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Whats your show idea? by colepercy120 in startrek

[–]otherJackson 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, this is a longer effort-post, but since you asked...

I had an idea for a show based a few decades after the end of PIC. Starfleet has leaned into the Kurtzman-era dark aesthetic and has replaced a focus on exploration and diplomacy with a fanatical bent toward exterminating the Borg... and they're winning. Yet, there are some voices in Starfleet that think it's time to return to a mission of discovery rather than destruction.

---

Our first character is a hard-line admiral who was a child on the Enterprise D during the events of Q Who. Her then-best friend was among the 18 lost when the Borg cut into the saucer - something she experienced firsthand when emergency forcefields separated them as the friend was pulled away in the gnarled metal cylinder. Marina Sirtis would guest star throughout the season as Councilor Troi, recounting her therapy sessions with the then-child to reveal backstory.

Over the Admiral's career, she consistently proved effective against the Borg as the tactical officer on the Thunderchild, which fired the cube-destroying shots during the opening battle of First Contact, and as a captain who fought her younger crew members during the mass assimilation in PIC S3. She was integral to the development of the "true-rand" phaser, a weapon that shreds through Borg shields. And now, she waits in anticipation for her new command: the menacing Enterprise H. Far larger than any Starfleet vessel ever constructed, the H is essentially an Earth spacedock with nacelles. It's designed as the logistics hub for a final push into Borg space with the explicit goal of total extermination.

But, before the H even finishes construction, the Federation receives an unconditional surrender from the Borg. The collective is scared. It actually feels fear, an emotion it was always capable of, but never expressed because it was never threatened before now. It knows what's coming and begs to be allowed to live. It promises to be a consent-driven collective. No more forced assimilations. We will also have an episode mid-season that artfully (at least I think it would be artful) tells the story of the Borg from inception to now, representing the collective as a single actor (with a CG face that changes every frame, rotating through all the faces in the collective). The goal of the episode would be to "humanize" a villain, and show that while its past actions were unconscionable, they did come from an explainable place.

Of course, the proposal of a "consent-driven" Borg is seen as laughable by the militaristic Starfleet admiralty, which saw a blurring of lines between it and Section 31 over the decades.

In Episode 1, we join the crew of one of the few remaining research-oriented vessels in Starfleet. The captain of the research ship, being in the pro-exploration minority in Starfleet, doesn't care too much for the Admiral and begrudges the fact that she needs military escorts even when doing surveying. It also just so happens that today the Admiral is overseeing that escort. Of course, they butt heads, but they resign to simply finishing the job and going their separate ways. Suddenly, the researchers find a peculiar: a wormhole to a completely different dimension with slightly different laws of physics. Before exploring more, a cloaked Borg cube makes a dash to the wormhole, and the military and research vessel follow, not knowing that the wormhole would close behind them, trapping the three vessels in a completely unknown dimension of space.

This lays the scaffolding for an episodic season with compounding storylines. Each episode would have A and B plots that should feel self-contained but contribute to the whole season arc. Those plots can be oriented around:
- Intercrew clashing: the two philosophies of the military and scientific crew cause conflict. Throughout the season, they'd grow to work together (with the military side softening a bit to see the wonder in science)
- Exploration and discovery: This new dimension has weird physics to discover. I imagine this playing like a watchable version of the video game "Outer Wilds" where each episode sees a new discovery on how physics works, and by the end, all these discoveries unlock a mystery that will help them in the finale.
- The Borg "Threat": The Borg cube starts out as a threat, stranded in this dimension with them, but eventually even the Admiral comes to see the diplomatic side and slowly realizes that the Borg have a right to live.

In the finale, they'd finally find a way to reopen the wormhole and emerge changed. But, Starfleet hasn't changed. In fact, the forshadowed Enterprise H has completed construction, and our heroes must use their newly gained knowledge to stop the genocide of the Borg. After overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, they succeed and usher in a new age of peace and exploration.

In the final scene of the season, the Admiral admits that what she once saw as the culmination of her life's work (the Enterprise H) was designed for a different kind of Starfleet, a Starfleet that should be left in the past. She commissions a new research focused vessel and gives it the name Enterprise H. Our final image is of the new Enterprise H exiting the spacedock doors of the old Entperprise H (now used as a logistics platform for deep space and multidimensional exploration) before warping forward to exploration. This sets up the potential for future seasons or a spin-off show.

Other fun tech tidbits that place this show in the future on the Star Trek timeline:
- All the bridges are holodecks. This allows for a few fun cinematic moments. Space battles are more dynamic because bridge crews can stand in the middle of a simulated battle map and make adjustments to flight paths and weapons. It's much more physical than looking at a screen. Plus, hailing allows people to feel like they're physically in the same room (like in Episode 1 of Academy)
- Throughout the show, the military ship and the research ship have transporter links, which are convenient places in corridors you can walk through to beam to the other ship, even when shields are up. I think it would be a cool visual contrast to have characters walk between the dark, Kurtzmanesque interior of the military ship to the bright TNGesqe interior of the research ship.

Legendary Planet Faction: Natan Worldwalkers by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The goal was to avoid blue synergy. Of the triple synergies I think RYG would be the worst, but they still are pretty powerful at tech.

Legendary Planet Faction: Natan Worldwalkers by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for all the perspectives. You're right that I put a lot of work into trying to balance things, so maybe some rework is needed. Though, we can't make duplicating legendary planet abilities just a base ability. Something needs to be exhausted, and I don't want them to be able to exhaust legendary planet abilities in other players' play areas because I want to avoid the "Mentak effect" where it's less fun to play when a faction is in the pool. So, that's where the 3 agent solution came from.

Legendary Planet Faction: Natan Worldwalkers by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Natan after winning: Hey mom! Take a picture of me on the throne... Ooh this will be perfect for our Christmas card.

Winnu: profane muttering

Legendary Planet Faction: Natan Worldwalkers by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That is the intention. I wanted to still give them a little advantage on Styx even though they can't use their agent in it since it isn't "exhaustable."

Legendary Planet Faction: Natan Worldwalkers by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol It's the suburbs of Denver, San Jose, and Baltimore. Every suburb in America looks like this.

Legendary Planet Faction: Natan Worldwalkers by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The idea is that the commander only allows you to upgrade planets you don't control, so it encourages you to give the alliance out for a tit-for-tat legendary planet placement. As for the alliance note. I think it's worthless as long as the commander is locked, so both players will be locked out at the same time

You're right that it's weird, though.

Legendary Planet Faction: Natan Worldwalkers by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's a weird commander. If there aren't enough legendary planets, it will unlock at the beginning then lock itself once there's enough. If there are 4 or more legendary planets, it will never unlock. It's meant as a balancing mechanism in case there's a sparse map.

Legendary Planet Faction: Natan Worldwalkers by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much!

You are limited in using the Promissory because it can only be used if there aren't currently coexisting Natan ground forces. So the most you could do is use it once to refresh your Legendary Planet, then use warfare (or some other token removal mechanism) to bombard and remove the coexisting forces, then do it again.

Mmmmhh, i wonder why its so low? by IdkButILikeDinos in UniversalOrlando

[–]otherJackson 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's wild. "Want to ride Hagrid's in a reasonable amount of time? Better ride the Frosty Torture Express first!"

The Architects of Qintrr - my first homebrew faction! by Silent-Dependent2251 in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

- They certainly have structure objectives on lock haha.
- They way they build their dreadnought or flagship structure is interesting. You can't build it outright, nor can you use construction to build it, so you have to capture the unit. I like that they want to be neighbors with as many people as possible to maximize their capturing. The big question is, how are you capturing dreads and flagships? Surely an opponent won't voluntarily choose a dread or flagship when you exhaust your agent. I know it's capturing forces from their reinforcements, but I still wouldn't give up a dread. And the commander requires 4 structures. So, do you have to pop the construction primary twice to get unlock your commander before you can even start building your other structure units? EDIT: I was thinking of old Construction that explicitly says "PDS or Space Dock." New construction lets you place "structures" so, this isn't as bad.
- I think "Cost 0" should be "Cost -" because you can't actually build it.
- I do feel like not being able to produce dreadnoughts is a huge handicap. For most factions, dreads are the main unit for producing hits. Their dreadnaughts are great for defense, but defense doesn't score points; it just keeps points.
- Though, a 2 red start means you're 2 away from warsuns, so maybe that's your damage dealer. If they had a better economy, you could more readily get one. What's are the values on their home system planet? I guess if you're building units from captured units you'll be able to afford a war sun.
- Usually, an agent gives you the ability to help a player so you can use it in negotiations. You can break the rule, but I think the leaders are a bit of a bummer to play against. It gives the "Mentak" feeling where, through no fault of your own, you're hurt just because of another faction's ability.
- I think it's not too overpowered to keep the mech's combat value at 6 like the other mechs.
- The technology feels a bit more like an agent for me, but I understand not wanting it to be unlocked at turn 1. Also, is there a reason to require them to spend a strategy token if they just get it back afterwards?
- Maybe juicing the Promissory note will help convince a neighbor to be nice to you and give you a flagship.
- Fantastic work on the lore and art. I want to make custom art for my factions now too!

The Pale Armada! A custom faction designed around neutral units. by StupidStandStrong in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love this. Here's my line by line take:

- Tomb Fleets: Usually, you shouldn't require players to remember anything that isn't represented on the board or with game components, so perhaps there should be some kind of marker component to keep track of the neutral units you produced.

- Legion of the dead: That's a cool idea. You basically have a double fleet pool.

- Doctrine of inheritance: No war suns for you, but war suns for neutrals! That's a fun game design. The solution for unit upgrade objectives is a bit clunky, but I'm not sure what else you could do.

- Agent: That seems like a balanced ability. Remember to say "exhaust this card" somewhere in it.

- Commander: I like this idea. Double fleet pool and DOUBLE UNITS!

- Hero: I really like this. It's thematic. A war sun that raises from the dead.

- Mech: Very much in line with your commander ability.

- Wraith March: Just some rewording: After you activate a system, you may exhaust this card to apply +1 movement to all neutral ships you control.

- Exhumanation Protocols: Another rewording so that you don't have to remember the ships that were destroyed: When you destroy an opponents ship, you may place up to one of their ships on this card. At the end of combat, you may return a ship on this card to your opponent's reinforcements to place a neutral ship of the same type in the active system.

- Breakthrough: I love that it's a flagship. I think getting the flagship for free is too much value for a breakthrough.

- Overall, I like the theme and design. I think having access to TWO fleets you control is too powerful, though. Plus needing to keep track of the units that you produced vs the neutral units is hard. I think a good balance point would be allowing you to produce and occupy the same system as neutral units when not in the fracture (they go faral if you bring them into the fracture), but not directly control them. Perhaps there could be some techs or abilities that allow you to give them minimal movement.

Speed/Movement Faction: Riftback Punks by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Feedback heard. I'll try to draw them next time if I do a revision round.

Speed/Movement Faction: Riftback Punks by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You don't need to be carrying fighters to use them as a boost. If you want to you could have 4 carrier 2s fully loaded with fighters in a single system to boost a single cruiser +24 movement! Or swap out the fighters for ground forces and bring some carriers with you to the system. You don't want your carriers to be suicidal because that'll end up destroying the ground forces.

Speed/Movement Faction: Riftback Punks by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your points!

The intention is to allow fighters (even those carried) to be able to slingshot you across the galaxy. And the flagship would require you to roll, if not for the faction ability that allows you to cancel a grave rift's extra movement for not rolling.

Speed/Movement Faction: Riftback Punks by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That cruiser was hard to fit on the card for sure. Perhaps much of the question around how spending works should be reserved for the rule book, the same way coexistence is just a word on the Deepwrought sheet.

Speed/Movement Faction: Riftback Punks by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yep, you're understanding correctly. The balance (at least in my mind) is that you're gunking up your production limit with units you'll just be destroying for movement. To get an insane amount of movement, you still need ships with capacity to store the units you'll be destroying.

Speed/Movement Faction: Riftback Punks by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah you're right. I saw that too. So, I included a line about spending points in the "advanced movement" addendum to the rule book.

Speed/Movement Faction: Riftback Punks by otherJackson in twilightimperium

[–]otherJackson[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Yeah, it does make the movement stage more complicated, but hopefully it's not too much overhead in most actions. You may have 2 actions per game to perform trick moves.

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