With Commander Toni TurnerMy guest columnist for
Life in Starfleet is Della Vetri, hailing from the USS Constitution, UFOP Starbase 118. She will be giving us some insight on the ins and outs of smining a Counselor in a PBEM.
Enjoy!
“On the couch... - Counselors in SIMS.” by Della Vetri
Love 'em or hate 'em, Counselors have been part of Starfleet from TNG onwards, and they'll be present in most, if not all, Star Trek PBEMs of that era. But what is it like to actually play one?
At first glance, it can be hard to find a clearly defined mission role for a Counselor, but that's not really the case. Often, they'll be the best diplomat and negotiator the crew has, and their knowledge of psychology can be the key to understanding the motives of whatever adversary the crew may find themselves confronted with – which can help reveal things about the situation that may be laying beneath the surface.
:: The bridge crew were silent for a moment, digesting what they'd just seen. The general tone of the Planetary Governor's message had been short and to the point - “No problems, everything's fine. Please feel free to be on your way...”::
Captain: So... Thoughts?
Counselor: There was something about the way he was acting whilst you spoke. It was subtle, but he kept glancing off to one side, and he definitely looked a lot more uncomfortable than he should have. It wouldn't surprise me if there was someone off-screen holding a gun on him... Or something like that, anyway.
So, the guy everyone thought may be the enemy turns out to perhaps be a victim, and with a little contribution from the Counselor, the whole plot just took on a whole extra dimension... A Counselor isn't a fighter, an engineer or a scientist, nor are they as skilled a healer as the ship's Doctor. What they are is a social specialist, and can often inject a dose of humanity into a plot that makes the whole thing that much more engaging to take part in.
From a role-playing perspective, playing a Counselor can be a gold-mine of opportunity. Sure, there are characters that will run a mile rather than spend a minute in your company, but others will leap at the chance to have someone to talk to about their problems. Both can provide fantastic opportunities for players to express and explore aspects of their character they may not usually see the light of day, and there are few people who'd turn down a chance for their character to shine like that.
Commander X: Alright – say I do give you a piece of my mind, you're not going to blind me with psychoanalysis and tell me that it relates to my father and that I've got abandonment issues, are you?
Counselor: Wasn't planning on it... Why, worried about my sensibilities?
Commander X: More for your sanity. Giving me any sort of help would be like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Small changes won't change the end result... I'm a ship wreck, Sparky.
Counselor: The Titanic was salvaged, Commander.
A little perseverance can pay off in the long run, and the ones that try their hardest to avoid you can often be the ones with who's players you'll produce the best writing. The example above was from an incident where I'd finally managed to get one of the crew to hold still long enough for my character to actually talk to him, and during the resulting conversation, the player revealed stuff about his character that he'd never actually put in writing before. Getting there wasn't easy, but the end result was well worth the effort.
Playing a character who is responsible for the mental well-being of a starship's crew can seem daunting for someone coming at it for the first time – I know it did for me – but with a little work, it can be one of the most rewarding jobs you can do. A bit of ingenuity, and you have a ready-made reason to get involved in almost any plotline, and in fairly short order you'll find yourself in the thick of things with everyone else.
Another aspect of the role is OOC, or “Out of Character”. The person best able to tell you how you can help a character is their player, and OOC communication is vital to fulfilling your role. An added bonus to this is the fact that you'll find yourself chatting with the people you SIM with a lot more than you might do otherwise, and that just adds a whole other level to the enjoyment you get from the game – as well as the chance to make some great new friends.
So, playing a Counselor isn't the easiest task you can set yourself, but in terms of sheer scope of possibilities, it is well worth the effort. You will find yourself helping others develop their characters, as well as doing so yourself, and it's a great feeling to know that you're helping people to get the most out of their PBEM experience.
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I would like to thank my guest columnist, Della Vetri, for submitting this article for publication. Nice job, Della.
~Toni
NOTE. If you would like to submit an article for this column, simply leave a private message for me on Hailing Frequency outlining your ideas. I'll be happy to discuss it with you. Until next time...
~Toni
