Factores moduladores de la lipemia postprandial

countermanded by medical authority or by the next lower officer in chain of command if proof can be shown that said officer is in dereliction of his duty or is unfit mentally or physically for command responsibility. Such cases are extremely rare, however.

When referring to a character in a general sense, he/she is referred to by rank (Lt. Uhura, Ensign Chekov, Lt. Cmdr. Scott).

Position is a measure of immediate responsibility and specific training, and does not in itself convey the privileges of rank.

One's position aboard ship denotes what type of duties one performs. Position also affects chain of command, in that officers in certain positions are not eligible to command a vessel no matter what their rank, as long as an officer in an eligible position is available.

The terms "First Officer", "Science Officer", "Transporter Chief", "Yeoman", "Helmsman", etc. all denote positions, not rank.

A yeoman, for instance, is a clerical position as an aide to an officer. This is not a position of particularly high responsibility, usually, so lesser ranking personnel will normally be found in it.

Janice Rand in the STAR TREK TV series, for instance, held the permanent rank of Ensign and the title or position of Captain'sYeoman. Christine Chapel, also an Ensign, held the title/position of Chief Nurse. Later (in STAR TREK: The Motion Picture), both officers had been assigned positions of greater responsibility (Transporter Chief and Medical Officer, respectively), and had also attained rank (Lieutenant) appropriate to such responsibility aboard a major vessel.

A character is referred to by the title of his/her position when dealing with that character's specific responsibilities in that position.

Thus Captain Kirk might introduce McCoy as "Chief Surgeon McCoy" or simply "Dr. McCoy" because what McCoy does aboard ship is more important than his rank.

One area of confusion occurs because of the similarity of the rank of Chief Petty Officer and positions such as Transporter Chief, Chief Engineer, etc. Both types of characters may be referred to informally as "Chief Smith", for instance, but the former is a permanent rank, while calling the latter two "chief" is only providing the respect due an officer who has such important responsibilities.

I n fact, there is one position that is accorded a special measure of respect -that of commander of a vessel ( in space. The person in command of a vessel is that vessel's "captain". Such a person, while on board her/his ship or performing duties relating to that ship is always referred to as "Captain Smith", even if the permanent rank is lower. Thus, a small scout ship bearing three or four low-ranking officers is commanded by "Captain Smith" even if the officer Smith is only a Lieutenant! Off the ship, or in general terms, that officer is "Lieutenant Smith". Either way, Smith is still subordinate in rank to Lt. Commanders and higher-ranking officers.

Another privilege also peculiar to the captaincy is the fact that it is possible for a lesser-ranking officer to have direct command responsibility over a higher ranking officer, if the lesser ranking officer is "in command" of the vessel. In practice, Star Fleet attempts to avoid assigning higher-ranking personnel to duties aboard ships commanded by lower ranking officers, but it can and does happen from time to time. If so, the "captain" has direct command over the higher-ranking officer, if the higher Inking officer has a position subordinate to the captain. his would, then, not grant command control over a visiting admiral, but would give a lieutenant command responsibility over a Lt. Commander if the Lt.

Commander 'ere assigned as Science Officer on a temporary basis.

The succession of command responsibility (in the event that the assigned commander cannot fulfill his or her duties) is dependent on neither rank nor position, ) solely. It depends, rather, on established chain of command. For an explanation, see the chain of command notes in the section on Star Fleet organization.

One final note: the term "Mister" in naval parlance neither a mark of rank or position. Any commissioned officer may be referred to in a general sense as "Mister", his is used by a lesser ranking officer as a term of respect, r by a higher ranking officer as a formal or informal mode f address. It is never used for someone who has a medical degree. (Thus, always "Dr. McCoy", never "Mr. McCoy"), : is also never used for the commander of a star vessel 'while in active pursuit of those duties, no matter how high-ranking the officer speaking.

A higher-ranking officer may call a lower ranking officer simply "Mister", leaving off the name entirely, but this form of address is usually reserved for reminding the officer addressed of his subordinate status. (An annoyed :irk might snap, for instance,

"Get us back on course, mister, and right now"')

"Mister" is a term used across sexual barriers as ,'ell. Thus, a female officer is never referred to as "Miss Uhura" or "Ms.

Chapel" except very informally. If the tem "Mister" used to address a woman is annoying or undesired by either the officer speaking or the officer being addressed, the rank or title is substituted. Thus, while Uhura was always called "Lt. Uhura" on the TV series, and Christine Chapel was always called "Nurse Chapel", Lt. Saavik in The Wrath of Khan was referred to as "Mr. Saavik". The usage for women is a matter of personal preference.

The relative competence of an individual character in a given field of endeavor is measured by his skill level in that area.

Skill levels, like attribute levels, run in a range of 1 to 100 points. In the case of skill levels, however, 100 is an attainable ideal. No skill level in this game is allowed to be higher than 99.

Saving rolls are made against skill levels much as they are made against attribute levels when attempting an action that requires the use of that skill. These rolls need not be made for routine use of the skill, however. Lt. Uhura, for instance, need not roll % dice every time she opens a hailing frequency. Instead, a minimum skill level of 10 indicates competence in an area for routine matters. For a character to handle routine matters in an area where the necessary skill level is less than 10, make a saving roll using one 10-sided die (not % dice). If the roll is over the skill level, the attempt fails and something goes wrong. Someone attempting to do something he/she has no skill for may botch it entirely, but should get a LUC saving roll and/or INT saving roll to figure it out anyway.

The levels of skill above 10 come into play when asked to perform unusual actions requiring skill or experience in an area.

For instance, if Lt. Uhura is asked to open a hailing frequency, in the face of an ion storm which is making communication difficult, she may be asked to make a saving roll against her STARSHIP COMMUNICATIONS PROCEDURES skill level. If her communications panel loses power due to a Klingon near miss with a disruptor bolt, she may have to make a saving roll on her COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY skill level.

Skill levels between 10 and 20 usually indicate familiarity with both routine practice and basic theory of an operation in the subject being dealt with. Scores between 20 and 50 indicate increased experience with the skill area. A score of 50 or above denotes the character as an authority on the subject, with greater-than-normal knowledge and ability.

Skills are gained and increased as a part of the character creation process. Skill levels are given for the major STAR TREK characters, as well as for typical people in certain areas, in the

"Familiar Characters" section of this book.

Once play has begun, skills may increase with use. After each adventure scenario, or each major mission of a continuing campaign, the gamemaster should have each player who saw action make a saving roll against his character's INT score. If the roll is successful, the player may roll 1D10 and add the resulting number of points to his skill level in anyone skill he possesses that was used during the course of the adventure.

Gamemasters are encouraged to give a few bonus points (maximum of 3) in a skill to a player who pushes his skill to the limit in the course of an adventure (that is, makes a difficult saving roll), thus learning something in the process. Extra points should also be awarded to anyone who has the opportunity to closely observe someone of a higher skill level engaged in skill-related activity of a more

routine nature. To get this bonus, however, the person who is teaching (not the one receiving the extra skill points) must make

a saving roll on his or her own INSTRUCTION skill. If the saving roll is failed, no skill is gained by watching.

Gamemasters should also provide the player characters with the opportunity to gain new skill levels. Between adventures, a player should have a chance to make a saving roll vs. INT score to gain 1D10 of points in a brand new skill. This roll should only be made when the player specifically requests to devote time to learning something new, and it should be a bit harder to make this die roll. Adjust the roll by adding 20 to the score on the die, thus making it more difficult to roll equal to or below one's INT score.

In fact, gamemasters may adjust any skill saving roll in the same manner (and with the same constraints) as with attribute saving rolls, to allow for harder and easier tasks. And a gamemaster must not be afraid to rule that no roll at all is allowed if the action a player wants to perform is clearly impossible, or highly improbable, for someone of his expertise and capability.

(Remember to allow for a LUC saving roll at crisis points, however).

The following list of skill areas is not exhaustive.

Gamemasters are encouraged to devise additional skill areas to fit their own campaigns and own tastes. (Send any good ideas you come up with to the designers, care of FASA; we may be able to use them in later supplementary material. All material we use will be acknowledged in print!) If a new skill is developed, the gamemaster may wish to assign a certain level in this skill to some player characters (or non-players) if it is reasonable that they would have some knowledge in this area. If this is the case, do so, even if the player characters had no opportunity to learn it in the character generation system. (Once again, if there are new skill areas gamemaster and players feel should be part of the Academy procedure, adapt them and let us know the results for future reference!)

Most of all, gamemasters should not allow skill level increases to become too easy, or allow skill levels to rise too quickly and too cheaply. Remember that skill levels above 40 or 50 are (or should be) hard to attain-the result of intensive study and experience. Also note that it will be very rare indeed-almost unheard of-for player characters using the character generation system in the game to ever gain skills and levels to rival the foes listed in the familiar characters section for such persons as Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the like.

After all, the heroes of STAR TREK are semi-legendary figures-the best of the best. If players in your campaign are rivaling the top echelon Enterprise personnel, either your campaign has been going on a very long time, or you are giving out points much too freely. Feel free to bend the rules-even the rules on when to give rolls for new skill points just given--when necessary to maintain some semblance of play balance and game integrity.