SCIENCE TRAINING

Quill Dramar

Welcome to Starfleet Academy Cadets. This is a guide to Academy Cadets who who are interested in pursuing the career of an RPG Science Officer. 

First off, I would like to welcome you all.  You have made the right choice. If you are still undecided about what field you wish to go into and are here to make an informed decision, then I bid you to stay so that you may make the best choice.  I hope that you decide to pursue a career as a Science Officer, which is in my opinion, the best choice you could possibly make.  As your Instructor, I will be informing you as to what your duties would be if, and when you become a fellow scientist in Star Fleet.

I can guarantee that you will find being a science officer an exciting job, one that you will always be proud to complete. As a science officer you will:

*  Be in command of all the scientific resources aboard you ship.

*  Be relied on in situations where the lives of the crew, and yours will depend on your ability, skill, and ingenuity to save the day.

*  Explore strange new worlds, see out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no man has gone before in the name of science, and the Federation of course.

*  Many good Captains, and First Officers were originally science officers.  Scientific knowledge can turn the tide of any battle.  If you know how to apply a piece of it, your already one step ahead.

The course will be broken down in to several lessons containing valuable information:

1.  Scientific/ Technical Knowledge

2.   Standard Ship duties

3.   Away Team Duties

4.   Use of Non-Player Characters or NPCs

5.   Interacting With Other Players

             6.   Be careful

I would like to start off by saying that you don’t need to be a scientist to play a scientist.  As a player you are not expected to quote scientific laws, theory, or hypotheses.  You will not be required to give the precise measure of the energy shell for a specific atom or explain why delta waves are extremely hazardous to living organisms.  Although, I quote the old saying,” A little knowledge goes along way.”  This is true for you as a player. If you can give the impression that you know what you’re talking about, then you will be ok.  Not all of us have degrees in astrophysics, archeology, astronomy, quantum physics, or anthropology.  Besides, your sensor readings and scan results will be posted by a GM (Game Moderator) or your CO (Commanding Officer). If you run into trouble and can’t think of the correct way to state something or you can’t find the right techno-babble phase, you can always ask a GM, your CO, or even another player. 

As for the second part of the lesson, Technical Knowledge, once again you don’t need to know how the sensor array you are using to perform your scans works.  Once again, if you can describe what you’re doing and if you play it like you know what you’re talking about, then you will be fine. There is a vast amount of information on the Internet, and is easily accessible.  One thing I found to be very interesting is the Star Trek Science Logs written by Andre Bormanis, the science consultant for DS9. Use your own realm of knowledge to your advantage, and if something is beyond it, then don’t be afraid to ask for help.

As a science officer aboard a starship, you will have certain duties.  First of all, you will be responsible for the gathering of scientific data and the conduction of experiments using that data. There may be times when you will be required to save the ship and the lives of the crew.  For example, lets say that your ship has been ordered to survey an unexplored nebula or an uncharted area of space such as the Typhon Expanse. On that mission the ship runs into a strange astronomical occurrence that is siphoning power from your ship’s warp core and unless prevented will drain all of your deuterium reserves, therefore leaving you powerless with no life support systems. It would be your job to find a way to compensate for the power drain and get the ship and crew out of danger.

Also as a science officer you don’t sit around waiting for something that requires your attention to come to you, you search it out. Experiments are constantly being conducted in the science labs.  If you’re looking for something to do, then experiment.  

Sometimes in order to complete your mission, an away mission will be necessary.  Depending on the parameters of the away mission, a science officer will sometimes be needed.  In these situations, the science officer would beam down and perform his tasks as he would aboard the ship. These include:

Watching for anything that might be scientifically valuable and performing the duties assigned to you by the away team leader. A few important notes regarding away missions:

1.    You will not accompany every away mission.

2.    A tricorder is a scientist’s best friend.

An important aspect of role-playing is your use and interaction with NPCs. There are hundreds of officers and enlisted personnel aboard a starship, but there are only so many PC's (Player Characters).  In addition to playing your character, you are allowed to play NPC's.  They can be extremely useful in role-playing. You are restricted to playing 1 PC, but you can play as many NPC's as you want, or as your CO allows you to.  The nice thing about NPC's is that you are not restricted to playing an NPC in your department. If you choose to, you can play one in another department as long as you have the Department Head's permission to do so. NPC's allow you to display your depth of knowledge and bring some excitement to the game. More information will be given regarding NPC's at Starfleet Academy.

NPC's can be up to one rank higher than your PC, upon approval of your CO.
 

During your time on the site, however long it maybe, you will be required to interact with the other players on your ship.  In reality, there may be 10+ players on your ship.  The players and their departments will be required to work together to complete the mission and survive. Lets face it; in reality not everyone will be friendly, and you will have problems with others. This can be a good way to develop your character and create sub-plots. You may also develop meaningful  friendships with the other players on your ship. To develop your characters, you two may decide to “pretend” to have problems with one another. If this is case, be sure that you discuss it with each other first so that you don’t create a real problem between the two. Remember, the point of role-playing is to have run.

When posting make sure that you post open-ended. This means that when you post, make sure that you allow others to interact with your posts. Remember; don’t solve everything with one post. You want to allow for everyone to get into the game and have fun.

As a science officer, you will be making an important contribution to the success of the mission. Don’t worry if you don’t know everything there is to know about science, you will pick up a lot as your go. I wish you luck in your Starfleet career and remember; Have fun!!!

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