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Post by Ronin84 on Jan 24, 2010 13:49:31 GMT -5
Funny that spellcheck didn't suggest that. I'll be happy to clean it up and PDF the thing, if there is interest. Yes please!
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 24, 2010 17:59:32 GMT -5
Fixed it in my posts and will get a PDF version put together shortly. (Busy with NFL football at the moment.) :-)
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Post by Falconer on Jan 24, 2010 20:37:02 GMT -5
This is seriously kick ass. Quick question: on what do you base your impression of the Andorians?
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 25, 2010 0:02:05 GMT -5
Glad you like it. It's pretty basic overall, but seemed to work well for me. (Of course, back then I wasn't a very sophisicated gamer, either. It's more about the fun and less about the rules!)
I can't recall what my original thought process was on the Andorians. It's just been too long ago. I have this vague impression that they were sort of clever but underhanded, but I'd have to go back and re-watch the episodes where they appear in order to get a better read on it.
However, based on the Enterprise TV show they seem to be sneaky but rash, which kind of supports a +1 INT and -1 WIS.
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Post by apeloverage on Jan 25, 2010 1:12:30 GMT -5
Was there a standard amount of healing that medical crew memeber could do?
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Post by Falconer on Jan 25, 2010 2:27:53 GMT -5
We don’t have much to go by for the Andorians, actually. Here is the relevant scene involving Ambassador Shras from Journey to Babel (keeping in mind that Thelev turns out to be NOT an Andorian but really an Orion Pirate in disguise): The other notable Andorian is Commander Thelin from Yesteryear. Here is the relevant section: Not much to build an entire race upon. If anything, I would reverse it and give them Wisdom +1 and Intelligence -1. They both seem wise. Thelin is surely intelligent (he’s the Enterprise’s science officer if Spock doesn’t exist). But Shras’s “forget logic and devote yourself to...passion” speech is pretty definitive. (And a -1 to Intelligence wouldn’t stop the entire race from producing science officers!) The only other thing we have to go by is “violent race” and “warrior race” (and the appearance of an Andorian warrior in The Gamesters of Triskelion). From that you might give them a bonus to... Dexterity? Just musing on the topic. Not sure if you are interested in making revisions or whether you’d rather present it as-is as an product of its time. Quotes courtesy The Star Trek Transcripts.
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Post by Falconer on Jan 25, 2010 3:07:40 GMT -5
Vulcan: +1 Intelligence, -1 Charisma Vulcans are smart, but many are annoyed by their logic. Yes, they are annoying and also diabolical in appearance. Presumably this affects only humans and people of alternate Earths, but since these are 99% of the galaxy... I understand that you didn’t want to give Vulcans every bonus in the world, but you might consider their supernatural strength as worthy of a +1. What about a -1 to Wisdom to balance it? Spock learns much from Kirk, but remember especially early on ( The Galileo Seven springs to mind) his devotion to logic often cripples his ability to arrive at the wisest decisions. I’ll buy that! I don’t actually recall them being particularly strong, but they are aggressively militaristic, so it fits. Plus, they did hold their own in the brawl in The Trouble with Tribbles, and in fights in Day of the Dove, if I recall correctly. The Romulans are harder to pin down. But this works. The thing that Romulan Commanders in both episodes Balance of Terror and The Enterprise Incident have in common is that they react to situations on a deeply intuitive level (=+1 Wisdom) but don’t equal Kirk’s wits (no bonus to Intelligence). -1 Charisma works because not only are they war-mongering empire-builders, but they also share the Vulcanian “diabolical” appearance. Yep! You might make both +2s. That Gorn in Arena is really slow and really, really hard to kill! I actually don’t know enough about them to comment. I’d like to read Neutron Star and Ringworld to get more of a feel for them, and I actually have yet to watch The Slaver Weapon. I like it! They look like Orcs, but they actually behave and function as Dwarves. Maybe just make these +1 and -1, though? They’re not as hard to kill as Gorns, and not that ugly! For some reason, I view Orions as the oldest of the civilizations (of those listed here, anyway), old and decadent, resorting to piracy and slavery because they’ve lost the ability to build their own civilization. Either that or they’re primitive. Either way, this works for me. Stroke of genius to split the Orions into two categories. Yes, definitely this is correct. “They're like animals, vicious, seductive. They say no human male can resist them.” ( The Menagerie, Part II) “Green animal women” ( The Cage). Says it more effectively than the “education” bit, eh? How about Charisma being the prime requisite for Command? Just a thought.
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Post by Alex on Jan 25, 2010 15:43:58 GMT -5
When did you create this? I've been for the longest time trying to think of a way to use Classic D&D for Star Trek (TOS) and faltering. Finally I came up with MinTrek, which I'm totally happy with, but I still like the idea of using D&D.
For phasers doing 1d6 damage that seems a bit weak. Seems like the phaser shots almost never missed and they never failed to stun, kill, or disintegrate a humanoid. Even if we allow for damage not implying a hit (D&D abstract hit points), that would imply the beam came close but missed, which never happened in TOS. When that trigger was pulled someone inevitably fell down!
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 25, 2010 16:00:01 GMT -5
When did you create this? I've been for the longest time trying to think of a way to use Classic D&D for Star Trek (TOS) and faltering. Finally I came up with MinTrek, which I'm totally happy with, but I still like the idea of using D&D. For phasers doing 1d6 damage that seems a bit weak. Seems like the phaser shots almost never missed and they never failed to stun, kill, or disintegrate a humanoid. Even if we allow for damage not implying a hit (D&D abstract hit points), that would imply the beam came close but missed, which never happened in TOS. When that trigger was pulled someone inevitably fell down! I think it was around 1978 or so. (Just trying to make a guess based on the rest of the stuff in my folder.) I agree that 1d6 damage isn't "Trek realistic" but it seems to play well. (A "crewman" can still die with a single hit, but an officer is less likely to go "poof" with one shot.)
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 25, 2010 16:04:19 GMT -5
Just musing on the topic. Not sure if you are interested in making revisions or whether you’d rather present it as-is as an product of its time. Actually, while I had fun early on with this and it played well for me as a high school kid, I'm a more mature gamer and am certainly willing to adjust things to make it better. I just finished a layout and PDF creation, but I'll go back and tweak it and then PDF it again.
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 25, 2010 16:10:20 GMT -5
I based it off of the episode "Slaver Weapon" because I don't think I'd ever heard of Niven's other work at that time. (He may not have written the other Kzinti stories, I'm not sure.) In TAS they were cat-like warrior people, and so I associated them with cat-like quickness (and thus higher dexterity. I balnced that dex thing by assuming they would tire more quickly. A total guess, you understand.
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 25, 2010 16:16:23 GMT -5
How about Charisma being the prime requisite for Command? Just a thought. I changed it to Wisdom or Charisma (player's choice), with the idea that either a wise or charismatic person could become a leader.
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vulcanridr
Lieutenant
I am in your Enterprise, haxoring your tubes...
Posts: 64
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Post by vulcanridr on Jan 25, 2010 18:12:45 GMT -5
How about Charisma being the prime requisite for Command? Just a thought. Hmmm. Two counterexamples come to mind. One is Commodore Matt Decker. You saw the Enterprise crew's reaction to his taking command, though the regs were in his favor... The other example is Captain Tracy of the Exeter...He didn't endear himself to much of anyone either. And one good definition of charisma, "Telling someone to go to hell and making them anticipate the journey." ...or was that diplomacy? ;D
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Post by finarvyn on Jan 25, 2010 18:33:06 GMT -5
Agreed, but both of the examples you cite are captains who were wavering on the brink of insanity. Early in their careers they probably were quite charismatic.
Say ... we could factor in a Sanity stat like Call of Cthulhu! :-D
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Post by Alex on Jan 25, 2010 21:00:40 GMT -5
Fin, how did you play? After a little afterthought I realized that despite having identified classes (something I always had trouble with in D&D Trek)...you didn't actually do anything to differentiate them. Yes, they have different saves (though I still don't know what I'd use saves in ST for) and varying hit points per level and different attack tables...but where are the class abilities. That's what makes the class. To me, that's what makes D&D! Not that you can point to something and call it a class, but that you can point to each class and say "that's why these guys are better, they have X ability!"
I'm sure it played great for you in high school. It's just something I never had a knack for. Gotta have a way to differentiate them. Without it, what's the difference between medical (or engineering) and sciences other than the type of tricorder they carry on an away mission?
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