I've had a few people asking about the basic mechanics of roleplay in STO. Without trying to claim any personal expertise, here's a rundown of what I've envisioned for our roleplayers.
The Setting
Players' characters serve on the crew of a single starship, the U.S.S. Sally Ride. Although we are set in the time frame and pre-reboot universe of STO, your RP character for Star Trek: Destiny is considered separate from the one who grinds STFs and massacres Tholians in the rest of the game. Our characters will inhabit roles more like those of the cast of a Star Trek TV show. None of the characters in our story command their own starships; your STO rank does not correspond to your in-character rank.
In the fiction, someone in charge of a ship would be a Commander or Captain, and no one of any Admiral rank would be permanently stationed aboard a single ship. For our roleplay, the highest rank anyone should start with is Commander -- and there should be two or three of those aboard the ship, tops. (We're talking first officers and extremely experienced section chiefs -- your Spocks, Rikers, and Crushers.) A more common choice for experienced bridge officers would be Lieutenant Commander. Data, Geordi, McCoy, Scotty, Troi... the bulk of the veteran bridge crew will be of Lt.Comm rank. If you want to play a younger officer, go with Lieutenant (Worf, Uhura, Sulu) or, for a recent academy graduate, Ensign (Chekov).
If possible, we would like everyone to wear the standard Stonewall uniform with in-character rank insignia when roleplaying. (Civilian characters can dress as they please, of course.) Keeping that setup handy in one of your quick outfit slots will be very useful. If you need help setting it up, send me a PM here on the site or a tell in the game, and I'll be happy to walk you through it. Time-sensitive in-character information, like where the ship is currently stationed, will be doled out in the in-game events and after-event reports that will be posted here on the forum for all to see.
The Events
Without giving too much away, the broad story structure four our first "episode" is to have two hosted events a month or so apart, serving as bookends for a period of free play. The first event is a crisis that introduces both immediate and long-term challenges. Once the immediate challenges are resolved, the event ends and free play begins. The second event will conclude the free play; it's another crisis whose conditions will be informed by certain player actions in the first event and the free play period. The second event will resolve the entire story and return the ship to a state of equilibrium.
Most events will take place aboard a player's bridge, in this case probably mine or MrIzzy's. We're going to invite everyone who wants to participate aboard, I'll put Dara's Captain Walker costume on, and we all start playing as our characters in local, talking to each other and reacting to the situation as it develops. We're also going to get lots of use out of the /me command: typing "/me glances at her console" into the chat window will cause "Dara glances at her console" to appear in local, like in IRC. For out-of-character (OOC) communication, we'll use the regular StonewallFleet channel. If you must use a normally in-character (IC) channel, like local, clearly mark your message OOC: "[OOC: crap, phone call]"
For the most part, events will take place in a single location -- in our case, on the bridge. If something needs to happen elsewhere, generally you'll be able to order that to happen through a console or communicator. Under certain circumstances, however, a group of bridge officers will need to be dispatched to another location to advance the story: the classic example being an away team. It's the Q's job to make it clear to the players that they need to move, and to make sure that if they split up, someone with the second group knows enough to advance the story. Keep in mind that the two groups can still chat using their communicators; the SFRoleplay channel is ideal for this, as it's universal and everyone around can hear what's being said, which makes more IC sense than perfectly silent tells.
Interacting with the Q
Events will be hosted by a Q, in this case me. I've worked out the details of the crisis in advance, and I will be posing for non-player characters like Captain Walker, announcing circumstances like the behavior of the ship's systems, and telling you what you see in the space surrounding the ship. General circumstances, like "the ship shudders as a torpedo strikes," I'll announce in local if everyone's nearby or the SFRoleplay channel if they aren't. Specific details, like what the console you're using tells you, I will send in tells to the appropriate character, allowing them to communicate to the rest of the crew as they see fit.
If your action demands a response from the environment -- /me scans for life signs -- the Q will provide that response: a tell along the lines of "your console shows three humanoids in the shuttle's command cabin." If you want to take action without anyone else seeing, you can send it to the Q in a tell.
If you're ever not sure how to deal with an obstacle in an event, you can fall back on your character's expertise. For example: if something on the ship isn't working and you want to fix it, but can't think of anything to try, pose something like "/me tries to figure out how to repair the broken machine." I'll consider your area of expertise and, if I think your character might reasonably know what to do, prompt you with an "idea." In some cases, I'll offer you a few options how to proceed, with each having a slightly different outcome. Of course, you should never be afraid to try your own ideas first.
Once the Q is satisfied that the immediate crisis of the event is dealt with, the event ends and free play begins.
Free Play
This is, in my opinion, the most important part of roleplaying, which is why I'm tying it into the main plot for this introductory mission. Events are exciting, but hectic and crowded; free play allows you more time to develop your character and relationships with the rest of the crew. Free play is also more flexible for people in different time zones or who have rigid schedules.
The basic mechanics of free play are that a small group of players (usually 2-4, in my experience) agrees to get together and have an unplanned, unsupervised interaction. They pick a location to set the scene, make up an excuse for their characters to be there, and spend an hour or two interacting in character. They can run into each other at the ship's bar, be working together on a system diagnostic, meet for a poker game, or go on a date in the holodeck. There are no goals, no Q, and usually little danger. The scene ends when the players agree that it should -- usually because someone has to leave.
How to do a scene? The simple answer is: however you want! The classic setup, good for when you want to focus exclusively on RP without being interrupted, is to go to someone's ship interior and do the scene face to face. Your bridge may not look like the one we use for the event, but every ship interior has a host of identical locations that can be the setting for your scene: engineering, sickbay, personal quarters, ready room, etc. Want to do dailies while you RP? Have an open scene anyone can join over the SFRoleplay channel while you continue to grind. Anyone who hops onto SFRP in the middle of an open scene can "[OOC: Mind if I join?]" and pitch in. You can also group up and use the team channel if you want to do a closed scene without being in the same room. You can even tackle team missions while roleplaying, and say that your characters are on the holodeck. Whatever works!
So, how does this tie into the main plot? I'll be able to explain more directly once the first event is over, but generally, anything you do in your free play that has effects beyond your scene should be reported to the Q. You can use in-game mail, website PMs, e-mail, forum posts, or anything else you can think of; just make sure that I know. Sometimes, there will be ongoing shipwide projects or open investigations that your character can contribute to by informing the Q that you have done so and then waiting for a reply with the results of your labors. Tying it to an actual scene -- even an offhand "hey work on this together later" -- is a good idea, but not strictly necessary. There are, of course, sensible limits: "I replicated some cookies and the delicious smell wafted through the corridor" isn't really something the entire crew needs to be aware of; "I ejected the warp core for a prank" is likely to get retconned by the Q.
Let's say the ship's holodeck is broken as part of the opening event. In a free play conversation with another engineering officer in the lounge, you casually mention, "hey, we should check that out later," and your scene partner agrees. You send a message to the Q: "Sarah and I agreed to try to fix the holodeck together in a scene today." If the broken holodeck is a minor point, that might be all the Q needs to hear: you get a reply, "After a few hours of sweat and annoyance, you figure out that it was a problem with the EPS conduits and fix it," and an announcement to that effect goes up on the forum. Or, if the broken holodeck is a major plot point, the Q decides that "try to fix it" isn't enough for the story payoff: your reply is, "You spend hours running diagnostics, but the problem persists. You're pretty sure it's a problem with the way the photonic emitters are programmed, but the science involved is too esoteric for either of you."
This is a hint that you need a science officer, preferably a photonic or computer specialist, to take a look at those emitters. But the Q puts nothing on the forum; after all, your efforts haven't affected the ship yet. It's up to you to let other players know what's up, by any IC channel you choose. You can do a scene with a blueshirt and let him know what you discovered, or you can send one an IC mail message, or even log an IC report on the forums yourself. Giving different players different information is a tool I'll be using to get your characters talking to each other.
Of course, you're not required to tie your pick-up scenes into the plot at all. It wouldn't be worthy of the name "free play" otherwise, would it? If you and a buddy are just doing shots of saurian brandy at the bar and reminiscing about your academy years, have fun! Simple social interaction is the best way to flesh out your character and get to know other people's.
Going Forward
I'm going to be idling on SFRoleplay well before the actual event, and I'm going to get that Captain Walker costume for Dara ready, so if you still aren't quite sure how this works and I'm online, get in touch! I'll be happy to do an example scene between your character and the Captain, to get you warmed up. And if you just have questions, please feel free to ask. As long as this was, I hope it was helpful!
