STARFLEET ACADEMY

Training Packages for Creating Star Trek Characters in SpaceMaster

By Brent Knorr

www.ob1knorrb.com

24 July 2001

Introduction

Welcome to the world of Star Trek, adapted to the Spacemaster/Rolemaster Rules.  All you really need to make use of the material in this article is a copy of Spacemaster Privateers, although occasional references to other ICE products may be made.

As with any game, the material presented here reflects certain views of the author that may not be shared by everyone.   I'll try and state most of these up front.

The characters created by this system are Officers in Star Fleet.  They are not enlisted men.  There is some debate about what percentage of a crew consists of officers vs. enlisted men, but at some point I believe it was stated that all of the crew of a Constitution Class vessel were officers.  This obviously did not stay true later, Chief O'Brien (Next Gen/DS9) being a prime example, but an unusually large number of the characters seem to be ensign rank and higher, so that is what this article will focus on.

I personally hold the belief that a first level character in Spacemaster has at best a high school, or perhaps limited post secondary education.  I've adopted the rough guideline that each year of post secondary education is equivalent to an additional level in Spacemaster. Therefore, after four years of Academy training, you will have a fourth level Spacemaster character.

Related to having characters starting at higher levels is my view on what qualifies as "Professional Level" in a skill. I would expect a character to have at least 40% in a skill to be considered a professional.  This means that under routine conditions (generally a +30 bonus) a character with a 40% skill only needs to roll 6% or higher to achieve at least a partial success. Relating to the Star Trek Universe, I would expect any crewmember that was manning a station unsupervised would have at least a 40% in whatever skills were required for that position.  I would expect that a character would require at least a 10% in the skill to man the station if there was an experienced supervisor nearby.

I have designed the training packages with the following in mind.  The Academy runs for four years, followed by a one year Cadet Cruise.  This is consistent with what we know from the T.V. series and what two previous incarnations of Star Trek Roleplaying used.

Each year at the Academy is equivalent to one level of experience in Spacemaster.  You are required to take at least two training packages at each level.

Currently, all characters will be created using the Adolescence ranks for Humans in the Spacemaster Privateers book.  I'll leave the creation of other Star Trek races and cultures up to someone else, or perhaps as a future project for myself.

NOTE: Because of the large number of adolescence ranks that Humans receive in the Communications Skill Category and the Science/Analytical groups, it is quite likely that some of the training packages will cause a character to go over the 10 Rank limit for Training Packages.  In this case, take any ranks that would be above ten and apply them to the Skill in that category instead.  Alternately, the GM could rule that 10 Rank limit does not apply, or could enforce it strictly and the extra ranks are lost.

Also, because of the number and the cost of some of the training packages, it may be possible that a character is short a few development points, particularly at first and second level when they haven't made many stat gain rolls yet.  In this case, I would usually allow the character to dip into the next levels development point pool if it is obvious that they will still have enough points to buy the packages that they need for that next level.  This can represent summer school courses, or courses that were actually picked up the following year, etc.

There are certain minimum requirements that are needed in some skills for a character to graduate from StarFleet Academy.  If Training packages one through six are taken, combined with Adolescence ranks, then most characters will meet these requirements. If some Training Packages are substituted, then the Character may need to pick up some additional skill ranks along the way.

 I have included a breakdown of the number of ranks for categories and skills that the Training Packages one through six give out, but it is the percentage score on the skill that is really the important number, with the exception of Body Development. It could be possible for some characters to take the recommended number of ranks and still have less than the required percentage in the skill.  Those characters should then take additional ranks in the skill until they meet the minimum requirement. Note that just meeting these requirements is not sufficient to graduate from the Academy, but lacking any of these will definitely prevent graduation.

Minimum Requirements

There are several different areas of specialization in Star Fleet, and different degrees of specialization within those.  The main areas are, Command, Communications, Helm, Navigation, Engineer, Medical, Sciences, and Security. The typical route through the Academy provides a general exposure to all areas in the first three years, with the student picking a specialization in their fourth year.  However, if after two years, the student already knows which area they wish to specialize in, they can begin to focus on that area a year earlier, as long as they still meet the minimum requirements at the end. Engineers, Medical and Scientists will often choose to do this, taking one of the larger packages in third year instead of the smaller, more general packages.

Year 1 at the Academy will by the same for almost all students.  First year will cover the background and history of the Federation, which is reflected by taking training package TP1 - Social. Year 1 also covers some of the basics of operating Federation equipment, covered by training package TP2 - General Operations.

Year 2 will focus on some basic self defense, including the ability to operate in Zero G (TP3 Combat). The student will also be taught some of the skills required of an Officer in StarFleet, including Leadership and the ability to teach others (TP4 - Officer).

Note, because of the high cost of the TP3 Combat package for the Scientist, Technician, and Psychic (if allowed in your campaign) Classes, these Characters will often only take this package at this level and will pick up the TP4 Officer package at a later level, choosing instead an inexpensive TP from a later year (often TP6 for Scientist's and Technician's). 

Alternately, TP3 Combat can be left for a later year (when the character will presumably have more Development Points) and one (or two) of the Year 3 TP's could be taken in Year 2 along with TP 4 Officer.

In Year 3, most students, particularly those interested in Command, Communications, Helm, Navigation, and Security will take additional training in Data Processing (the ability to retrieve information is very important) as well as a range of Science options (TP5 Science 1). They will also study basic Astrogation and Engineering skills (TP6 - General Science/Engineering). In an emergency, any officer should be able to do basic repairs to equipment and plot a basic course, if not to a specific destination, at least away from a particular hazard.

Students that know that they are going to specialize in Medicine will often substitute the TP12 Field Medic or TP13 Medical for TP5 Science 1.

Students specializing in Science will often substitute TP14 Science Package 2 for TP5 Science Package 1.

Students specializing in Engineering will often substitute TP10 Engineering Package 1, and less often, TP11 Engineering Package 2 for the TP6 General Science/Engineering Package.

NOTE: it is often advantageous to try and take three training packages in fourth year, a suggestion would be to allow characters to save some unused development points from third year to be used in fourth year.  This could represent the character actually getting a jump on things by taking extra courses in third year.

Year 4 is fairly wide open and depends on the students speciality

Command - This is probably the route that offers the most choices. A good commander should have a general knowledge of everything. Most students in Command will take the TP8 Helm Package and the TP15 Security Package.  Other good choices are TP12 Field Medic, TP16 Outdoor Survival, TP7 Communications or TP9 Navigation.  One of the first six packages could also be taken for a second time.  A student serious about Command will often take extra courses in fourth year (i.e. three Training packages if the character has enough Development Points).

Another option is to not take any particular packages, or take only one package, and then just use the Development points to improve required skills.

Communications - A fourth year student intent on becoming a communications officer will take the TP7 Communications Package at least once, possibly twice if they want to be really good.  Most often, a different second package will be taken, leaving further improvement to Communication skills for the Cadet Cruise. The second Training Package can be almost anything, including the first six.

Helm/Navigation - These two tracks are often interrelated, a helmsman should know basic navigation and a navigator should have basic Helms skill.  Students in these specialities will each take the TP8 Helm Package and the TP9 Navigation Package once, then will gain additional practical training in their area of specialty on their cadet cruise (reflected in game terms by taking the appropriate package again at that level).  If the Character has enough Development points, they could take the third package during fourth year.

Engineer - will normally take TP10 Engineering Package 1 and TP11 Engineering Package 2.  TP10 Engineering Package 1 should be taken twice, either by taking it once in third year, and once in fourth year, or if the character has enough Development points, taking it an extra time in fourth year.  It could also be taken as part of the Cadet Cruise.

Medical - Take the TP13 Medical Package as many times as possible, generally twice. It doesn't hurt to squeeze in TP12 Field Medic somewhere as well, but it isn't actually required, although if it isn't taken, the character should take at least one rank in Pharmaceuticals along the way.

Sciences - Take the TP14 Science 2 Package at least twice. Oddly enough, TP9 Navigation is a good complimentary package as well.

Security - Take the TP13 Security Package twice.  Other good options are to take TP16 Outdoor Survival or take the TP3 Combat Package again, particularly if you have enough Development points for a third package.

Other options - The information on fourth year should be considered as guidelines, not carved in stone.  There is nothing wrong with creating a character with a more general skill set.  Look at a character like Geordi from Next Generation, he started off as a Helmsman/Navigator and ended up as Chief Engineer.  There is lots of time for additional on the job training.  A character that took the Medicine Package, plus the Navigation package in fourth year is perfectly fine.

Cadet Cruise - This is a one year cruise to give the new Graduate some practical experience.  This could easily be roleplayed, a group of Cadets (fourth level characters) on their first mission, or can be treated as an additional academy year.  The characters could gain a fifth level, and buy additional Academy packages or simply spend their Development Points as usual.

Additional Training Packages

There are two extra Training Packages included at the end of this article, these are Department Head and Command School.  These could be taken at some point after Graduation for those characters whom will be heads of Departments (Chief Engineer, First Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Captain, etc).  The Captain should also take the Command School Package.

 If you are starting your players as the main crew on a large ship (such as the USS Enterprise), I would recommend giving them at least one more level of experience (6^th minimum) and allowing them to take the additional training packages. If the characters are going to achieve Department Head or Command status as part of roleplaying, these packages can serve as guidelines as to what skills they should be taking.

Training Package Costs

The following chart shows the costs of all the Training Packages for all the Spacemaster Privateer classes.

	Criminal	Explorer	Pilot	Psychic	Recon	Scientist	Soldier	Technician
TP1 Social	20	29	26	26	29	22	29	26
TP2 General Operations	35	31	29	32	33	36	32	28
TP3 Combat	31	29	32	57	29	49	21	46
TP4 Officer	24	26	26	26	26	28	26	29
TP5 Science 1	35	37	35	28	39	22	39	28
TP6 General Science/Engineering	39	39	36	34	48	20	46	24
TP7 Communications	31	34	31	31	40	25	38	28
TP8 Helm	46	33	27	44	41	53	40	36
TP9 Navigation	44	46	44	32	47	22	47	32
TP10 Engineering 1	48	45	42	48	56	26	53	23
TP11 Engineering 2	51	48	47	51	59	29	56	26
TP12 Field Medic	35	37	39	31	40	24	39	29
TP13 Medical	54	55	56	45	55	34	55	48
TP14 Science 2	50	50	49	45	54	27	54	37
TP15 Security	35	32	34	54	32	50	29	41
TP16 Outdoor Survival	27	27	29	39	24	35	29	31
TP20 Department Head	27	27	27	27	27	29	27	31
TP21 Command School	25	27	27	27	27	28	27	30

Recommended Character Classes and Training Packages

I worked out what would be a typical set of Training Packages that would be taken for each speciality, then worked out the costs of those packages for each of the classes in Spacemaster. That helped me come up with a list of recommended Character Classes for each speciality. For those who are interested, I've included the chart, the recommendations follow after.

						Criminal	Explorer	Pilot	Psychic	Recon	Scientist	Soldier	Technician
Year 1
					TP1 +TP2	55	60	55	58	62	58	61	54
Year 2
					TP3 +TP4	55	55	58	83	55	77	47	75
Year 3
			Command		TP5 + TP6	74	76	71	62	87	42	85	52
			Communications		TP5 + TP6	74	76	71	62	87	42	85	52
			Helm		TP5 + TP6	74	76	71	62	87	42	85	52
			Navigation		TP5 + TP6	74	76	71	62	87	42	85	52
			Engineer		TP5 + TP10	83	82	77	76	95	48	92	51
			Medical		TP13 + TP6	93	94	92	79	103	54	101	72
			Sciences		TP14 + TP6	89