USS Venture: Sim Manual.
Welcome to the USS Venture PBEM (Play By E-Mail) simulation. The USS Venture is a role-playing game set in the Star Trek universe in 2376, shortly after the current series of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The players interact from around the world, sending their character turns (called posts) via e-mail.
There is no charge to join the game, the Sim uses free webspace here at freeserve.co.uk and uses free mailservers, to connect all the players. As a member all you need is regular access to an e-mail account and the imagination to create and guide your character.
These web pages are an online reference for the sim, containing important information that is frequently updated, such as the Technical resource (the LCARs interface) and the Ventures ongoing history. However if for any reason you have a problem viewing these pages then the information can be sent to you.
YOUR CHARACTER-The biography.
To participate on the USS Venture, you must first create a detailed character. The Venture uses the recent ICON system of tabletop rules as a basis for this. So Character Creation would be far easier if you owned a copy of the rules. Please create a character appropriate to the posistion you wish to serve on the ship. Before you start to create the Character please take a look at the Crew Manifest page where you will see which positions are currently vacant, and find the links needed to join the crew. Along with the stats and skills, a detailed biography is also required. The biography is a description that defines your character to all other players in the sim.
Biographys should be created according to the criteria below. Please be detailed, the more information you give me the deeper I can integrate your character into the game and the greater your enjoyment.
NAME: Simple enough, the full name of your character. Always think of your race and their common names. Also there are sometimes special naming rules applicable to certain species, such as the Bajoran tradition of listing the family name first, with a persons given name coming last.
POSITION: Please include details as to which Position aboard the ship you wish to apply for.
SPECIES: The chosen race for your character. Remember before you decide that the majority of Starfleet is still made up of Humans, your chances of being accepted into the sim are increased if you choose a Human, whether from Earth or any of it's colonies. However there are other races in the UFP such as Vulcan's and Betazoids who can also make for interesting characters. Species outside of the Federation will not be accepted without a good reason/background.
AGE: The age of your character in Earth years. Remember that Starfleet Academy takes at least four years and is normally be entered between the ages of 16-18 (human standard).
PLACE OF BIRTH: Where were you Born? The exact location is unnecessary, but whether or not it was from your home planet, on a Starship, while on holiday on Risa, that sort of thing.
INTERESTS: This should be a brief list of what your character likes to do. Other characters may have similar interests, which may help in Character interaction, and may even provide ideas for future plots.
EDUCATION: A list of your Characters education (with year dates if you wish). The most recent entry is likely to be for Starfleet Academy. Remember your chosen species and the kind of character you want to end up with and decide what would be the most appropriate.
SERVICE RECORD: Again a list. This time detailing all of your characters previous postings throughout their career. Include the dates of the postings (if possible) the location and Commanding officer.
CHARACTER HISTORY: This is the main section of the Characters Biography. This section is generally written in an impersonal tense. The history describes all the important events that have occurred in your characters life. List all the things that have made your character who he/she/it is today? This will help your fellow players to better understand your character and better interact with you. Remember the more information you give us the more interaction you will get from the game.
PERSONALITY: A rough description of the personality of your character, include their attitudes and maybe reactions towards certain situations.
APPEARANCE: For this section try to give the most colourful account of your character that you can. Next to the History, this is perhaps the most important section as it allows your fellow players to picture your character in their minds eye.
SPECIAL NOTES: This is a Catch-all description that covers anything that may have been missed from your character elsewhere. In it you can cover anything that you wish only us the Sim managers to know. Please also include if this note is known by Starfleet, deciding on if the Senior officers that need certain 'extra' information know, ie. Captain, Councillor, or Chief Medical Officer. Not all characters will contain a Special note.
Once completed, please send your character to me at gamemaster@ussventure.com
Playing the Game
To Participate aboard the USS Venture, you must regularly post (in character) to the group server, which will then distribute your post for all the other players to read. Out Of Character notes and comments are passed freely using the members own email accounts, not the group server. A character post will describe your characters actions and any interaction with any member of the sim.
Please remember that the very medium we are using prevents fast interaction between characters, therefore when writing your post, if there is any significant exchange between characters please give them time to respond. Lesser interaction can be written at the original post, as long as any interaction remains neutral and to a minimum.
You see now why it is so important to include as much detail in your character background as possible to allow for your character to be interpreted correctly. The Bio's will be updated as necessary to help keep all players up to date.
There is a format that we ask you to follow when writing your post. As you write, please include the following symbols to show different actions and allow the other players to interpret what you are doing. These symbols in most cases enclose, featured at the beginning and end of the entire sentence or paragraph that they are used with:
:: :: ; Actions, please enclose any actions taken by a Character with these symbols.
" " ; As you would expect these represent speech, and are used to symbolise a character talking to another.
"Computer, you and I are going to have a little talk."
( ) ; Brackets are used to represent whispers or mumbling anything in fact that is quiet and can only be heard by those in the immediate area. Although we do ask that it is made clear as to whether it is a mumble or a whisper.
=/\= :These symbols represent any use of a Crewmembers Comm badge, indicating use of any Communication devise. This is only needed at the beginning of a sentence.
[ ] : These symbols indicate a change of character, when the conversation or action switches between people.
::He looked to his chief tactical officer expectantly.::
[Worf]
::Not needing the verbal command, Worf instantly knew what his captain wanted.::
"Hailing frequencies are open!".
<< >>: These symbols indicate a change in scene, whether it's cutting from one location to the next or simply indicating the passage of time. These serve as the episode's editing team
[Paris]
::As he piloted the Delta flyer in at Voyager at high speed, he activated the Comm.::
=/\= "Harry, incoming, open the shuttlebay doors!"
<<On Voyagers Bridge>>
[Kim]
::Harry scrambled to get the doors open before Tom crashed into them.::
The Sim Rules.
There are very few rules in the game, but we must insist that they are followed. Repeated abuse of the rules will result in the offender being removed from the mailing lists.
RULE 1 - RESPECT.
The simulation only works due to the constant interaction of the players wherever they are. It is therefore imperative that you show respect for other players and their ideas at all times. Remember that there are players of differing experience aboard the USS Venture. If you have any problem with another players ideas or any other aspect of their play then please mail the sim manager, not directly to the player and never to the common list server. The manager will deal with any problems promptly.
RULE 2 - THE CHAIN OF COMMAND
When in character, you are members of Starfleet and thus apply to the organisational hierarchy. You should obey the commands of senior officers, and so long as you do, they are in turn responsible for your actions. If your character feels he would be committing to an action that may require the consent of a senior officer then you should refer to them prior to starting the action, waiting for approval.
If this senior officer then decides that further authorisation is required, then this process may continue as far as the Captain or Starfleet admiral (Sim Manager). Overall the system ensures that you will liase most often with your direct supervisor and hopefully develop a working relationship with them. Conversely the Captain will most commonly deal with his Commander and Department heads.
Of course you may have questions relating to the sim itself, these messages should be directed at the Sim manager at the address provided, who will deal with any queries promptly. These problems may be a simple question relating to Starfleet protocol, or more complex ideas that may radically alter the direction of the game.
RULE 3 - FREQUENCY AND CONTENT OF POSTS
FREQUENCY:
All players of senior characters should post at least once every two days, while playing less senior officers should post at least twice a week. If you wish to post more frequently, the choice is yours, but please respect those who are unable to post as frequently.
Real life affects us all, and if for any reason a player need short leaves of absence for whatever reason it will be granted. All we ask is that you please inform the other members of the group of your absence to allow them to post around it. Again if there are any problems with posting for a longer periods of time, please inform the Sim manager to help arrange around said leave.
CONTENT:
Players should try to post as much information as possible. If during an interactive post you are left with only a single line of interaction, consider what your character is doing when spoken too. What they are thinking and intending to do, and what input they may have to the conversation/action themselves. Advancement is partially based on role-playing ability and as a player you should put as much of your character into your posts as possible.
As for actual content, please try to imagine that the episodes of the USS Venture are based in the Star Trek universe. And as such the content should reflect this, there is a reason that we all like Star Trek and part of it is possibly the suspension of belief about the way people behave and treat each other. While I don't particularly mind swearing or references to extreme violence and such, others do and as such other players should refer to rule one and respect that opinion.
As moderator I reserve the right to warn players about the content of their posts. These are intended solely as a friendly warning and no censorship of posts is intended, after all once its posted its already out there for all to read.
Guideline - NPC'S
The USS Venture has many other crew aboard other than the player characters. These positions are filled by NPC's. These are people who your characters are free to interact with at will. When using an NPC the player can feel free to answer and act for them. However when trying to gain important game information or convince the NPC to take life-altering actions, the player should leave a space for the Game Moderator to reply in.
NPC's can make for an infrequent clue tree. If there is a puzzle a player simply cannot solve the available NPCs can be queried for information or clues. Do not use this too frequently however as this well of information may one day dry up.
CONTACT:
The Sim Manager can be contacted at:
Or alternatively those of you with ICQ can use:
ICQ 35289593