Have We Met?
Humanity can meet new beings in any campaign. This is especially true for those that take place in the future. The characters, in particular, will encounter those they have never met before. These campaigns will be known as first contact campaigns. How does everyone encounter each other? Is the contact friendly or hostile? Does is come as a surprise?
Hello, Stranger
The method for tracking first contact will use a stratified path. This applies if the society has had prior first contacts. If this is the original first contact, there will be no protocols. There won’t be rules telling everyone who to talk to, what to say, or how to dress. In some cases, the midshipman can address the President. The language used can be more suitable for an after-dinner game than for first contact. Yet, in more refined situations, the ship captain addresses a formal representative. A proper delegate also does this. They would use well-rehearsed speeches. A great example for how not to first contact would be in the Star Trek series Enterprise. In that series, none of the crew was trained in foreign relations. Even the highly experienced Vulcan lacked training, especially with first contact protocols. The Federation was so new that they have been in the same place themselves. Contrast this with the way things are in Star Trek Next Generation. At that point, the Federation has so many first contacts that there is a protocol for everything. In the episode First Contact, we are shown how first contact is handled. There is some response to every question and issue that is brought up regardless of which side brings it up.
Contact, Where?
The place where the contact is made can show a problem. Imagine meeting for the first time someone who is important on a park bench. How about that same person being met in a crowded stadium? Would a reception hall be appropriate? Each of these places would work for a first contact. Yet only a formal setting seems appropriate. The belief for the bench is that nothing is official or formal. That will make it completely changeable. The same will be said for every other place except for the formal setting. In a formal setting, it is believed that everyone is an official from their respective society. They also use proper language. They are making a final document.
Permanent?
Will the meeting set up permanent relations? What happens if one side desires to get out? Are there going to be any repercussions? If the meeting creates anything permanent, it will depend on the public profile of each society’s members. How well known and public they will be a deciding factor. If either side attempts to stay hidden from the other, then the first contact be canceled out if desired. If both sides are well known by the general public, then the first contact will be well viewed. It will also be analyzed.
Desires
The results of the first contact will intend to be friendly. This will not always be the case. No two groups will always agree on everything. What happens when there is a disagreement? There will be times when two or more societies cannot settle their disagreements. They enter into some form of nonviolent hostilities, which is basically a cold war. While this cold war approach has many possibilities for TTRPGs, it has many problems for the societies that make them. Another possible outcome would be that they can never agree on anything and go fully into some declared war.
Entities?
Most of the greatest stories will involve major governments. These also involve corporations having first contact with an unknown entity. Must this always be the case? Are there any ways that smaller groups or individuals can have their own first contact? Would it be possible for a situation where one side is greatly powerful and the other is relatively weaker? Essentially, every time that you make the first meeting with someone new, that will be a first contact. You do not need to go through any established protocols. This is true unless you are acting on behalf of some other agency. The comparative size of each party will not matter. What matters will be what each side brings to the table. If the smaller party has something that the larger party must have, then their relative size will be equivalent.
The process of first contact is something that is often discussed in many stories as some form of complication. The actual dealings of first contact can be troublesome in its proper course. Nevertheless, it does not have to be what is described in fiction. Those protocol-filled meetings will take center stage. That is not the only manner they must take. The most common first contact occurs when one business opens a dialog with another business. Alternatively, it involves an individual making contact with a stranger. These smaller first contacts will not make major headlines. They won’t create great stories. Nonetheless, they will be much more important for the characters and campaign in the long run. They will then set the stage for exciting stories the players will want to tell for years to come.
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