Introduction to Bravo Fleet Writing

While Bravo Fleet offers many activities, our history as a role-play group means we retain a strong creative spirit. Members’ writing in various forms is at the forefront of driving the group’s canon as Starfleet’s Fourth Fleet in 2399. Broadly, Bravo Fleet writing falls into two formats: roleplaying games (also referred to as ‘sims’) and fictions.

Roleplaying Games

RPGs. Group Writing. Sims. This form of collaborative writing is part of Bravo Fleet’s history, taking part most often on Starfleet ships in 2399 - though games exist for different eras, factions, and even genres.

It tends to take the language and form of a role-playing game, with members as ‘players’ writing (usually) one character, and a Game Master writing the ship’s captain and dictating the main story beats. There can be all sorts of variations within this - the GM isn’t always the captain, players may write for many characters, or plots may be improvised by players rather than developed by the GM. But these are usually games focused on role-playing in written form, where characters and their development are the purviews of their specific writers rather than the group, with plots structured by a leading GM.

The management of these games is overseen by the Bravo Fleet Operations Officer, who ensures they meet expected standards of quality and activity, usually agreed upon by both the Ops Officer and a prospective GM. These expectations exist because any BF member can apply to join these games, so a GM is taking on a commitment to run an activity for the fleet.

Some of these games take place on websites provided by Bravo Fleet using the Nova system. While supported by BF, these are stand-alone sites that members have to register to use, and grant a GM more flexibility in customising appearance and content. On these sites, character biographies and crew rosters are stored, and the Nova system supports collaborative writing of mission posts, and their distribution to the game’s players.

Other games can be run on the main Bravo Fleet website, using the Bravo Fleet Management System (BFMS). The BFMS also stores character biographies and crew rosters and supports the collaborative writing of members, which is easily seen and shared with the whole fleet. Games run on BFMS, which advertise among and recruit from BF members and are overseen by the Ops Officer, are referred to as ‘Open Collaboration’ games.

In Character, the 2399 Starfleet ships are the Fourth Fleet’s Forward Operation Forces. They operate independently of Task Forces, pursuing a wide range of missions under the command of the Fleet Operations Officer.

Fiction Writing

See also: BFMS Fiction Guide for how to write on the website

Fiction writing could be called ‘all other writing.’ Members can write BF fiction anywhere so long as it is linked to from the BFMS, but most BF fiction is on the main site. Here, writing in the Bravo Fleet canon of all flavours can be found, from official Lore Office releases to the narratives driving Task Force story-arcs, to the stories of individual members. This is the core of Bravo Fleet canon, lore development, and IC fleet activities.

Most fiction on BFMS, and this section of the guide, focuses on stories about the Starfleet officers and starships of the Fourth Fleet in 2399 - the Primary Characters of members, and their avatar commands. Stories about other eras or factions require submitting a fiction proposal to the Lore Office once a member reaches the rank of Lieutenant Commander.

While you are a junior officer, your Primary Character is assigned to your Task Force’s headquarters. In Missions under that TFHQ Command on BFMS, you can write about your character’s adventures in that region of space. We encourage you to read the guidelines on your TFHQ’s Command page (here, for example, is Starbase 72’s) or consult your Task Force staff if you’d like help getting started.

Once you reach the rank of Lieutenant Commander, you can request your own Avatar Command. IC, this is the starship assigned to your Task Force, commanded by your Primary Character. From there, you have the liberty to write your starship’s adventures anywhere in Bravo Fleet canon, with your Task Force’s specific mission for inspiration and direction.

The line between fictions and games/sims can get blurrier when you start to write collaboratively. Anyone is welcome to write with others on BFMS, but some people like to invite friends to regularly join them writing on their Avatar Command. Alternatively, they might want to request an additional Command to write on an invitation-only basis with friends. We refer to Commands used for this group storytelling as ‘Closed Collaboration’, in contrast to the Open Collaboration mentioned above.

All of this storytelling activity falls under the oversight of the Lore Office. While nobody needs to write a proposal for their Avatar Command, even if they invite friends to join them, additional Commands to be used as fictions or Closed Collaborations must have a written proposal green-lit by the Loremaster.

While in practice the distinction can be narrow, we define between the two with the following rules and guidelines:

• Closed Collaboration writing is an invitation-only activity among friends. If you want to advertise for people to join you, think about running a Nova game or an Open Collaboration game on BFMS.
• Games are role-playing activities - players write a specific character, maybe not OOC knowing how the story will work out. In collaborative fiction, writers might more equally share decision-making over characters and plot.
• Nova and Open Collaboration games set expectations for activity levels and pace, making participation a shared commitment for all players, and which the GM is answerable to the Operations Department in maintaining. Closed Collaboration fictions are more informal; writers may be accountable to each other, but you should have the kind of relationship where you’ll match each other’s activity levels and commitment, and can talk about it if you don’t.
• Without regard to quality, Closed Collaboration is like a kick-about game of football with friends: you meet up, you have whatever rules work for just the handful of you, you do it for the fun of it. Games and Open Collaborations are more like an organised team, where friends and strangers sign up together, and everyone follows the formal rules and expectations of the group.

Fleet Canon and Member Canon

Bravo Fleet canon is laid out by the Canon Policy. In brief, all members are required to abide by Star Trek canon and Bravo Fleet canon. But you are, as individual writers, encouraged to pay attention to Section 1.3 of the Canon Policy, titled 'Member Canon.'

This consists of small details that are not specified by official or fleet canon, relevant to and developed by individual members. At its most obvious, it’s things like the original creation of a strange nebula your starship surveyed somewhere in the Alpha Quadrant, or the lone Klingon captain who helped a ship. These are details that affect only your stories and your characters, and while you are welcome to discuss them, write about them, or even add them to the Bravo Fleet wiki, unless or until they are ratified by the Lore Office, no other members are obligated to follow that canon or acknowledge its existence.

But those are easy examples. The Lore Office does not aspire to flesh out every single detail about the Trek universe, and nor does Star Trek canon itself provide all of the details. Some facts slip through the cracks: what’s the state of Tokyo in 2399? Who taught Basic Warp Design at Starfleet Academy in 2387? What is the current status of a very minor one-off alien race from TOS, almost a century and a half later?

Some of these are questions which the Lore Office may answer as they arise. Others - like the Academy teacher - will most certainly not be defined by Bravo Fleet canon. Members are welcome to specify these details in their own stories, but with the understanding that nobody else is bound by them. Strong and interesting ideas that flesh out relevant parts of the universe may be adopted by the Lore Office into Fleet canon, but until then, they are Member Canon.

Might this lead to contradictions? Very possibly. Is this a problem? Not usually. Often such details can be reconciled; it is possible, or even likely, that multiple officers taught Basic Warp Design at the Academy in 2387. It’s worth remembering that even Star Trek canon occasionally contradicts itself on these minor details, and Star Trek has survived it. If two entirely separate stories have different, minor details, it’s very easy to live and let live.

Members are encouraged to get on with their writing without worrying too much about these fine details of other stories. Contradictions can be justified or worked around, or you can - again - live and let live. The Lore Office can resolve glaring inconsistencies if they arise, and in some cases these may be situations that benefit from an official, canonical judgement.

But in general? Don’t sweat it.