Bravo Fleet
Today we’re making one of the biggest ever changes to Bravo Fleet writing and roleplaying: the end of the ‘traditional’ RPG format. Effective immediately, the old system of GMs running RPGs on starships and starbases under the oversight of the Intelligence Office, wholly separate from their other BFMS commands, will end.
Why Change?
Under the old system, prospective GMs pitched full RPGs – premises, missions, and activity plans – to the Intelligence Office, received their own BFMS command and Discord server, and then ran games which were often expected to last indefinitely. This demanded heavy oversight, particularly as many new members of Bravo Fleet ‘expect’ to find an RPG to join. We needed to ensure games stayed active, followed policy, and remained part of the broader community.
But over time, RPGs dwindled. Many GMs found the format exhausting: players might join but then lose steam, leaving the GM to carry the game. RPGs required a lot of work to create and maintain, often for limited pay-off. What once worked in the 2000s doesn’t suit most members’ lives today: we simply don’t have the energy or bandwidth for daily tags forever.
So the current RPG framework is ending. Starbase Bravo continues unchanged, and tabletop RPGs (like the Pioneer) remain unaffected. But what is there for the RPer now?
RPG Commands
Members have always been able to collaborate on their own ships with a permanent co-writer, plus guests making brief appearances. That rule and limit will remain in place for a player’s sole or primary command.
What’s new are RPG Commands. From now on, any member with a secondary command (available at Captain rank or above) can invite as many writers as they like to join them. No Intel Office approval needed; no activity plan or requirements, no oversight beyond some basics:
- You can’t set up your own external Discord server; keep the community in Bravo Fleet.
- The command owner must play the in-character CO (no loaning your command out for someone else to GM!).
That’s it. Find some friends, fill your roster, and start writing.
You may wonder why, after saying how RPGs should be held to a higher standard, we’ve opened things up in this way? And why limit this to secondary commands?
- You’ve got to be a Captain to have a secondary. That means being a member for at least a year, understanding our culture, policies and expectations. It was common for eager new Lieutenant Commanders to immediately submit RPG proposals, which were often unfeasible or poorly suited to our community ethos.
- Letting a Midshipman run their primary command as an RPG would lead to a glut of new members thinking they have to recruit a whole crew – because there’s so often the expectation that ‘having a ship’ means ‘running an RPG.’ But countless members have joined BF thinking they wanted that, only to tell tales months later of preferring the lower commitment of solo fiction writing. We want people to go through that experience and time before they make a commitment like this.
- This way, every member still has their Primary Command available for solo writing, ensuring nobody misses a fleet event because their only ship is stalled in a group post for months.
Setting up your secondary command as an RPG Command, again, requires no special activity. You simply choose do it. Recruitment can be done via the #rpg-recruitment channel on Bravo Fleet. At present, there is no way to list all RPG Commands centrally on BFMS. Members who want to find an RPG Command to join should check the #rpg-recruitment channel on Discord, or ask in the (upcoming!) #looking-for-rpg channel to find a game matching their interests.
In spirit, though, RPG Commands aren’t about reviving the old ‘six players, one post a week, mission after mission’ setup. They’re ideal spaces for people to share an activity with friends – invite players you know and trust, who have the same tastes as you, and write stories and characters together as suits your style and interests. They shouldn’t need a centralised list where new members of the fleet can fire off applications – they should be platforms hosted by experienced members for collaborative writing with friends..
But what if you still want that traditional setup? And what if you’re not a Captain, but still want to be a GM?
Expeditionary Group
The Expeditionary Group is a new platform to replace the old RPG framework. IC, the Expeditionary Group was always the Fourth Fleet unit to which RPGs were assigned, the designated elite multi-mission response force. Now, the EG is a sandbox where members can propose and run a single mission on one of its starships. Here’s how it works:
- Eligibility: Any Lieutenant Commander or higher who’s earned at least 20 Service Ribbons can propose a mission.
- Proposals: GMs pitch one mission concept with an activity plan – no more than 6 months to finish a mission.
- Play: Once approved, the mission runs on the Expeditionary Group BFMS Command, and the ship has its own private channel on the fleet’s Discord server. There are four EG ships, so multiple proposals and missions can run concurrently.
- Completion: When the mission ends, the crew disperses and the ship returns to the pool.
The EG reduces pressure: you’re committing to one mission, not an indefinite game. It’s easier to start, easier to finish, and more experimental. What to run a Lower Decks mission, or try a character idea out of your comfort zone? This is the place.
GMs can post recruitment ads on the Discord #rpg-recruitment channel, while players looking for EG games can ask on the #looking-for-rpg channel. Active missions will be listed on the BFMS command, including recruitment status, and new missions will be announced.
At the end of a mission, the RPG ends, the GM has completed their job, and the group is dissolved. But there’s nothing stopping the GM (or a different player in the group!) from immediately submitting another proposal if the group still has steam and wants to keep writing together. Of course, once you’ve run a couple of missions together, surely someone’s got to be getting close to earning a secondary command that could be turned into a more permanent setup, right…?
In Summary
The old RPG system is gone. In its place:
- RPG Commands: RP writing among groups of friends on secondary commands.
- Expeditionary Group RPGs: Structured, time-limited missions for those who want the traditional style with less hassle.
- Starbase Bravo and Tabletop RPGs: Still here, still thriving.
The new Expeditionary Group proposal form will be live on BFMS soon, and the new Discord channels will be up soon. In the meantime, if you’re ready to start an RPG Command or want to dream up an EG mission proposal, check out the resources below:
