New to DMing, would this work? Suggestions?

[Klorox]

I’m thinking about running a game with the Spelljammer rules in mind, but it would be more based on the Star Trek series “Deep Space Nine”

The party would be on a space station, and there would always be new characters arriving and new adventures to be had.

I’d start the game off fairly modularly, with adventures not really tied to each other, but if it takes off, I could wrap an overarching plot into it.

I think I could even wrap into things some kind of wormhole (I might have to rename it though) and have players go out on their own ships at times to adventure.

What do you guys think? Is this too much for a guy who’s played for eons but never settled into DMing?

Any adventure suggestions or ideas?

[Burley]

That would work as much as any other campaign, yeah.

What's the over-arcing narrative? What's the Space Station's purpose? Is it a space tavern, or something more official?
Isn't there something in Spelljammers about establishing a connection with some realm and using it as, like, a fast-travel destination?

What's great about Spelljammers is the infinite possibility of realms your party can come across. You can sorta run it as a bunch of level-appropriate one-shots and justify it with MacGuffins or "establishing contact with new worlds."
I'd honestly suggest playing it safe (loosely connected one-shots) until you find out what your players are interested in. If they're not into Federation Politics, you'll have wasted a lot of energy planning for that.

[Mastikator]

It would work.


If you're running a series of one-shots make sure you construct each game such that you can add or remove scenes based on how much time there is left on the session. A good one shot concludes with the players back at base when the session is over. (it's ok to fast travel them home)
Try to include elements that involve one thing each player is excited about doing, an easy way to find out what they want to do is to ask them, or look at their character sheet. However keep in mind that not every player necessarily know what they want, or even want something from the game. A player that just wants to hang out with their friends should be included as a supporting role.
Have a spare named NPC that doesn't have a defined role, use them when a PC strikes up a conversation with a rando.
Since you will be operating from the same space each time you can't really over-prepare, because assets that you don't end up using can always be recycled into the next session. That said overpreparing can burn you out, so only overprepare a little (it saves you time in the future).
Protip, keep a ledger of the outcomes of each session. This can include choices the players were given, and curveballs they threw at you. These can serve as building blocks for future games, and makes the game feel more alive.
Allow players to have backup characters and switch back and forth between them
Failure should be a valid outcome in a one-shot, TPK should be a valid outcome IMO, it would be easy to just roll up new characters and continue.

[Unoriginal]

I’m thinking about running a game with the Spelljammer rules in mind, but it would be more based on the Star Trek series “Deep Space Nine”

The party would be on a space station, and there would always be new characters arriving and new adventures to be had.

IÂ’d start the game off fairly modularly, with adventures not really tied to each other, but if it takes off, I could wrap an overarching plot into it.

I think I could even wrap into things some kind of wormhole (I might have to rename it though) and have players go out on their own ships at times to adventure.

What do you guys think? Is this too much for a guy whoÂ’s played for eons but never settled into DMing?

Any adventure suggestions or ideas?

It can certainly work. Having a big portal above a planet fits the Spelljammer aesthetic, and so does the "Old West town in space" tone of DS9.

My advice, though, is to make sure the PCs and players alike are interested in staying around the station. Having a job they want to do, or ownership of one of the local businesses, or the station is the best place to have an HQ when you do X, etc, is important. Making the station feel alive with NPCs that have their own wants, needs and dealings going on in the background will help too.

I'd encourage you to not start with non-linked adventures at first, though. The link doesn't need to be big, nor stated out loud, but a strong sense of continuity is good.

For example, imagine one adventure is about one of the PCs' old friend showing up saying they have found where the ship of a famous pirate crashed, and it's nearby, causing the PCs to race against a crew of treasure hunters, who hijack an official's ship in order to try to fool the PCs into giving up the chase. Next adventure could have its root in an event the PCs missed due to being searching for the ship. Then the adventure afterward it's mentioned the treasure hunters' actions have caused the local government to increase security around their ships. Then three adventures after that the PCs are given a letter from the heirs of the pirate's last known victim, asking them if they have found X heirloom. Etc.