|
Post by Lieutenant jg Ezri Tegan on Jul 1, 2018 7:13:33 GMT -5
I have a general role playing question regarding my character Ezri Tegan and perhaps role playing science officers in our fleet in general. Although I think being a science officer is different on each ship and in between each GM. I was just wondering what Ezri's job really was. I know that sounds weird. But, basically most of our regular role play seems to take place either on the bridge or in engineering. And, the only job she is allowed to do is run sensor scans. The thing about that is that that operations (strategic operation and ship's operations), tactical, and engineering all have their own sensors. Plus in shows like TNG sensors were always handled by the operations officer. So it sort of makes Ezri's a fifth wheel and mostly useless with respects to bridge RP. I know that perhaps on away missions that involve science or in non-bridge action involving science she would get more involved. I was just throwing this out there to get some feedback. Ways that the position can be more useful without stepping on any other department's toes.
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg T'Ghor on Jul 1, 2018 8:23:03 GMT -5
Does the protector have holoprojectors? You have seen me do that on T'Ghor, using them in a combat situation as a means to confuse the enemy with photonic ships.
While I played the chief science of Gigantes, I was down in the lab most the time, but on the bridge, I also launched various probes, and often did tech-related things, for example keeping a firewall down until the ops officer or the Stratops uploaded a virus to the enemy systems.
Pretty much depends on the situation and GM, though I doubt AB would prevent you from doing the stuff I suggested.
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg Ezri Tegan on Jul 1, 2018 8:41:50 GMT -5
To be perfectly honest I don't know what the Protector has. or what its science related capabilities are. Also with respects to that srot of stuff, the Protector also has a Strategic Operations officer. And, I am not sure exactly what V'Tira's job is but I think it involves a lot of electronic warfare stuff.
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg T'Ghor on Jul 1, 2018 8:46:36 GMT -5
Yeah, at least in that aspect, I kept more of a support role on the Gigantes. Alizee was the one who was responsible for electronic warfare, I just lended a hand, so maybe you could do that.
Also, possibly, particle bombardment on an enemy's shields to bring them down. It is an idea I shamelessly ripped off from the game's mechanics, but was allowed during a recent Gigantes event. Wasn't a science officer by then, but when my char suggested it, the science NPC did it, so I guess it would be allowed for you too.
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg Ezri Tegan on Jul 1, 2018 8:57:08 GMT -5
Sure. I think with a of if that stuff where you are modifying ship systems to execute some effect, like dropping an enemy ship's shields, could potentially fall on more than one department. Deflector dish operation could be considered engineering, but bridge personnel would have access to it. One frustrating aspect of the Ezri character is that she was rolled up and served as an engineer on the Ayanami before that ship imploded. That is an aspect of the character that I am sort of forced to ignore. Even though it is actually canon for the character. Still it is a good suggestion and Ezri has done that sort of stuff in the past. She created a subspace rift during the battle of Bajor...like the mad scientist she is.
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg T'Ghor on Jul 1, 2018 9:02:54 GMT -5
Oh, yes I remember that, that was fun... and a good call. Just keep stuff like that on your mind, kind of make other stuff up as you go and ask AB if it's fine, and it should work out... that's what I did on my science chars anyways. And I think adressing that part of Ezri's canon IC would be a good way for her to be given a few more privileges and some other systems' control.
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg Ezri Tegan on Jul 1, 2018 9:12:59 GMT -5
Nalie is always "Stop touching my stuff!" and "I swear if you break my console one more time I will break your hands!" I imagine that if Nalie lets Ezri help out the job will involve an EVA suit, a toothbrush, and cleaning the outside of the warp nacelles.
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg T'Ghor on Jul 1, 2018 9:22:55 GMT -5
I can totally imagine that happening
|
|
|
Post by Lt Cmdr Billie Jo Spencer MD on Jul 1, 2018 9:23:50 GMT -5
I can totally imagine that happening That would actually be very amusing.
|
|
|
Post by DGM Soft Kitty on Jul 1, 2018 9:51:44 GMT -5
V's Job is essentially military/intelligence communications and electronic warfare. She also is responsible for keeping the command staff informed on fleet operations as well allied and other ships current missions in relation to their own ship..Much like Worf on DS9's job was. On the Adagio, and the Sentinel (Which both ships and the Gig is supposed to...though they are sans a science officer...except for Liz atm) do is indeed run Sensors and investigate anomalies. They are then able to coordinate and continue to investigate in the labs with other research labs. Now I have seen Xae, Eren and little Skye do this during events and even in between events...initial scans taken during any given event...and rp threads using that data as on going research...some of such research over the years even developed new tech to be added to the ships from players doing further research. I always allowed a small science lab aboard the old Sentinel, which is where Cynthia Davidson and the other various other science relief officers could help the player science officer at the time to do what they could with the small facility that they had. Much like what was done on a larger scale aboard the Adagio and at the time Ayanami Now when I played Liz waaaaaay back then, Liz was forever building on her research in the various lab...working on stuff from previous events...Ny called it her 'mad scientist lair'. Stuff she later has done working on the new Inferno and now even as Skipper aboard the Gig....lol even last night..Eren met with Xae in the Adagio's echo lab as Xae had something working on...a few weeks while little Skye is working her classified 'Project Sucky-Sucker'! Now OOCly I don't have a huge science background IRL but i was able to extrapolate from Spock and how such research in Star Trek and generate endless science reports back in the day and ended up developing such things as Ny/Liz's Project 616 (Undine scanner/detector) down to the Project Salvation Anti-Esper protocols... The closest example I can give to a mix of pure research rp and duty science officer rp that Liz went through was Xae, Eren and Skye on the Adagio and Serris on the Pilgrim. They rp'd bridge duty and when off duty they are often found right back in the lab and when needed they down their personal research and join an away team gathering more data on other projects such as the Bajoran Plague, Stellar phenomena like the Akaiore, Skye's Sucky Sucker and he numerous Projects of Xae's like the original ACCI and the Tali requested 'Wild Weasal' Probes ...etc. So They like Liz had their own research, while needing research to the current event and extrapolating such data into numerous other research projects. This is what I like to encourage in all of the ships in regards to science officer rp and how I envision how science officer role in the fleet hon! <3
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg Ezri Tegan on Jul 1, 2018 10:47:20 GMT -5
This whole time Ezri thought V's job was sending her cryptic messages and cute animal pics. I like these ideas. One issue is knowing what the Protector's science capabilities are. They are limited compared to other ships. but, for sure, Ezri has her own pet projects that I try to work into rp as much as possible.
|
|
|
Post by Captain Erys Murai on Jul 1, 2018 15:09:20 GMT -5
I have a general role playing question regarding my character Ezri Tegan and perhaps role playing science officers in our fleet in general. Although I think being a science officer is different on each ship and in between each GM. I was just wondering what Ezri's job really was. I know that sounds weird. But, basically most of our regular role play seems to take place either on the bridge or in engineering. And, the only job she is allowed to do is run sensor scans. The thing about that is that that operations (strategic operation and ship's operations), tactical, and engineering all have their own sensors. Plus in shows like TNG sensors were always handled by the operations officer. So it sort of makes Ezri's a fifth wheel and mostly useless with respects to bridge RP. I know that perhaps on away missions that involve science or in non-bridge action involving science she would get more involved. I was just throwing this out there to get some feedback. Ways that the position can be more useful without stepping on any other department's toes. The answer to your question has two parts, and it's divided into canon evidence and personal opinion. Canon Evidence: If we look at shows like TOS, TNG, or even Voyager, those shows focused heavily on exploration. A science officer or an entire science department was required to meet the needs of exploration, especially on large ships like the Enterprise-D. The Defiant class, on the other hand, was a dedicated warship built for the specific purpose of fighting the Borg. DS9's science officer, Jadzia Dax, usually ended up flying the ship (because one of her previous hosts, Tobin, had been a pilot), but even Dax got to participate in a few experiments. That being said, the primary mission of the Defiant was typically defense, and any science officers on board would have been focused on that goal rather than the "ideal" science officer job of scanning anomalies and other exploration things. It's also worth noting that on a Defiant class ship, there was no "Operations" officer, per se, and there definitely was no dedicated Strategic Operations officer position. The Defiant's typical bridge layout consisted of a science and tactical I console on the starboard (right) side of the bridge, an engineering and tactical II console on the port (left) side of the bridge, and the pilot at the front. Secondary systems were handled by relief officers at the back of the bridge, and the Captain of course sat center. Yes, Worf was the Strategic Operations Officer, but he held that position aboard Deep Space Nine. On the Defiant, he was either the Executive Officer (and manned one of the tactical consoles) or the ship's Commanding Officer. O'brien was the Chief of Operations, which on DS9 meant he was both operations and chief engineer, so he filled both roles on the Defiant as well. The Science console seemed almost an afterthought, since I saw one episode where Eddington (the Starfleet Chief of Security for DS9) sat there, and a different episode where Bashir sat in the same seat. The point here being that in combat, science wasn't really needed as a dedicated position, but it was used outside of combat when the Defiant was assigned to the rare scientific mission. Personal Opinion: While Operations, Tactical and Engineering do have their own sensors, those departments aren't necessarily focused on the same things that Science would be. Engineering is typically concerned with the status of the ship, and would therefore primarily use internal sensors to locate any damage or other effects that would impair the ship. Operations, as noted above, would typically be combined into Engineering, but would be primarily focused on coordinating damage control, power levels, and other ship-board activities. The two tactical officers would be focused entirely on ship-to-ship combat, but tactical sensors are intended to provide accurate weapon targeting and status information on ships. That leaves primary sensor control to the science/communications officer, who would typically be running ship-to-ship comms while also keeping an eye on sensors. As has been stated several times elsewhere, our fleet doesn't necessarily follow the format described above, and most ships deviate in at least one area. Instead of following the canon path, the Protector instead follows the same path the original Sentinel followed, and that is essentially to have as many positions as are required for the players who want to be on the ship. This means that in cases like yours, officers who would normally handle combined duties are instead relegated to have almost nothing to do in non-combat situations, and understandably feel out of place. While I can't really offer a solution that doesn't involve restructuring the ship, I can say that Kitty's suggestion of using the lab outside of combat is a great idea. The lab on the Protect is technically a combined Science and Engineering lab, but the only time I've ever had reason to use it was when we found that 200-year-old AI (that I know you still have locked away). Point being, Ezri still has things she can do besides just running sensors. The real issue on the Protector's bridge is too many hands and not enough jobs, and the only way to solve that is to not have a ship full of Lieutenants. To be perfectly honest I don't know what the Protector has. or what its science related capabilities are. Also with respects to that srot of stuff, the Protector also has a Strategic Operations officer. And, I am not sure exactly what V'Tira's job is but I think it involves a lot of electronic warfare stuff. These links might help answer the questions of what the Protector has available: Protector Starship Sheet - Overall ship specifications Protector Major Systems - Specific systems and their descriptions/capabilities But to actually answer your question, yes the Protector has external holographic systems that are on par with any other ship out there. Using them would pull power from other systems, but to be quite honest the Protector usually has power to spare. I should also note that the holographic system is designed to create a disguise around the ship, not fake ships like the science officer ability used in STO. The projectors might be able to pull that off, but you'd be risking an overload in doing that. Nalie is always "Stop touching my stuff!" and "I swear if you break my console one more time I will break your hands!" I imagine that if Nalie lets Ezri help out the job will involve an EVA suit, a toothbrush, and cleaning the outside of the warp nacelles. Nalie only says that to people who repeatedly manage to destroy consoles that have protections in place to specifically prevent the way those consoles are destroyed. She said the same thing to Bore when he destroyed the same console twice within 30 minutes. Wouldn't let him back into Engineering for almost two days until he proved he could properly repair a console without making it worse. Besides, current Nalie is very carefree. Enjoy it while you can
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg Ezri Tegan on Jul 2, 2018 10:40:01 GMT -5
this is good stuff, thanks. although in regards to the damage to the console. Ezri maintains her innocence. Ezri is sure it was sabotage by temporal agents or lizard people...or maybe lizard people from the future. Not her fault. So stop blaming her, it makes her feel bad.
|
|
DGM Cygnus
Game Master Group
Assistant Admin / DGM of the USS Adagio
Posts: 2,191
Member is Online
|
Post by DGM Cygnus on Jul 2, 2018 11:47:59 GMT -5
Science is tricky for many reasons. The game master may have main plot points they hope to get properly expressed and engaged with in an event, thus leaving those to player agency can negate most or all of an event. There is also the challenge of getting game masters and players on similar wavelengths of what it takes to provide an engaging science focus role playing experience, while keeping the event moving at a natural pace for everyone else.
Trek writers have ranged wide in quality and have set an unhealthy expectation that the "cast" can explain and overcome anything by being "clever" and using the techonbabbled solution of the week. Science is a process, trial and error..iteration and constant adjustment. I look for players to try to come up with ideas that involve as many other players as possible, overcoming as a team, as well as solid connections to the context of the event and our overall cumulative story. I look for players to present multiple options to attempt to overcome a problem, with no guarantee any of them will work, but with clear pros and cons to the options. I look for players to provide fun and dramatic attempts, not a "win" button. I look for players to not be afraid to simply be wrong.
|
|
|
Post by Lieutenant jg Ezri Tegan on Jul 2, 2018 16:58:13 GMT -5
That is so true Cygnus. I think that is the hardest thing about playing a science character. As a character science officers are among the most clever in the fleet. And as a player you want it to be established just how clever they are without effectively short circuiting the adventure and ruining everyone's fun by being too clever. Not to mention the fact that as a player I am not where near as smart as Ezri is supposed to be. And, I have zero training as a Starfleet officer. I haven't even watched all the Star Trek shows.
|
|