Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to the Star Trek: Voyager message board RPG! We're a small, laid-back RPG that's been around since May 2005. You can read and enjoy our stories as a guest, but we'd love it if you joined and participated too.

If you'd like to join, read this thread about how to get started and follow the steps in the first post. We hope to see you around the boards!

Username:   Password:
Locked Topic
Welcome! (New people, please read!); Getting Started, Board Rules, Promotions
Topic Started: Nov 3 2007, 12:51 PM (1,368 Views)
Kathryn Janeway
Member Avatar


GETTING STARTED
Welcome to the Voyager RPG message board! We're an established, fun-loving community, accepting new RPGers and veterans alike. Our goal is to produce excellent stories and help our members grow and improve as writers.

We have one main story at a time, but plenty of side-stories, so there are always opportunities to exercise your creativity. Feel free to ask questions either in this forum or in the chatbox at the bottom of the board. We're very friendly people, and would love to get to know you.

If you want to join, please follow these steps:

1) Create an account on the board. Use your character's name as your username. (This makes it easy to follow which character is doing what in a story.)

2) Start a new topic in the "Characters" forum and post your character biography. If you would like to play a canon character, look through the list of topics in the Characters forum. If there isn't a topic with your desired canon character's name, that canon character is available.

In your biography, please include at least the following information (You can add more, but we'd like to see at least this much):
- Character Name
- Age
- Species
- Desired position on the ship (please don't assign yourself a rank; we'll do that based on the character's history)
- Personality description
- Three things they like
- Three things they dislike
- One life goal
- One fear
- Three skills/strengths
- Three flaws/weaknesses
- Biggest life regret
- Brief backstory (how they came to serve on Voyager)
- Your out-of-character name
- Which Star Trek shows you've watched
- Your previous RPGing experience
- Why you like RPGing

While it's perfectly fine to have a Starfleet officer character who joined Voyager's crew prior to the start of the show, our board's storyline offers a few unique character possibilities. For instance, you could play:
- A Maquis character who was a member of Chakotay's resistance cell
- A Starfleet character who fought in the Dominion War and joins the crew after Voyager's return home
- A non-commissioned officer who either went through the DQ with Voyager or joined the crew after returning home

Feel free to be creative! We'll let you know if you get too far outside the bounds of canon, and we'll help you create a character that will fit in well.

3) An administrator will read your post, and if it checks out, you'll receive permission to post on the rest of the board. An admin may send you a pm regarding biography details, since we need to make sure that each new character fits in with those we already have. Consequently, canon characters will be approved much more quickly than original characters.

4) In the meantime, please read the rest of this thread to see how the board works.
Edited by Kathryn Janeway, Jun 17 2016, 02:39 AM.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
Kathryn Janeway
Member Avatar


BOARD RULES

Setting
Voyager has returned home after eight or so years in the Delta Quadrant to discover that the Federation lost the Dominion war. Earth has been conquered, and the remainder of Starfleet now operates guerilla-style to try to push back the Dominion, Cardassian, and Breen forces. This is an alternate universe timeline, though everything from the show (with the exception of Endgame) is still canon. If you would like to do a story set in an earlier time period when Voyager was still in the Delta Quadrant, just let an admin know. We probably won't have a problem with it.

Member Jaden Terak found an online stardate calculator that you can use if you want to include accurate stardates in your posts. (Not mandatory, but fun if you want to immerse yourself fully in the setting.) Click here to use it!

Time Investment
We are fairly active, so the more often you are here, the better integrated you will be. Characters who have been tagged in a thread and have not responded in seven days can be NPCed by other members to advance the plot and remove that character from being critical to the story until the user's return.

If a canon character does not post for 30 days or more, that character will become available to new members and the member's account username will be changed to their OOC name. Unclaimed canon characters can be NPCed by any member, or claimed by new members.

If any user does not log into their account for thirty days without prior notice of a long absence, their account is subject to deletion at any time. If your account is deleted, you are more than welcome to come back, but your previous role might not be available.

Posting
We write in third person and in past tense (literary tense). We use quotation marks to distinguish dialogue from action.
Quote:
 
CORRECT:
Ensign George walked into sickbay. "I think I have a cold," he said.
Quote:
 
INCORRECT:
*I walk into sickbay* I think I have a cold.

Italics: These represent thoughts, which are unheard by other characters.

SHOUTING: Typing in all caps is considered shouting, and is generally discouraged.

OOC: This stands for "out of character." Please use this to preface all out-of-character comments in non-OOC forums.

IC: This stands for "in character." Use it when you switch back into character after an OOC comment.

Rules for Guided Threads
We usually use guided threads in our RPGing style. This means one person knows the plot and guides the other players through it. It is closer to real-life RPGing, as the person in charge acts as a sort of Game Master. In general, what you need to know is this:

1) React as you act. When you post, you should be responding to what is happening around you, not trying to change the course of the entire story. You are welcome to have your character take initiative, as this is how they grow, but leave it up to the moderator to tell you the results of what the character does.
Quote:
 
CORRECT:
Ensign George fired at the hostile alien. "Fire!" he shouted at his team.
Quote:
 
INCORRECT:
Ensign George fired at the hostile alien. "Fire!" he shouted at his team. Within seconds, he had killed the hostile alien's entire boarding party.

2) Investigate without finding. If you are looking for clues or information, do not specify what you find. It is the job of the story moderator to tell you what you find.
Quote:
 
CORRECT:
Ensign George scanned the body.
Quote:
 
INCORRECT:
Ensign George scanned the body and found a parasite infecting the brain.

3) Play along. Use each others' ideas and work together. When someone comes up with something for the characters to do, try to say "yes" to it, and then expand on it. (This is called saying "yes, and...")
Quote:
 
CORRECT:
"Ensign Fred, I'll go with you to investigate the cave," said Ensign George. "Maybe we'll find the solution to this mystery inside!"
Quote:
 
INCORRECT:
"Ensign Fred, I am not going with you to investigate the cave," said Ensign George. "Instead, I'm going to scan this rock."

4) Make Your Partner Look Good. When you're writing a scene with another person, try to make their character look good. Go along with their ideas. Give them things to react to, opportunities for character development, and potential conflicts to solve. When everyone RPGing together does this, it creates excellent stories.
Quote:
 
CORRECT:
Ensign George looked at Ensign Fred. "Hey, Ensign Fred, maybe your gymnastics experience will help us solve this problem!"
Quote:
 
INCORRECT:
Ensign George tried to figure out how he could solve the problem by himself.

Randomness
Randomness and outright silliness are allowed, and even encouraged, in the housecleaning forum, but you must stay in character.
Quote:
 
CORRECT:
Rubber chickens randomly appeared all over the bridge. Ensign George was quite startled, and looked around for a phaser, just in case.
Quote:
 
INCORRECT:
Rubber chickens randomly appeared all over the bridge. Ensign George leaped onto his console and shouted "Dance party!!!"

You can be as silly as you want in the OOC forums.

Board Organization
Current Story: This is for the main story that is currently being played. Only admins can start stories here, but all members are welcome to submit story ideas via pm.

Ship Life: These forums are for all other stories occurring on the ship. They are not linked to one another, therefore you may post in multiple threads at the same time. Anyone can start stories here.

Housecleaning: This is a place for humorous or silly missions to be played out, such as stories involving rubber chickens randomly appearing on the bridge. However, it is still in character, so have your character react to all situations in a believable manner.

General Stuff/Party Forum: These are the designated out-of-character forums. Random discussions, general topics, discussions about Star Trek as a show, and celebrations go here.

Things We Don't Like
Unauthorized Dual Accounts: Sockpuppet accounts are dishonest. We hold all of our members in high regard and want to feel that we can trust them in the event that we all go on vacation. The creating of unauthorized dual accounts is an abuse of this trust. If we find a dual account that has not previously been approved, both accounts will be deleted immediately and the IP address will be banned. If you need to have two people register accounts on the same computer (and thus, the same IP address), please inform an administrator prior to creating the second account.

HOWEVER, we totally support people creating secondary characters to enhance their RPGing experience, so feel free to make up NPCs for your own use or for the board's use in general. These characters would not have their own accounts, but can be played with like regular characters. To use an NPC or secondary character, post their name and avatar (if available) prior to their actions/dialogue to make it clear which character you're writing.

Spam: Spam is bad. Spammers get deleted.

Flames: Do not say rude things about other members, their characters, or their ideas. Ensign George might insult Ensign Fred in character, but the people playing those two characters should still be nice to each other. Flamers get deleted.

Smut: Keep your posts clean. We follow the "fade to black" rule, in which non-explicit references to adult situations may be made, but you may not actually show anything. Per request, we're going to ask that posts and topics containing violence or adult situations be marked in the description (as in "Rated PG-13") to inform other members. Nothing beyond PG-13 is ever allowed. Unacceptable posts will be deleted, and the poster warned. Repeat offenses will result in the account being deleted.

Swearing: If it wouldn't show up on Star Trek on TV, it shouldn't show up here.

Reporting Problems
If you're having a problem on the board, please don't hesitate to let an administrator know. We want you to feel comfortable writing and expressing yourself here! Technical problems (avatar not working, posts not showing up, etc.) can be posted in the out-of-character forum if you'd like to get help from all board members, but if your issue is with another member, please report it privately to an admin via the PM system. We'll do our best to resolve it fairly and quickly.

Any time you have any questions or are unsure if something is acceptable, feel free to ask!

Thank you for reading, and happy roleplaying!
Edited by Kathryn Janeway, Jun 17 2016, 02:44 AM.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
Kathryn Janeway
Member Avatar


RANKS AND PROMOTIONS
Initial ranks on the board are assigned based on the character's achievements prior to their joining Voyager's crew. Most new characters will start as ensigns, though some may be lieutenants or junior lieutenants depending on their backstories. Promotions are earned by a combination of the character's accomplishments and the player's level of activity on the board. Because the board's storyline now takes place after Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant, there is plenty of room for advancement.

Characters can also play enlisted personnel, in which case they will earn enlisted ranks, but following the same guidelines as officers. An enlisted character can earn a field commission through a particularly noteworthy accomplishment, if desired.

Characters earn Promotion Points for their activities in stories. Once they reach a given number of promotion points and meet the out-of-character requirements for promotion, they are eligible for the next rank. If you believe you have satisfied the requirements for promotion, please PM an administrator to let us know.

Characters can also earn Drama Points if they engage in behavior that would realistically earn punishment in-universe. Characters cannot be promoted unless their Drama Points level is at zero. If a character reaches 15 Drama Points, they will be demoted. Their current promotion points balance will remain, but they will have to earn their way back to their previous rank. Drama points are eliminated when the character does something in-story that would realistically convince the other officers to trust them again.

Every time you are promoted, the points required for that promotion will be deducted from your total.

Only administrators can change a user's point count, but you can recommend awarding points to other members by posting them in the points tracking thread.

Rank Requirements

Rank: Ensign
Enlisted: Petty Officer Third Class
Default

Rank: Lieutenant Junior Grade
Enlisted: Petty Officer Second Class
- Currently-active member in good standing
- 1 year as board member
- 100 Promotion Points

Rank: Lieutenant
Enlisted: Petty Officer First Class
- Currently-active member in good standing
- 1 year as board member
- 200 Promotion Points

Rank: Lieutenant Commander
Enlisted: Chief Petty Officer
- Frequently active member in good standing
- 2 years as board member
- 1,000 posts
- 300 Promotion Points
- Has started 3 stories and moderated them to completion
- Assists with board activities (tracking promotion points, answering other users' questions, welcoming new people, etc.)
- Character has led 3 away missions or otherwise taken charge of a team on 3 occasions

Rank: Commander
- 300 Promotion Points
- Continues to meet the requirements for Lieutenant Commander

Things That Earn Points
These are guidelines for how to earn points. Points can be awarded for activities not on the list as well, using the list as a guide. Not every instance of the activities on this list will earn points; some of it depends on the situation.

Please note that you can't moderate a story in which you save the ship and then earn points for that activity. Points will only be awarded for a character's activities in situations that were not completely under the player's control.

1 - 2 Promotion Points:
Volunteering for a task
Participating in a story
Creative use of technobabble
Suggesting a solution to an in-story problem
Going on an away mission
Character development - revealing thoughts, desires, opinions, or pieces of backstory

3 - 4 Promotion Points:
Starting a story
Directly saving a life
Solving an in-story problem
Coming up with an idea that advances the plot in a story
Leading an away mission
Successfully overseeing a first contact
Having a post added to the "Best Posts" thread

5+ Promotion Points:
Moderating a story to completion
Coming up with an idea that resolves the plot in a story in a particularly creative way
Solving a story-based mystery
Peacefully resolving a dangerous situation
Winning a combat situation
Saving the ship as a whole

***

1 Drama Point:
Disrespecting a senior officer
Repeated tardiness to duty shifts

2-3 Drama Points:
Physical confrontation with any other character
Refusal to obey a direct order

4+ Drama Points:
Endangering the ship (5 - 10 points)
Any form of sabotage (10 points)
Instigating conflict with another species (5 - 15 points)
Posted Image
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
Kathryn Janeway
Member Avatar


Awards
Members can win awards to display in their signatures through in-character and out-of-character contributions to the board.

Posted Image Goes to members who have gone above and beyond in doing something to improve the board OOC.

Lipton (Jack Larson) - Creating the promotion/demotion point system we use
Pete (Tuvok) - Redirecting www.voyager-rpg.net to the board

Posted Image Goes to a member who did a particularly good job of playing an original main character in a story.

David Cohen - September 2014 - There's No Place Like Home Part II
Scott Archer - April 2015 - Who Counsels the Counselor?

Posted Image Goes to a member who plays a canon character so similarly to the show that it's eerie.

Violetta - September 2015 - Seven of Nine in "A Lesson to Remember"

Posted Image Goes to a member who did a spectacular job of playing multiple characters in a single story.

Nth (Harry Kim and the EMH) - December 2014 - all stories since April 2010

Posted Image Goes to any member whose main character has accumulated ten or more drama points (not necessarily at the same time).

Old Awards
Posted Image Issued once a month to the member voted to have written the best post. All past winners can display the award in their signatures.

2014: Phantom - Captain Janeway (July), Dhaezi - B'Elanna Torres (August), Violetta - Seven of Nine (September), Phantom - Janeway & Violetta - Seven (October), Nth - Harry Kim (November), Pete - Tuvok (December)

2015: Dhaezi - B'Elanna Torres (January), Nth - EMH (February), Violetta - Seven of Nine & Phantom - Aubrey Vastag (March), Violetta - Seven of Nine (April), Thomas - Thomas Murphy (May), Lipton - Jack Larson (June), Scott - Scott Archer (July), Thomas - Thomas Murphy (August), Violetta - Seven of Nine & Scott - Scott Archer & Pete - Tuvok (September)

Posted Image Goes to the member who wrote the "post of the month" that is voted as "post of the year."

2014: Dhaezi as B'Elanna Torres (for August POTM)
Edited by Kathryn Janeway, Oct 9 2015, 03:40 AM.
Posted Image
Offline Profile Goto Top
 
DealsFor.me - The best sales, coupons, and discounts for you
« Previous Topic · Characters · Next Topic »
Locked Topic