Background Information Thread

[Davy, aka GM]

Mid-2289 Starfleet Strength

Andor* -- launch 2274 (description listed 47 built in total through 2289, so 46 built through mid-2289, production ends 2289); 4 lost, 42 active
Baker* -- launch 2272 (building 7/yr, 108 total (3 remaining in 2289, production ends 2293)); 18 lost, 90 active
USS Belknap* -- 1 test ship active
Chandley* -- launch 2272 (building 2/yr through 2286, 27 total, production ended); 5 lost, 22 active
Constellation* -- launch 2284 (building 2/yr (1 remaining in 2289), 9 total); 9 active
Constitution* -- (Starfleet limits flagships to a maximum active strength of 12); 12 active
Excelsior* -- launch 2285 (building 1/yr, (1 left in 2289) 3 total); 3 active
Kiev -- launch 2271 (202 through 2288, 4 in 2289 (2 remaining), 3 in 2290, 2 each in 2291-2293, 202 total, production ends 2293); 24 lost, 178 active (losses include the Rostov from Ep. 2.01)
Loknar -- (production ended, retiring at rate of 3d6 per year, 6 (of 13) retired in 2289) 59 active
Miranda* -- launch 2274 (building 3/yr, (2 remaining in 2289) 37 total); 9 lost, 28 active
Northampton* -- launch 2275 (109 built through 2283, 4/yr since (2 remaining in 2289), 159 total); 18 lost, 141 active
Oberth -- launch 2275 (building 6/year, (3 remaining in 2289) 75 total); 8 lost, 67 active
Remora -- launch 2262, refit 2274 (production ended 2288, 193 built total); 37 lost, 156 active
Thufir -- launch 2268 (built 39 total, production ended 2287); 5 lost, 34 active
Wilkerson -- launch 2274 (building 2 each in 2289 (1 remaining), 53 total, production ends in 2290); 5 lost, 48 active
* Denotes Class 1 starship

Total active fleet: 892 ships (348 Class 1 starships)

Note: As of mid-2289, the following Constitution-class starships (all post-2270 refitted) are active:
USS Ahwahnee, NCC-2048 (newly commissioned); USS Constitution, NCC-1700; USS Emden, NCC-1856; USS Endeavour, NCC-1895; USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-A; USS Hood, NCC-1703; USS Kongo, NCC-1710; USS Korolev, NCC-2014 (recently commissioned); USS Lexington, NCC-1709; USS Midway, NCC-1813; USS Potempkin, NCC-1657; USS Republic, NCC-1371

(Notable Constitution-class losses (all pre-2270 refit) include: USS Constellation, 2267; USS Defiant, 2268, USS Excalibur, 2268; USS Exeter, 2268; USS Intrepid, 2268; USS Eagle, 2269)

Some rules for determining fleet strength:

1. Where the description of the class includes numbers, I went with those numbers (even if I disagree with them now...especially since they were arbitrary).
2. Certain classes have built-in limitations (the Constitution, specifically).
3. All other classes of ships are built on a #/year schedule
3a. The first year after a class' launch is a shakedown cruise for the class, with no additional ships of the class constructed.
3b. No new ships are constructed the year before, year of, and year after a listed refit.
4. Ship losses are determined first by known information (i.e. the Bozeman, Reliant, and four mysterious Miranda losses listed in the Drake's description), then using a dice mechanic (d6, roll again if 5-6; another 5-6 means a ship is lost -- I'll sometimes use 4-6 on the second roll, if I feel a class is often placed in harm's way or is somehow fragile).
4a. If a rule 1. ship class lists number of active vessels, skip rule 4.

Notes: Several ship classes end production in 2288, 2289, and 2290. I listed the 2293 production ends, but that's an unknown at the moment, since those production runs end as a result of the Khitomer Accords.

With the retirement of the Constitution-class Enterprise and commissioning of her Excelsior-class namesake in 2293, the role of "flagships" begin to transfer to the latter class. Constitution-class production will end that year, and Excelsiors begin to replace retiring Connies on the flagship list (beginning with USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B), USS Excelsior (NCC-2000), USS Proxima Centauri (NCC-2001), and USS Columbia (NCC-2002)). Starfleet also ends the practice of limiting active numbers of a flagship class at that time, as the Excelsior is planned to become a staple of the turn-of-the century fleet.

[Davy, aka GM]

Caitian Time

A day on Cait is divided into 14 "knuckles and spaces," referencing how the ancient Caitian partitioned the day counting each knuckle (excluding thumbs) on both hands, followed by the space between each pair of knuckles. This resulted in eight "daylight" parts and six "nighttime" parts.

Zzet (ZHET) is the term for "knuckle."
Kuzzet (KOO-zhet) is the term for "the space between knuckles" (literally "not knuckle").

The start of First Zzet (or 1e Zt) is roughly equivalent to the time the sun rises on the summer solstice, and is considered the traditional start of "day" on ancient Cait.

Following the end of 8e Zt, First Kuzzet (1e Kz) begins. This represents time of rest, prayer, and celebration, especially following a hunt.

In modern times, the more generic term "part of fourteen" (filz ta Kisskanh (KISH-kanh), abbreviated ftK) came into use, moreso now since first contact with the Federation. 1e ftK ("first part of fourteen") is equivalent to 1e Zt, and 14e ftK is equivalent to 6e Kz. For speed, Caitians pronounce the abbreviation as "fitik." ftK is used more in casual conversation, while Zt and Kz are used for formal notation, and any discourse with the monarch or in the Clans Assembly.

A Caitian day is a little more than 23-1/4 Earth hours, so an ftK is approximately 100 minutes long (or 0.0694 star days).

Caitians have, for many centuries, used a decimal system to derive lesser units. Each ftK is divided into 10 "parts of ten," which they call "ekanh." Each ekanh is broken into 10 "parts of (a) hundred," or "erodz." And each erodz is broken into 10 "parts of (a) thousand," or "erah." Smaller units are used for precision timing, but are not commonly included in casual conversation.

The quantity of each partition is spoken separately in formal speech. In casual speech, it's spoken like a normal decimal:

3e Kz, 3 ekanh, 8 erodz, 2 erah is commonly noted as "Evess-Kuzzet-takh-Vess-Fadz-Toss" and written 3.382 Kz. The same time in ftK notation would be "Eguss-Kanh-Fitik-takh-Vess-Fadz-Toss" and written 11.382 ftK.

[Davy, aka GM]

Canon for Drake's Legacy
All of ENT is canon, except for the final episode "These Are the Voyages..." (The abomination of a series finale is instead a holodeck simulation in the 24th Century, a creation of Deanna Troi to help Will Riker work through his issue of competing loyalties.) Commander Tucker didn't die in 2161; he instead was tapped to be the Earth representative in the Federation's Warp 8 program following the NX-01's decommissioning. Similarly, Commander Shran wasn't disgraced; instead, he was promoted to General at the outset of the Earth-Romulan War and later entered into politics, championing the integration of the Aenar into Andorian society in the 2170s. (He did marry the Aenar woman Jhamel and fathered a daughter with her, named Talla.)

All of TOS is canon, as well as films STTMP, STII, STIII, STIV. STV is not canon, and none of the events seen within take place. Following the rechristening of the new Yorktown as Enterprise, the ship had very public shakedown difficulties, the result of trying to get the ship into space before she was truly ready. Mr. Scott pulled off a minor miracle making her combat ready as quickly as he did.

STVI, TNG, DS9, and VOY, as well as the TNG-crew films are all in the future, and won't affect the storyline. (The Enterprise-E's hand in the launch of the Phoenix in 2063 is not known in this time period.)

DIS, SNW, PIC, LD, and Prodigy all take place in an alternate universe and will not be referenced in this game.

Astropolitics
Nimbus III is a cooperative colony between the Federation, Klingon Empire, and the Romulan Star Empire along the Romulan Neutral Zone, between Earth Outposts 9 & 10. It's not entirely prosperous (it's a harsh world that the Klingons enjoy as a survival challenge) and has become a hotbed of political intrigue (think Trieste, 1947-1955), but it's also not the unmitigated disaster depicted in the film.

The competition for Sherman's Planet continues, although both sides have begun to wonder if the Organians have lost interest in the conflict between the Klingons and the Federation in recent years.

The Romulan Star Empire is still reclusive, but it began to send ambassadors to the Federation and the Klingons in 2275. The state of the Klingon government is still difficult to fully discern, but Starfleet Intelligence has confirmed a new chancellor was named at some point between 2285 and 2288, and there are some indicators in chatter that this chancellor is a reformist.

[Davy, aka GM]

Unaided, late-23rd Century subspace communications travel at a speed roughly equivalent to wf15. The subspace eddies and currents can locally raise and lower this speed, but it averages out over long distances.

Given that it takes a day to travel 9.2 light years at that speed, the Federation has established a subspace beacon network around its members worlds and major starbases to help facilitate near-real-time communication between world leaders and Starfleet. Within that network, the speed of subspace communications is increased to approximately wf60. (This equates to 59 light-years traveled in 1 star hour (0.1 star days).) (This boost allows for Earth-Vulcan communications to have a delay of only 6.4 seconds.)

For short-duration conversations, certain members of Starfleet Command and the Federation Commission can authorize overclocking of beacons along a single route - this has the effect of making even long-distance communications nearly instantaneous, but it's extremely taxing on the system and can only allow for conversations of a few minutes or so before the beacons are forced to reset (which disrupts comms through the network for some time).

[Davy, aka GM]

Three-Shift Rotation, Simple
x.0-x.2 (0000-0448) - Gamma Shift
x.2-x.6 (0448-1424) - Alpha Shift
x.6-x.9 (1424-2136) - Beta Shift
x.9-x.0 (2136-2400) - Gamma Shift

Three-Shift Rotation, Complex
x.0 - x.2 (0000-0448) - Gamma Shift
x.2 - x.4 (0448-0936) - Alpha Shift
x.4 - x.5 (0936-1200) - Beta Shift
x.5 - x.6 (1200-1424) - Gamma Shift
x.6 - x.8 (1424-1912) - Alpha Shift
x.8 - x.0 (1912-2400) - Beta Shift

Four-Shift Rotation, Simple
x.0 - x.2 (0000-0448) - Delta Shift
x.2 - x.5 (0448-1200) - Alpha Shift
x.5 - x.8 (1200-1912) - Beta Shift
x.9 - x.0 (1912-2400) - Gamma Shift

Four-Shift Rotation, Complex
x.0 - x.1 (0000-0224) - Gamma Shift
x.1 - x.2 (0224-0448) - Delta Shift
x.2 - x.4 (0448-0936) - Alpha Shift
x.4 - x.5 (0936-1200) - Beta Shift
x.5 - x.6 (1200-1424) - Gamma Shift
x.6 - x.7 (1424-1648) - Delta Shift
x.7 - x.8 (1648-1912) - Alpha Shift
x.8 - x.0 (1912-2400) - Beta Shift

[Davy, aka GM]

Ship's Local Time vs. Stardates
While the stardate system is the universal calendar used for all official correspondence and media in Starfleet and the Federation government, each world has its own measure of local time.

Starfleet vessels generally operate on a 24-hour Earth standard ship's day (officially called Ship's Local Time) in transit between worlds, which may not be synchronous with the destination world's daylight period. To accommodate such differences, a ship's captain is authorized to adjust the start of the ship's day on approach to match as closely as possible the start of the world's day at the expected point of standard orbital entry (or the global time zone at the port of arrival). This is often done incrementally during the transit, much like changing time zones on an ocean voyage, to place as little stress as possible on the crew's biological rhythms.

A ship in standard orbit will cross terrestrial time zones, so a reference point on the world will be noted at the synchronizing point (almost always at the site that is the focus of the ship's mission) for the start of the ship's day. A ship in synchronous orbit remains over its synchronizing point for the full orbit.

Setting the ship's local time is fully at the commanding officer's discretion, as advised by the ship's Chief Science Officer and Chief Medical Officer.

[Davy, aka GM]

Season One
Episode 1.1 - A First Test (2285)
Episode 1.2 - Scratch & Lugs (2285)
Episode 1.3 - The Well of Dreams (2286)
Episode 1.4 - First Response (2286)
Episode 1.5 - A Lot by Design (2286)
Episode 1.6 - Prime Suspect (2286)
Episode 1.7 - The Old Maroon and Gold (2286)
Episode 1.8 - Ship of Ice (2287)
Episode 1.9 - Twilight of the Cat (2287)
Episode 1.10 - Audi, Vide, Tace (2287)
Episode 1.11 - What Do Klingons Call a Klingon Standoff? (2288)
Episode 1.12 - Casus Belli (2288)
Episode 1.13 - Vengeance, with Interest (2288)

Season Two
Episode 2.01 - Brushfire! (2289)
Episode 2.02 - Rivulets of Copper, Eyes Aflame (2289)

[Davy, aka GM]

STARBASE 11

Traits - Federation Starbase, Fleet Repair Facility, Planetside Base

MISSION PROFILE - Drydock/Ship Repair

SYSTEMS
Communications - 12
Computers - 12
Engines - 14
Sensors - 10
Structure - 12
Weapons - 8

DEPARTMENTS
Command - 5
Conn - 5
Security - 3
Engineering - 6
Science - 3
Medical - 3

SCALE - 12
POWER - 14
RESISTANCE - 12
CREW SUPPORT - 12
SHIELDS - 15
DOCKING - 24 docking ports, each capable of servicing ships of up to Scale 10 (represented by 24 separate orbital docking facilities)
SMALL CRAFT - 22 Scale worth of small craft, both Scale 1 & Scale 2 small craft available

WEAPONS
Phaser Banks [Medium, 16[CD], Versatile 2]
Photon Torpedoes [Long, 6[CD], High Yield]

TALENTS (6)
Command Base - The starbase has command and control systems allowing it to coordinate easily with allies during a crisis. When a character on the starbase succeeds at a Direct Task to create an Advantage, they may always be assisted by the base's Communications + Command, and they may confer the Advantage to allied ships or away teams with whom the starbase maintains a communications link.

Docking Capacity (x2) - The station has additional ports and pylons that allow it to support a greater number of docked vessels as well as larger vessels than would normally be the case. The starbase has a number of docking ports equal to twice its Scale, instead of half its Scale. The maximum Scale of any ship that may dock at the station is increased by 4. (Reflected above.)

Extensive Shuttlebays - The base's shuttlebays are large, well-supplied, and able to support a larger number of active shuttle missions simultaneously. The starbase may have twice as many small craft active at any one time as it would normally allow. (Reflected above.)

Repair Crews - With additional personnel to support repair and maintenance work, the station may prioritize repairs to a number of ships equal to its Engineering Department.

Sturdy Construction - When the station suffers damage, after Resistance, from an attack or hazard, it suffers a Breach if 8 or more damage is inflicted, rather than 5 or more as is normally the case.