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 be 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 speciality 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	89	85	79	102	47	100	61
			Security		TP5 + TP6	74	76	71	62	87	42	85	52
Year 4
			Command		TP8+TP15	81	65	61	98	73	103	69	77
			Communications		TP7+TP7	62	68	62	62	80	50	76	56
			Helm		TP8+TP9	90	79	71	76	88	75	87	68
			Navigation		TP8+TP9	90	79	71	76	88	75	87	68
			Engineer		TP10 + TP11	99	93	89	99	115	55	109	49
			Medical		TP13 + TP13	108	110	112	90	110	68	110	96
			Sciences		TP14 + TP14	100	100	98	90	108	54	108	74
			Security		TP15 + TP15	70	64	68	108	64	100	58	82
Cadet Cruise
			Command		TP12+TP16	62	64	68	70	64	59	68	60
			Communications		TP12+TP16	62	64	68	70	64	59	68	60
			Helm		TP8 +TP16	73	60	56	83	65	88	69	67
			Navigation		TP9+TP16	71	73	73	71	71	57	76	63
			Engineer		TP10+TP16	75	72	71	87	80	61	82	54
			Medical		TP13+TP12	89	92	95	76	95	58	94	77
			Sciences		TP14+TP9	94	96	93	77	101	49	101	69
			Security		TP3+TP16	58	56	61	96	53	84	50	77

Command – Going by the Training Packages I selected for Command, the best character classes are Explorer and Pilot.  However, because of the wide range of available choices for selecting packages for Command, just about any class will work. 

Communications – Scientist is the best bet for this, closely followed by Technician, but you should be able to make it work with just about any class.

Helm – Pilot is probably best, but Technician is a very close runner up. Again, with some creative juggling and a decent number of development points, just about any class could qualify.

Navigation – This is actually a more difficult speciality than might be expected.  The Technician works out to be the best class for this, followed closely by Scientist.  Explorer and Pilot are fairly good bets as well.

Engineer – No big surprise here, Technician is the best, followed by Scientist.  A Pilot with high DP’s might be able to pull it off, but wouldn’t have a lot of extra DP’s left

Medical & Sciences – The only real option for these is Scientist or possibly Technician.

Security – Psychic and Scientist are out, but just about any other class would work. The choice would depend on the type of Security you are interested in.  For the physically intimidating, cannon fodder on Away Mission types, Soldier is a good bet.  For the more problem solving types, something like Pilot or Recon might be better.

Sample Characters

Here is a typical character for each speciality, using the optimum character class.

Each character has 68 DP’s at first level, 72 at second, 76 at third, 80 at fourth and 82 at fifth (optional Cadet Cruise).  These numbers are actually low compared to what most of my characters end up with, so should be more than reasonable.

Character 1 is an Explorer specializing in Command

            Year 1 – takes TP1 and TP2, costs 60 DP’s, leaving 8 for other skills

            Year 2 – takes TP3 and TP4, costs 55 DP’s. leaving 17 for other skills

            Year 3 – takes TP5 and TP6, costs 76 DP’s, leaving 0 for other skills

            Year 4 – takes TP8 and TP15, costs 65 DP’s, leaving 15 for other skills

            Cadet  – takes TP12 and TP16, costs 62, leaving 20 for other skills

Character 2 is a Scientist specializing in Communication

            Year 1 – takes TP1 and TP2, costs 58 DP’s, leaving 10 for other skills

            Year 2 – takes TP3 and TP6, costs 69 DP’s, leaving 3 for other skills

            Year 3 – takes TP4 and TP5, costs 50 DP’s, leaving 26 for other skills

            Year 4 – takes TP7 twice, costs 50 DP’s, leaving 30 for other skills

            Cadet – takes TP12 and TP16, costs 59 DP’s, leaving 23 for other skills

This character has enough points to pick up additional training packages, they could take TP10 at year 3, TP11 at year 4, and TP9 on the Cadet Cruise, or substitute TP5 or TP6 for one of the others, giving the character a good opportunity to develop an Engineering, Science or Navigation subspecialty

Character 3 is a Pilot specializing in Helm

            Year 1 – takes TP1 and TP2, costs 55 DP’s, leaving 13 for other skills

            Year 2 – takes TP3 and TP4, costs 58 DP’s, leaving 14 for other skills

            Year 3 – takes TP5 and TP6, costs 71 DP’s, leaving 5 for other skills

            Year 4 – takes TP8 and TP9, costs 71 DP’s, leaving 9 for other skills

            Cadet – takes TP8 and TP16, costs 56 DP’s, leaving 26 for other skills

Character 4 is a Technician specializing in Navigation

            Year 1 – takes TP1 and TP2, costs 54 DP’s, leaving 14 for other skills

            Year 2 – takes TP3 and TP6, costs 70 DP’s, leaving 2 for other skills

            Year 3 – takes TP4 and TP5, costs 57 DP’s, leaving 18 for other skills

            Year 4 – takes TP8 and TP9, costs 68 DP’s, leaving 12 for other skills

            Cadet – takes TP9 and TP16, costs 63 DP’s, leaving 19 for other skills

 

Character 5 is a Technician specializing in Engineering

            Year 1 – takes TP1 and TP2, costs 54 DP’s, leaving 14 for other skills

            Year 2 – takes TP3 only, costs 46 DP’s, leaving 26 for other skills

            Year 3 – takes TP5, and TP10 twice, costs 74 DP’s, leaving 2 for other skills

            Year 4 – takes TP4, TP10 and TP11, costs 68, leaving 12 for other skills

            Cadet – takes TP10 and TP16, costs 54, leaving 28 for other skills.

This character could easily squeeze in two more Training Packages, one at Year 2 and one at the Cadet Cruise.

Character 6 is a Scientist specializing in Medical

            Year 1 – takes TP1 and TP2, costs 58 DP’s, leaving 10 for other skills

            Year 2 – takes TP3 and TP6, costs 69 DP’s, leaving 3 for other skills

            Year 3 – takes TP4, and TP13, costs 62 DP’s, leaving 14 for other skills

            Year 4 – takes TP13 twice, costs 68 DP’s, leaving 12 for other skills

            Cadet – takes TP12 and TP13, costs 58, leaving 24 for other skills       

Character 7 is a Scientist specializing in Sciences

            Year 1 – takes TP1 and TP2, costs 58 DP’s, leaving 10 for other skills

            Year 2 – takes TP4, TP5 and TP6, costs 70 DP’s, leaving 2 for other skills

            Year 3 – takes TP3 and TP14, costs 76 DP’s, leaving 0 for other skills

            Year 4 – takes TP 14 twice, costs 54 DP’s, leaving 26 for other skills

            Cadet – takes TP14 and TP9, costs 49 DP’s, leaving 33 for other skills

Although this character could squeeze in two more TP’s at Year 4 and the Cadet Cruise, because they are heavily focused on the Science categories and skills and have relatively few extra points in the first three levels, it is likely that they will need the extra DP’s at Year 4 and Cadet Cruise to round out some of their other skills.

Character 8 is a Soldier specializing in Security

            Year 1 – takes TP1 and TP2, costs 61 DP’s, leaving 7 for other skills

            Year 2 – takes TP3 and TP6, costs 67 DP’s, leaving 5 for other skills

            Year 3 – takes TP4 and TP5, costs 65 DP’s, leaving 11 for other skills

            Year 4 – takes TP15 twice, costs 58 DP’s, leaving 22 for other skills

            Cadet – Takes TP3 and TP16, costs 50 DP’s, leaving 32 for other skills

Training Packages

Listed below are all the Training Packages referred to in this article.  Note that there isn’t a “Special” section for any of the packages, This is due to the special nature of these packages, the short amount of time required for them and the fact that so many are taken.  I’ve created  a generic “Special” Table that can be used with any of the packages, but I would recommend using it only once level (year) instead of with every Training Package.

Special:

Course taught by famous member of StarFleet                      10%

Mastermind a particularly successful prank                           30%
(40% if Engineer)

Equipment related to speciality (+10 to relevant skill)            40%

Complete course “Top of Class”                                       30%

Unusual Contact (i.e. Wise Groundskeeper, Bartender)            30%

Software Library (+20 to speciality skill)                          50%

Software Library (+15 to speciality skill)                          40%

Software Library (+10 to speciality skill)                          30%

Software Library (+5 to speciality skill)                          20%

Useful Academic Contact                                                            0%

TP #1—Social Package

TP #2—General Operations Package

TP #3—Combat Package

TP #4—Officer Package

TP #5—Science Package 1

TP #6—General Science/Engineering Package

 

TP #7—Communications Package

TP #8—Helm Package

 

TP #9—Navigation Package

TP #10—Engineering Package 1

 

TP #11—Engineering Package 2

TP #12—Field Medic Package

 

TP #13—Medical Package

TP #14—Science Package 2

 

TP #15—Security Package

TP #16—Outdoor Survival Package

(Note:  TP’s #17–#19 are reserved for future development.)

TP #20—Department Head Package

TP #21— Command School Curriculum Package