Starfleet Ranger Simming Guide

			Divisions and Personnel Assignments

By Sky Blake

While mention of the Starfleet Rangers has been on the Security duty post wiki for as long as David Whale existed, the position didn't really come into play until 2017. As I've been frequently asked about how to play a ranger, I've detailed some thoughts and information on this page to help players (and COs) determine if they should play a Starfleet Ranger.

What is a Starfleet Ranger?

Put very simply, the rangers are consultants for civilians establishing small settlements. If a civilian group or organisation seek to place a settlement on the outskirts of space and don't require an entire starship crew to help them, Starfleet sends a ranger. They'll help plan and construct the settlement with respect to the native landscape and wildlife, create emergency procedures, and organise communication between the settlement and the greater Federation. This can and will involve physically scouting the planet and reporting back to the group they're working with, requiring the skills necessary to survive in the wilderness alone should things go sideways. By combining what would originally be an entire Starfleet crew into one specialist, Starfleet saves resources for "more important" concerns—this is where a 'jack of all trades' skillset comes in. Characters that love bushbashing will particularly enjoy this kind of profession and lifestyle.

In addition, rangers explore, patrol and protect the borders of these areas with the limited equipment they have available. They do this by working or consulting with civilian organisations, like the Colonial Coalition Marshals Service (a Federation security organisation set in space not easily accessible by large starships). Rangers answer to civilians above Starfleet Command—it is their job to ensure civilian safety. Because of this, they would not make good "special ops" officers. Their job has very little, if any, combat or open hostile engagement.

How do you sim for a ranger?

Roshanara Rahman, captain of USS Veritas from 2393 to 2398, might answer this by saying "with great difficulty." If you have just joined Starbase 118, do not play a ranger. You can play aspects of a ranger while still maintaining your role as security officer, and doing so will make life ten times easier.

I maintained my character Sky Blake as a ranger for four years, and during that time, finding relevant things to do that connected her with her crew became problematic when we ran missions. Despite the ranger position being almost perfect for the Shoals, it is not perfect for a ship. I usually ended up playing something akin to duty officer, or your standard security role. The ranger aspect mostly came out to play during shore leave.

The rangers worked for Veritas in the Shoals because we were in a region of space specifically designed to be different from other campaign regions: it's small and restricted, belongs to a specific faction, and has a reason why Starfleet can't always send out entire crews to the region. It'd be hard to play a ranger in somewhere like Romulan or Klingon space for example, as one can't imagine many Federation settlements in those areas that wouldn't be afforded anything short of a Sovereign class starship in the area for protection.

While it is not impossible to play a ranger on a ship, it is mildly ill-advised for inexperienced players. I personally believe COs should limit the role to LtCmdrs. Junior players might get better engagement and possibly more enjoyment out of the mission specialist role.

Who do rangers answer to?

When assigned to starships, they answer to the ship captain. There is no real reason for you to play a character as ignoring their captain, in any circumstances. I have personally danced around the idea of conflicting orders—civilian agency wants ranger to do A but ship captain wants ranger to do B, so who actually gets precedence?—but only do so after discussion with your CO.

When they're posted to a settlement, they answer to civilian organisations and, of course, their superiors. This includes services like Federation Security and CCMS, for example.

Are the rangers and Starfleet Marines connected?

No. Captains, if your player is trying to make their Starfleet Ranger an expert macho-marine, they're playing the position wrong and I kindly ask you put a stop to it. Rangers are not one-man armies. They don't carry five phasers strapped to their bodies, and they don't run war zones.

Background

I think it's important I include the out of character "history" of the Rangers to explain some confusion and misconceptions around the role. This is mundane information that might give some insight into why things are the way they are. A lot of this section boils down to "why the rangers aren't marines."

Ranger origins

While simming on Veritas, I took a series of LOAs in 2017 and wanted to explain my character's absence. I'd been simming for over five years by that point and played almost every primary position. Instead of falling back to my character Tristam Core, I was interested in giving this phantom role left by David Whale called "Starfleet Ranger" a go. From what I can determine, no one had played the position by that point. The role was so vague in its description, I felt I could create something new with it. However, I took another LOA that lasted a few months without properly establishing any information on the wiki.

Platoons and Regional Support Officers aren't a thing... anymore

While I was away, the USS Gorkon was coincidentally using Rangers of their own for a mission. They were portrayed far differently from what I'd imagined—but, having already simmed a version of the rangers on Veritas, I was committed to my original plan. Things got a little muddy as I tried to marry what Gorkon had done with what I was doing. It wasn't very clean cut. This is where terms such as ranger platoons and regional support officers come from.

It harkens back to the cultural interpretations of the word "ranger". When they first appeared on Gorkon, a ranger platoon was played as covert special ops. By the end of their mission, they were no longer covert but were adopted as a non-marine marine unit. I, having returned from my long LOA then discovering the platoons, came up with the term "ranger regional support officer" to explain why my character is not a marine in gold. I make reference to this when talking to Shayne about the Rangers in Odd Jobs of Starfleet where I try (and fail) to justify both divisions, and you can see it in the wiki page's edit history.

Trying to combine two conflicting ideologies under the Ranger umbrella did not work very well, though. For example, one of my attempts to combine these things resulted in Blake going to Embassy of Duronis II for a combat "crash course." While those JPs were enjoyable to write, I've had four years to reflect on them and how they work with the position—I don't view them as part of the Ranger ethos anymore. I was itching to get the role back onto the track I'd originally designed for it... and so the "who can hold onto the rangers title the longest" game began. Every so often, I'd check to see if Gorkon was still using their ranger NPCs. Admittedly I never spoke to them about it, as while I was frustrated with myself for not having "claimed" the role when I first laid eyes on it, I had no problems with Gorkon doing their own thing. Eventually, Gorkons rangers were retired and I won the unspoken game. It was fun making references to their missions, though.

I abolished the idea of active platoons, got rid of "regional support officer" in favour of "ranger", and firmly established that rangers are not marines or like marines on their wiki page.

Why the Starfleet Rangers aren't the US Army Rangers

I understand where the misconceptions come from. The term 'Rangers' in the United States of America automatically conjure thoughts of the United States Army Rangers. This is likely what Whale originally intended given his history of marine characters... but then I came in and butchered the idea with my Australian environmentalism.

We already have Starfleet Marines. There is no reason for the Security department to have an army-based special operations group. We often have discussions about whether Starfleet is a military in our group, and there are two opinions on the matter—Starfleet is a military, and Starfleet isn't a military. So, in regards to why the rangers themselves aren't a special operations military division:

If Starfleet is a military, why would it need two "different" internal branches of more military?
If Starfleet is not a military, why would it need more than one internal branch of military?

If you want to play a marine, or a "proper military officer", then play a marine. A few individuals have come to me over a period of four years hoping the ranger position will sneak them past a "no marines" rule on their ship. I'm told this is what happened on Gorkon in 2017—a player wasn't permitted to play a marine, so the rangers were the compromise, thus the platoon stuck around for a while after.

This issue is why I wrote this page for both players and Commanding Officers, in hopes such tactical sneakiness doesn't continue. Don't try to hoodwink your CO. If you negotiate the marine role with them, you will more likely play your character the way you want to play them. You will have an easier time doing that over trying to bend another role to your whim.

Frequently Asked Questions

What advice do you have for playing a ranger?

Don't play a marine.
It's more fun when you're in a set campaign region or on a planet. If your ship is roaming around and you don't frequently return to planets, you're going to have a hard time justifying your character's position aboard the ship.
Show your character's work. If your character was assigned to help create a settlement prior to their assignment to a ship (or while they're assigned to a ship!), then work with your CO to showcase that settlement, especially during shore leave. You'd be surprised what your crew can do in the middle of nowhere.
Frequently ask yourself "what would an Australian do?"

Do the rangers police things?

The Rangers, though under Security's purview, aren't actually meant to police anything. Their purpose is to provide Starfleet consultancy and limited aid to civilian institutions. However, if asked by one of those institutions to aid in the arrest or capture of someone, they can.

Can I play a ranger who used to be a marine?

Yes. Every character can have a career change. But if you're coming to the rangers because you want to be a specialised marine, then no.

Are there any active rangers?

Check this page for a list of ranger characters. I'm not sure if any or all of them are currently active, but they all provide historical information IC. My original primary character Sky Blake is no longer in Starfleet, but my PNPC Rairen Caide is and will continue to be a ranger for the foreseeable future.