The Oddest Jobs in StarFleet

Captain, first officer, chief of security, chief medical officer. These posts, and many more, are staples of every simming ship and installation. But what about the lesser known positions – the intelligence officers, diplomats, and nurses of the fleet? In this series, we’ll examine some of the less traditional posts and the characters and writers behind them.
Lieutenant Commander Ethan Brice: Research & Development, USS Independence-A
Ki, who writes for Ethan Brice, credits the initial idea for R&D to the writer behind the Indy’s first officer, Karynn Brice. “Since I’ve always tended to lean towards coming up with something new and exciting for my crew, the option to go into R&D was easy enough.  It gives me a bit more freedom to spend having my character develop new technologies and roam about the ship.” He calls the position an “added perk,” as it allows greater mission variety when a ship PC can jump in “with new technology fresh out of Utopia Planitia.” Just think: It’s the equivalent of owning a holodeck when everyone else is still playing with the Kinect!
LtCmdr. Brice, who had been chief engineer, took the position in order to stay in Engineering while LtCmdr. Clack could take the chief position. “LtCmdr. Clack is the top boss, with his way of playing an Engineer being different to mine, but we gel together well.” In fact, Ki reveals that Brice and Clack sim engineering and engineering R&D as “integrated but still separate in their own right … we do like to create a bit of tension for the fun of it.” Well-built tension is one of the best ways to develop and reveal a character’s story and potential, and it seems like Ki is using Ethan Brice’s unique post on the Independence to do just that.
Join us next time for another exposé of a nontraditional post in the UFoP: SB118 fleet!