Bravo Fleet FAQ

What is Bravo Fleet?

Founded in 1997, we are one of the world’s largest and oldest Star Trek communities. We offer a friendly and welcoming place to share your passion for Star Trek. We offer a wide array of activities such as solo writing (fiction writing), written group role-play (or simming), gaming, graphics, community competitions, and active community discussion about Trek or sci-fi in general. Our roleplaying games and fictions build on over 20 years of established lore while our Star Trek Online fleet takes on latest challenges fighting the Hur’q or the Vaaudwar. Our competitions encourage members to get creative in building stories, creating art, or flex our brain muscles through puzzles. While we were founded primarily as a role-playing group, we have adapted to the changing landscape to offer a community that prides itself as being a place where one can explore and engages in all that Star Trek has to offer through “infinite diversity, in infinite combinations.”

What’s the difference between a game and a fiction?

Our games are what many groups call “sims or simms.” Through collaboration between the members of the game, a story is built and written together with a game manager (GM) as the leader/coordinator. Each game will have a specific flavor or theme. Usually, but not always, game members primarily or exclusively write for and develop one character in the story in the manner of a role-playing game. You can join an already established game, or when you have the proper rank, start your own (lieutenant commander) or apply for one of our pre-made games (lieutenant). A fiction is usually written by one person or a smaller group of people than a game. When written by a group, the collaboration is in telling the story together, rather than splitting up characters among participants. As a member of the Fleet, you can begin writing the story of your character on our forums (Relay Station Bravo), and eventually write the story of your ship – when you reach the rank of Lt. Commander.

Where do I start?

Bravo Fleet offers many different activities, but the first step is to sign up on our website and create a user account. During the sign up process you’ll be asked to create a “main character”, which helps immerse you into our Trek experience a little better. Once you create an account, you’ll be assigned to Starbase Bravo: the fleet HQ and a unit which is tailored towards new members, answering their questions, and guiding them throughout their first steps in our organization. Once you reach the rank of ensign, you’ll be assigned to one of Bravo Fleet’s task forces.

What can I do to be involved with Bravo Fleet?

Now that you’ve signed up, the activities can begin. Our activities range from group role-play writing, solo role-play writing, competitions, gaming, or even just hanging out with us and chatting on our Discord server.

What is a primary character? An primary command? How does it all work?

Your primary character is your avatar. It can be a character you write and develop, or it can just be a persona for your account as you engage in any Bravo Fleet activities. The character should exist for this purpose as a “face” for your account, rather than being a PC you play in a sim.  An primary command is the ship that you’ll eventually earn as you progress through the fleet and its progression system. As you participate in various activities and socialize you’ll progress through the fleet’s ranking system. Once you hit lieutenant commander, you’ll have the option of selecting a ship for yourself. Think of it as an extension of your primary character, who at lieutenant commander is given a command of their own! It is both a thank you for your dedication to the fleet, and some extra flavor for your role-play writing.

Where can I write as my primary character/with my primary command ship?

Currently, writing with a primary character and primary command takes place on our fleet message forums: Relay Station Bravo. There you’ll find you can add to your own story, or even read others’ stories as they tell it! When you first join you’ll write in the Starbase Bravo sandbox. When you reach the rank of ensign and are assigned to a task force, you’ll move into the task force’s sandbox, often the task force headquarters. Once you reach the rank of lieutenant commander and receive your own ship, you’ll start your own thread.

What is a Task Force?

A task force is, in the most basic terms for Bravo Fleet purposes, an organizational unit that helps break down our large membership into more manageable quantities for our voluntary leaders to be able to handle. By breaking down everyone into sub groups this allows our leaders to give more individualized and specific attention to each member.

Do I need to run a game (sim) to get promoted?

No! This is common in many other groups, and was common in Bravo Fleet’s past. Now, running a game is completely voluntary if that is an activity you would like to pursue. Promotions are based on a wide variety of activities and interactions in Bravo Fleet.

How can I get a promotion?

There are many activities and interactions that earn promotions. Please view our promotion guidelines for more details. As long as you are an active member of Bravo Fleet engaging with others, the chance you’ll earn a promotion is very likely.

How do I earn a medal?

We have various different medals and awards in Bravo Fleet for all sorts of activities. Awards are generally broken down into three categories: merit, activity, and other. Activity awards, as the name suggests, are given as a result of our members participating in the various activities. Merit awards are given for longer term engagement with the fleet at various levels. Awards in the “other” category vary, but are largely vanity awards for different aspects of the fleet. Please view our different awards and their descriptions for more details.

If I’m running a game (sim) how do I decide what my players ranks are?

Group role-play writing (simming) is its own activity, completely separate from the main structure of the fleet. Members who participate in this activity create secondary characters to write on the various games. Ranks for those characters are strictly at the behest of the writer and the game manager sorting out what works best for them, the story, and the game itself.

So what is the difference between my OOC (out-of-character) rank and IC (in-character) rank on games?

Your OOC rank is determined based on your engagement with the fleet. There are different aspects of the fleet to engage in, and as you do you will progress up the ranks. This rank is usually tied to your main character as you scale up. Your IC rank on games is determined solely by yourself and the game GM for what works best for the story.

Common Terminology

BFA / Admiralty	Bravo Fleet Admiralty
BFC/BFCommand	Bravo Fleet Command, the BFA plus all department deputies and TFXOs, the body responsible for the day to day operations of the entire fleet
BFCO	Bravo Fleet Commanding Officer
BFXO	Bravo Fleet Executive Officer
TFCO	Task Force Commanding Officer
TFXO	Task Force Executive Officer
TGCO	Task Group Commanding Officer
TFSS	Task Force Senior Staff (TFCO, TFXO, TFCoS)
BFL(O)	Bravo Fleet Loremaster / Bravo Fleet Lore Office
BFCoS / CoS	Bravo Fleet Chief of Staff / Office of the Chief of Staff
BFOps / Ops	Bravo Fleet Operations Officer / Bravo Fleet Operations Office
BFComms / Comms	Bravo Fleet Communications Officer / Bravo Fleet Communications Office
BFIO	Bravo Fleet Internet Officer / Bravo Fleet Internet Office
BFGO	Bravo Fleet Gaming Officer / Bravo Fleet Gaming Office
BFM / Magistrate / JAG	Bravo Fleet Magistrate / Bravo Fleet Magistrate Corps
Deputy	Department XO
SO	Staff Officer, department staff who typically run an entire facet of the department they’re in
SA	Staff Assistant, department staff who assist in the day to day operations of a department
Unit	Unit can refer to either a Task Force or training unit (Starbase Bravo). The strict definition of a unit is any level of organization that holds members of the Fleet.
TF	Task Force
SBB	Starbase Bravo
Executive Authority	Authority derived from the BFCO, most commonly used by BFA duties.
Judicial Authority	Authority derived from the BFM, commonly used during trials or investigations.
Conservatorship	Former BFCOs who hold BF’s real-world assets (server, Discord, etc)