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This is a game about those old scifi movies where earth space ships explore the unknown of the universe. Earth ships manned by earth crew and the occasional humanoid alien embark from earth space and travel the frontier of space. Take on the role as ship leader one of the five command branches: Command, Medical, Security, Science, and Engineering and let the stories unfold in spectacular technicolor.
First, you must define the ship itself. Starting with the GM, each player adds some particular asset of the ship in turn. Each asset is a general description of the capabilities of the ship. Once those assets are recorded, the group decides on the name of the vessel and its class. Here is a sample ship:
The GM then picks one asset that is Notorious, meaning the ship has a reputation across the universe for it, and one asset that is Problematic, meaning it is likely to cause the crew difficulty during missions. The class can be any of: Escort, Corvette, Assault, Frigate, Destroyer, Cruiser, Battlecruiser, Flagship, Explorer, and Dreadnought. You can picture this as a scale of size and strength, from small to large. Normally the ships of the game fall into the range of Frigate to Explorer. If you want you could roll a d6 and take: 1, Frigate; 2, Destroyer; 3, Cruiser; 4, Battlecruiser; 5, Flagship; 6, Explorer. All ships also have a five part situation track, which counts the situations they experience. Each five situations gives them a moment, and this moment is a dramatic test that lets the ship upgrade further. The result of the dramatic test is one more asset for the character to add to their sheet.
Second, each player creates two characters: one officer and one second. The officer is the ship's lead officer in one of each of these sections: Command, Engineering, Medical, Security, and Science. There may be no overlap, so players must decide among themselves who will play each officer. The second is from another section, they can't be from the same one as player's officer. Each of these characters can be male of female, and are defined the same way. Each character has a name, a nickname, a rank, a look, an asset, and a vulnerability. The rank of the lead officer is usually Commander, except for Command which is Captain. Seconds can have the ranks of: Crewman, Ensign, or Lieutenant, except in Command which can only be: Lieutenant or Commander. The only level of rank that can't issue orders to another is Crewman. The asset of a character is just like the ship, a general description of something that is impressive about the person. The vulnerability of the character is a defect or flaw, physical or mental, that could be exploited and hinder the character's ability to take action.
All characters have five physical health squares, and five mental health squares. Each character gets a special ability they may use in play as well. For the officers, these are fixed, but for the seconds the player may select from this list. Only one of these selectable powers can be in the game at a time, so players must make sure they don't overlap.
All characters also have a five part situation track, which counts the situations they experience. Each five situations gives them a moment, and this moment is a personal scene that lets the character develop further. The result of the moment is one more asset for the character to add to their sheet.
Third, the Captain selects another officer as their First Officer. The GM then selects a player that is neither the First Officer, or Captain, as the Foil. The Foil manages the details of the ship and the character's lives that the Captain and First Officer do not. They are the power trio of the game, and they manage the microcosm that is the ship. Note, the foil is a role at the table, not in the fiction of the game.
Outside the microcosm of the ship is the GM's territory, they control that part of the game universe directly. Lets show the process of playing the game in some detail.
The GM sets the initial stage as so: The enterprise moves into a high orbit above the barren world of Ceti Alpha Six. Then the Captain adds in mission details to the stage: Captain's Log: We are arriving at Ceti Alpha Six as scheduled for routine sensor calibration. After this the First Officer describes the crew's general readiness and attitude, The crew of the Enterprise, weary and bored, laze about the ship haphazardly. Even the Captain isn't immune from the humdrum monotony of these routine missions.
Now the GM returns to the forefront, creating an interesting scene that will set the play in motion. This is the hard part, as they have to take the cue from the Captain and First Officer's lead, including their details into this first setup scene. The GM may offer a general idea to the foil though, and let them set the scene instead. Normally the foil decides the details of the characters in play who aren't the player's officers or seconds, such as the other crew on the ship. The foil does not have control over character not of the ship however.