It started as a normal day on the promenade at Narendra Station. At Nok’s Pad, the dabo wheel was spinning. Stakes were high. Only a few keen-eyed crew members noticed movement skittering across the nearby bar top.
Then, something small and furry fell on the spinning dabo wheel. Then another. And another. The Ferengi owner grabbed a security officer by the sleeve and said, “I’ll give you five free spins on the dabo wheel if you kill those… things.”
Within minutes, Narendra Station was buried under an avalanche of tribbles. The Admiral ordered the Captain to get rid of them. The Captain hailed her crew and shared her plan. “Operate force fields. Let’s contain the tribbles.”
No one went to the force field operating system on the Bridge.
The Science Officer went to the Beaming Station and tried to get a lock on the ever-multiplying surge of tribbles, intent on beaming them all into space.
The Medical Officer, a Klingon who wasn’t very fond of tribbles, obtained a captive tribble and began experimenting on it. He was trying to find poisons that would be safe to everyone but the tribbles, hoping to kill off the swarms.
In the end, things got worse before they got better. The Klingons who maintained half of Narendra Station accused the Federation of sabotage and espionage. The tribbles filled most decks before being beamed into space.
Then, the Vulcan First Officer (an NPC) filed a report. He told about the Captain who gave orders to a crew who did not listen to her. The Captain was called into the Admiral’s office and demoted to Commander for not being able to control her crew.
The now-Commander demoted or disciplined all the crew members who let her down.
In Star Trek Adventure’s default setting, the players are members of the Federation. One of the players or an NPC serves as Captain. The Captain gets orders from the Admiral. The crew follows the Captain’s orders. There is a distinctive chain of command. Even Kirk mostly respected the chain of command.
When crews stop adhering to the chain of command, it’s very difficult for a Captain or the gamemaster to get things under control. The first step is to remind the players about the structure of the genre they’re playing. It isn’t about everyone breaking off and doing their own thing. It’s about providing solutions to a leader, the leader choosing a course of action, and the crew following the leader’s plan.
If that doesn’t work, the bureaucracy of Starfleet is your friend. Everybody makes reports. Everyone’s performance is constantly being evaluated. There are consequences for not performing admirably. Mechanically, this takes the form of the Reputation score. Performing well can result in promotions. Performing poorly can result in disciplinary actions.
One thing to take note of is if the Captain continues to perform admirably, they can be promoted to Admiral. In this case, they become an NPC because the story follows the crew of the ship. So, it’s beneficial to let your Captains be like Picard and remain in control of their ships for many years.
Likewise, if a character is demoted enough or faces a military tribunal, they might be removed from duty on board the ship and also be removed from the game except as a rarely seen NPC.
The core book suggests a basic punishment include short-term detention. The crew member loses access to the holosuites and the ship bar. He’s left in his quarters having to review courses about the proper protocols of being in Starfleet. In this case, I’d suggest removing that character from play for an episode and make the player handle secondary characters throughout the current session/episode.
I went with demotion because this wasn’t a one-time problem. The crew went through many sessions not following orders. I wanted to make an impression that their characters were at risk. Starfleet has protocols in place preventing cruel and unusual punishment, so there’s no danger of keelhauling and lashes, like in a pirate ship game. Demotion takes away a degree of honor and accomplishment. However, it keeps the characters involved so they can redeem themselves.
In the worst situations, the book recommends doing a court martial. This doesn’t need to happen between games but can be an adventure in its own right. The characters are called as witnesses for and against the character on trial.
If you choose the court martial route, be prepared to remove the character from play if they’re placed in detention at a Starfleet prison.
When the tribbles get out of control at the space station your crew is at, will the crew follow the Captain’s commands, or are they a disgrace to the Starfleet uniform?
