Great Endeavours
Like the games I had run in university, the one I played in during that time also used the FASA Star Trek RPG rules. The campaign was set roughly contemporary with Star Trek: The Next Generation and was about the adventures of the Galaxy-class USS Endeavour NCC -71805 (the Endeavour had been mentioned in episodes of ST:TNG but not explicitly seen; secondary information indicated it was supposed to be a Nebula class, but the gamemaster chose to make it a Galaxy instead).
Z'raan J'naath
My character on the Endeavour was an Efrosian named Z'raan J'naath who served as the ship's Chief Engineer. One of J'naath's notable traits was a fascination with the popular culture of Earth's North America region from the late 20th Century. This came in handy on one particular occasion, when the Endeavour and her crew inadvertently traveled back in time and were temporarily trapped on Earth in the year 1989 until they could find a means to repair the ship and return to the 24th Century.
I had a fairly detailed background worked out for Z'raan, and when I brought the character back for a later campaign I kept it mostly intact, with only minor changes and adding his experiences on the Endeavour to his resume. This revised background can be found below in the description of the new campaign.
Project: Argonaut
In 2022 I joined a new Star Trek campaign. This one uses the Modiphius 2d20 Star Trek Adventures RPG rules and is also a Next Generation-era campaign. Specifically, the game is set in a post-Star Trek: Voyager, post-Star Trek: Nemesis period, around the year 2380 or 2381 (so contemporary with the first two seasons of Star Trek: Lower Decks). This campaign is set on the USS Eurydice, one of a pair of prototype vessels produced by Starfleet's Argonaut project.
The Dominion War (2373-2375) had shaken up the Alpha and Beta Quadrant, shifting the geopolitical balance of that part of the galaxy at a level not seen since the signing of the peace accords between the United Federation of Planets and their longtime foes the Klingon Empire. With all the major powers (the Federation, the Klingons, the Romulans, and the Cardassians) ravaged by the war, a tentative peace emerged to allow for rebuilding and to maintain the balance of power. While the terms of the peace nominally put formal imperial expansion at a standstill, advances in propulsion technologies that put new regions of space within reach means that everyone is scrambling to chart, identify resources, and strategize for the future. The return of the long-lost USS Voyager from the Delta Quadrant in 2378 brought an additional influx of new technologies to feed this push.
One of the Federation's initiatives was Project: Argonaut, a pair of prototype ships designed for long-term missions of exploration and diplomacy incorporating new innovations in warp technology that have spread throughout the Alpha and Beta quadrants immediately following the conclusion of the Dominion War and the return of USS Voyager. These new vessels were the USS Orpheus and the USS Eurydice.
The Federation based the design of their new prototype ships on the Galaxy-class model, and decided to build two identical ships in an attempt to work out kinks in advance and provide insurance against unforeseen issues. Unfortunately, there was a "kink", an explosion aboard the Eurydice that cost the lives of several engineering and construction personnel. Official investigations have never confirmed it, but many suspect that the accident during the construction of the Eurydice was actually sabotage. This wound up delaying the completion of the Eurydice by nearly 8 months, but her sister ship - the USS Orpheus, was launched without delay.
With the benefit of its new and improved drive, the Orpheus reached the edge of Federation space in weeks rather than months, and as it passed out of range of subspace relays it was still able at first to send reports back with a time delay. However, it has now been months since its last transmission, with no indication what could have happened to it. The Eurydice still has its original mission that it shared with the Orpheus to complete, but now it has another objective. It is trying to re-trace the known path of the Orpheus into unknown space, to see if the ship and its crew can be found - or its fate discovered.
While the original Galaxy class was often referred to as a "space hotel", the Eurydice is closer to a city. An enlarged saucer section contains full diplomatic embassies from Federation worlds, allied governments, and even former foes like the Romulan Star Empire. The outer ring consists of a full Promenade of shops and restaurants that support the larger civilian and diplomatic population on board.
The command crew is an eclectic mix; a Vulcan Captain on his first command, a Trill First Officer with a background in Engineering, a Soong-type android Science Officer, a Chief Medical officer of an alien species that Starfleet believes hails from the very unknown region of space that the Eurydice is now exploring, a Bajoran Security Chief, and a Klingon Counselor. Joining them as Chief Engineer is veteran Starfleet officer Z'raan J'naath.
Z'raan J'naath
Starfleet Personnel Data Record
- Name: Z'raan J'naath
- Rank: Lt. Commander
- Serial Number: SE-917-36-4144
- Assignment: Chief Engineer, USS Eurydice
- Place of Birth: Eksreth Sanctuary, Efros
- Date of Birth: Stardate 19369.2
History
Z'raan J'naath was the second of two children born to K'vaan and C'chaani J'naath of Efros. Like all Efrosians, his names can be transposed, meaning that he can be addressed as Z'raan J'naath or J'naath Z'raan. When traveling off-world, Efrosians usually choose one form for consistency. J'naath's older brother, R'shaas J'naath is a member of the priesthood on Efros. (Note: Efrosians regard their religion as very personal. In fact, very few non-Efrosians are privy to the nature of their religion and these individuals have disclosed no information regarding it.)
When J'naath was 10 standard years old, the Efrosian Age of Decision, he and his family began The Journey. This is a long, arduous trek overland across a glacier to the Temple of S'skotomz (the warrior-priest who unified the planet), a trek undertaken without aid of modern transportation. During the trip the group, consisting of J'naath, his family, and several others, was attacked by a Tzaashi-Myorii, a fierce predator native to the ice wastes of Efros. The beast was slain, but not before it had killed several of the group, including K'vaan and C'chaani.
Z'raan was sent to live with his brother, R'shaas, who had not been part of the Journey having already made the trip during his initiation into the priesthood. It was while under his brother's care that it was discovered that Z'raan possessed that most valuable trait: he was ambidextrous. In Efrosian culture, the split between right- and left-hand dominant individuals is almost 50-50; the dominant hand helps the individual decide what path they are best suited to. Those left-hand dominant are the warriors, adventurers, laborers. The right-hand dominants are the scientists, philosophers, priests, administrators. But those few who are born ambidextrous have the potential to be warrior-priests.
Z'raan was immediately taken to the Citadel at Amroth to begin his training as a warrior-priest, but it was soon discovered that his talents did not lie in the traditional paths of the warrior-priest. Z'raan possessed neither the warrior instinct nor the aptitude to the healing arts. Instead his skills involved the sciences: physics, math, astrophysics. Seemingly rejected by his gods, Z'raan left Efros at the age of 15, a legal adult on his planet, and headed for Earth.
Once on Earth, a purposeless Z'raan found work as a junior assistant at the Smithsonian Institute on the North American continent. It was there that Z'raan found a new meaning for his life. Dr. Gardener Fox was a professor working at the Institute whose specialty was early spaceflight era Earth. He took Z'raan under his wing and began tutoring the Efrosian in Earth culture and history. Z'raan became fascinated with the culture that had evolved in the mid- to late Twentieth Century, especially in North America and Western Europe. He studied as much as he could about the time period, becoming an expert in the field and publishing some interesting papers based on the unique view his own culture gave him on this fascinating period of history.
The events in his own life allowed him to empathize with the people of Twentieth Century Earth. The demise of pantheonistic religion and the decline of the influence of the church on the everyday lives of individuals left the masses with nothing to put their faith in. Science was explaining everything and the people began to wonder if there truly was a God. Into this age, with no real stories of mythological grandeur like those of Homer, rose a new kind of god. New mythologies evolved and lasted throughout that century and into the next - the super-hero, whose exploits were recorded on a printed medium accompanied by graphic representations of their actions, a medium called "comic books". These and the newly developed mediums of motion pictures and television (and much later, tri-d and primitive virtual reality) gave the people a much needed form of escapism, which in turn gave them hope, hope that there were individuals out there who could make a difference. Among those pop icons were ones which had outlasted the others and became in their own way immortal. With these icons as his new inspiration Z'raan knew that he had to find a way to make a difference, to give others hope. He chose the most obvious: he applied to Starfleet Academy, and was accepted at age 17.
Based on his talents Z'raan enrolled in Sciences, but transferred to Engineering after his first year, preferring the more hands-on element to the basic research of Science branch. There he excelled, earning honors his last three years, including a stint as cadet-trainee assigned to the engineering team at Utopia Planitia working on the warp drive of the new Galaxy class cruisers. Working extensively with Dr. Leah Brahms and her design group he played his own small part in the finishing touches on what were to become the fastest ships in the fleet. His work, like that of Dr. Brahms, was buried in the back of the engineering logs, leaving the yard masters to claim most of the credit.
Z'raan completed his Academy studies with a cadet cruise on the Ambassador-class U.S.S. Zhukov and upon graduating he found himself assigned to the U.S.S. Galaxy as warp drive specialist. On the Galaxy, Z'raan was faced with many challenges as unforeseen problems began to appear in the warp systems of the still relatively new vessel. His intimate knowledge of the systems that he had helped design helped avert several near-disasters and earned him an outstanding rating, a promotion to full lieutenant, and a transfer to another of the newer Galaxy-class vessels, the U.S.S. Endeavor.
Over the course of the next four years Z'raan served in Engineering aboard the Endeavour, eventually rising to the position of Chief Engineer. With the outbreak of open hostilities in 2373, the Dominion War had officially begun. Skilled engineers were in high demand to help keep the Federation fleet on the front lines, so Z'raan found himself assigned to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers. Z'raan spent the war moving from station to station, working on ship repairs and upgrades as a design specialist. Z'raan's semi-permanent assignment during the early part of the war was the California-class USS Ontario, which served as a mobile base of operations for he and his repair team as they moved with the front. Later in the war he was assigned to Starbase 375 where he was part of the team working on new technologies during the latter part of the war, and Z'raan was a key player in helping to develop Federation countermeasures to the Breen energy dampening weapon.
In the immediate aftermath of the Dominion War, Z'raan found himself back at Utopia Planitia helping to rebuild the fleet while waiting for what should have been another assignment as Chief Engineer on a starship. Once again, however, fate had different plans and Z'raan received an intriguing offer to join a new project, one whose details were secret but which he was promised was integral to the future of the Federation. Though details were "need to know", Z'raan's interest was piqued and he accepted the assignment. He was transferred to a classified Starfleet shipyard where work was progressing on Project: Argonaut, the development of a pair of long-range explorer vessels, which would eventually be christened the Orpheus and the Eurydice. These were based on the Galaxy-class design, but incorporated new warp-enhancement technologies welded together from technological leaps made with insights gathered on Gamma and Delta Quadrant technology (following the end of the Dominion War and the return home of the USS Voyager).
Time was of the essence, as the Federation was now in a race with other governments to exploit these new technologies. Development proceeded at a rapid pace, against the advice of several senior officers, and eventually tragedy struck. A power systems malfunction aboard the Eurydice caused a massive explosion in engineering, killing many of the engineers on the project. Z'raan had been working about the Orpheus at the time, so found himself now the senior-most expert on these vessels. He immediately moved over the Eurydice to uncover the cause of the explosion and get the vessel on-line. The Orpheus launched, but it would be several more months of hard work before the Eurydice would be ready to follow. Finally, after having rebuilt the power grid almost from scratch and triple-checking every subsystem personally, Z'raan finished the job and the Eurydice was ready to launch. By this point Z'raan was ready for some vacation time, but contact had been lost with the Orpheus and the Eurydice now had an additional directive, to discover the fate of her sister ship. To have the best chance at success, the Eurydice was going to need a Chief Engineer who knew the ship inside and out. When the Admiral in charge of Project: Argonaut made the offer, Z'raan never really had a choice; his vacation was going to have to wait.
