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 2401. Bravo Fleet writing falls into two formats: roleplaying games (historically referred to as ‘sims’) and writing on members' Commands.

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 2401 - 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. Even writing in a less role-playing form, where members may share writing of characters and the planning of the story, counts as an RPG.

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

RPGs are 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. In Character, the 25th-century 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.

Command Writing

For the article, see BFMS Fiction Guide on how to write on the website.

BF fiction is on the main site, where writing in the Bravo Fleet canon of all flavours can be found, from official Intelligence 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. The majority of this fiction, and that discussed in this guide, focuses on stories about the Starfleet officers and starships of the Fourth Fleet in the 25th century - the Primary Characters of members, and their primary or squadron commands.

Once you reach the rank of Midshipman, you can request your own Primary Command. This acts as an OOC platform and 'collection' for your writing, as well as the IC premise for your story - normally some sort of ship. At the start, this is a California-class utility cruiser, a minor ship best-suited to simple missions in Federation space. It might be based out of the Headquarters of your Task Force, going off into missions in that area of the galaxy, but your TF doesn't force you into any one region, base, or place. If you want some guidance on what might make a good story at that level, talk to your Task Force staff for help. Every activity you do in Bravo Fleet, from writing to competition to gaming, earns you prestige, which you can spend to buy a new ship - and from the rank of Captain, you may be entitled to an additional ship under the Fleet Asset System. At any point, 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.

Fleet Canon and Member Canon

Bravo Fleet canon is laid out by the Intelligence Office 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 Trek or fleet canon, relevant to and developed by individual members. At its most obvious, it’s things like the 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 Intel Office no other members are obligated to follow that canon or acknowledge its existence.

But those are easy examples. The Intel Office does not aspire to flesh out every single detail about the Trek universe, and nor does Star Trek canon itself provide all the details. Some facts slip through the cracks: what’s the state of Tokyo in the 25th century? 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 Intel 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 Intel 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. If necessary, consult the Intel Office for guidance.

Remember that member canon doesn't mean "do what you want, and other people don't have to adhere to it." The point is that member canon should be details other people can ignore because it's a big galaxy. Don't contradict fleet canon, or Trek canon. Avoid, if possible, defining things that can't be worked around - do you really need to name the current head of Starfleet Tactical, even if fleet canon hasn't specified it? Our goal is to build a cohesive universe where everyone's playing in the same large sandpit, leaving room for one's own flair and stories - rather than to dictate every detail, or to have chaos wherever we go.

Common Issues

As ever, the Intelligence Office Policy explains the do's and don't and ins and outs of Bravo Fleet storytelling and content creation. But there are a few mistakes/misunderstandings/knowledge gaps which come up fairly often:

• You shouldn’t be writing about or including characters or ships from Star Trek canon! You can refer to them existing, but for eg, we don’t know what the state of Sisko or DS9 are in the 25th century, so don’t make it a key part of your writing; don’t be an old friend, protégé, relative, etc, of any canon Trek character, that sort of thing.
• The Command Registry is a list of all ships available in Bravo Fleet. It is meant to be a rarely-changed archive so that ships can build up a history, to help maintain a unified canon, instead of ships appearing and disappearing. This repository is not the play-thing for you to create your own task group. Do Not use ships in the registry for your writing if it’s not your own Command - there are many other names out there.
  • Non-registry Starfleet ships can feature in your stories - there's always a ship that needs rescuing, or delivers a guest, or maybe does even join your Command in an adventure. But there's a difference between a story where your characters work with a friendly or rival crew, and giving your captain command of their own task group of NPC ships, and the latter is against the rules - wait until you're eligible for an additional command for that.
• The brass of Fourth Fleet Command are identified and established as characters – it’s these fine folks. If you need a staff-level character to appear in your writing (for briefings etc), either reach out to your Task Force Staff, or the Intel Office has established an NPC: Commodore Uzoma Ekwueme. He’ll show up, tell you what’s what, dress you down or pin a medal on you. Don’t kill him or make him evil.
  • This means, for most members, you shouldn't be inventing new admirals for your stories. That includes unnamed characters with the rank of admiral - that still counts as an admiral character.
• This links to another rule: Your characters can hold up to the rank of captain or your OOC fleet rank, whichever one is higher. Like access to certain ship classes, starbases, or fiction concepts, writing flag officers is gated to OOC rank. With the TF staff characters, commanders of TFHQs, and Commodore Ekwueme, PCs and NPCs exist to facilitate your storytelling. Otherwise, allowing members to create and write flag officers, even as minor characters, usually results in one of the following:
  • Creating a new random Fourth Fleet admiral (see above!).
  • A member trying to bypass rank restrictions, in the same way that writing a lot about a non-registry Sovereign-class starship that joins your avatar command on adventures would be.
• Please pay close attention to our Content Rules. In short: check if your Command needs to list its rating. And, to just directly quote this part from our policy:
  • Sexual violence should be addressed, if at all, with particular care. It should never be depicted directly in a scene, or be discussed by characters in any detail. Reference to sexual violence of any sort should never happen without the explicit OOC permission of every member involved in the story and, in RPGs, the GM. Stories may be removed at the Intelligence Officer's discretion, as per the above on appropriate content.
• One final note that’s less about the rules and more about tone: Bravo Fleet has a frankly shameful history of failing to engage with the themes and tone of Star Trek. Starfleet is not a military (having weapons doesn’t make you military), Starfleet Marines have never, ever been canon, Section 31 (and equivalent depictions of Intelligence) is almost always written in a way which makes the reader want to die of embarrassment, and Star Trek is not a universe about the power of might making right. The Federation may be flawed but it is fundamentally a government founded on principles of respect, liberty, and the search for peace and knowledge. The Intel Office has worked hard to move away from depictions of Starfleet that would be more at-home in an unironic interpretation of the movie Starship Troopers. Work with us to tell stories that may be set against challenges in a difficult universe, in places which are dark and where doing the right thing is hard – but are at their core about a hopeful view of the future and humanity, even if it’s working towards that view.