Game Rules

STAR TREK: VENTURE is an RPG that prides itself on quality, more so than quantity; it is what we value most in our writing and is a mark of the excellence we strive for in all areas of the RPG. In order to achieve this excellence in quality, we have a number of rules that all players will agree to upon applying for a role on Venture.

To that end, on the Venture we expect at least two posts/stories per player per month, and we are hoping to maintain a crew of between six and eight players, for a range of between 12 and 16 posts per month. Stories will consist of solo entries and joint stories with other players, and we will look to complete an indeterminate number of missions a year if possible. There may be breaks in our activity in the event of a Fleet Action, Campaign or other such story activity.

All players are reminded that they are bound to follow the Bravo Fleet Policies, and in particular, the RPG Policy.

  • Remember the Golden Rule – treat others, in all aspects of the RPG, as you would like to be treated – with respect and dignity.
  • Disagreements are part of life, and should be resolved as amicably as possible. Ask a member of the command authority if you need help in resolving any issues.
  • Creativity is key, creative entries give life to your character. Be creative and have fun!
  • Pay attention to detail. Keep up with what others write in their entries – it just might affect your character!
  • Be flexible because when you’re writing with a group of people, anything can happen.
  • Post, post, post. You never write too many entries.
  • Words are powerful, use them carefully, and write so others understand what you’re doing.
  • Communicate; talk out of character (OOC) with other crew members via email, instant messengers and the OOC threads. It builds cohesion and can add to creativity.
  • Stay involved, you can’t always be the center of attention… but that doesn’t mean your character can’t do anything. It is a big ship.
  • Develop your character. Make sure you use traits about your character in your entries. Don’t write a BIO and then play your character completely different.
  • Be consistent, that way others know what to expect of you.

Player/Character Guide

We endeavour to have up to 8 players, one for each of the more popular senior officer roles on the ship. The command authority will review our recruitment at any point to determine whether to keep applications open, or to close off recruitment.

Players may have one main Player Character (PC) on the RPG, and up to two Secondary Characters. Secondary characters should not detract from the participation of the Player Character. Approval of secondary characters will be conducted by the command authority on a case by case basis.

Players may submit other characters for use as NPCs (Non-Player Characters), but do so in the knowledge that these characters can be referenced at will by other players.

Story Creation Guide

We would rather see one well-written post that furthers the storyline or deepens our understanding of a character than four rapid-fire posts written just to meet some arbitrary quota.

Players are encouraged to keep an eye on the word count function in the story creation page to ensure they meet these length requirements and, as always, more is welcome and appreciated, but quality is the driving force. The word count will only appear once the story has been saved as a draft at least once.

For players working on a joint post (JP) with others, it is expected that responses be of significant length to be of some worth. Anyone consistently adding single line responses will be spoken to by members of the command authority.

Players are expected to respond to tags in a timely manner, ideally within 48 hours. Reminders can be sent via the tag notifications channel on the discord server.

Tags for other players should be open (e.g. [TAG OPEN] ) or closed (e.g. [TAG: SCOTT] ). This ensures it is clear for all players involved, especially in larger posts.

Avoid writing out massive chunks with places sandwiched in between for players to respond. This can be severely limiting to others.

Quality writing also depends on strong content, consistent formatting, as well as proper spelling and grammar.

Players will adhere to proper spelling and grammar in their posts. This includes correct spelling of words as well as proper use of capital letters, punctuation, and proper sentence structures.

Players must review their writing prior to final posting utilizing a spell-check (either through a word processor or their web browser). It will be frowned upon if command staff have to continually go into posts to pick up mistakes not spotted by players. If you have difficulty with spelling and grammar or English is not your first language, contact a member of the command staff. They will be able to help you find appropriate resources to review your writing.

Writing on Venture is a collaborative process, so it is entirely appropriate that we work together to suggest alternatives and pick up errors in each others’ work. It is wise to point it out first, rather than simply changing it, as this can cause offence.

Formatting Guide

In order to keep our stories looking their best, there are some small formatting guidelines all players should follow.

Stories should always be written in the third person

Starship, starbase, shuttle names, such as Enterprise, Venture, Deep Space 72, will be written in italics, but any prefixes (USS, HMS, IKS etc) will not, nor will registry numbers (NCC-1701).

Lieutenant Commanders are addressed as Commander, Lieutenant J.G. are addressed as Lieutenant and Admiral’s of any rank are addressed simply as Admiral.

Messages coming over the communications system, from people in an alternative location, should be formatted in italics to demonstrate the clear use of a communications system.

Dialogue should use double inverted commas, e.g. “this”, whilst internal dialogue or thoughts, should use single inverted commas and be in italics, e.g. ‘this’.

Posts should never start with a time or location (unless in the event of a flashback type scenario). Starting times and locations should be included in the appropriate fields. If a location changes midway through a story, however, include the basic location and time shift, bold the text and center it. E.g.

[Wescott Room, Palais De La Concorde; 20 Minutes Later.]

Character logs, whether personal or duty in nature, should never be stand alone posts. They can be included as parts of other posts, and if they are, they should be written and set as a blockquote, using the WYSIWYG editor. An example can be seen here, on the USS Ulysses.