Federation Commander

I know ADB wants to make money, but I've been hoping to construct some custom ship cards myself and was wondering, is this allowed? I would not distribute them, just for personal use. Any advice would be appreciated.

I really like the Fed Commander system (no need for a computer to play this great game) and hate to abandon it.

There's been several discussions on making cards for ships that haven't been moved over from SFB yet --

Are you considering that,
or adding ships you've designed,
or working on current FC ships to add a personal touch

As long as you don't post them online, it's been stated as no problem ---

Ditto that.

I've made several of my own ship cards. I put them on half of a standard sheet of paper in landscape mode (11"x8.5") and put that's ships relevant weapon charts, a firing arc diagram, boarding combat chart, repair chart, etc. on the other half. When its folded in half the ship is on one side and the charts are on the other. Slide it into a 5.5"x8.5" plastic sleeve and I have a usable card ready to go.

I "colorized" all the Middle Years ships from Briefing #2 as well as making some of the mods from SFB that haven't made it over yet. And they are all for my own personal use. I do not distribute them in any way.

Agreed. ADB won't come to your house and accost your gaming group.

They have a pretty lenient web-policy and one of the only restrictions is indeed, no sharing of Federation Commander ship cards (online or otherwise). They have no problem with folks making things for their own use.

I've done quite a few myself (used my own Fed Tug and Fast Destroyer cards for years, until the official ones were printed).

Well this is encouraging news. Thanks guys!

"Are you considering that,
or adding ships you've designed,
or working on current FC ships to add a personal touch "

Hmmm... well, first of all, I just want to say that I have grown up with Star Trek and ADB since.... well.... as long as I can remember. I had to ask because I was wondering if Steve Cole and ADB are trying to gear the game system torward kids rather then adults and well... I'm kinda getting up there in age. I'm in my mid 30's now, but when I discovered Fed Commander in 2006 I was shocked! You could actually play SFB without a computer program and that made me very excited. Just was wondering if ADB wants kids playing Fed Commander not adults.

I had to ask because I did play a few test games with Fed Commander and was impressed with the system, but my skills are shall we say... pretty rusty. As for ship cards, I've actually downloaded the communique ship cards which are great, but I ususally copy the designs (Fleet scale is my favorite) and style them on my own patern. Most of the designs are just standard ADB ships (Fed CA, Klin D7, Rom SPA, etc.) but I have a handful of new designs I came up with or found on the internet (such as my hypothetical concept of the Miranda Class for example).

Would ship cards like this be ok?

As long as you do not distribute your homegrown ship cards via the web or email, everything is fine. Neither SVC nor I will beam into your gaming group, snatch your cards out of your hands, and scold you for your audacity.

Jean wrote:As long as you do not distribute your homegrown ship cards via the web or email, everything is fine. Neither SVC nor I will beam into your gaming group, snatch your cards out of your hands, and scold you for your audacity.

Although they might just kick in the door, steal your artwork for the next expansion, and make you you disappear forever.......................



FedStar tour guide: "Ladies and gentlemn. If you'll look toward the starboard viewscreen, you'll see the Magnum357 blackhole."
4 year old tourist: "That's a funny name. Why is it called that?"
FedStar tour guide: "Well young lady, rumor has it that many years ago, this was where the Federation GIA dumped a cache of contraband, chemical projectile weapons. Although some believe "other things" were dumped here and that's how it got its name..."

Since this topic is about custom ship cards for Fed Com, this link is an interesting read about custom SSDs for SFB.

http://www.sfb.swa-gaming.org/node/333

ADB does have an On-line Policy.

http://www.starfleetgames.com/web_policy.shtml

Since the On-line Policy mentions SFB SSDs then I assume it would cover Fed Com ship cards as well.

Actually, no, it doesn't.

It's been mentioned several times that FedCom ship cards are a different animal. In a nutshell, they ask that we don't. In-particular, don't convert SFB ships to FedCom and post them.

Will is correct. The ADB policy on SFB SSDs only applies to SFB SSDs. Please do not post any FC ship cards to this site or the web in general.

If, for some reason, you feel the need to create ship cards for things that have not already been created for FC, please always contact ADB first. There is a chance they may want to use your work, like they have with Rick Smith and Omega. No guarantees of course, but you won't know if you don't ask. Regardless do post any FC ship card without asking ADB.

Again, what you and your group do in the privacy of your own games is up to you.

According to Captains log 32 page 25, As for our On-Line Policy, this remains as before. If you create something new (a new ship, race, scenario, or rule) you can certainly put it on a web site under our web policy (which makes it a submission and gives us control of the copyright). What you cannot do is post official Star Fleet Universe material (copies of published items, or copies of items we posted on our web site). If you convert a Gorn BC SSD from SFB into a Fleet Scale Federation Commander ship card, feel free to use it for your own amusement, but do not post it on a web site. Doing so would be violating our copyrights. If you created and posted new ships for SFB and we have never published them, you can certainly do ship cards for Federation Commander under the existing On-Line Policy. Before posting anything, please read that policy and ask any questions you have.

While a person cannot convert official SFB SSDs to Fed Com and post those (according to the ADP On-Line Policy), if a person created and posted new ships for SFB and ADB has never published them, a person can certainly do ship cards for Federation Commander under the existing On-Line Policy.

The original poster for this topic was asking about custom ship cards. If he meant conversions of existing official SFB SSDs than you and dj are correct, other wise he could do the custom ship cards per on-line policy.

But it has to be a whole new creation. Of a ship and empire that have never existed before. In any venue. You may not post anything created from another property, including any non-SFB Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, etc. And the OP was talking about non-SFB Star Trek, so that is a no-no.

And if you did create a whole new ship and empire, why post it? Instead, submit it to ADB. Will it go anywhere? Who knows? But without at least first trying, you will never know.

Where in the on-line policy does it say new ship AND empire? There were several individuals who created and posted new Federation SSDs following the on-line policy.

Nevermind, you don't have to respond. I'm done. Its not like anybody would actually go through the process of setting up an authorized web-site for Fed Com then create enough new ship cards which ADB would allow to be posted on an authorized website to make it a worthwhile endevor.

Guys, thank you for the info about this subject. The only ship cards I have made so far have been pretty much standard SFB to FC conversions (like Fed CA, Klingon D7, Romulan SPA, etc.) and not much else. I have hardly any custom built ships in my collection, mostly because I have always been under the impression that ADB is not a big fan of custom ship proposals.

Don't mis-state the facts, Wedge. The only thing you have to "go thorugh" to set up and authorized website is to set it up and email me the link. The only thing you have to "go through" to be "allowed" to post the ships is to follow the posted rules on what you can and cannot post. As for making it worthwhile, that is for each man to judge. Why are you doing it? To get praise? You get praise from other players by posting a good ship, not a lot of junky ones.