The Vanguard sim takes place in the year 2388 in the original prime universe depicted in the original series of Star Trek from 1968. For the purposes of this sim the only canon sources are the Original Series(TOS), Next Generation(TNG), Deep Space Nine(DS9), Voyager(VOY), and the first nine films, (ST The Motion Picture to Insurrection), excluding ST 5, The Final Frontier. Nothing past 2001 continuity will be used.

The rules of this sim are simple. Write well, as often as you can, have fun, and treat everyone in the sim civilly. While I don't like to enforce strict posting rules as far as frequency, I also don't want to see the sim bog down waiting for people. If you can't post something at least once a week, don't waste everyone's time by joining. If, after you join, there are real life issues, please email the GM so you don't get deleted. Any account I deem as inactive can be deleted at any time and that character written out in some way, so keep in touch.

Only those positions marked available on the Personnel page are currently open for new players. If you want to play some position that's not listed, contact the GM with your idea. If it's interesting, it may be added. Any position currently occupied by an NPC may also be applied for.

Unlike many other sims, in this one I don't feel that the GM should also be the CO of the ship. This way the top of the command chain doesn't also know what's going to happen in the story, and their commands won't be influenced by what they know, or in an attempt to guide the story. For that reason, the Captain and First Officer positions are open to players. However, I would like players with some previous sim experience, good writing skills, and preferably command experience to play these roles. Your characters may be previously used in other sims or newly created, either way is fine. The more and detailed backgrounds they have the better.

Any race that's not one of the standard canon ones seen in the sources above will have to be pre-approved by the GM.

The Forum

When registering for the first time on the Forum, pleasue use your character's name as your username. This will make it easier when reading mission posts. You will be asked for your real name and email address in your forum registration and your character profile. Once you are registered on the forum you will be able to read all areas but not post until you've been validated and upgraded to Newbie status by the GM.

This sim uses a simplified stardate system. All dates used in the sim will be in the form of 588mm.dd, hh.mm. 6pm on June 8th, 2388 would be 58806.08, 18h00.

For crew-wide posts begun by the GM for missions, posts will be written on the Forum. The main setting post will be begun by the GM, then any players involved in the scene may simply reply to the post until the scene is finished. When the scene is finished it will be archived into one single post and placed into the Archive section of the forum.

For joint posts written by two or more characters, they may be written through email, then the entire scene posted to the forum in the In Character area, or written and replied to directly in the In Character area. The topic for any such post will be the title of the scene. These scenes will be archived in the Archives section of the forum as well as on the main site.

For any posts done through email, once finished and placed on the forum it must have the following format. For those written on the forum itself, the first post must follow this format:
Topic is the scene title. In the body of the post the header should be:

"Scene Title"

Rank, Name, and position of character 1
Rank, Name, and position of Character 2
etc.

Location: Location(s) where scene takes place
Stardate: Date and time in the format given above

The body of the scene

Any replies to the first post do not need a header. Only the first post does.

This sim uses ONLY the following formatting for posts. Dialog spoken aloud by characters in quotations "". Telepathic speech by characters in tildas ~~. Thoughts of characters not spoken aloud in parentheses () or single quotes ' '. Commbadge communications have no special denotation and are considered normal spoken dialog, and should be contained in quotations "". Do not use italics or bold. Context should tell whether someone is speaking through a communication device. If you want to emphasize some word or phrase, enclose it with *. All writing in posts should be in character only. If for some reason out of character information is necessary to explain something in the scene, denote it by using (OOC: information). Posts should be written in third-person, past tense.

Duty Shifts

The duty sifts are as follows: Alpha shift is 0800-1600 (8am to 4pm), Beta shift is 1600-0000 (4pm to midnight), and Gamma shift is 0000-0800 (midnight to 8am). Most characters will work Alpha shift, have their dinner and offtime Beta shift and be asleep Gamma shift, but how characters arrange their time when they're not on duty is up to them.

Posting Etiquette

While working on a post, you write only the words and actions of your own character, never for anyone else's character without their permission. Major plot decisions that directly affect another player's character history, family, home world, or personal life must be discussed with that player before being introduced into the sim.

Your character should never injure or harm another player's character without that player's consent. If your character and another character get into a fight, and neither you nor the other player can decide who wins the fight, the fight should end in a draw.

Posts written by two characters may be worked on by direct email, and submitted to the Forum in the In Character area when finished. Mission-related multi-character scenes will be written and replied to on the Forum and when completed will be added to the Forum archives as well as the main site under each participating character's profile.

If you have any questions about anything posted anywhere on the site or the Forum, contact your GM.