New Types of Player characters

crabbycabby

First off this is just a rough draft, and a WALL OF TEXT. So if you see holes, or problems, please let me know.

You are familiar with the current three types of player characters: Tactical, Engineering, Science. Each has its own set of bonuses and weaknesses that we are all used to by now.

But in Star Trek there are other types of ships captains, as well as Command ranks that are not ships captains. This post is intended to focus on the former (ships captains) rather than the later.

Of the other types of captains that I came up with that would mesh with the existing game I narrowed the list down to just three; Universal, Marine, Diplomat and Operative. (Diplomat was dropped/put on hold.)
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Universal: This captain would have access to any captain skills and abilities (Tactical, Engineering, Science), and ground skills and abilities also (Tactical, Engineering, Science), but would have to choose among the abilities as they progress (perhaps an Academy mission where you would choose between the three abilities, rather than just being given the ability instantly). They would also lose the ability to train BOFF's (as they are much more of a generalist). For ground skills they would have the usual five skill slots (Weapon Proficiency,Personal Shield Generator, Threat Control, Will Power, Combat Armor). They would also have one line of five blank skill slots, which they would have to choose from among the three options (Tactical, Engineering, Science) on a slot by slot basis. This would not need to be filled up at the start, but as the player progresses. Again, perhaps some sort of Academy mission where you choose the new skill from a list of three possibilities.
Costs: Would have to spend one Trait slot for the "Universal Captain" trait.
Also note that the Universal captain cannot train any BOFF's, as their own training is so generalized.
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Marine: This captain would focus more on ground/boarding operations. They would have all of the ground skills (Tactical, Engineering, Science), and abilities. This would mean that the number of captain ground skills available to this character would be double that of other characters, and the ground abilities available to this character on the ground would be triple that of other characters! They would be able to train BOFF's in ground based skills (but not space). The greater number of ground skills (20 rather than 10) would mean having to change the skill point cap on ground skills. (Or maybe just start each skill at level 2?)(Just ran the numbers on that, it comes out to 80,000 skill points!)
Cost: Would have to spend one Trait slot for the "Marine" trait.
Note that the large amount of ground skills makes this character less likely to be dangerous in space combat. Also note that they cannot train BOFF's in space skills.
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CURRENTLY ON HOLD
Diplomatic: This captain would specialize in both diplomatic and exploration. As a diplomat certain less than above board abilities would be needed (think about today's politics).
As an explorer he would need to be versed in how to chart new territory, research that new territory, and over see the establishing of that territory. He would need skills not normally found in the game (or have the skill in game expanded) to accomplish these ends. For charting the new territory Star Ship Sensors combined with one or more Astrometrics DOFF's might work. For research there might be a whole chain of DOFF missions. For establishing the new territory he would need colonists, equipment, and both business and government cooperation.
Includes bonuses in the form of EC & Dilithium as fees for successful negotiations.
Which brings us back to Diplomacy. Solving disputes, Discovering the hidden reasons for this or that, helping to establish trade routes and relations. Law making and revision... But what in the game system would allow you the player to do these things. Again I see this captain becoming more of a DOFF mission series, rather than a captain.
Short of adding all new episodes/missions I am sorry but this one fails.
Cost: Would have to spend one Trait slot for the "Diplomat" Trait
Note: Would have more options for profit
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Operative: Not so much a diplomat but an operative of the government. He would specialize in covert and info based operations. Thus sizable bonuses in stealth, covert, and such would be needed. Discovering what other governments (or fleets?) are up to would be the focus of this captain. If needed he would be able to take action, not always straight forward. Adds a dark side to the game, and does not completely break the game mechanics. (I hope). Would work with any of the standard types; Tactical, Engineering, Science. Would fit in very well with Section 31... Part of the idea here was to be able to use this type of captain to gather info from other Fleets. Perhaps stealing plans (bonus to your fleet) or sabotage (penalty to other fleet). Being able to use these abilities against other governments would be nice, but even harder to build in game.
Would have to spend one Trait slot on the "Operative" Trait
Note: Would have options to "spy", either thru missions (or otherwise).
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To Recap: New Captains add difference to the game with little change to the game itself.

Three new captain types:

Universal: Gains access to all captain abilities (must choose), and ground skills (must choose).
Lose the ability to train BOFF's.
Costs one Trait slot,

Marine: Gain ALL ground skills and abilities.
Cannot train BOFF's in any space skills.
Costs one Trait slot.

Operative: Gain Covert and Stealth (disguise?) bonuses.
Costs one Trait slot.

(Diplomat, but not ready yet).

Three Current standard types: Tactical, Engineering, Science. Nothing special here...

Please provide any and all feedback.

And thanks in advance for reading my wall of text...

kyeto13

Universal captain: Completely unbalanced. and would nullify the reason to even have any classes. Just like the Freeform toon on Champions, it becomes the new standard of which to play as it would give you the ultimate flexibility. And your "cost" of losing the ability to train officers is minimal. I barely train my own officers. That's what you have a friends list for is to have a list of people to help train your high tier boff powers.

Marine captain: While an interesting idea, this would gimp more than half the game for anyone who choose this class. Ground play, while fun in my opinion, is less than half of the game itself. To focus solely on this would be shooting yourself in the foot for the space combat.

Diplomat: Until the mechanics of the game allows for more diplomatic solutions, an utterly useless class. And personally, I would like to see this added as an universal gameplay addition. But this is doubtful as it should have been implemented at launch.

Operative: This would require a whole new mechanic in the game as well. The only "intell" that you can get is via a storyline. There is no particular information you need from the other side. As for the stealth mechanic, Several ships and the entire Romulan faction is built around the cloak and dagger approach. There is also a Tactical Kit that allows for stealth on the ground. But this is all for a combat system, not for spying.

Good idea, but these are either unnecessary in the current game. Or are overpowered and would break what little balance we have.