Good morning everyone, and welcome to the new SS Sojourner our first Lunar Rover class light cruiser! Up till now mostly all of the past Bonaventure adventures since its inception have roughly been from 2151-2157 or so (the years entailing all of Enterprise show season 1-4 and just before the Earth-Romulan War). But as our charter states 2149 and 2150 (two years prior to the building and launch of all the events of the NX Enterprise and show) there are some small but notable differences we need to consider since some things like phase pistols/rifles, and others are not yet in use or invented. So with that explained here is my findings of such things we would be using prior to the launch of the NX-Enterprise.

1) Hand Weapons - The primary side arm weapons in use at this time by Earth Starfleet (and the civilian sector!) are the EM-33 plasma pistol and rifle. The pistol is seen early on in Enterprise in Broken Bow part 1, and you can see the plasma rifle used by the farmer (civilian model) and the Earth Starfleet version is described in one of the Enterprise novels. In this case the EM Rifle is modeled much like the pistol but it has a stock and butt. Both plasma weapons fire a ‘plasma bullet/bolt’ which unlike phase pistols DO have some level of recoil so shooters have to account for that. There are also novel references to simple metal batons with a ‘shock option’ I akin these to be very similar to the shock batons we later see the MACOs using in Enterprise. That said too though we do have some grenades I feel we can use for special cases, in particular stun grenades (as seen in Enterprise) I don’t see why these cant be included for the sake of use. Same for some kind of plasma based demolition charge.

2) Ship Weapons - Here though it is noted in the ship spec, primary on board ship weapons are the plasma cannons and spatial torpedoes. Both are very less destructive then the later photonic and phase cannons obviously. So the spec ranges/outputs should be considered in fights if you want to get somewhat detailed in roleplayed ship combat.

3) Shield Defense - Obviously here we got the hull polarization system we see in Enterprise, and overall it operates the same. So not much to say here about it. If I find something mentioning differences I’ll note it later.

4) Transporters - While transporters are in use in limited forms in Earth Starfleet ships and civilian cargo ships, up until Enterprise they were NOT approved for living matter transport and are noted in different sources that tests were ‘less then pleasing’. Indicating to me that up till near 2151 use of transporters with living things is a no-go so as GM I’ll keep this in mind for sim use, as should the players as a solution. I’m not saying we CANT for the sake of the plot once or twice do it, but I think as GM if it is used, the person being transported will wind up with some temporary side effect or injury to reflect its ‘unsafe nature’.

5) Decontamination Chamber - Just as a reminder anyone coming and going aboard the ship from either the shuttle pods or transporter immediately goes by an airlock into the decontamination chambers. So while we don’t always need to roleplay this out in detail just having a line in there mentioning it when needed should be done ideally.

6) Showers / Quarters / Food Prep - As we see in Enterprise in this era we don’t got sonic showers, its all pumped water and soap. So I’m sure we can have some fun there about people complaining about water pressure, temperatures and such sometimes. Conversely also note only the Senior Staff and JO Officers got their own quarters, any non-coms get double bunked with a roommate. Also consider that beyond the CO quarters everyone else’s quarters are progressively smaller. As we saw in Enterprise Ensign Mayweather’s quarters are barely bigger then a 10x10 ft cell lol. So again something to keep in mind. Finally to note food is prepped and served in the mess hall, so there’s nothing to get from processers in your rooms get out there and socialize!

7) Warp Speed Limits - So up till the NX-Class is launched the highest warp speed achieved is Warp 3-4, not to mention exploration by Earth Starfleet is super limited as a result so for now a similar feel of being ‘close to home’ will likely be in the cards for the Sojourner.

Thats all mostly of the big tech notes I found, again if I find more I’ll note them later. Now onto Race notes!

1) Known Races - While Vulcans are obviously well known to humans, and civilan traders have made contact with a few more here and there. Overall the more formal knowledge and diplomatic exchanges of races like the Andorians, Tellarites and such are probably very limited in scope. So for players interested in playing such a race as an Observer on the Sojourner it would be a hard sell in reasoning why they are doing so at this early of the stage of contact. Talking with River though we decided to compromise on this a bit with a few compromises 1) The character would be still a officer/non-com in their own fleet’s rank structure, 2) They need a plausible reason why they’re going from their arguably better equipped ships, society, etc to a more ‘primitive’ ship/society (blue skin vs pink skins?), 3) While how long they are roleplayed out of character the expectations are that they file a report to their home planet on events now and then which may or not cause problems like it did with T’Pol in Enterprise, and that their time on the ship is probably limited. So overall the majority of characters should be human. Any questions let River, Steve and me know.

2) Vulcans / Other Aliens - Now on the point of Vulcans, remember all this time the Vulcans keep pushing to slow humanities expansion of ‘not being ready’ this in general likely causes gruff with humans. So something to also keep in mind there, not to mention humanity has very limited contact as noted above with outside cultures, so while some officers/crews could be open minded, others might be cautious/distrusting or even out right on a level of xenophobic as shown later in the Terra Firma episodes after the Xindi crisis. Those shows mentioned how these sort of extremists had always been a probably before but not till the Xindi attack did they gain true traction and growth.

3) Civilian Merchant Ships vs Earth Starfleet - As we see in Enterprise, the Earth cargo ship crews grow more and more to dislike Earth Starfleet for ‘taking our best crew/jobs!’ so there is a level of distrust, dislike, and such from such quarters. Something also there to consider.

So there you go, beyond those noted above this is what I found noteworthy to consider while we get things reset going forward. Again if anyone has any comments questions or concerns or something else to note to add to this please let us know!

GM CockRoach