DS13 Leadership Guide

Guidebook RP Policies
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DEEP SPACE 13 LEADERSHIP GUIDE

Last Updated: 2020, October 15

This document serves as a guideline for players holding the roleplay (RP) leadership roles, including the Department Heads (DH) and Starbase Executive Officer (SXO) of Deep Space 13. These aren’t hard expectations, but rather suggestions to help you and your character fill their role in the best way possible. The Starbase Commanding Officer (SCO) may change the status of the leadership position, and staff also reserves the right to make changes to any and all leadership positions.

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ROLE OF THE DEPARTMENT HEAD

a. Fostering RP

A DH’s purpose is to create and foster RP for their department. There are many ways to achieve this: from reactively expanding on RP opportunities presented by other characters or fleet command (such as passing down assignments, delegating tasks, or directing the department’s involvements and contributions in wider events), to proactively creating RP for the department in the form of story prompts/hooks or even your own events which individual characters or the department as a whole can respond to (such as new projects, competitions to see which department can bake the best cake, playing pranks on the captain, etc). The Starbase is your oyster, but of course RP prompts should always fit within the established setting of the 38th Fleet and DS13, as well as follow the story guidelines established by the staff.

b. Greeting New Members

Consider a new character in your department a new RP opportunity for you to react to. DS13 is crewed by thousands of Starfleet officers so receiving new crew may not be quite as exciting as it is in the tightly-knit community of a starship, but that doesn’t mean we can’t capitalize on the opportunity to add to our roleplaying experience. When greeting and meeting new members of their department, a DH could give a station tour, an interview, a meeting to discuss expectations, an invitation to the weekly poker game or anything else you can think of. These scenes, while far from complex, can give our characters foundations to build upon for future RP opportunities and allow a new character’s role on DS13 to come alive beyond the text on the roster.

c. Being a Leader

As said before, a DH on DS13 is the commander of a department far larger than that of any starship. They’re not as qualified as a Captain or a First Officer, but they still have a very significant amount of responsibility on the starbase. A DH may find themselves viewed by members of their department as role models both IC and OOC, and should be considerate of this by referencing lore as accurately as possible, keeping on top of the forum to the best of their abilities, and approaching RP with the goal of creating a positive and enjoyable experience for everyone.

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FAQ

1. What is an example of generated RP?

  • Regular departmental reports posted to the forums (please include actual and creatively imagined events!)
  • Personnel Evaluations
  • Departmental Social Events (e.g. Icebreakers)
  • Departmental meetings
  • Group project RP

2. How involved with other departments do I have to be?
Ultimately, you’re only responsible for your department. However, there will be some cross-department interaction. You can assign members of your department to liaise with the other departments on a case-by-case basis.

3. Can I promote characters within my department?
You cannot. However, you can recommend characters to your SCO for promotion.

4. Do I have the authority to discipline characters within my department?
Discipline is a subject that could cover an entire guide by itself. Minor infractions can be handled at the departmental level. Nothing involving brig time, more assigning an unpleasant duty to the officer in question. Restricted activity and reprimands gets pushed up to the SCO/SXO for non-judicial punishment. Anything involving a reduction in rank (temporary or permanent) for a non-judicial punishment is limited to the Admiralty. Any serious offenses must be investigated by security and/or JAG, and a court-martial may be needed.

Questions and ideas are open to the FAQ. Please submit them to a staff member.
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