Tuesday, September 16, 2014

U.S.S. Constellation

Commodore Matt Decker

The Constitution class of starship was a solidly build workhorse vessel suitable for deep space, long-term exploration. It was also used for perimeter patrols and defense of core systems of the Federation. This class of starships was also built to hold its own in a battle. The Klingons and Romulans soon learned that they needed to field three D7s against one ship of this class to ensure a superior prevailing force.

Commodore Decker - like Captain James T. Kirk and their peers commanding other Constitution class vessels - was a hard-headed commander and a bit of a megalomaniac. But you had to be to go out to the edge of the Federation and beyond with one starship on a five year mission. This ship could take you there, but you had to bring it back in one piece.

With a crew.

Which not everyone did.


Federation Starship USS Constellation
  • Propulsion: Two warp nacelles and impulse engines
  • Tactical: Phasers, photon torpedos, and shields
  • Sensors: Suitable for deep space exploration
  • Amenities: Everything needed for a five year mission
  • Special: Saucer separation
    • Someone at the helm may invoke this Aspect to detach the saucer section from the engineering section of the ship. Crew will be needed to staff a bridge on each section.
  • Special: Tractor beams
    • Someone at helm, engineering, or science may invoke this Aspect when using their Forceful Approach to grab hold of an object in space. 
  • Special: Self-destruct
    • In extreme circumstances, the Captain may invoke this Aspect and use their Forceful Approach to destroy the ship (often damaging or destroying a nearby enemy in the process).

5 comments:

  1. Does it come with a hollow-eyed, obsessed captain?

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    1. Yes! Seriously, I wonder how he was as a commander before this incident. Seems like an extremely bad tactical choice to put your entire crew down on a planet, with a planet destroyer in the neighborhood. Still, I can't see someone doing that unless they had made many successful decisions in the past.

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    2. Yeah, I wonder if any Star Trek novels or comics dealt with Decker as a young man. It would be interested to see how they portrayed him.

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  2. Remember, while the Constitution-class starship can separate the saucer from the secondary hull, it does so by means of explosive bolts. Reuniting the two sections requires a spacedock - and the saucer doesn't have a warp drive.

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    1. "We'll deal with that later, Chief!"

      But seriously, it's interesting that a spacedock is needed. I did not know that. This reinforces emergency separation as a last resort measure.

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