u/TransWormholeExpress

When I posted Act 1 over at the Solo Roleplaying sub I included a brief description of the 2d20 system, Momentum, and Threat and the differences between them in STA and CL. Here I will just state that part of what prompted me to post in the Solo forum was a remark by someone over there that they felt like the journaling for the game would be too much for them, and I was hopeful that my example demonstrated that you can play with very little narration.

The quick Act 1 summary is the Livermore scans the dead subspace whale, they attempt to dodge three Seltorian frigates with limited success, and then a live subspace whale makes telepathic contact with the chief of Cetacean Ops, and gives instructions on how to hide more effectively so that the Livermore can make repairs to their quantum slipstream drive.

Act 1, Scene 1

The scene opens with a shot of the Livermore and the lifeform in deep space, then shifts to the bridge of the Livermore.

Sensors + Science (15) to scan the lifeform.

·        The result is (4,4), scan scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum + 2 Advantages (from Science rating/Advanced Sensor Suites) generated.

·        Momentum: Stored for the time being.

·        Advantage 1: The scan is unusually informative.

·        Advantage 2: No need to roll to detect the vessels emerging from subspace.

The lifeform is cetacean, approximately the size of a runabout, with a hybrid carbon-solanogen composition.  The creature’s wounds were caused by disruptor fire of unknown origin, though it is most reminiscent of Tholian weaponry.  The creature’s hybrid composition permits passage between normal space and subspace, and with enough study this passage might be duplicable with Federation technology.  The creature dies during the Livermore’s scan.

After the creature dies, the scene cuts to three frigate-size vessels (Scale 3) emerging from subspace.

Act 1, Scene 2

The scene opens on the bridge of the Livermore. 

Are the newcomers communicative?  Improbable (Yes 1-5)

·        The result is 11, the newcomers are not communicative. 

The newcomers ignore any hails, but the lead vessel scans the Livermore. 

Sensors + Security (13) threat assessment scan

·        The result is (2, 15), scan scores 1 success.

·        1 Advantage (from Security rating/Advanced Sensor Suites) is generated.

·        The advantage will allow removal of the first hit in ship-to-ship combat.

·        Spend Momentum to remove the second hit in ship-to-ship combat.

·        The lead ship is an assault vessel, similar to Defiant-class weapons capabilities.

·        The second ship is a scout, similar to Iowa-class weapons capabilities.

·        The third ship has some unknown capabilities. 

Reason + Engineering (16) to theorize from the sensor data.

·        The result is (5, 14), theorizing scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum is generated, the Livermore is more maneuverable than the vessels they face.

·        The theorization yields that the vessels may be able to track ships under phased cloak, and either match the phase shift or fire phase-adjusted weapons. 

The vessels open fire, Engines + Conn (13) for Evasive Maneuvers.

·        The result is (9, 12), Evasive Maneuvers scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum is generated, used to negate a third hit during ship combat. 

Reason + Command (15) to assess the vessels’ tactics.

·        The result is (9, 18), the tactical assessment scores 1 success.

·        The opponent’s tactics aren’t particularly imaginative, the assault vessel takes the lead, and predictably enough the Livermore can maneuver to reduce the effectiveness of their numerical advantage.

Act 1, Scene 3

The scene opens on the bridge of the Livermore.

Commander Mason orders the Livermore to cloak given their opponent’s superiority in firepower, the scene cuts to an external shot of the Livermore as it cloaks. 

Weapons + Security (11) to successfully evade the attackers under cloak, requires 2 successes.

·        The result is (12, 18), the cloaked evasion does not score any successes.

·        The Livermore takes one hit, which knocks the QSD offline. 

Another set of Evasive Maneuvers to avoid further damage, Engines + Conn (13)

·        The result is (10, 11), Evasive Maneuvers scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum is generated, spent on telepathic contact from the cetacean species.

·        Lt. Veselka from Cetacean Ops relays instructions on how to enter subspace. 

Control + Command (15) to execute the subspace entrance procedure.

·        The result is (1, 13), Subspace Entry Procedure scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum and an advantage (from Command/Starship Design focus) are generated.

·        Momentum is spent to ensure that the subspace haven will allow repairs on the QSD to be finished without interruption.

·        The advantage will be that the method might be adaptable to QSD technology. 

Act 1, Scene 4

The scene opens in Cetacean Ops. 

Commander Mason converses with a cetacean of the interdimensional Balinari species named Asuzura, who is in telepathic contact with LTJG Veselka in Cetacean Ops.

·        Their opponents are called the Seltorians, an insectoid species originally from M81.

·        They are hunting for a race that sounds an awful lot like the Tholians.

·        The Seltorians hunt the Balinari because of their interdimensional capabilities.

·        Based on the phased cloaking capabilities the Livermore exhibited, it is likely that the Seltorians will also hunt Federation vessels, should they come into contact again. 

Presence + Command (13) to negotiate some sort of agreement.

·        The result is (5, 11), the Negotiation scores 2 successes.

·        The Federation will do what they can to form a defensive alliance.

·        The Balinari will do what they can to unite their innate subspace abilities with the QSD.

·        Momentum is generated, the Balinari can bring an envoy from a like-minded species called the Sukotru. 

Act 1, Scene 5

The scene opens in Main Engineering. 

Control + Command (15) to direct repairs on the QSD.

·        The result is (2, 18), the Repairs score 1 success.

·        1 Advantage is generated through the Leading By Example focus.

·        The repairs would normally take 3 hours to complete, but can be completed in 90 minutes. 

Sensors + Conn (14) to locate themselves relative to their last position in real space.

·        The result is (3, 5), the Sensor Reading scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum and 1 advantage are generated.

·        Momentum is stored for the time being.

·        The Livermore is 100 parsecs closer to DS M-33 than where they started.

·        Advantage allows some information to be learned about how to reproduce the jump.

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Here's the follow-up to the Commander Mason post, one more background post before getting to the actual play. The stats for Deep Space M-33 are here along with a list of key personnel and garrison vessels. As this is a distillation of four years of play in a prior campaign, this is a lot more than is needed to get rolling with Captain's Log, but as in the case for Commander Mason these things were available so I included them as part of the setup.

Originally there were only two garrison vessels but I retconned in the Cali-class vessel because I needed a ship that definitely had a Cetacean Ops department, and the California-class met that need. The Livermore and Phantom have Scale 4 and the Hawking has Scale 3 compared to DS M-33's Scale of 12, for reference.

LCDR Mordock is the one character from TNG canon that I've included in this game. At this point he was the XO of the Livermore and then became XO of the station when it passed on to M33. The Livermore's CO was KIA in the rearguard action that allowed the station to escape through the wormhole.

The final year of the Decipher Trek campaign included the first season of Star Trek: The Space Beyond. In that time, the crew met five species that all lived in an Ultimate Solar System in the Triangulum Galaxy, the Unuopa System. Those are all the listed Season 1 species except for the K'Si, who were an antagonist species, plant-based and able to induce the Jordy Verrill transformation from the Creepshow movie in humanoid species.

I brought in the Seltorians to be the major antagonist species for Season 2 because of their mission to hunt down the Tholians. There aren't any Tholians in the Triangulum Galaxy but in the very first session of the prequel campaign we met a Tholian commander who was linked with Commander Mason's sister, Masha, who was my first PC in that campaign. Once the Seltorians learn about this connection they come after the Federation base with a powerful will.

Another species we met in the prequel campaign was a race of interdimensional cetaceans. I asked the GM about these guys but he didn't have any notes, not even a name for the species. I used the tables in Captain's Log to produce the name Inviopa, but that didn't really sit right with me so I named them the Balinari instead. The Balinari as a species are much more favorably inclined toward the Federation and their allies (the real treasure was all the interdimensional cetaceans we befriended along the way), and the Sukotru and Ursavon are two warp-capable species that the Balinari know of who are also having troubles with the Seltorians and looking for friends to help face them down.

Have you ever done any solo work in the context of a multi-player campaign? I'm thinking in particular not of 1-on-1 scenes with the GM, but stuff that's essentially self-contained with minimal GM input beyond "Is it OK if I do this?" I have a few examples from campaigns I've played in:

A year or two after D&D 4e came out I visited my gaming buddies in Seattle and played in a one-shot adventure over a Labor Day weekend where we took characters from 4th to 9th level. As I lived in San Diego at the time I couldn't participate in the ongoing campaign that emerged from this weekend of gaming, but I was able to take my PC from 9th to 16th level by pitting her against foes chosen from the Monster Manual in a series of gladiatorial contests. I kept the DM apprised of my character's progress, and at some point the PCs in the Seattle group were offered the chance to bet on the outcome of my character's matches. There was a loss against a run of victories for my character that cost the Seattle crew a fair amount of gold after one of these matches.

The Captain's Log PC I recently posted about at length came from a prior campaign with the same Seattle gaming group where once again I was a remote participant. This was a troupe-style campaign with three interrelated series that ran in regular rotation. We played every four weeks, and between sessions I would often write slice-of-life vignettes involving Tania and/or her sister Masha, the older sibling, so it was kind of a journaling solo effort. The one thing that made it into the larger campaign was that it was then-Lieutenant Mason's idea to send a small task group to explore the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way that is only about three times as far from Earth as the Delta Quadrant. Starfleet accepted the proposal but sent other vessels to the LMC first, though the PCs did eventually make it there as well, where they had a run-in with the Kelvans.

I'm currently playing in a Warhammer RPG campaign set in the Old World. This is a fully remote campaign with players in Oakland, San Diego, Chicago, and Western Europe. The system has rules for downtime activities, and after checking with the GM whether Blood Bowl existed in this time (it does for our campaign) I developed a narrative system for Blood Bowl Sevens, the amateur version of Blood Bowl, as a downtime activity. There are three physical and three mental tests that go towards modifying a Leadership test to see whether my PCs squad, the Talagaad Red Stallions, win their match. So far the team is 1-2, though my PC has managed to score several TD and inflict a number of casualties in the three matches played thus far.

I originally posted this in r/Solo_Roleplaying as an example of actual play for Captain's Log, prompted by a question about how much journaling is involved in CL. The short answer is not very much, but in demonstrating this by posting my example of actual play I felt I needed to set the scene if people wanted to read through the actual play posts. I have posts about the starbase, the cold open, and Acts 1, 2, and 3 that I'll post here to follow up this post on my PC.

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I've mentioned Captain's Log a few times here so I thought I would share what I've done with the game.

First up is my PC, CMDR Tatiana "Tania" Mason, whom I originally played as part of a Decipher Coda Trek campaign from 2015-19. She's a sixth-generation Starfleet brat and started her career as a propulsion specialist. The in-campaign start date in 2396, which is 19 years after Voyager returned from the Delta Quadrant. Tania was one of the first wave of Starfleet Academy-trained engineers who were Quantum Slipstream Drive specialists. She graduated from the Academy in 2384 and has only recently made O-5.

I tried my best to construct a faithful conversion from the Decipher Coda version of the character, but it was kind of tough because the Decipher version of Trek provides a lot of character points for background skills and talents that don't translate all that well to Captain's Log. This is why she has the Chess Prodigy trait. She has a much more mercantile attitude towards life than is typical for humans in the late 24th century, which is where the Queen of the Side Hustle value comes from.

In early 2395 a wormhole was discovered in the Delta Quadrant, with the other end leading to the Triangulum Galaxy, often referred to by its Messier Catalog designation, M33. It was Tania's idea to construct a starbase near the entrance to the Delta Quadrant side of the wormhole. The base was a variant of the 24th century version of Jupiter Station in which three Galaxy-class saucer sections were arranged in a cloverleaf formation around a central tower. After the whirlwind design and kitbashing she was made the station's XO and Operations Manager, but was swiftly promoted to CO when the originally assigned CO, a Captain from the Starfleet JAG division, exhibited a lack of command readiness.

In mid-2395 a host of adversaries moved on DS M-33 with the intention of destroying it, so the crew decided to go through the wormhole and slam the door behind them. The campaign starts six months after this event, with the crew feverishly searching for a way back to the Milky Way. I've only managed to run one episode, back in September of 2023, but maybe I'll pick this up again soon.

Since this is a continuation of a long-term campaign there is a lot more background info than is strictly necessary to run any solo game, but since it's available I've incorporated it into my Captain's Log play.

In Act 1 we analyzed the remains of the dead subspace whale, dodged the attacks of the Seltorian vessels responsible for the killing with only partial success, and then made telepathic contact with a living subspace whale, who gave the crew of the Livermore instructions on how to enter subspace so that they could effect repairs.

Act 2 contains the return to DS M-33, some intelligence analysis to assess the scope of the Seltorian fleet, some investigation to see if the Balinari's intergalactic travel techniques can be transferred to Starfleet vessels, and then a diplomatic meeting to recruit allies in any potential conflict with the Seltorians.

In brief, there are about one thousand Seltorian vessels in Triangulum, the first try at adapting Balinari transit techniques failed, and four of the five allies in the Unuopa system agreed to join a defensive alliance. Two of the four needed some on-screen convincing, and I rolled a 20 in determining the initial disposition of one the Unuopan allies, which I decided meant that that species in particular had objections of a religious nature. This affected the title of the holdout envoy; I used Prelate as an analogue to a high-ranking member of the Vedek Assembly on Bajor.

Two of the journal entries are given in this act, one after the return to DS M-33 and one before the diplomatic council.

Act 2, Scene 1

The scene opens in the Operations Center of DS M-33.

It is noted that the station has lost contact with the Livermore for a couple of hours after the shooting started, and that they are 100 pc closer to the station when sensor contact is reestablished.

The scene cuts to the bridge of the Livermore.  Commander Mason gives the order to engage the QSD at quantum factorial 13.

Engines + Conn (13) for the QSD jump, 2 successes needed.

·        The result is (5, 8), the QSD jump scores 2 successes.

·        The Livermore returns to DS M-33 after ~ 16.5 seconds of QSD travel.

·        The scene cuts back and forth between DS M-33 and the Livermore as it returns to base.

·        The scene ends with Commander Mason on DS M-33’s viewscreen informing Major Kalel that they have work to do.

Station Log, Stardate 73088.9:  Our investigation with the Livermore did not locate the missing entrance to the wormhole to the Milky Way, but it did unearth a whole new set of issues.  We encountered several possible new friends and foes.  While the crew grapples with our own sensor data and input from the Balinari named Asuzura I will be contacting the Sukotru to gauge their interest in forming a strategic partnership with us and our allies in the Unuopa system.

Act 2, Scene 2

The scene opens in Commander Mason’s Ready Room on DS M-33. She speaks with a Sukotran envoy, Procurator Visata Wanetovu, via subspace communication.

Presence + Command (13) to sound out the Sukotru’s willingness to join the Balinari Initiative.

·        The result is (4, 15), the Negotiation scores 1 success.

·        An advantage is generated from Command/Negotiation

·        The Sukotru are willing to attend an alliance negotiation and the Advantage is that they know of another species (the Ursavon) that might also be interested in joining an alliance.

Act 2, Scene 3

The scene opens in Holodeck 1N.  Mordock and Sanga are working with Nadia, the station’s AI, on modifying the QSD.  Their first attempt at a simulation fails.

Computers + Engineering (14) to determine what went wrong.

·        The result is (3, 11), the computer analysis scores 2 successes.

·        The RMS wavefront error of the leading edge of the slipstream envelope is too high for the desired traveling speed.

·        Momentum is generated, spent on a theoretically possible but presently impractical solution that Nadia provides.

Act 2, Scene 4

The scene opens with Xellein, Smith, Nygaard, Riker, and Veselka analyzing data from Asuzura’s telepathic communications and the Livermore’s sensor data in Cetacean Ops.

Computers + Security (16) to get a tactical assessment.

·        The result is (7, 12), the tactical assessment scores 2 successes.

·        The Seltorian fleet is arrayed as follows:

o   9 dreadnoughts (scale 7)

o   27 heavy cruisers (scale 6)

o   81 light cruisers (scale 5)

o   243 destroyers (scale 4)

o   729 frigates (scale 3)

·        Momentum is generated, spent to glean that the species is insectoid, and the assault ship was carrying at least a platoon’s worth of shock troops.

·        How fast they can cover a kiloparsec doesn’t come out of the analysis.

Act 2, Scene 5

Station Log, Stardate 73107.5: We’re hosting delegates from each of our partners in the Unuopa Alliance as well as envoys from the Sukotru and Ursavon, two species whose home territories are near to where our encounter with the Seltorians occurred.  In the week since our initial encounter, we’ve prepared to defend ourselves in the event of a Seltorian incursion, including keeping the Phantom on hot standby, but it remains to be seen how fast and how strong the Seltorians will come at us. The hope is that this meeting will serve as a call to action to form an alliance to blunt any potential Seltorian threat.

The scene opens in a diplomatic conference room.  Representatives at the meeting include:

·        Federation: CMDR Mason, Protocol Officer LCDR Aq’nas, JAG Attaché CAPT Asch

·        Balinari: Asuzura (located in Cetacean Ops North)

·        Sukotru: Procurator Wanetovu

·        Ursavon: Janissary Alkeven

·        Alvenu: Consul Markenu (initially unreceptive)

·        Brila: Deputy Minister Hannza (initially receptive)

·        Eleki: Prelate Olopo (initially unreceptive, rolled 20 on probability matrix)

·        Repreni: Brigadier Gavlin (initially unreceptive)

·        Venu: Ambassador Sadu (initially receptive)

Command + Presence (13) to convince the holdouts to agree.

·        The result is (7, 16), the negotiation scores 1 success.

·        The Alvenu are convinced, but the Repreni and Eleki are not.

Insight + Security (9) to convince the Repreni.

·        The result is (4, 10), the negotiation scores 1 success.

·        Brigadier Gavlin is suitably convinced to recommend the Repreni commit to the proposed alliance.

Insight + Command (12) to convince the Eleki, 2 successes are required.

·        The result is (1, 17), the negotiation scores 1 success.

·        An advantage is generated from Command/Negotiation.

·        Prelate Olopo is moved to a neutral attitude, but there’s still work to be done.

It is at this time that a Seltorian flotilla arrives in the Unuopa system.

Alright, we're up to actually making rolls during play. My last post got auto-modded, possibly due to having too many links, so I'm not posting any links here. I've previously made posts on my PC, her home base, and the cold open for the episode, they're in this sub if you want to look for them.

Captain's Log operates off a 2d20 system in which you are trying to roll under or equal to a target number. If your PC rolls, the target number is the sum of an Attribute and Discipline, and if it's an NPC making a roll the target number is determined by the sum of the System and Department ratings of the vessel or station.

Most tasks only require one success, and if you get two successes you generate Momentum, which makes thing easier, gives you more information, etc. You can also generate Threat by rolling a 20 on either die, and Complications enter play when Threat is spent. Momentum and Threat are on/off unlike in Star Trek Adventures, where pools of Momentum and Threat can build during play, and typically when I generated either I used it right away, though there are a couple of spots in the adventure where I held on to Momentum for a bit. Certain tests can also accrue an Advantage if a character Focus or vessel System is relevant to the task; when a die roll is equal to or less than a Focus or System rating then you get an Advantage.

Ship combat is also simplified in CL compared to STA, with a ship having Systems and Departments but no detailed internal components. There also isn't any starship Power management the way there is in Star Trek Adventures. I think this suits the style of play, but if you like the crunchiness of STA starship combat then you will probably feel a bit disappointed with CL ship combat.

Once the rolls started my method was simply to state the task and determine the target number, and then note the result and what a success or failure means in terms of advancing the narrative. All this stuff is listed in bullet point form. There isn't any actual journaling in this act. There are some places where I refer to a Probability Matrix, which is a lot like a simplified version of the Mythic GME.

The quick Act 1 summary is the Livermore scans the dead subspace whale, they attempt to dodge three Seltorian frigates with limited success, and then a live subspace whale makes telepathic contact with the chief of Cetacean Ops, and gives instructions on how to hide more effectively so that the Livermore can make repairs to their quantum slipstream drive.

Act 1, Scene 1

The scene opens with a shot of the Livermore and the lifeform in deep space, then shifts to the bridge of the Livermore.

Sensors + Science (15) to scan the lifeform.

·        The result is (4,4), scan scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum + 2 Advantages (from Science rating/Advanced Sensor Suites) generated.

·        Momentum: Stored for the time being.

·        Advantage 1: The scan is unusually informative.

·        Advantage 2: No need to roll to detect the vessels emerging from subspace.

The lifeform is cetacean, approximately the size of a runabout, with a hybrid carbon-solanogen composition.  The creature’s wounds were caused by disruptor fire of unknown origin, though it is most reminiscent of Tholian weaponry.  The creature’s hybrid composition permits passage between normal space and subspace, and with enough study this passage might be duplicable with Federation technology.  The creature dies during the Livermore’s scan.

After the creature dies, the scene cuts to three frigate-size vessels (Scale 3) emerging from subspace.

Act 1, Scene 2

The scene opens on the bridge of the Livermore. 

Are the newcomers communicative?  Improbable (Yes 1-5)

·        The result is 11, the newcomers are not communicative. 

The newcomers ignore any hails, but the lead vessel scans the Livermore. 

Sensors + Security (13) threat assessment scan

·        The result is (2, 15), scan scores 1 success.

·        1 Advantage (from Security rating/Advanced Sensor Suites) is generated.

·        The advantage will allow removal of the first hit in ship-to-ship combat.

·        Spend Momentum to remove the second hit in ship-to-ship combat.

·        The lead ship is an assault vessel, similar to Defiant-class weapons capabilities.

·        The second ship is a scout, similar to Iowa-class weapons capabilities.

·        The third ship has some unknown capabilities. 

Reason + Engineering (16) to theorize from the sensor data.

·        The result is (5, 14), theorizing scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum is generated, the Livermore is more maneuverable than the vessels they face.

·        The theorization yields that the vessels may be able to track ships under phased cloak, and either match the phase shift or fire phase-adjusted weapons. 

The vessels open fire, Engines + Conn (13) for Evasive Maneuvers.

·        The result is (9, 12), Evasive Maneuvers scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum is generated, used to negate a third hit during ship combat. 

Reason + Command (15) to assess the vessels’ tactics.

·        The result is (9, 18), the tactical assessment scores 1 success.

·        The opponent’s tactics aren’t particularly imaginative, the assault vessel takes the lead, and predictably enough the Livermore can maneuver to reduce the effectiveness of their numerical advantage.

Act 1, Scene 3

The scene opens on the bridge of the Livermore.

Commander Mason orders the Livermore to cloak given their opponent’s superiority in firepower, the scene cuts to an external shot of the Livermore as it cloaks. 

Weapons + Security (11) to successfully evade the attackers under cloak, requires 2 successes.

·        The result is (12, 18), the cloaked evasion does not score any successes.

·        The Livermore takes one hit, which knocks the QSD offline. 

Another set of Evasive Maneuvers to avoid further damage, Engines + Conn (13)

·        The result is (10, 11), Evasive Maneuvers scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum is generated, spent on telepathic contact from the cetacean species.

·        Lt. Veselka from Cetacean Ops relays instructions on how to enter subspace. 

Control + Command (15) to execute the subspace entrance procedure.

·        The result is (1, 13), Subspace Entry Procedure scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum and an advantage (from Command/Starship Design focus) are generated.

·        Momentum is spent to ensure that the subspace haven will allow repairs on the QSD to be finished without interruption.

·        The advantage will be that the method might be adaptable to QSD technology. 

Act 1, Scene 4

The scene opens in Cetacean Ops. 

Commander Mason converses with a cetacean of the interdimensional Balinari species named Asuzura, who is in telepathic contact with LTJG Veselka in Cetacean Ops.

·        Their opponents are called the Seltorians, an insectoid species originally from M81.

·        They are hunting for a race that sounds an awful lot like the Tholians.

·        The Seltorians hunt the Balinari because of their interdimensional capabilities.

·        Based on the phased cloaking capabilities the Livermore exhibited, it is likely that the Seltorians will also hunt Federation vessels, should they come into contact again. 

Presence + Command (13) to negotiate some sort of agreement.

·        The result is (5, 11), the Negotiation scores 2 successes.

·        The Federation will do what they can to form a defensive alliance.

·        The Balinari will do what they can to unite their innate subspace abilities with the QSD.

·        Momentum is generated, the Balinari can bring an envoy from a like-minded species called the Sukotru. 

Act 1, Scene 5

The scene opens in Main Engineering. 

Control + Command (15) to direct repairs on the QSD.

·        The result is (2, 18), the Repairs score 1 success.

·        1 Advantage is generated through the Leading By Example focus.

·        The repairs would normally take 3 hours to complete, but can be completed in 90 minutes. 

Sensors + Conn (14) to locate themselves relative to their last position in real space.

·        The result is (3, 5), the Sensor Reading scores 2 successes.

·        Momentum and 1 advantage are generated.

·        Momentum is stored for the time being.

·        The Livermore is 100 parsecs closer to DS M-33 than where they started.

·        Advantage allows some information to be learned about how to reproduce the jump.

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Here's the Introduction to Commander Mason.

One more background post before getting to the actual actual play, these are the stats for Deep Space M-33 along with a list of key personnel and garrison vessels. As this is a distillation of four years of play in a prior campaign, this is a lot more than is needed to get rolling with a Captain's Log campaign, but as in the case for Commander Mason these things were available so I included them as part of the setup.

Originally there were only two garrison vessels but I retconned in the Cali-class vessel because I needed a ship that definitely had a Cetacean Ops department, and the California-class met that need. The Livermore and Phantom have Scale 4 and the Hawking has Scale 3 compared to DS M-33's Scale of 12, for reference.

LCDR Mordock is the one character from TNG canon that I've included in this game. At this point he was the XO of the Livermore and then became XO of the station when it passed on to M33. The Livermore's CO was KIA in the rearguard action that allowed the station to escape through the wormhole.

The final year of the Decipher Trek campaign included the first season of Star Trek: The Space Beyond. In that time, the crew met five species that all lived in an Ultimate Solar System in the Triangulum Galaxy, the Unuopa System. Those are all the listed Season 1 species except for the K'Si, who were an antagonist species, plant-based and able to induce the Jordy Verrill transformation from the Creepshow movie in humanoid species.

I brought in the Seltorians to be the major antagonist species for Season 2 because of their mission to hunt down the Tholians. There aren't any Tholians in the Triangulum Galaxy but in the very first session of the Decipher campaign we met a Tholian commander who was linked with Commander Mason's sister, Masha, who was my first PC in that campaign. Once the Seltorians learn about this connection they come after the Federation base with a powerful will.

Another species we met in the prequel campaign was a race of interdimensional cetaceans. I asked the GM about these guys but he didn't have any notes, not even a name for the species. I used the tables in Captain's Log to produce the name Inviopa, but that didn't really sit right with me so I named them the Balinari instead. The Balinari as a species are much more favorably inclined toward the Federation and their allies (the real treasure was all the interdimensional cetaceans we befriended along the way), and the Sukotru and Ursavon are two warp-capable species that the Balinari know of who are also having troubles with the Seltorians and looking for friends to help face them down.

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I've mentioned Captain's Log a few times here so I thought I would share what I've done with the game.

First up is my PC, CMDR Tatiana "Tania" Mason, whom I originally played as part of a Decipher Coda Trek campaign from 2015-19. She's a sixth-generation Starfleet brat and started her career as a propulsion specialist. The in-campaign start date in 2396, which is 19 years after Voyager returned from the Delta Quadrant. Tania was one of the first wave of Starfleet Academy-trained engineers who were Quantum Slipstream Drive specialists. She graduated from the Academy in 2384 and has only recently made O-5.

I tried my best to construct a faithful conversion from the Decipher Coda version of the character, but it was kind of tough because the Decipher version of Trek provides a lot of character points for background skills and talents that don't translate all that well to Captain's Log. This is why she has the Chess Prodigy trait. She has a much more mercantile attitude towards life than is typical for humans in the late 24th century, which is where the Queen of the Side Hustle value comes from.

In early 2395 a wormhole was discovered in the Delta Quadrant, with the other end leading to the Triangulum Galaxy, often referred to by its Messier Catalog designation, M33. It was Tania's idea to construct a starbase near the entrance to the Delta Quadrant side of the wormhole. The base was a variant of the 24th century version of Jupiter Station in which three Galaxy-class saucer sections were arranged in a cloverleaf formation around a central tower. After the whirlwind design and kitbashing she was made the station's XO and Operations Manager, but was swiftly promoted to CO when the originally assigned CO, a Captain from the Starfleet JAG division, exhibited a lack of command readiness.

In mid-2395 a host of adversaries moved on DS M-33 with the intention of destroying it, so the crew decided to go through the wormhole and slam the door behind them. The campaign starts six months after this event, with the crew feverishly searching for a way back to the Milky Way. I've only managed to run one episode, back in September of 2023, but maybe I'll pick this up again soon.

Since this is a continuation of a long-term campaign there is a lot more background info than is strictly necessary to run any solo game, but since it's available I've incorporated it into my Captain's Log play.

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*shakes fist at the NYT Spelling Bee*