Shore Leave Campaign Table

Even Starfleet officers need a break from time to time

The Shore Leave Campaign Table is a story generation mechanism for the Shore Leave 2402 campaign of 2025. Members should consult the Campaign Table Guide on how to best use this resource.

Shore Leave is a low-stakes storytelling event based on character dynamics and relationships and interpersonal drama as Starfleet crews go on vacation. These tables, rather than providing major story premises, offer colour, detail, and atmosphere to drive your mission. There are four kinds of Shore Leave campaign tables:

Shore Leave Stories, fleshing out the events and nature of a crew's vacation.
Interpersonal Stories, focusing on characters and their relationships.
Story Complication Tables, for when you want a twist or a setback.
Activity and Setting Tables, adding variety to what characters might do on shore leave or where they might go.

Because a character-driven event story will always focus on, well, the characters, members are more encouraged than ever to adapt or reinterpret table results, or just choose what suits them best. You know your characters, you know their secrets, you know their drama.

Shore Leave Stories

These tables help flesh out the events and nature of a crew’s shore leave. While the emphasis for this event is character-driven and focused narratives, these can help flesh out what’s going on while you examine your crew, their feelings, and their relationships.

The tone of these prompts is kept light and low-stakes. Nobody should be at risk of death or face serious peril - but the emotional stakes for individuals and their relationships can be very real.

Shore Leave Type

What’s the nature of your crew’s shore leave?

Your ship has arrived at a world where the crew can beam down for shore leave, with no responsibilities other than rest and relaxation.
While your ship has put in at a space station for maintenance, the crew separate to travel back to homes, friends, and family across the Federation while on leave.
Your ship is on a mission that puts it in orbit of a planet (or other location) for some weeks. With only a handful of crew needed to complete the mission at hand, the captain grants all other personnel extended time off.
Your ship has been ordered to participate in a local ceremony, such as the celebrations on Federation worlds to commemorate the defeat of the Vaadwaur. While this will not take up all the crew’s R&R time, they must at least show their faces for ceremonial duties.
Your ship’s not in a position to properly put in for shore leave. The crew still needs a break. It’s time to throw open the holodecks for R&R, running one programme permanently while others work double-time to offer the crew distracting leisure.

Ceremonial Duties

There are local festivities, and your crew have ceremonial duties to participate. This might include, if they are holidaying at a location they helped liberate from the Vaadwaur, being recognised and celebrated for their role. Otherwise, how is your crew participating in the celebrations?

Smallcraft from your ship will perform a flypast during a ceremony. This will take hours of planning and drilling ahead of time.
A security team from your ship will be on duty during the celebrations. Rather than facing actual peril, this will take careful management of locals, ranging from curious children, frustrating tourists, or overbearing VIPs!
Ahead of the main celebrations, your ship will host an event with visiting dignitaries. Senior staff have to be on their best behaviour, while support staff must make sure everything goes off without a hitch.
A handful of crewmembers are invited (or volunteered) to perform as part of a ceremony. It might be from their own culture, and could be music, dance, poetry, cuisine. Is it in their comfort area?
Select officers are recognised at a major event and asked to give a speech. Is it impromptu, putting them on the spot? Or do they have to plan it, and agonise for days?
Crew are invited to a grand formal dinner. Perhaps this is easy. Perhaps this is steeped in strange etiquette, either local culture or a host’s idiosyncrasies.
Your ship is a major attraction for locals, and the captain agrees to give tours aboard for local youths or students. It’s educational and good PR - but the kids need entertaining, and keeping out of trouble.
Local journalists find your crew figures of interest, and will stop at nothing to get a scoop - especially if they’re the heroes who saved this world...

Sporting Challenges

One or some of your crew become embroiled in a competitive (perhaps sporting) challenge against each other, friends, rivals - or nature.

There’s a local racing competition - vehicle, animal riding, you name it! Some of your crew get the opportunity to compete, for the honour of your ship.
Another Starfleet ship is in orbit. It’s time for a spontaneous challenge match: parrisses squares, springball, who knows. Someone’s dignity is on the line, and it’s probably blown out of proportion.
A crewmember who’s a fan of a certain solo sport/outdoor activity finds a challenge they can’t turn down. It might be the highest mountain that needs conquering, a cave that needs exploring, or a local endurance ritual...
While on shore leave together, someone suggests a competitive team sport between the crew themselves. Will this be a good way to blow off steam? Or will the crew take it too far?
Not every competition is athletic. It’s time for the Great [Location] Bake-Off!
There’s a competition, alright, but your crew aren’t competing - the locals are. Your crewmembers? They’ve been roped in as celebrity judges, and it’s all getting a bit heated...
While the crew attends a sporting event as spectators, things get spicy as informal betting, friendly dares, and heckling competitions break out in the stands. Are they getting in the spirit of things? Or taking it too far. What are the stakes?
A crewmember (or team) gets stuck in on a local contest, thinking it’s just for fun, just ceremonial. Perhaps it’s a test of strength or stamina, an endurance sprint, log tossing, fire juggling? Who knows. But it turns out it’s not for fun, and treating it without dignity will be a serious faux pas.
The crew play what they think is a light-hearted game with local leaders or respected figures. It’s all pageantry - until one of your crew accidentally wins, or embarrasses one of the locals. Now it’s both serious - and a diplomatic wrinkle.
One crewmember ends up in a competition - and they’re terrible. Somehow, they become a crowd-favourite.

Adventure

One or some of your crew become drawn in to a local intrigue or, dare we say the word... adventure?

Rumours reach your crew of a lost treasure near the resort. Perhaps belonging to some ancient civilisation, perhaps something that crashed on the world. Is it mere rumour? Or is it time for Starfleet officers to begin an adventure of discovery?
Locals tell tale of a nearby location - an island, a distant house, who knows - long abandoned, and its terrible haunting...
The local celebration includes an interactive scavenger hunt or riddle-based challenge with deep historical, perhaps even cultural, significance. Perhaps it takes competitors through local sites of interest, history, and mystery. It’s all in good fun - but to the victor go the spoils.
A visiting or local dignitary has lost something important - an heirloom, a datapad, a pet; something precious or, perhaps, sensitive - and your crewmembers end up on the hunt. Is it lost? Has it been taken?
For some reason, there has to be a heist. Starfleet officers aren’t thieves! Perhaps this is a challenge for a festival, perhaps there’s been a friendly bet, or perhaps a crewmember’s trying to recover something they lost that they were never meant to have in the first place...
A local sightseeing shuttle crash-lands far from the resort. Nobody’s seriously hurt, and surely rescue will come soon - but in the meantime, characters need to get themselves safe, fed, sheltered, and perhaps find high ground in this local wilderness.
A crewmember gets their hands on a puzzle-box. Perhaps it’s literally something that needs deciphering to open, or a fragment of a treasure map, or an ancient text in need of translation. What’s at the end of the mystery?
An exciting new archaeological discovery has recently been made near the vacation site. Surely Starfleet officers can get a first peek...

Holodeck Hijinks

Some ships haven’t put in at a resort at all, or some crewmembers have to hold down the fort. Sure, they can enjoy the leisure facilities on board - and maybe even have similar experiences of ceremonial duties or sporting challenges like anyone else on shore leave. But there’s one part of Star Trek relaxation that can always go wrong: the holodeck.

A program is running 24/7, and the whole crew’s very invested. It started out casual, but now there are elaborate character arcs, people swap shifts to get in at the right time, and it’s the best fun aboard.
It’s a holodeck adventure. Whatever it is, of course people get trapped inside and the safeties fail.
A group of crewmembers get way too invested in a group holonovel that they’re playing through. They have to make time to match schedules. Design costumes. And worse - is this a professional holonovel? Does someone outside of the group possess the forbidden knowledge... of spoilers?
Someone reskinned a classic old training programme into a leisure programme. Think ‘tropical island survival training’ now turned into a beach party. Except sometimes... bits of old code sometimes kick in with a training exercise or challenge, and disrupt the party.
A crewmember has an historical reenactment programme. Some people take the reenactment very seriously and demand authenticity. Some people just want to play with swords.
The holodecks are being used so intensely by so many people that glitches occur, and characters or plot elements from one programme begin to bleed into others. The detective from the noir holonovel shows up at the beach resort. The historical figure appears mid-duel.
There’s a competition for designing the ‘best’ programme. Who’s started this competition? Who’s judging it? What’s the definition of ‘best’?
Someone finds a magnificent holo-programme, either a location, a scenario, or a whole novel. Problem is, it’s unfinished. Does someone try to complete a masterpiece? Can anyone agree on what that should look like?

Interpersonal Stories

These tables suggest story prompts that focus on characters and their relationships. They may take a little work to adapt to your specific cast, so feel free to adjust any prompts as you see fit. The focus here is to create scenes that explore interpersonal dynamics and character feelings.

Forging Connections

Shore leave is a great time for crewmembers to bond. They might be long-standing friends, professional rivals, or acquaintances who haven’t had a chance to connect yet. What might bring them together?

Some crewmembers are organising a party. These characters have been given a key responsibility: find a venue, or make sure there’s entertainment, or secure catering. Together, it’s down to them to make sure this is the best party the ship’s ever seen!
Thanks to a booking error, characters end up sharing a resort suite. Will they get on each other’s nerves, or form a new connection?
There’s a class or workshop in the local area; cooking, dance, art, something like that. Two (or more!) characters have signed up for it. Do they bond? Or compete?
They go souvenir shopping together. Does one haggle? Does one love junk? Does one hate it? What do they find?
Characters are assigned to escort or entertain someone important to a local official - a family member, a friend, perhaps a teenager or child.
There’s a tour around a local site of interest, and these characters are on it. Did they all agree? Did someone drag someone else along? What’s the tourist trap they’re being shown?
Someone - someones - from the crew has to play a role in a local festival or ceremony. They get roped in.

Foes and Rivals

Vacation isn’t all about friendship. It can be a time for tension and argument. Is there a falling out among some of your characters? If so, why?

One character wanted to go somewhere else on shore leave - perhaps to visit family, perhaps they hate the location. They think it’s another crewmember’s fault they didn’t get to go. Perhaps this was a senior staffer’s decision. Perhaps they had to swap assignments. Either way - they’re mad, and taking it out on them.
One character wants adventure, the other relaxation. One planned detailed excursions, the other just wants to nap. But they’re stuck together for some reason, and the clash in expectations escalates.
Someone made a joke, a mistake, or a scene that caused embarrassment. Maybe in front of the locals, or dignitaries, or at a festival. It wasn’t malicious, but it stung.
Shore leave is a time for a breather - but that means an old grudge resurfaces. It was put to one side for work, or just because people were busy. Now? Everyone’s mad about it again.
A character discovers their friends or colleagues are doing something without them. Perhaps it was just an oversight - but it hurts.
There’s someone here - a local, a dignitary, a celebrity, someone from another ship - several characters really want the attention of. Perhaps it’s a celebrity crush, perhaps it’s someone they always wanted the good opinion of, perhaps it’s just a cool new friend. It’s time to compete for their attention.
One officer just can’t switch off from work. They’re checking messages, talking about the job, planning their next project and running drills. And they’re driving everyone else up the wall.
Two characters are stuck together - in a room, on a tour, in an activity. Perhaps they never got on, perhaps they didn’t know each other. Now they know they don’t like each other.

Romance

Love is in the air! Two (or more?) characters find themselves romantically connecting this shore leave. Perhaps this is for the first time - or perhaps a twist in an ongoing romance...

There’s a dance! Or some other formal event - the point is, everyone needs a date! Did Character A already have their eye on Character B? Or does going as friends become... something else?
An attractive local catches the eye of Character A. Character B isn’t too impressed. Perhaps it’s conscious jealousy - or perhaps they’re insistent there’s something up with the local and this is all sincere concern...
A big local event - a sporting event, a concert, some exciting tour - has limited access. Someone gets their hands on two passes, and Character A’s invited Character B. Now it’s just the two of them...
There was drinking, or a movie night, or a late-night shuttle ride. They fell asleep shoulder-to-shoulder. But now they’ve woken up far too close...
Character A is injured or ill. Nothing life-threatening, or even worth pestering sickbay, but they need taking care of, and Character B’s giving up some of their precious shore leave time to help them out...
It’s time Characters A and B got it together - and got together. Or that’s the opinion of a helpful meddler. Is it a friend who works with them? A local or visitor deciding to get involved? Either way, it’s match-making time.
The obligatory Fake Date. Perhaps there was a local tradition they both showed up to and had to pretend to be a couple, or perhaps someone’s trying to make someone else jealous. But has it all gotten a bit too real...?
Character A has a new opportunity: there’s rumour of a promotion, an award, something great! But... if it happens, it’ll come with reassignment. Character B had better act fast if they don’t want to lose them forever...

First Meetings

How might two characters who’ve never met before cross paths? This table can be particularly useful for starting cross-command joint posts.

Both characters really want to eat at this restaurant (perhaps it’s great! Perhaps it’s the only stop-off available on their journey) - but there’s only one table left. Time to share!
Characters are on the same large civilian transport, heading off to shore leave. There’s trouble aboard! Nothing major - one person’s medical emergency, a problem with nav systems, or the like. No pirates, no major peril. It’s still time for the Starfleet officers aboard to save the day!
There’s a queue. For a shuttle, a holosuite slot, or a local venue. It’s time to start chatting with the officer next to you.
They’ve both signed up for the same disappointing tourist excursion: a bad guide, or the wrong location, or a bad vehicle. Time to strike up a friendship and survive it together.
They’re in the same shop. Maybe it’s a bookstore, or a place stacked with local curios. Both reach for the same item at the same time - and it’s the last one.
A local festival needs people to get stuck in at the event, or in the prep. They’ve both volunteered, and are now on the same booth, or setting up decor together.
A sudden downpour catches them both out. It’s time to hide from the rain under the same shelter, and wait for it to finish.
Shore leave’s a time to explore places, cities, woodlands. But one of them’s lost, and the other character’s either lost with them, or might help them find their way.

Story Complications Tables

These tables give a little texture to interpersonal relationships. They give prompts and ideas for what might drive an argument or a personal challenge. They are kept vague to adapt to all manner of situations, so don’t feel forced to use a result if it doesn’t match what’s going on. Rather than drive an entire mission, they can add a twist to the ongoing narrative, or depth to some of the prompts above. What if, for instance, you combine a result from the Secrets table to a result from the Romance table?

Secrets

Everyone has secrets. Shore leave is a time to breathe. What secrets might fester? What unspoken truths might come out?

Someone’s thinking about transferring. Who knows about it?
Someone saw something they shouldn’t. Do they speak up?
A character’s been hiding a personal project or skill until now.
Someone’s not acting like their usual self. What do their friends do about it?
There’s tension between two characters, leftover from a past mission. It’s coming to a head.
Someone has lied about something in their past - where they’re from, or why they joined Starfleet. It’s not ground-shaking, but it matters. Why?
A crewmember’s in contact with someone they shouldn’t be. An estranged family member, the enemy of their friend, a toxic ex.
Someone received a message, and they’re clearly shaken by it. But they’re not admitting to what it is or who it was from.

History

A time of relaxation might be a time for ancient history to resurface, or for characters to reflect on their past. How does this come about?

Someone visits a location tied to their - or someone else’s - past.
A festival reminds a character of someone or something they lost.
An old friend - or lover - or rival - shows up.
A character’s family is nearby. Is this a joyous reunion? Or a source of tension.
Tensions and memories from the Vaadwaur conflict, or something else, finally have a chance to resurface.
An object from someone’s past gets noticed. A picture? A keepsake? People ask questions.
Someone is being - finally? - recognised for a past achievement. Perhaps it’s a scientific prize or a medal for bravery, and it happened long enough ago it wasn’t fully expected.
Something or someone from a crewmember’s academy days - an old picture, an old academy buddy, a report - resurfaces. Is this welcome? Or bittersweet?

Disruption

What disrupts the vacation?

The weather turns unexpectedly.
Someone very important to the proceedings - a dignitary at a ceremony, or the band that were going to play the big event - is delayed, and now so is everything else.
A shuttle broke down. Someone’s stranded, or delayed.
Local customs suddenly demand the crew’s involvement.
There’s a scheduling conflict nobody noticed, and now a key venue for something important is double-booked.
Supplies were mis-delivered. Did the wrong thing show up for the party? Or did the right thing show up somewhere else.
Someone gets sick at exactly the wrong time.
An animal is loose in the proceedings.
A major technical failing - like a power cut - derails a key event.
The first choice of venue or activity is unexpectedly closed or cancelled. What’s the compromise choice nobody’s happy about?

New Faces

What unexpected new characters show up that have to be dealt with?

Local kids are fascinated by Starfleet.
A journalist wants the scoop on the crew and their adventures.
A retired Starfleet officer has Opinions. Maybe they want to reminisce about their glory days. Maybe they want to complain about how things are done today...
A local dignitary wants to bask in the reflected glory of the crew. And they just can’t be shaken off.
There’s a celebrity here - a Starfleet hero, or a famous singer, or a politician, or the like. Do they want to know the crew? Do crewmembers desperately want to know them?
Someone thinks the crew, or a member of the crew, are famous. They published a paper or were in the news or did something during the Vaadwaur campaign. Can you get a real vacation if you’re now the celebrity?
The Trek classic: the one-episode romance wonder. Do they help someone learn about themselves? Or is someone else jealous...

Activity and Setting Tables

These tables don’t provide story ideas so much as setting ideas. Rather than give a dramatic prompt, a conflict, a plot, they help flesh out the environment and activities of shore leave. As well as giving suggestions, they can hopefully provide inspiration for how to flesh out your own set of shore leave activities and locales for your mission.

Resort Type

Where is your crew having shore leave? Even knowing the planet, planets are varied. What kind of locale have they, or the bulk of them, chosen for their vacation?

A beachside resort town with warm oceans, open-air cafés, and plenty of sun.
A historic colonial settlement turned tourist spot, full of old stone buildings, bakeries, and quiet museums.
A sprawling capital city on a Federation core world, bustling with nightlife and centres of art and culture.
A mountain retreat with forest lodges, hiking trails, and mist-covered peaks.
A luxury space station known for shopping, cuisine, and the beautiful stellar phenomenon right outside the viewports.
A quiet island settlement, famous for good beaches, clear sides, and local festivals.
A sleepy riverside town with parks, bridges, farmers’ markets, rolling green hills, and long walks.
A desert resort with natural hot springs, stargazing domes, and ancient ruins nearby.
A coastal city with layered cliffside architecture, bustling docks, and fresh seafood.
A massive park-like preserve with rental cabins, guided tours, long walks, and limited technological amenities.
A cruise-liner yacht - or space yacht? Drinks, dance halls, and daily planned activities.
A vineyard valley with tasting tours and vintage culture.
A moody but charming town known for rain, cafés, bookstores, and quiet culture.
A mountain chalet with snow-covered slopes, fit for snow sports and hot tubs.
A coastal arctic settlement with geothermal springs and long daylight hours.
A camp resort at the edges of a tropical rainforest with canopy tours, river trails, and vibrant flora and fauna.
An open plain settlement on the edge of a savannah, with safaris, native fauna, and wide horizons.
A hub of technological leisure; perhaps a compact, advanced city, or a resort built for tourists. Holographic and replicator technology abound for comfort, convenience, and diversion in a tech hub that never sleeps.

Official Ceremonies

Many worlds are holding official celebrations to mark the end of the Vaadwaur occupation and their rebuilding work. Crewmembers may participate formally, or they might just be present for the events, or just hear about them. This table can build on the Ceremonial Duties above, or be used completely independently. Where the Local Festivities table below focused on more culturally specific events, these are official Federation celebrations.

A formal parade through the main roads. Streets are lined with flags, crowds, and music.
A flight display over a populated area. It’s beautifully choreographed. Spectators cheer.
A commemorative speech, perhaps at a rebuilt civic landmark. If one of their own isn’t giving the speech, they might be forced to listen anyway.
The unveiling ceremony at a new memorial site.
A formal state dinner hosted by the local government. Dress uniforms are expected. Not all the crew - maybe none of the crew! - will be there. It will hit local news.
Archives and records of the invasion have been collated over the last months, and will finally be publicly shared. Perhaps it’s a public display, or they’re officially presented to a local museum or university.
An evening vigil or planet-wide moment of silence is held to remember those lost in the occupation.

Local Festivities

Whether it’s a celebration, a twee event to keep the tourists entertained, or a sincere local custom, there’s some form of local festival event going on. What’s drawing in Starfleet officers on leave? These events might be formal or informal, organised or ad hoc, in beautiful official venues or in town squares, but locals and visitors alike are welcome.

A public dance. Who dances with whom? Are they group dances? Paired dances?
A communal feast. Is there official catering? Or should visitors bring food to share? Who sits with whom?
Lantern release ceremony - or something like it. Either way, messages, names, personal decorations are placed on or in an object, which is then released. Perhaps it’s lanterns in the sky. Or into orbit. Or it’s in bottles, cast into a river or the sea. It’s a personal opportunity to send a message privately into the world, but shared quietly with everyone taking part.
There’s a performance showcase, a rotating schedule of small acts. They might be music, spoken word, theatre, or cultural demonstration. Are they impressive? Charmingly amateur? Who gets roped in?
A market. Perhaps it’s craft market booths with produce by amateurs, or local artisans selling everything from traditional clothing to food.
Traditional games or sport. Locals have set up a casual game; perhaps one the crew knows, perhaps one they don’t. It’s still an important part of the festivities, and worthy of respect.
Storytelling circle. Community members, historians, and visitors, take turn telling stories. These might be personal histories, local myths, old jokes. Sincerity isn’t optional.
Friendly cooking competition. Locals run a ‘bring your best dish’ contest. Starfleet crewmembers are welcome to judge, or enter.
Public art installation. Everyone is invited to contribute to a temporary mural, sculpture, or holographic display. Or it’s something bigger, like a memorial garden or pathway. Crew can put something of themselves into this moment and place.

Dating Life

There’s been talk of romance. But where does it happen? What’s a great date venue or activity on shore leave? Where are your characters going?

The tradition: a meal out. But is it a high-class restaurant? An intriguing and intimate local venue? A disappointing tourist trap?
The other tradition: a bar and a drink. Loud and good for dancing? Run-down and local, but intimate? An exciting hot-spot, or somewhere off the beaten track?
A night market full of food stalls, glowing lanterns, and live music.
A peaceful lake with a rental paddleboat. There may be water fowl. Are they friend or foe?
A local museum, quiet but captivating, cultural and intriguing.
A rooftop cafe overlooking the city at sunset.
A walk in a botanical garden.
A spa day, the sort of thing that involves mud baths and cucumber slices on the eye.
A scenic rail tour through captivating landscapes with a dining car and live narration.
A dance. Traditional and local? Formal and riddled with protocol? Ad-hoc and enthusiastic?
An underwater observatory with panoramic views of marine life.
A sunset hike to a viewpoint they’ve been told is a ‘must-see.’
A cozy bookstore with a two-chair reading nook and hot drinks.
An arcade or gaming den; have fun or get competitive.

Friend Hang-Outs

It’s time for friends to hang out on shore leave. Where might they go? What might they do? What’s the activity?

An all-you-can-eat local buffet. Do they even recognise all the food?
Beach day! Sandcastles, swimming, sunburn, beach sports.
A team escape room. How well do they work together?
A casual hike. Is it as casual as promised? Who forgets to bring what? Who gets the group lost?
A market crawl. Who’s looking for a gift? Who’s looking for a souvenir? Who’s looking for food?
A trivia night at a local bar. Perhaps with locals, perhaps with another crew, perhaps among themselves.
A mini-golf course - or something like it. How does Trek tech map onto those casual vacation games?
A karaoke bar. Say no more.
Vehicle hire. Get a few bikes, or cars, or boats, or something. Take a tour, or find trouble.
The zoo! Everyone likes the zoo.