduce themselves to the new officer the minute they come on board, makes friends with them OOC -helps them make other ooc friends, importantly giving them something to respond to in the sim/help them get involved. Then if something is amiss with the new officer's sim they'll catch it and correct it. Eventually, they offer advice on things to try and improve on, all the while praising the new officer's positive aspects.
This system seems to please both mentor and new officer a great deal. (if you're doing something wrong and get corrected by the Captain its sometimes a bit more daunting than if your buddy points it out to you and gives you some pointers.)
This allows the junior officers to always get 1 on 1 help, praise and pointers whenever it's needed, whether that's three times a week or once a week. This ends up far better than if they were to wait until the end of the month for an evaluation from me as CO; it also gives the senior players an OOC responsibility. In this way, once you are a Lt or Lt.Cmdr you may become a mentor and gain a taster of dealing with OOC issues long before you reach Commander rank/FO status. It helps the crew gell and hopefully when you are a mentor you feel like they are giving something back by being involved with this ooc responsibility.
This system helps junior officers to improve and also ensure they make OOC friends/ get help joining in the sim (i.e. we always have someone who will remember to include us and the mentor IC usually takes the new officer under their wings and introduce them to others IC)
Feedback on the Mentor system
If you've been a mentor or been a new officer and has a mentor please leave some feedback/leave comments about the mentorship system here!
How to Sim in Briefings
See the following advice: