![]() The computer usually gives clues, but it never solves the puzzle right away. Computer, how many entries are there for Darmok? A mytho-historical hunter on Shantil Three. Darmok is the name of a seventh dynasty emperor on Kanda Four. Asking the computer for the answer to the issue at handĬOMPUTER: Searching. They can find the missing away team / runabout, but it will take 8 hours to scan the entire planet's surface / sector where the ship was last seen. Often, the sensors have arbitrary limits. The enemies took / disabled our weapons and transporters when we landed. We need to get closer to the anomaly to scan it. ![]() Sometimes the tricorders just give inconsistent readings or don't work. We can't scan through this much solid rock we'll have to send an away team.ĭax has to configure the tricorders to break the enemy encryption, so she can't use them as tricorders in the jungle. The Romulans must be using a new kind of cloak, one we can't detect. The Jem'Hadar ship came from the opposite side of the anomaly, so we couldn't detect it. Sensors cannot penetrate the planet's ionosphere. Sensors suffer the same limitations that transporters do. Allowing the tricorder or sensors to give away everything They can restore Janeway and Paris after they were turned into amphibians in Threshold, but can't restore Neelix's lungs in Phage. ![]() Star Trek is also inconsistent as to what magic the transporters can do. We can't beam directly to the site without being spotted by the enemy / due to interference from the thing at the target site / due to high concentrations of magnesite ore in the surrounding hills / due to the target being too far underground, so we have to set down fifty kilometers away in the jungle. And, quite commonly, there's too much interference, Captain!Īnd when they can use the transporter, there's often some limitation that makes the adventure non-trivial. The plasma fire is interfering with the transporters. Ambassador Odan's people refuse to use transporters. We can't beam through the planet's unusually strong ionosphere. We can't transport without lowering our shields / them lowering their shields. Here are some of the ways they solved it: 1. This question has been answered already, but I'd like to add that there are numerous instances in the various Star Trek series where the writers encountered this very issue. Inventing convenient excuses for why the tech doesn't work this time is a time-honoured Star Trek tradition ".harmonic reality vibration shatters the warp core - KABOOM!!!" Just simply state ahead of time that you don't allow it. LET THEM No "new powers" just new uses.Īnd make certain to note these new uses for future reference. If they come up with novel uses for those powers, great. So, the "shouldn't be thinking of that" bar is pretty hard to cross, anyway. You may need to have the appropriate character be blamed for it within the context of the fiction - not every brilliant idea put forward by the Doctor's player is suitable for the Doctor to think of, but if it is an engineering solution, and the Engineer's player thinks its the solution, then simply have the two play out the discussion where the Doctor and the Engineer come up with it together.īut also, keep in mind that, in theory, most PC's in Starfleet should be amongst the top 1% intellectually (and those are the dumb ones, Starfleet's top 1% are the IQ 200+ crowd), and many have extensive cross training. Nerf the computer too much, you lose the trek feel. And accept that general reference data and probability matrices are areas where they should be using the computer, and they should get valid answers out. Simply enough - restrict to yes/no/maybe answers, or "which of the given methods works best" type questions, and "how long" type questions. Pick them, stick to them, and accept that within those limits, you as GM need to suck it up. The shows don't, but don't need to Gaming does need them set. ![]() It's not that I won't have malfunctions happen - I simply won't let players replicate them. I run trek with a pre-pattern-buffer timeframe and a "No messing with the matter within" caveat. But, once those limits are set, further nerfing simply makes you a bad GM, and is not indicative of bad roleplay. "Decanonize" certain episodes to prevent "repaterning" people. You need to clearly define your allowed limit on transporters.
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