VERSION 4.4 (Last Updated SD 181015)

(For a text version of the document click here)

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• 1.0 Introduction
  • 1.1 An Overview
    • 1.11 Armstrong Lunar Base
    • 1.12 Starbase ALPHA
    • 1.13 Being Assigned to a Unit
  • 1.2 This Document
• 2.0 Character Generation Guide
  • 2.1 Types of Characters
  • 2.2 Required Character Bio Fields
    • 2.21 Character Name
    • 2.22 Rank
    • 2.23 Current Assignment/Position
    • 2.24 Species
    • 2.25 Physical Description
    • 2.26 Age
    • 2.27 Education and Qualifications
    • 2.28 Home Planet and Citizenship
  • 2.3 Optional Bio Information
  • 2.4 Dates
  • 2.5 Character Knowledge vs. Player Knowledge
  • 2.6 Restrictions and Recommendations
  • 2.7 Example Character Bio
  • 2.8 Bio Formatting Instructions
  • 2.9 Location of Source Materials
• 3.0 Postwriting Guide
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 The Three Forums of Communication
    • 3.21 The alt.starfleet.rpg Newsgroup
    • 3.22 e-Mail
    • 3.23 The World Wide Web
  • 3.3 Formatting Posts
    • 3.31 RPG Posts
    • 3.32 NRPG Lines and NRPG Posts
    • 3.33 The Subject Line
    • 3.34 The Closing/Salutation
  • 3.4 Writing Posts
    • 3.41 Tense and Point-of-View
    • 3.42 Thoughts and Feelings
    • 3.43 Talking Through Comm Channels
    • 3.44 Mission Dates and Settings
    • 3.45 The Creative Process
      -- Language
      -- Grammar and Spelling
      -- Content and What "Works"
  • 3.5 Mailing Posts
• 4.0 Closing

1.0- INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Star Fleet!

This document is divided into two sections. The first details the creation of a new character. It is intended to help guide you through the process and help create an image of the character both for yourself and for those with whom you will write.

The second part details the conventions used in Alt.StarFleet.RPG messages or "posts." These guidelines have been developed in order to organize communication between ASR's members and reduce confusion and inconsistency.

Always remember that ASR is about having fun. However, "fun" is not a one-way street; everyone's fun must be promoted, not just an individual's. If this is kept in mind, then much of this document will be as much common sense as anything.

Best of luck in ASR -- hope to see you "out there!"


1.1- An Overview

Below is a brief overview of the training and assignment process which all new players go through as they are introduced to Alt.StarFleet.RPG (ASR).


1.11- Armstrong Lunar Base

After the Personnel Officer has approved your character, your character will report to the ALB Oval Office. ALB is Armstrong Lunar Base, the ASR training facility.

In your reporting post, describe your character's trip from Star Fleet Academy to Armstrong Lunar Base. How is he or she feeling? What are his or her hopes and dreams? Once he or she arrives at Armstrong Lunar Base, your character will report to the Oval Office.

The ALB Commandant will assign your character to a holodeck for training. Please note that you are not immediately assigned to a ship. You will spend from several days to several weeks at ALB. Your holodeck training at ALB will introduce you to the rules and customs of ASR.

At this stage in your trek through ASR, you should begin to notify relevant people if and when you know that you will not have e-mail access for an extended period of time (say, anything beyond four days). This is common practice on regular role-playing (RP) units, and such notices can become quite important in ALB as well. Once your holodeck training is complete, you will be graduated by your holodeck instructor. Then you will report to the CSFO (Chief of Star Fleet Operations) on Starbase ALPHA, in the Wolf 359 system, for assignment to a base or ship.


1.12- Starbase ALPHA

Starbase ALPHA is the command starbase of ASR. It is a large facility that houses over 500,000 people, both military and civilian. Starbase ALPHA is also where the CINCSF (Commander in Chief Star Fleet), CSFO, and COMLOG (Commander, Star Fleet Logistics) maintain administrative offices.

The CSFO is responsible for placing characters (and thus players) in the fleets, depending on the vacancies available as well as requests made by the player in question. Since the ultimate goal of ASR is to have members who are content, she will do her best to match your wishes.

Be aware, however, that your favourite ship or station may not have a vacancy when you leave ALB, and that not every position is available at every time. Unsurprisingly, they differ vastly in popularity

Counsellor and marine commanding officer are usually least popular. Tactical officer, security officer, and engineering officer are usually the most requested. It is not uncommon for there to be no tactical of security billets open ASR-wide, while at the same time there are five or six openings for another position. This is why we ask you to list three positions you would be prepared to accept.

Once you have finished with ALB, your instructor will advise you to send the following to the CSFO:

• your PC's bio

• your requests as far as billeting goes (name three positions, as well as a description of the kind of ship/fleet you would enjoy)

• any of your posts as a sample of your writing

All these serve to give the CSFO an idea of where you would fit best, given the available vacancies. In return, the CSFO will answer whatever questions you have, comment on your bio to help you tighten up areas which may need that and embellish on others, and finally supply your character with orders to report to one of the Fleet or Task Force Commanders, and tell you in NRPG who to contact next and how to go about that.

If by that time, it is clear which ship you will join in which capacity, the CSFO will tell you that as well -- but sometimes, a fleet may have more than just one suitable open billet.

It is not possible to guarantee a particular billet or unit. The CSFO does the best job possible to match new players with available slots meeting their requirements as possible.


1.13- Being Assigned to a Unit

After the CSFO locates a fleet with an appropriate vacancy or vacancies, you will be directed to report to the office of the fleet commander for final assignment and billeting. Report to the fleet commander as instructed by the CSFO and send them the same materials that were sent to the CSFO:

• your PC's bio

• your requests as far as billeting goes (name three positions, as well as a description of the kind of ship/fleet you would enjoy)

• any of your posts as a sample of your writing

The fleet commander will take all available information into account and provide a final duty assignment for your character

1.2- This Document

This document provides a summary and guide to the details of the character creation process and to the writing conventions used for communication in ASR.


2.0- CHARACTER CREATION GUIDE

This part of the document has been prepared to familiarize new players with the character creation process. Since, your experience in the game will center on your character, it is useful to think about the character creation process in some detail. By now, you may have posted some basic information to the Personnel Office. Along with the Personnel Officer, CAPT Clarissa Peyton (played by Laura Ashley), this document will guide you through the character creating process.

If you have not already read the "Introduction to ASR" document, you should do so now. It can be found at ASR's web site.

Everyone starts out in ASR with a single character. (Others may be created after you have settled into your first unit.) In order to describe this character, you need to create a biographical record, "bio" for short). A bio provides information about your character, telling other players what you think your character is like, and also serves as a record of the character's career within the game. It's a resume and a character sheet all wrapped up in one.


2.1- Types of Characters

The type of character to be played is an important decision, and you should start by asking yourself a simple question: What part do I want to play in a Star Trek universe? As a new player, you have several options:

• Navigator (Helmsman/Flight Control)

• Tactical Officer

• Security Officer

• Chief Engineering Officer

• Chief Science Officer

• Chief Medical Officer

• Counselor

• Marine Commanding Officer

Others, including commanding officer, executive officer, or operations officer, require some experience in ASR before assuming such responsibility, and are not mentioned in length here. This choice will set a basis for your interactions with your fellow players, so choose a position for which you think you will enjoy writing.

If you are interested in playing a member of the Star Fleet Marine Corps, please make sure to contact the Personnel Officer for additional details. The following details the Naval career paths open to new characters.

The navigator (NAV; sometimes flight control officer, FCO) is responsible, under the commanding officer, for the safe navigation and piloting of the ship. Most of the actual handling of the ship is done by a quartermaster, an enlisted person with a rating in starship handling, though the navigator can take the helm at any time. He is also tasked with maintaining the ship's navigational charts and other navigation aides.

The tactical officer (TAC) is in charge of the combat systems department. This department is in charge of the defence of the ship from external threats. It is responsible for all general maintenance and handling of the weapons systems, fire control computers, targeting systems, electronic countermeasures, and other combat systems aboard ship.

The security officer (SEC; sometimes, CSO) is responsible for maintaining internal discipline and enforcing Star Fleet regulations aboard ship. He is responsible for the safety and security of the crew. In the absence of a Marine detachment aboard ship, he is also responsible for the security of the ship and any away teams. On many units, the tactical and security officer positions are combined.

The chief engineering officer (ENG; sometimes, CEO) leads the engineering department. He is responsible for the operation and maintenance of all propulsion and auxiliary machinery, the control of damage, the maintenance of shuttlecraft systems, the repair of the hull and its fixtures, and all repairs beyond the capacity of other departments. The chief engineering officer has several other commissioned or limited duty officers who report to him. These officers are in charge of various engineering subsystems or responsibilities including main propulsion and damage control.

The chief science officer (SCI; sometimes CSciO) is the senior bridge-qualified science officer. This person has some knowledge of science and qualified as a science adminsitrator, but is not necessarily the most senior or accomplished science officer aboard the ship. The science officer is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the bridge science terminals and scientific sensor arrays. He is also responsible for respource allocation within the sub-departments
(astrophysics, xenobiology, botany, etc.) which make up the science department.

The chief medical officer (MED; sometimes, CMO) is responsible for maintaining the health of the officers and crew; the treatment and care of the sick and wounded; the sanitation and hygiene of the ship and its company; the inspection of the ship, food, and water insofar as the health of the crew may be affected; and for training and directing personnel assigned to the medical department.

The counselor (COU or CNS) sees to the mental health of the crew. The counselor coordinates with the Administrative Department to assist in career counseling and personnel evaluations. The counselor is also responsible for research of alien psychology during first contact and other applicable situations. Additionally, the counselor serves as the ship's protocol officer should one not be assigned.

2.2- Required Character Bio Fields

No two bios are exactly alike. They aren't regulated, but there are some basic guidelines that need to be followed. Some basic information that should be contained in every bio is as follows:

• player name (your name)

• player's e-mail address (your e-mail address)

• character name

• rank

• current assignment

• current position

• physical description

• species

• age

• education (especially Star Fleet Academy)

• professional qualifications

• home planet
  

2.21- Character Name

While you are generally allowed to select any character name that strikes your fancy, there are two restrictions to keep in mind.

You cannot use your real name for your character. We find that this policy facilitates interaction in the ASR universe. There should be a clear distinction between the player and the character. Your character may share some of your personality traits, your hobbies, your likes and dislikes, but your character should be more than just a projection of your own personality.

Also, you aren't permitted to use the name of a character from any Star Trek TV series, movie, book, etc. The idea in ASR is to create an original character in the Star Trek universe, not to role-play a pre-existing character.


2.22- Rank

Everyone in ASR starts out with a rank that is equivalent to Ensign. Even if you have a great deal of experience in other role-playing games, you will start out with a character of this rank.


2.23- Current Assignment/Position

Your character's current assignment is the ship, space station, or other unit he or she is assigned to. His or her current position is the billet the character is filling. For characters still in ALB, you can either leave these fields blank, or just write 'Unassigned', 'ALB Trainee', or
something similar.

2.24- Species

Though there are a large number of possible species for people to play (an infinite number if you include those you make up yourself), most player characters are either human or one of the species frequently featured in the various Star Trek shows: Vulcan, Klingon, Bajoran, and so forth. If you want to play a more uncommon species, or one that you created yourself, then you should include some information about the species at the end of your bio.

Remember that all officers serving in Star Fleet must be Federation citizens (either native born or naturalized) or exchange officers sponsored by a friendly foreign power. Background checks on all personnel entering Star Fleet service are extremely through.

All alien species considered for player character races should have roughly the same level of natural abilities as the canonical races of Star Trek. If you have any questions about this, read 'Restrictions and Recommendations' below or consult the Personnel Officer.


2.25- Physical Description

Height, weight, hair and skin color, etc. are important so people can write those descriptive initial encounter scenes. You can put the height and weight in either the International System of Units (SI, metric; meter-kilogram-second) or Imperial units (English units; foot-pound-second). As we have seen in the TV series and movies, Star Fleet uses SI units. If you choose to use any other system of units, please provide conversions to Imperial of SI units.


2.26- Age

Almost all player characters in ASR have attended Star Fleet Academy. The Academy provides both military training and an undergraduate collegiate education. If you are interested in a different path to Star Fleet, contact the personnel officer for details. It is strongly recommended that the first character you create have the traditional background of an Academy education. Star Fleet Academy admits students who have reached what is generally considered an age of maturity for their race at which they can complete the mental and physical requirements of the program. For humans, the minimum age of admission is 16 (standard Earth) years, the normal age of admission is 18 years, and the maximum age of admission is 30 years. This helps to insure enough physical and mental prowess and flexibility to meat the demands of the Academy. Other races have differing age guidelines, but all represent the same relative range of development.

Note: There is no explicit maximum age limit for Star Fleet personnel. However, all personnel need to meet minimum physical standards. The average life expectancy for a human in the 24th century is approximately 220 year due to life prolonging treatments which slow the aging process.

For non-humans, increase or decrease these age restrictions according to the life expectancy of the species. If you have no idea what the life expectancy of your character's species is, then it's probably safe to assume that the life expectancy is similar to that of a human.


2.27- Education and Qualifications

Star Fleet Academy provides a common point of reference and experience for nearly all of the serving officers in the Star Fleet Navy and Marine Corps. Its rigorous academic standards; moral, mental, and physical training; and professional development are intended to lay the ground for a career as an officer in the military forces of the United Federation of Planets.

NOTE: Because of the professional development program, it is not possible to graduate from Star Fleet Academy in less than 4 years.

Star Fleet Academy provides the college education for your character; as such, your character has completed an academic major in some area of liberal arts, science, or engineering. Regardless of academic major, there are numerous core courses that must be taken for any major in the sciences, mathematics, government, leadership, Federation history, military history, and military science. Cadets also select a professional major which prepares them for a career in the military.

Professional majors for Navy career fields are as follows:

• Navigator = navigation

• Tactical Officer = tactical operations

• Security Officer = ship and planetary security

• Chief Engineering Officer = engineering

• Chief Science Officer = sensor operations, computer operations, communications, or sciences

• Medical Officer/Counselor = pre-medical/pre-counseling

A Marine commanding officer has several options. Most Fleet Marine Force officers, that is Marines who serve aboard starships and starbases, are designated and trained as infantry officers and should have infantry as a professional major. It is also possible for a shipboard marine to have specialized in armor or artillery provided that the ship is large enough to accommodate such equipment within their marine detachment. It is strongly recommended that all Marine commanding officers have a professional major of "Infantry."

Some fields require training beyond that available at the Academy. These are:

• Chief Medical Officer

• Counselor

Counselors and chief medical officers may have any Naval professional major as undergraduates at the Academy. Counselors will have completed an additional two years of training, generally at Star Fleet Medical, in psychology and counseling and hold the equivalent of a master's degree. All medical officers have completed a Medical Doctorate, again usually at Star Fleet Medical. This program lasts for 4 years. Chief Medical Officers will also have completed a residency which lasts between 2 and 4 years depending on specialization. Star Fleet surgical residency lasts 4 years, so all surgeons will have completed 8 years of training after Star
Fleet Academy.

Because of their additional training, medical officers enter service at the rank of lieutenant (O-3) and counselors enter service at the rank of lieutenant, junior grade (O-2).

All first characters, regardless of training or branch of service, go through pre-assignment training at Armstrong Lunar Base (ALB), the Star Fleet training facility on Earth's moon, Luna.


2.28- Home Planet and Citizenship

All officers serving in Star Fleet must be citizens of Federation member worlds or colonies. It is possible for persons born on non-member worlds to apply for Federation citizenship, but this must be documented in the bio. It is also possible for exchange officers sponsored by a friendly foreign power to serve in Star Fleet. Background checks on all personnel entering Star Fleet service are extremely through.


2.3- OPTIONAL BIO INFORMATION

Just including the required fields would make for a fairly bland and uninteresting bio. You may want to include additional information to provide yourself and others with more information about your character. Such information might include:

• Family: parents, siblings, spouse, children

• Background: place of birth, beliefs, traditions

• Character traits/personality: quirks, ambitions, annoyances, psych profile

• Personal History

• Academic Materials: letters of recommendation, names of papers written or talks presented

• Character Limitations: disabilities, phobias, personal codes
  of conduct

Fictitious letters of recommendation or memos are often used to establish what other people think about the character. Hobbies, interests, and quirks make your character come alive and assist the development of inter-character relationships in role-play.


2.4- DATES

Dates are obviously important as reference points in your character's bio, as they are in real life and elsewhere in ASR. The below table should help in translating the current "real life" year with the corresponding "game" year.

And so on...


2.5- CHARACTER KNOWLEDGE VS. PLAYER KNOWLEDGE

Since the character bio serves as both a character sheet and a career record for the character within the game, it may be important to distinguish which information in your bio is character knowledge and which is player knowledge. Character knowledge is anything in the bio that other *characters* would be able to find out about by reading your character's official records. Keep in mind that most officers of comparable rank would not have access to complete personnel files for your character. If there is information in the bio that no other character would know about, then you can include it in an NRP (Non-Role-Playing) section at the end of the bio. This information would then be player knowledge only.


2.6- RESTRICTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

There are other things that need to be considered when creating a bio. Certain characters, certain races (such as Q), and certain powers are simply not allowed. Disruptive characters are not allowed in ASR and will not be assigned to ships. Disruptive characters include those characters with active connections to the Mafia, underworld, and/or rival intelligence communities (members of the Romulan or Cardassian secret services, for example); extraordinary psionic capability; 'hard' immortality (Q-like beings), felony criminal records, training as an assassin, etc. These types of characters are generally not conducive to
good role playing.

Other characteristics (called 'red flags') will be examined closely by the Personnel Officer, and may or may not be approved. Red flags include enlisted service experience (mustang or fleet appointments), special operations training, marine/naval commensurate commissions, non-felony criminal records, conscientious objection, unusual age, awards/medals/decorations obtained at Star Fleet Academy, unexplained leaves of absence, obscure racial origins, 'soft' immortality, extensive psychological problems, and other such exceptional characteristics. Characters like these need to be handled responsibly and with maturity. Anything that confers status and/or advantage over others is subject to a certain scrutiny.

The above restrictions may seem limiting, but there is good reasoning behind them. Your character is a commissioned officer of Star Fleet and, therefore, must have some characteristics reflecting that fact. Star Fleet Academy would not, for instance, admit any criminals; neither would it tolerate "troublemakers" and those with murky backgrounds.

The important thing to keep in mind is that the character should be believable. This means that he or she should *not* necessarily be "the best ever" at anything (the chances of this are extremely small). In fact, characters are usually more interesting if they have a past to deal with, a problem to overcome, or an annoying tendancy. On the other hand, your character shouldn't be completely incompetent either. After all, your character will likely be placed as a senior officer or equivalent; not every graduate of Starfleet Academy would have landed such an attractive billet.

If you are not sure about whether your character is acceptable or not, ask the Personnel Officer for guidance.


2.7- EXAMPLE CHARACTER BIO

Below is an example of a complete, detailed biographical file. This format was designed to easily enable a person new recruit to "fill in the blanks," so to speak. While a new recruit is not expected to have this kind of detail in their bios upon entering ALB, they are upon leaving --
it is one of your major tasks while at ALB. Use of this bio as a template will go a long way to achieving this.

==================================================================
ENS Justin A. Smith [John Doe, jdoe@somewhere.com]
==================================================================
I. Personal Data
================
Surname: SMITH
Given Name(s): Justin Alexander
Current Rank: Ensign (O-1)
Current Billet: NAV, USS STARSHIP, NCC-9999
Species: Homo sapiens sapiens (Terran Human)
Gender/Sex: Male/XY
Age: 23 Terran Standard Years
Date of Birth: 1 April 2489
Place of Birth: London, England, Terra, Sol III
Parents: James A. Smith
CAPT Jane A. Smith, UFPSFN (KIA)
Siblings: 2LT James B. Smith, UFPSFMC
Spouse: None
Children: None

Physical Description:
HT: 188 cm
WT: 95 kg
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Comp.: Fair
Blood Type: O+
Vision: O: 0.00, S: 0.00 (20/20)
Religion: Anglican
Citizenship: Terra, Sol III, United Federation of Planets


==================================================================
II. Educational Background
===========================

A. Academic Institutions Attended:
----------------------------------

-- Harrow School
-- Star Fleet Academy
(Bachelor of Science, Physics)

B. Service Schools Attended:
----------------------------

-- Space Warfare Officer School (Department Head Training)

C. Qualifications:
------------------

-- Qual: Engineering Officer

D. Star Fleet Academy Record:
-----------------------------
Academy Record:
Class Rank: 130/310
Honors: None
Academic Major: Physics
Professional Major: Starship engineering
Qualifications: Starship engineering
Commendations: 0
Reprimands: 2
Athletics: Parises squares (varsity letter), hoverball (varsity letter)
Activities: None


==================================================================
III. Biographical Notes
=======================

A. Chronology (tabular form):
-----------------------------

0-13: Lived with parents.

13-18: Attended the Harrow School, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, England

18-22: Attended Star Fleet Academy.

22: Attended Space Warfare Officer School, Department Head Course.


B. Background Summary:
----------------------

Justin Smith was always more interested in his athletics than in his education. He was more comfortable using his muscles than his brain to solve problems. His mother's death while serving as captain of the USS WILMINGTON changed Justin's life. He took his studies more seriously and
decided, against his father's objections, to follow her choice of career and join Star Fleet. Justin occasionally reverts to his rash ways and was twice reprimanded at the Academy because of incidents stemming from his lack of self discipline.


==================================================================
IV. Official Star Fleet Record
==============================

A. Promotion History:
---------------------

110601.0000 Commissioned as Ensign (O-1).


B. Service History:
-------------------

070615.0000 Entered Star Fleet Academy.
110601.0000 Graduated Star Fleet Academy.
110605.0000 Assigned to Space Warfare Officers School.
111205.0000 Graduated Space Warfare Officers School.


C. Medals and Commendations
----------------------------

None


==================================================================
V. Skills Profile
==================

Fast reflexes and good instinctual reactions during emergency situations. Mind somewhat undisciplined at times. Tendency to argue.


==================================================================
VI. Recent Fitness Reports
==========================

"Ensign Smith, is an ambitious and energetic officer. His insticts are remarkable in one so young. However, his enthusiasm often gets the better or him. He is emotional and short-tempered. He is easily frustrated and needs to continue to work on persistence. Mister Smith has the potential to be a fine officer; however, he clearly needs guidance."

-Commander S'tak
Instructor, Space Warfare Officer School


==================================================================
VII. Psychological Profile
==========================

Ensign Smith is a quick-minded and resourceful individual. He had a tendency to become frustrated in difficult situations and to anger quickly. However, his instinctual reactions are generally balanced and reasonable. He needs to develop more personal discipline, but it fit for service.

- Lieutenant Commander Ann Brice
Counselor, Star Fleet Academy


==================================================================
VIII. Current Recreational Interests
====================================

Parises Squares, Hoverball


==================================================================
IX. Miscelleneous NRP Information
=================================

One of the most frustrating things for Justin is that he has difficulty controlling his temper. Since he does have a short fuse, this can make for a self-perpetuating cycle. He is constantly working on developing more patience.


-------------End Bio file-----------------------------------------


2.8- BIO FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS

Make sure that your bio is written in plain ASCII code (plain text), as this is the one code that will be readable regardless of computer system or software. Don't use any HTML tags, fancy fonts, colors, or anything other than plain text. Also, make sure that your bio is legible; don't crowd everything together. Break it up into paragraphs and put in a blank line between paragraphs. It is also a good idea to restrict your posts to no more than 72 characters per line since that is the maximum line width some older computer systems can accept.

Also, most word processing packages introduce extra symbols for carriage return and some characters -- it *looks* like plain ASCII on the screen, but once it's put as a file into an E-mail message, those symbols appear. You should send a test mail *to yourself*, if you use a word processor as editor, to see how it looks like once it has gone through mail.


2.9- LOCATION OF SOURCE MATERIALS

General ASR information:

• Commander-in-Chief, Star Fleet (CINCSF):
  ADM Conrad Veld (played by Scott Lusby)

• Chief of Star Fleet Operations (CSFO):
  ADM Robert Steele (played by Andy Catterick)

• Armstrong Lunar Base Information:
  Personnel Office

• ASR Main Website

• ASR Star Fleet Records Page

Character Names:

Random Name Generators:

• http://www.alt-starfleet-rpg.org/misc/namegen.html (generates random first and last names)

• Everchanging Book of Names (generates random fantasy and Sci-Fi names. Downloadable program with an optional Star Trek name generator)

• http://www.fadetoblack.com/namegenerator/? (generates African first names- intended as comedic)

Indices:

• http://www.zoope.com/about/about_names.html (human first names)

• http://www.thinkbabynames.com (baby name index)

• http://www.babynames.com/V5/index.php (human baby name index with over 6,000 names and meanings)

Species:

Indices:

• http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~hwloidl/ST-aliens.html (Huge listing of Star Trek races w. descriptions)

Specific Races:

• Information regarding specific races in ASR can be found at the United Federation of Planets Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UFPESCO) website (currently off-line).

3.0- POSTWRITING GUIDE

3.1- Introduction

This section of the Quickstart Guide is designed to provide the basic details about how posts are written in ASR. This is a creative environment and as such, a high priority is placed on individual creativity. However, there are certain guidelines that need to be followed for the sake of clarity and consistency regarding formatting. Such guidelines will be laid out for you in the following sections.

3.2 The Three Forums of Communication

Most people in ASR have never met face-to-face and few have even spoken with one another on the telephone. So, it is very important that a player in ASR is familiar with the various means of communication in the club and the formatting for communications to insure that they receive prompt attention from the appropriate people.

There are three basic forums through which ASR communicates information: The alt.starfleet.rpg newsgroup, e-mail and the World Wide Web.


3.21- The alt.starfleet.rpg newsgroup

The most basic forum for ASR is the Usenet newsgroup from which ASR takes its name. It is the hub of ASR, the place where every member, regardless of ship and fleet, post their information. It is also where ASR administration post all formal announcements. In short, it is the central
"meeting place" of the club.

Because of its central nature to ASR, it is necessary to make sure that all of your game posts are sent there so every other member of the club has access to your work. Of course, as fate may have it, it is perhaps one of the more involved tasks in ASR. There are a couple of ways to go about this, which will be discussed in more detail later on in this chapter.

3.22- e-Mail

Today, virtually all ASR business is carried out through e-mail mailing lists and list servs. Formatting and subject lines are no less important for e-mail than for newsgroup posts since many players and administrators work with multiple units and quick identification of the subject of a message is important in seeing that it receives the proper attention. The e-mail addresses of the administrators are listed prominently on the club's homepage and the e-mail addresses of key contacts for new members are listed in the basic club documents, which are sent regularly to the newsgroup.

More information on the formatting of posts and subject lines will be given later in this document.


3.23- The World Wide Web

The last basic medium of communication for the club is the World Wide Web. The club has a homepage at http://alt-starfleet-rpg.org. Additionally, the newsgroup can be read though the web and almost all of ASR's units have www post archives that contain a log of that unit's stories. All of the club's major documents are available through the World Wide Web.


3.3- Formatting Posts

Since the principle means of communication in ASR is the written word, it is necessary to have certain strictly enforced formalizations of the formatting of messages for easy reference.

3.31- RPG Posts

Messages in ASR take two forms. The first type of message is an "In-Character" message related to the action in the role playing game which are referred to as RPG posts. All role-playing game (RPG) posts should be posted to the ASR newsgroup: alt.starfleet.rpg, as well as to each member of your unit. As mentioned earlier, many units now use list servers and archives, such as Yahoo! Groups, for their own private distribution. However, your commanding officer or executive officer will provide this information once you are assigned to a unit. Whatever the means of private distribution, all RPG posts MUST be sent to the newsgroup. More information on how to post to newsgroups will be detailed later in this chapter.


3.32- NRPG Lines and NRPG Posts

Sometimes you need to communicate something that happens OUTSIDE the realm of game play, such as explaining certain actions your character took, etc. This is called an NRPG (Non-Role Playing Game) line (in the instance of placing such a line in the middle of an RPG post), or an NRPG post (if it is a separate mailing entirely.) Such lines or messages are common in ASR- they can be used to set off someone else's writing in your post to coordinating actions between two players to notifying someone of an extended absence.


3.33- The Subject Line

Because there are many people in ASR who involve themselves with more than one unit, clarity and consistency are of paramount importance. The key to this is the Subject line. Everyone in ASR uses the same set of guidlines when writing out the Subject line, in order to make it clear to the reader/receiver of the message to which unit the message is attached.

The idea is very simple -- you put the unit you are writing for (where the action is taking place)in the beginning, followed by a colon (:) and the title of your post. If done right, it should look like this:

ALB HOLODECK 16: Ensign Smith Reports

Notice the location of where the action is taking place is in caps? That is standard -- make sure you do this, as all active units in ASR are capitalized in order to draw attention to it.

Now, this is pretty simple -- it only gets hairy when you are assigned to one place, but the action in your post takes place elsewhere. THEN the Subject line in your e-mail will look like this:

[ALB HOLODECK 16] USS CONSTELLATION: En Route to Training Mission

Notice that ALB Holodeck 16 appears in brackets BEFORE the actual location of the action -- the CONSTELLATION, in this case. This is a very important point. You MUST always have your billet (where you're assigned) in your Subject line, and it always comes first. Then, if the action is taking place on another unit or base (such as a starbase while your ship is docked there), you place your billet in backets, followed by the location of the action, and then a colon and your post title.

As mentioned before, the need to communicate something that happens OUTSIDE the realm of game play -- an NRPG line or post -- becomes necessary. Of course, there is a specific way this is handled in the world of ASR.

An NRPG line (one that happens in the middle of an RPG post) does not change the Subject line, but it does have to be set off from the rest of the message. You can put these anywhere in a post, but make sure you set them apart from the rest of the document by using <>, like so:

<NRPG: this section is taken from Scott's last post>

Most people put some NRPG information at the end of their posts as well. Again, while this does not change the Subject line, it does need to be set apart from the rest of the message. At this time, there is no standard manner of doing this; most people seem to place "NRPG" inside of brackets or parenthesis in order to set it apart from the rest of the post, like
so:

<<NRPG>>

David: I hope this was what you were looking for.

All: Keep up the great work!

Regardless of how you decide to set the NRPG section of your post apart from the main RP post, it should immediately follow the RP section and precede your closing -- more on that in the next subsection.

Sometimes you don't have any RPG messages to send out, but need to communicate on issues outside actual game play with another player. These messages DO change how the Subject line is formatted, and are always sent out with the prefix "NRPG" appearing AFTER the unit in the Subject line, like so:

USS AURORA NRPG: What exactly is our mission date?

By making sure your Subject line follows the above guidelines, you are making things easier for everyone in the long run by reducing potential confusion.

3.34- The Closing/Salutation

Everyone also gives the same basic information out when signing off, although that is done in a variety of formats. Here is one commonly-used format:

John Doe
Ensign Justin Smith
USS STARSHIP, NCC-9999
Grey Fleet
jdoe@somewhere.com

Now, you can really do this however you want -- as long as you make sure the essential information is included (Player Name, Character Rank & Name, Position & Ship/Base Assigned To, and e-mail address) in your sign-off.


3.4- Writing Posts

Much of what has been discussed regarding posts have dealt basically with the formatting of the post -- things that are peripheral to the creative process of writing. The remainder of this section deals with the actual mechanics of writing posts for ASR, in order to help you maintain clarity and consistency in your posts. Always remember that once your post has been sent, it becomes "final;" other members of the club will begin to use what you've written in their own work.

3.41- Tense and Point-of-View

Posting itself is pretty straight-forward. As long as you make sure posting is done almost exclusively in 3rd person ("he/she said" or "Reg said"), past tense, you are in good shape. Think of your post as a story being told after-the-fact by an outside observer, as if there was someone with a video camera or equivalent device filming the action. This should help keep your tense and point-of-view straight.

One thing to remember about point-of-view: If you remember your high school English, you might remember the idea of "The Omniscient Narrator." This would be like a third party who happens to be privy to information only someone who is all-knowing would know, such as the emotions of another character or their inner thoughts. You want to stay away from this -- keep it realistic. Unless your character is an empath or has some psionic ability, there would be no way (other than guesswork made by judging body language, vocal tone, etc.) your character could possibly know another's feelings or thoughts. So don't write about them. If you absolutely need to know what another character feels about something, drop the player an NRPG message.


3.42- Thoughts and Feelings

Occasionally, you may wish to put the player's actual thoughts down -- this is common practice in passing along what's going on inside the character's mind. This is great -- there are a couple of ways to do this:

• You can just write it the same way you do the rest of the post -- 3rd person, past tense;

• You can use 1st person (`I wonder what's going on here') in certain situations. If you do, please do NOT use double quotes ("") to set them apart from narration, as you would with actual speech. Instead, use an asterisk (*) or single quotes (`') on either side in place of
  quotes.

3.43- Talking through Comm Channels

When your character has a discussion with someone through communication channels, such as when the Captain contacts you while you are on the surface of a planet, there is a specific way in which this is done as well. Your speech would be handled just like normal written dialogue- written inside quotes. However, the speech of the one talking through the comm channel would be written inside brackets ([]), like so:

[[[Thomas to Smith,]]] the Captain said, his voice crackling through Justin's comm badge.

"Smith here, Captain," he replied evenly.

Any dialogue between the ship's computer and your character would be handled the same way -- the computer's voice would be in brackets.

3.44- Mission Dates and Setting

Another very important aspect of every post is the Mission Date (MD). This lets everyone know at what time the your action is taking place relative to the mission. By default, the start of each mission begins with MD 1 (1st day of the mission). At the beginning of each new scene in your post, begin by writing down the mission date, which is the actual day of the mission followed by the time, in military (24-hour) time. Also, putting the setting (where the scene is taking place) in there would be helpful too. Such a header would look like this:

MD: 5.1643
Setting: Captain's quarters

This would be followed by the actual scene in the post. The "5" in the MD means the action is taking place during the fifth day of the mission; the "1643" is the time, 4:43 PM. The setting is pretty self-explanatory.


3.45- The Creative Process

After all is said and done, the most important aspect of life in ASR is your creativity. This is where the "fun" of the game is, and constitutes the bulk of your interaction with your crewmates. While no one at ASR wishes to curtail anyone's creativity by imposing guidelines on what they can and can't write, it is in everyone's best interests that a few basic rules of thumb are followed. Just keep in mind that this game is enjoyed by literally hundreds of people from various countries around the world- what one person may enjoy another may not.

Language

All posts for ASR are written primarily in English, as a matter of convenience. While, at times, other languages can certainly be used in brief passages where such dialogue is needed, the overwhelming bulk of your post should be wirtten in English.

Slang words and phrases should be avoided unless it's important for one reason or another, such as helping to better paint a picture of your character's personality. However, if slang is employed, make sure it is clear exactly what the slang term means. Not EVERYONE knows every slang term in existence.

Finally, a word about obsenities. While it is true that we have members from many different cultures around the world, we also have memebers of varying age groups -- from college professors on down to high school students. There is no minimum age requirement to join ASR -- you only have to enjoy writing. Therefore, unless you know for certain that everyone on your ship's mailing list is of appropriate age AND would not take offense at such remarks, then don't use obsenities. And, if in the rare instance that you can make such claims about your crewmates, keep it as tasteful as possible. In such instances, it isn't likely that anyone would be upset if, when a character smashes his thumb with a cargo crate, he lets fly with an expletive. However, you WILL incur someone's wrath if you don't exercise appropriate restraint.

Grammar and Spelling

Please do your best to see that you follow the basic rules of grammar and spelling. We all understand that mistakes will happen, and that's okay- we ALL make them. But don't post a document that is full of bad spelling, typos, run-on sentences, etc. A few is okay, but the more you make, the more difficult it is going to be for your fellow crewmembers to read. Ultimately, a message with too many mistakes doesn't get read closely, if at all. So run your post through a spelling checker at least before you send it. If the post is filled with grammar errors, your commanding officer (CO) or exectutive officer (XO) will most likely send it back to you for revising.

This is also for the convenience of some of our members for whom English is not their native language. It can be difficult enough for them to communicate in English with everyone else; reading a grammatically-poor message will only frustrate them further.

Content and What "Works"

The actual content of your post is where you shine, where your own creativity comes into the spotlight. As mentioned before, this is where the "fun" of the game comes. Despite the fact that it seems as though we have a ton of rules to follow regarding the format of your post, they are fairly easy to pick up; by the time you leave ALB, you will know most of them without having to refer to this manual. This leaves the bulk of your time for the creative side of the game, as it should be.

The most important thing -- and one of the most difficult -- to master on the creative side is the idea of "advancing the plotline." To get a grasp of this idea, you must understand the manner in which storylines are created in ASR.

You've seen ASR described as being a "shared fiction" environment. This term describes the manner in which we write -- in ASR, an entire unit works together, through individual posting, to solve a problem. Some units -- especially starbases, fighter wings and such -- work on several problems at the same time. What this creates is a "team" atmosphere- everyone sharing the work together to solve a problem.

However, as anyone who has played team athletics knows, a successful team depends on all of its members pulling their weight. ASR is no exception- each person must contribute. The manner in which we contribute is to offer our own solution to our specific piece of the puzzle presented to us by the Commanding Officer of our unit.

We do this by moving things forward -- by adding a piece to the puzzle each time we post, until, finally, everyone has added their own pieces and the mission has been accomplished. This may require several posts by each member, spanning across several months. However, this isn't really important -- what IS important is the recognition that you have to help move things forward every time you post. If you can remember this, you are going to make your CO and XO VERY happy.

Writing in a shared fiction environment also means you have to make sure your writing does not contradict anything that has been previously established by another member of your crew. If one of your crewmates kills off a bad guy in the previous post, you can't miraculously have him
in your next post under conventional thought. You have to be certain that what you write "works," or fits in with the overall mission as well as agreeing with what has already been written.

Remember, your CO or XO has final say in what "works" and what "doesn't work" for your posts -- they are the ones who came up with the storyline. This is a fairly gray area, and differs from unit to unit and CO to CO. Many unit CO's allow almost complete creative freedom; some are more rigid, carefully constructing a storyline in such a way as to make certain things impossible. Most units fall either towards complete freedom or somewhere in between the two extremes -- the best thing to do would be to contact your CO and XO upon arrival to your unit and ask him/her to spell out the unit's guidelines regarding posting.

Another good practice to get into is to send a copy of your post to the CO and XO first, indicating that you would like to post this and are sending it to them first for approval. But ONLY do this if you are creating a "twist' in the plot -- you will understand better once you begin writing in ASR.


3.5- Mailing Posts

After everything has been done -- your post has been written, is reasonably free of grammar and spelling mistakes, is clean, and is correctly formatted -- you still have to get it to the appropriate places; it obviously isn't "official" until it's mailed out. Now, this sounds simple enough, and it is for the most part -- it basically involves making sure that everyone who is supposed to get a copy of the post does on your unit (your commanding office ror executive officer will provide this information for you), and mailing a copy to the ASR Yahoo! Groups web archive.

Right now, the web archive is configured to automatically mail a copy of each post- so long as it has a properly-configured subject line- to the newsgroup for you. However, should the need arise to post directly to the newsgroup (<news:alt.starfleet.rpg>), both Google and Yahoo search engines provide free newsreading services should your e-mail program not be able to subscribe to newsgroups.


4.0- CLOSING

A few closing remarks. Remember that the most important thing about this organization is that it is for enjoyment and entertainment. The most important part of Role-Playing is in interaction and communication. Following the guidelines in this document, as well as those presented in
other documents you will receive, helps to ensure that the experience is enjoyable for everyone.

Any further questions can be directed to the Personnel Officer. And again, welcome to Star Fleet!