TABLE OF CONTENTS:

SECTION I: What is the USS Firestorm?
SECTION II: Joining the USS Firestorm
SECTION III: Posting
SECTION IV: Character Awards
SECTION V: Other Regulations

SECTION I: What is the USS Firestorm?

The U.S.S. Firestorm is a Star Trek "Play by Email" Role Playing game, set in the popular Star Trek universe originally created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966.  The Firestorm is placed in the "Next Generation" era of Star Trek, and is following the events after the War between the Dominion and the Alpha Quadrant came to a close at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

"Play by Email" Role Playing games, often referred to as "PBeM," are played through the use of creative writing.  Players write "posts" describing their character's actions, submitting the posts to the other players through the use of a mailing list.  These posts combine to form a storyline, in which the adventure unfolds.

SECTION II: Joining the USS Firestorm

 

Table II.1:Joining the USS Firestorm
Step 1:	Complete and send the USS Firestorm Application.  This application informs the Commanding Officer and/or the Recruitment Officer what type of charcter you wish to play.  If, by examining the application, it appears that your character is unreasonable, you may be requested to submit a second application.
Step 2:	After your initial application is approved, you will be requested to create a character biography, and will be given the URL for the template after your application is approved.  This Biography serves as the "character sheet" for your character, describing who the character is and what he/she is capable of.  In addition, your starting rank is based upon how well your biography is written up.
Step 3:	After approval of your character biography, you may be requested to submit a sample Post, based upon the position you requested in your initial application.  This is to ensure that inexperienced Role Players are not placed in a command-related position until they become familiar with the Simulation enviroment.  Also, this sample will further depermine your starting rank.
Step 4:	Next, you will be instructed to subscribe to the USS Firestorm's Mailing List. (You may request being added to the list prior to completing the above steps, but you will not be allowed to send messages to the list.)
Step 5:	Begin posting. At this point, you will be considered a full member of the USS Firestorm, unless otherwise speficied.

SECTION III: Posting

As indicated in Section I above, the Firestorm is a "Play by Email" role playing game that uses story-like "posts" to create a storyline.  In a typically scenario, the Commanding Officer of the Role Playing Game (also known as the "Game Master"), will create a scenario, or mission, for the players to engage.  These missions may take one to two months to actually complete, with some subplots stretching out for months beyond.

The most important to keep in mind when writing a post is to use common sense and basic etiquette when posting.  This will prevent problems from occuring, and heighten your enjoyment of the Adventure.

It is recommended that players post at least once a week, preferably more often if they are in a Command-related position (Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, or any "Chief" position).  Players who do not participate for over four consecutive weeks without requesting a leave may be dropped from the game to allow others who are willing to participate to fill that position.

 

Table III.1: Types of Posts
Duty Post	These posts describe a character's actions while "on duty," typically furthering the development of the current mission thread.
Personal Post	These posts describe a character's thoughts, as well as describe the character's actions while "off duty."
Shoreleave Post	These posts describe a character's actions while on shoreleave.
Civilian Post	These posts describe the actions of a civilian character.  This does not include civilian characters with specific duties aboard the ship
History Post	These posts describe an incident from the character's past, typically providing more information about a critical event in the character's past that cannot be described in the context of a normal post.
Joint Post	A Joint post is a post written by two or more players.  When writing the subject and header for a joint post, all crewmembers involved in the creation of the post should be credited for the post.
NPC Post	These posts describe the actions of a "Non-Playing Character" (NPC).  An NPC post is written similar to a standard character's post, and should contain a subclassification indicating whether the NPC is on duty, off duty, or on shoreleave.


 

Table III.2: Anatomy of a Subject Line
Example: Lt.Cmdr. Rr'Vellan, Duty Post, Stardate: 50305.18.1900
Lt.Cmdr. Rr'Vellan	The Character the post is about.  This post is about Lieutenant Commander Rr'Vellan
Duty Post	The type of post.  See table III.1, above
SD: 50305.18.1900	Current Stardate.  See Table III.4, below


 

Table III.3: Anatomy of a Post Header
Sample	Description
Lieutenant Edward McGuire, Duty Post	Character name, and type of post.  In this instance, this is a Duty post submitted by Lieutenant McGuire
Chief of Security, USS Firestorm	Position, and current assignment.  Lieutenant McGuire is the Chief of Security on the U.S.S. Firestorm
Stardate: 50305.22.2010	Current Stardate.  See Table III.4, below.
Kyyp	Setting.  This post takes place on the planet Kyyp


 

Table III.4: Anatomy of a Stardate
Example: Stardate 50305.23.1620
5	Stardate preface; the final seasons of Voyager had the first digit of the stardate as the numeral 5, although the initial number had been "4" to indicate the 24th century.
03	The current year in two-digit format.  03 represents 2003
05	The current month.  05 represents the month of May
23	The current day.  This post was written on the 23rd of May
1620	The current time, in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).  This post was written at 4:20 pm GMT (11:20am EST, 8:20am PST)

SECTION IV: Character Awards

Promotions and Commedations are awareded at the end of every mission, as determined by the commanding officer and executive officer, and are based upon a player's performance during the entire mission.  At the end of the mission thread, during "Shoreleave," the Commanding Officer and Executive Officer meet to discuss the performance of the crew, and determine who, if any, should recieve a promotion or a medal, based on the content of posts send in by the crew.

SECTION V: Other Rules and Regulations

This Role Playing Game has been voluntarily rated "PG-13" by the game's administrators.  Posts written by players should adhere to this rating, and posts that are deemed unsutible for the rating may be grounds for dismissal of that player.

The Commanding Officer of the USS Firestorm reserves the right to alter, amend, or ignore any of these regulations if he/she deems such necessary for the betterment of the gaming enviroment. This power is held in check by the Executive Officer, to ensure the Commanding Officer does not abuse this power.