Hi all!
Returning player here (used to play back in my teens). Trying to get back into the rules and play more. A friend and I have been going through the Player Training Handbook and it gave me an idea, why not combine it with the several Captain's campaigns to cover an entire career?

In our case we'll start the "Academy" over again and after that "graduate" into a Frigate with a green crew. And over missions have the crew gain experience (G21) and work towards promotion. I had originally thought of just going through the Frigate/Destroyer/Cruiser Captain's campaigns in order, but decided on doing something more organic.

Anyway, to the point, it'll just be me GMing and the other player. I want it to feel like a real career playing out (not just a few random scenarios) and also to feel like TOS (so I don't think we'll actually get into any wars). But I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions for how to do it RPG lite? I mean, without any real RPG mechanics, but still feel like it has some RPG elements?

By Michael Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, July 15, 2015 - 01:55 am: Edit

Well, in a REAL Captains career there is likely fewer "fights to the death" than in any ONE "captains campaign."

Just the 50% chance of dying would winnow out the promotables pretty quickly.

Just like in WW2 you had some 20 something year old Colonels in the USAAF. Because the losses were horrific.

By William T Wilson (Sheap) on Saturday, July 18, 2015 - 06:42 am: Edit

You can find various advice on this in the SFU Training Command topic:
http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/messages/12031/12054.html

Personally, I recommend not using any of the training materials (which teach a game that is not SFB) and just going straight to frigates (or cruisers, if you'd rather), introducing the rules as they are needed. Of course, don't spring a rule on the new player in the middle of the game - explain all the new rules for the scenario before you start.

I never ended up teaching the new player about whom I wrote this post, but these are the missions that I would fly. It isn't a Captain's Game, but it's in the same vein.
http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/messages/12031/5152.html?1436285243
I would be more likely to try smaller versions of the scenarios using frigates, and then step up to cruisers when the time is right, probably around game 5 (Surprise Reversed) - your new player will think he's died and gone to heaven when he sees his new, more powerful ship, but there are a LOT of things to shoot in that scenario. Anyway, IMO, variety in scenarios is key, otherwise your players will get bored.

If you have the S modules (I think S1) you could also try the Frigate Captain's Game.