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Y'all do medicine... and stuff...

In “odd jobs” we examine some less traditional posts and the characters and writers behind them to inspire you to investigate potential for your own character. Today, I’m sitting down with Captain Nugra, Task Force Security Liason attached to the USS Gorkon. SHAYNE: Tell us a little bit about yourself- where in the world do you hail from? NUGRA: Well, my actual name is Jonathan as many in the community already know and I presently live in Kentucky, USA. I’m not only a simmer but I moonlight as a professional freelance writer on the side. Your position in the fleet as a Task Force Security Liaison is most unique- would you care to describe it in your own words? The position is pretty much a liaison between all the ships within the Tyrellian Defense and Exploration Taskforce. His responsibility is to correlate and check on the security status of not only each ship but of the sector itself. That way he can present a simple and comprehensive report to Admiral Reynolds upon request. What did Nugra need to do to become a Security Liaison? IC wise, it’s more about his rank. Nugra is a captain and much like the real world navies, not all that hold that rank command vessels but many of them are in positions that require coordination and overseeing. In Nugra’s case, Admiral Reynolds placed him in the position so that he would be able to effectively coordinate with the six vessels in the taskforce. What are some of the enjoyable, or challenging aspects of playing a character in this role? Keeping him busy, LOL. As he has such a unique title, it’s my responsibility to make sure that Nugra is not only part of the storyline but able to effectively be a good simmer. The Taskforce Security Liaison is not as cut and dried as, say, a security officer or a medical officer. The way I see him is as an administrator on shoreleave and then slipped into whatever position makes sense for the mission. The last mission he was on, he took on a Security Officer-like role but can easily put into a tactical or even commanding officer role as the story dictates. The position is very fluid but needs some proactive creativity and communication with my CO to make sure that the character is not only helpful for the story but not going over the line IC. What words of advice would you have for anyone who’d also like to play a character in this position? I would recommend the position for senior players like those who have been in the community for awhile. As I mentioned above, it can be a challenge to fit yourself into a story and it helps if you already have had some simming time under your belt and can understand the mechanics of our community. If the person taking it is already a senior player, I would recommend that you make sure to talk to your CO/FO first and understand the exact IC scope that they want so that you can stay within the borders. As the position doesn’t have definitive borders, you should create them with your leadership team. Thank you for your time, Captain Nugra! You can read more about Capt Nugra on the wiki. The post Odd Jobs of Starfleet: Captain Nugra, Task Force Security Liason appeared first on UFOP: StarBase 118 Star Trek RPG. View the full article

Oh lord, this is a rabbit hole I could get lost down. If no one hears from me in a week send help.

Yeah, I think my general rule of thumb with names is if I replaced the Species (Bajoran, Bolian, Trill) with Terran, would it make any sense. In the OP example of a Bollian Soufflé, if I told the replicator Terran Souffle would that be enough information to get an answer (in this case I would bet not, unless the replicators work on a default setting that allows them to dispense some generic option when given a generic request. But Terran Souffle wouldn't let the replicator know if I meant sweet or savory, and any number of options below that). The Spring Wine example. If I ordered Terran Spring Wine I wouldn't be giving nearly enough information at all. French, Italian, Spanish, German, American, would need to be known at minimum, beyond that you could specify type of wine, locality within the region, and even down to the vineyard. We do thing kind of thing every day without thinking about it much. After my post above, I'm not going to try and create a wine lovers guide to Trill, just to see if I can come up with something that seems internally consistent. (Don't look at me like that, I find this kind of thing relaxing) ~Patrick

I think you're on the same track that I am when I think of this topic. We see similar trends in my part of the world here today - when I order beer, for example, I'll use a category. Belgian ale, American lager, India Pale Ale (kay, that last one is a stretch, haha!). "Can I get your Czech Pilsner on tap, please?" Food is a little more of a stretch, but we still see something similar today as well. I wouldn't order 'Moroccan lamb' at a Moroccan restaurant, I'd order Mrouzia. But if I was at an eatery that catered to different ethnicities of food, I'd expect to see it listed as 'Moroccan lamb' on the menu, and likely order it accordingly. So I don't find this naming convention strange, but it's also situational. I won't have my character sitting with Bajorans at a Bajoran restaurant and order 'Bajoran spring wine', for example. He'll order 'spring wine', or like @Delan Han said, make up some believable specific name.

I'm with Gogi on this one for a good portion of it. I think diseases make sense (they don't but lets just avoid that quagmire), similar types of diseases just get translated, Bolian Flu is similar to Terran Flu with some Bolian-esque differences. I tend to get a little bit pickier when we move towards food and drink. Think of how many different types of Ales and Brandies and whiskey and cheeses and breads and everything else. Ordering Romulan Ale (made with Romulan yeast, I assume) would/should describe such a broad category of different types of drink that it wouldn't be something you ordered so much as the parent category of what you ordered. It makes cultures other than Terran feel a lot less three dimensional, we have so many cultures here on Earth, but every other planet seems to be a monoculture with some exceptions. I've made up vineyards on Trill so I can name the wine and variety of grapes so I can name the wine my PC ordered. I enjoy coming up with that kind of thing. Hell, I'd be happy to just sit down with a Species and start working out foods/drinks so people could just use it and not have to do the leg work when they're just trying to get a post out on a Tuesday night before bed. That said, I think about this stuff way too much. I love detail. The more detail I have the better. I also understand that I am pushing towards one end of the bell curve and am happy to make stuff up myself and let others operate at what ever level of detail they are comfortable with. I will never be fully comfortable until I've worked out all of the details, I don't like unexplored corners. ~Patrick

This is from TrekCore: http://trekcore.com/blog/2018/04/familiar-starfleet-colors-in-first-look-at-star-trek-discovery-s2/ There's also a photo of Captain Pike's uniform: Of course, the canon hawks will note the sleeve ranks match those of the TOS series (2 solid lines with a dashed line in-between for captain, or in this case, what looks to be a thinner line) and not the Cage pilot (1 solid line for all officers including captain; later changed to 2 solid lines for Captain Kirk in the second pilot), but then again, the operations and sciences badges were later swapped after the Cage, too, so maybe we shouldn't be holding ourselves so strictly to that initial pilot...