Rules

• This sim is rated by RPGRating.com. Please keep the language and visuals to what one would expect from Star Trek on the large or small screen. (Tilly's F-bombs notwithstanding.) A good guideline is PG-13. Repeated violation of this rule will constitute removal.

• The most important rule of this sim is Wheaton's Law: "Don't be a dick." Treat your fellow players with respect and dignity at all times. Harassment and abuse will not be tolerated. Violation of this rule will constitute immediate removal and the deletion of your character.

• Remember conflict in-character is not conflict out of character. Just because Joe Smith's character is a jerk to your character, does not mean Joe Smith is a jerk himself.

• Please fill in the bio form completely. I won't mark certain fields mandatory or not, but use your best judgement. A more complete character affords more accurate portrayals and interactions.

• Every player is allowed one Player Character (PC) and up to five controlled Non-Player Characters (NPCs). These NPCs such as family members, friends, or department members are owned by the player. Any posts written with them should be either joint-posts, or at minimum, coordinated with the controlling player. Be sure to note in the appropriate bio field who controls the NPC.

• Posting requirements: I request at least one post per two-week period. This isn't a formal rule as I won't boot you for missing one cycle, but if it stretches on, then I will be reaching out to you. However, complete absence of communication is grounds for removal. I will attempt to contact you twice. If you do not respond, then I will assume you no longer wish to sim with us and your character will be deactivated.

• Any deactivated character can be reactivated by emailing the CO. However, a probationary period of sorts will be put in place. Miss two post cycles within the first three months and you will be deactivated again without notice.

We are a member of UCIP. As such, the following also apply:

Always keep in mind the 10 Basic Rules for Simming, found in the UCIP Basic SIMGuide.

Members of this sim must also abide by the UCIP Code of Conduct, which can be found on the UCIP website here.

And finally, have fun! That's why we do this in the first place.

In addition to the above mentioned UCIP Sim Guide, here are a few guidelines for getting to know our sim style.

• Posts open with "ON:" and close with "OFF:". This is classic nomenclature from the days of Script Format simming. It helps delineate between in-character and out-of-character portions of the post. In Nova, this is obsolete for the most part, but we will still use this convention on the M&M.

• Add a signature below the OFF: tag to mark participants in the post. This helps show who is taking part in the post. The tags built into Nova do this, but that doesn't necessarily cover joint posts written in Google Docs, for example. It's also a nice respectful way to sign off on the email. Your signature should look something like the following, though this is not limiting. Please be consistent in your chosen signature, however.

Captain Abigail Rhodes
Commanding Officer
USS Mark Miller, NCC-120694

• Subject line, or Title, should just be a short phrase entitling the post. Some sims require post numbers to preserve continuity. We won't worry about post numbers or mission titles or anything like that as the system adds those automatically.

• Location of the post can be denoted in the Nova fields. In the case of a location change, or personal preference, one can denote a location within [brackets].

• Post length can sometimes become burdensome to consume, especially with multiple players. 1500 words has been found to be an ideal length. So, keep posts to a max of around that length. Anything much over that should be split into two or more Parts. If it's 2000 or so, feel free to just post it in it's entirety. If you do break up a post, try to break it logically; it doesn't have to be at exactly 1500 words.

• Posts should also be longer than 300 words. Any less than that is basically just a background action. You'd be like "Engineering Crewman Y" who is doing some task unfocused behind Geordi and Data. As stated in the main rules above, we don't have strict posting requirements, so take the time and flesh out your scene before posting.

In regard to the above bullets, we won't be counting words in every post. Just keep the guidelines in mind for the enjoyment of the sim for everyone.

And finally, here is an example post with what we are looking for:

ON:

[Bridge]

Captain Rhodes crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair, the data for their next assignment rolling across her arm console. It wasn't much, to be perfectly honest, but that was the nature of exploration missions. They would be establishing the details beyond the long-range scans the USS Discovery-C had performed.

"Mr. Grissom," she queried the helm, "do you have our destination?"

"Yes, ma'am," Jules was already entering their heading, given the target destination he was briefed at the Senior Staff Meeting.

"Very good," Captain Rhodes nodded her approval, "Warp eight if you would."

"Warp eight entered," Jules confirmed, "Ready when you are."

Abby smiled widely, this never got old. "Engage."

Jules activated the warp engines at the exact moment his Captain gave the order. He looked up to see Deep Space 13 flash away, replaced by the "star streaks" of warp travel. He knew they weren't really stars, but the energetic trails of atomic and subatomic particles being deflected around the ship's warp bubble.

"How long?" Captain Rhodes asked, once they were under way. She was glad that the ride was smooth; minor fluctuations in the warp field could disrupt that pretty easily.

"Six hours, ma'am," Jules reported.

Captain Rhodes nodded, "Very well. I will be in my Ready Room. Call me when we arrive. Commander Wainwright has the conn."

"Aye," was the affirmed answer.

The Captain rose and gave her XO a quick nod before tugging on her uniform tunic and heading to her little closet of an office off the Bridge.

[Ready Room]

Abby took the chance to breathe and decompress. In front of hte crew she needed to put on a professional face. In all honestly, it was sometimes exhausting. She needed to be herself, too.

"Whiskey, neat," she ordered the replicator, which hummed to her command and materialized the preferred beverage. Abby knew it would be a non-alcoholic version, as all replicated beverages were, but she wasn't looking to get drunk. Yet.

She took a step and dropped into her chair, spinning it ever so slightly as she briefly studied the light passing through her beverage. It was a thing she did before, and a sort of small ritual. She took a drink and set it down, beginning a subspace letter.

"Computer, begin recording." She awaited the confirmation beep before continuing, "I hope this message finds you well, little brother. It has been too long, and I hope the next time we are in the same quadrant we can get that drink you owe me." She smiled at the memory of the events that led to that little debt. "I imagine the Osaka is treating you well? Your Captain isn't giving you a hard time? I know I would be." She chuckled warmly, "We just began our next survey mission. I know science bores the man-of-action you are, but it's fascinating, really. The planet-" she was suddenly interrupted by a loud crash and the inertial dampeners failing. She fell to the floor, followed by a large section of bulkhead. Red lights came on, accompanied by the Red Alert klaxon.

"Report!" she shouted as she crawled out from under the bulkhead.

"We," the voice was hesitant, like they didn't know what they were seeing. "We, uh, hit something?"

"Hit something? In deep space?" Abby was already out the door and in her Captain's chair. The data scrolling on her arm console didn't help either. "What the hell?" she uttered.

OFF:

Captain Abigail Rhodes
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Jules Grissom
Chief Helm Officer