Here is a explanation of the duties for the primary posts in the sim. Included are some ideas of what to do when your post isn't central to the story and also what not to do. Further included are the descriptions and objectives of that posting.
Footnote: All postings are ranked differently, and some are and are not Senior Officers. Generally, Senior Officers are department heads or staff that are the rank of Lt or higher.
Description: The Captain must ensure that the ship and its crew adhere to Starfleet regulations at all time. The Captain has ultimate command of the ship and all crew onboard are answerable to him/her
Main Responsibility: The safety of all staff onboard. The captain is also accountable for the actions of the ship, including the actions of all crew under the captain's command, and is responsible for the any and all results that occur because of these actions.
Notes: The Captain can override any orders entered into the computer by any officer on the bridge, using the command computer terminal on the command chair. When any other officer is in command of the bridge this function is unavailable.
In Sim: The Commanding Officer (CO) commands all personnel, and is the sole officer that can make actions, and lead the sim plot line.
Description: The XO has the authority to give orders to anyone on the ship, except for the captain. He/she is responsible for delegating work schedules and seeing that all maintenance schedules are kept. The XO develops and organises the duty roster and ensures that it is adhered to.
The XO is also responsible for crew evaluations/appraisals and general crew disciplining. Serious circumstances are referred to the Captain. The First officer must keep the Captain appraised on all crew-related events. He/she may also make promotion recommendations to the Captain.
Main Responsibility: It is the main responsibilty of the First, or Executive, Officer to ensure that the ship is functioning correctly and that all departments are running smoothly.
Additional Responsibilities: It is also his/her job to collect reports from the department heads upon the Captain's request; furthermore, he/she must orientate new members to departments which lack Department Heads. The First Officer is 'the conduit between the crew and the captain'. Except in extenuating circumstances, the First officer also leads away teams. The First Officer is also responsible for the safety of the captain at all times.
In Sim: The Executive Officer (XO) assists in directing all commands all personnel. (S)He also distributed the posting assignments before the sim, and distributes copies of the mission briefing to officers that arrive late. Said officer may also be assigned further duties by their CO.
Main Responsibility: The Second Officer is third in command of the vessel. He/she may also be required to take assume the XO or CO position when they are not present. This posting of Second Officer is usually in another posting besides this one, mostly being Operations Officer or Tactical.
Description: The Tactical Officer is responsible for making sure that all tactical systems are ready for use at any time, should they be required. The Tactical Officer is also responsible for operating any or all defensive or offensive systems (shields, phasers, torpedoes etc) as ordered by the CO. The Tactical Officer provides the CO with data on the surrounding area including vessels, anomalies etc. This data is gathered from the sensor arrays.
Main Responsibility: Defensive and Offensive systems, internal and external.
Other Responsibilities: Armory inventories, detailed directives, defensive shields, phaser banks, and photon torpedoes, Ship to ground, ship to ship, and ship to Star Base communications. The Tactical Officer manipulates the external sensors (on all ranges) to evaluate any potential external threats to the ship and must keep the Commanding Officer (CO) appraised of any or all dangers found.
Notes: This position usually lacks a seat, making it a stand-up position, forcing the crewmember to be alert at all times.
What to do when Tactical isn't busy: Run simulated battle practice on your console or (after checking with your department head) get the help of the helmsman to practice simulated battle drills, coordinating navigation with weapons fire.
What not to do: Don't invent enemy ships ready to attack, systems failures or other mishaps, That is the Captain or XO's job and is presented in the form of ACTION Statements.
Description: The Chief of Security must carry out all related duties as a regular Security Officer (as stated below) but has further duties to perform. He/she must also coordinate the security teams on the vessel to deal with crises with maximum efficiency and to give the vessel maximum security coverage.
Main Responsibilities: The Chief of Security is also responsible for providing the First Officer with regular departmental reports and updates, as well as ensuring that duty rosters are conformed to.
What to do/not to do: Listed below
Description: The security department is responsible for the safety of the crew and the security of the ship. Their tasks are part police officer and part soldier. Normal duties include patrolling the ship, protecting away teams while they off the ship and dealing with intruders on the ship. Security also escorts guests while they are on the ship. The Security Officer monitors the internal status of the ship using internal sensors, and is ready to deal with any emergencies as they arise. The Security Officer must also keep the CO apprised of any such events.
Main Responsibility: Monitoring the internal safety of ship, working to keep out intruders or turnabout crewmembers.
Other Responsibilities: The transporters, shuttle bays, cargo bays, security away teams, and armory inventories. Is also responsible for the security of the ship and all persons aboard. At least one Security Officer should accompany all away teams.
Notes: The Security station has two separate modes of security. The first, is the lower tier of the panel, watching over the basic, low-level security of the crew, the next, is the upper tier of the panel, which is activated during diplomatic and cultural missions. This tier is automatically activated to provide security for ambassadorial personnel or other important visitors but can be altered by the CSO to provide more or different security measures. An even higher level security can be activated when sabotage or terrorist actions are predicted.
What to do when security isn't busy: Drills in the holodeck are always a great way to have fun and can be run with one, two or all the security department participating. You can simulate an enemy ground encounter, Borg invading the ship or beaming over to an enemy ship to take control.
What not to do: Don't invent intruders, bar room brawls, systems failures or other mishaps that the Captain in charge hasn't presented as ACTION statements.
Description: The operations manager is responsible for making certain that the crew has the resources they need to properly execute their duties. This includes allocating usage of the sensors based on priority. If a science team is looking at a pulsar and the CO needs the sensors dedicated to a detected vessel, the Ops manager reallocates the sensors to the primary need and the vessel detected. Likewise, the ops manager makes certain that away teams have the necessary equipment needed for their mission awaiting them in the transporter room or aboard their shuttle.
Main Responsibilities: Scheduling of all major resources between departments re: deflector dish, reserving of holodecks etc, co-ordination of away missions, He/she is also responsible for coordinating ship activities in such a manner so as not to overload or oversubscribe any particular system/resource. The Ops Officer also monitors the away team(s) status when not onboard the ship
What to do when Ops isn't busy: Attending to the needs that would be typical for a starship's crew, such as ships diagnostics.
What not to do: Don't invent systems failures, equipment shortages, mysterious communications or other mishaps that the Commanding Officer does not present as ACTION statements.
Description: The helm officer navigates the ship on its voyages. Often, once the ship has gotten to a planet or station, the helm officer has little to do. This doesn't mean you have to just sit there.
Main Responsibilities: Piloting and navigation of the vessel. Navigation references/course plotting, supervision of automatic flight operations, manual flight operations, position verification, and bridge liaison to engineering department as well as other postings on the bridge.
Notes: Even though most of the functions in flight are automated, a human officer is needed to oversee these operations and sometimes, make changes.
What to do when helm isn't busy: You can plot courses, check the navigational database, run simulations of battle maneuvers or work with the Tactical officer as mentioned above.
What not to do: Don't invent navigational hazards, nebulas, anomalies, systems failures or other mishaps that the Captain in charge presents as ACTION statements.
Description: The Science Officer must carry out all related duties as a regular Science Officer (as stated below) but has further duties to perform. He/she must also coordinate the science teams on the vessel to deal with crises with maximum efficiency and to give the ship efficient science developments and observations
Main Responsibilities:The Chief Science Officer is also responsible for providing the First Officer and Operations Officer with regular departmental reports and updates. This officer deals specifically with science missions and generally assigned to the away teams.
What to do/not to do: Listed below
Description: The Science Officer gives the crew background knowledge on any missions that they are about to begin. The science department is responsible for interpreting the data coming in from the ship's sensors and preparing research on planets to be visited and oversee the primary use of the main computer. The Science Officer is responsible for searching Starfleet archives for information pertinent to current events. He/she provides the crew with relevant information on any encountered anomalies, unknown vessels or races etc. Away teams always contain at least one Science Officer as standard.
Main Responsibility: Providing and recording mission related data on anomalies, alien races etc, stellar mapping.
Other Responsibilities: Observation projects, planetary surveys, interstellar medium studies, cultural and life form studies
What to do when science isn't busy: Look up data about the region of space the ship is in, create your own experiments (of a non-destructive nature) such as hybridizing a new plant or studying a gas or plasma cloud nearby.
What not to do: Don't invent biological disasters that get loose in the ship, special anomalies, rips in the space-time continuum, systems failures or other mishaps.
Description: The Chief Engineer must carry out all related duties as a regular Engineer (as stated below) but has further duties to perform. He/she also supervises the efficient operation of the Engineering department and is responsible for the activities of the personnel therein. It is the CENG’s job is to ensure that the engineering personnel are organized to ensure maximum productivity
Main Responsibilities: The Chief Science Officer is also responsible for providing the First Officer and Commanding Officer with regular departmental reports and updates. This officer deals specifically with technical missions and is generally assigned to the away teams.
What to do/not to do: Listed below
Description: Engineering Officers are responsible for the physical welfare of the ship. They ensure that all systems are working within carefully defined parameters and that any systems that are not operating within tolerances are repaired. They also carry out standard maintenance and upgrade work. The Engineering Officer must be particularly versatile in times of crisis when emergency repairs/upgrades/alterations could be the difference between life and death for the entire crew. The engineering department is responsible for the ships propulsion systems (warp, impulse and maneuvering engines), power for ship's systems (including weapons, shields, sensors and transporters).The engineers make sure that the systems work right and fix any that fail. In a battle situation, they would attempt to return power to any failing system.
Main Responsibility: The overseeing and monitoring of the physical aspects of the ship, repairing any damaged or defective systems, adapting systems for specific missions/circumstances.
Additional Responsibilities: Ensuring peak performance from all systems, maintenance work, system upgrades
What to do when Engineering isn't busy: Run diagnostics on the ship's systems. You can check out the shuttle craft for readiness. Minor fixes such as a bad coupling or other small things that don't affect the operation of the ship can be discovered and fixed.
What not to do: Make power overloads, engine failures, or anything that the CO has not given a action for.
Description: The CMO coordinates the efficient running of the medical department and is responsible for the activities of the personnel therein. It is the CMO's job to ensure that the medical personnel are organized to ensure maximum productivity and also provide maximum medical and emergency response cover for the ship. The Chief Medical Officer is responsible for the health of the ship's crew and any visitors to the ship.
Main Responsibility: The supervision of Sickbay and all medical efforts of the department staff
What to do/not to do: Listed below
Description: The AMO Assists the CMO with carrying out the physical well being and health of the crew and civilians on board
Main Responsibilities: Primarily low-level sickness care. In crisis situations, this quickly changes and expands anywhere from low-level injury care to high-level surgery. When someone is injured or infected, it's up to medical to heal them and find the solution if there's a virus around.
What to do when medical isn't busy: Treat ghost players for anything from the common cold to pregnancy. If the ship is going to be in contact with aliens, do what you can to look up information on those aliens to be prepared for possible medical emergencies. If the ship is headed for an unpopulated world, try to work with the science people on the information from the scans to make sure that the crew will be safe when on an away team.
What not to do: Don't invent viruses or other medical or biological threats, systems failures or other mishaps.
Description: The Counselor is responsible for the mental health of the crew. He/she will provide counseling to all persons aboard the ship, and will also give special guidance and insight to the Captain, by providing the Captain with psychological profiles and opinions.
Main Responsibility: Maintaining the mental well being of the crew and civilians on board
Additional Responsibilities: Advising the captain or commanding officer on any matters which may effect the mental stability or well being of the crew or civilians on board. Assist in diplomatic away missions with the captain. The counselor (on occasion) also assists in the recommendations for promotions within the crew.
Notes: This position is very often filled by a telepath.
What to do when CNS isn't busy: Conduct counseling sessions with crew members, sit at post on the bridge.
What not to do: Conduct counseling sessions when there is a battle or activity of importance is going on, pronounce someone clinically insane, before the authorization of the CO or XO
