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Post by lstyer on Mar 1, 2010 16:13:49 GMT -5
I've seen a lot of talk in Old School RPG circles about games that are pitched as "alternate reality," something like "This game was published as the second RPG ever in an alternate version of 1975" or whatever. That has me thinking that it would be a lot of fun to do a sort of "Time Warped" Star Trek game.
I'm not thinking of mechanics here (not sure what system I'd even use), but the Star Trek setting, limited, to the extent practical, to the setting as portrayed in the televised episodes of Star Trek, maybe throwing in the animated episodes too.
The Starfleet Battles universe is one take on that, but at this point, it's been going for, what, 25 years, so presumably it's sort of grown its own legacy, and I guess I'm interested in reinventing that particular wheel.
So, does anyone want to brainstorm on what that setting would look like in terms of an RPG? Thoughts off the top of my head:
Klingons look like they did on TV and don't spout off about honor, just the thrill of battle. Romulans have only just been seen and look exactly like Vulcans, with no brow ridges. Compared to the Klingons, they're the "honorable" enemy culture.
The Federation looks like 20th Century Western culture with some of the bugs worked out, but not "humanity perfected."
PC species would probably be Human, Vulcan, Andorian and Tellarite. If we go Animated, throw in that three-legged cat's species and, well, cat people (I'm not sure either species was actually named on screen).
Like I said, throwing this open to folks.
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Post by aramis on Mar 1, 2010 17:57:44 GMT -5
They are traditionally called Edosians and Caitians. The term Caitian is not used on screen, according to Memory Alpha. memory-alpha.org/en/index.php/Caitian memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/CaitianLikewise, the term Edosian (or its fasa appearance, Edoan) isn't used on screen, either. memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Edosian memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/EdosianIf accepting TAS, simply for continuity, using both is a reasonable idea; It does, however, suggest also adding the Kzinti as a power. Further powers to consider: the Tholians, Gorn, and First Federation, and just how to scale them.
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Post by lstyer on Mar 1, 2010 19:03:11 GMT -5
I'd probably skip the Kzinti, to be honest. I'm not really sure how well they fit in.
The Tholians and Gorn don't seem to be as involved with Federation affairs as the Klingons or even the Romulans, but that could easily be treated as a quirk of the Enterprise's "territory," to leave plenty of room to treat either or both as major powers.
The First Federation would be a real mess to deal with in an RPG with the enormous size of their ships. It's been a little while since I watched "The Corbomite Maneuver," but was the First Federation supposed to be contiguous with the Federation or was that maybe a far frontier outpost?
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Post by Falconer on Mar 1, 2010 19:41:28 GMT -5
You sound right on track with where we’ve been going with this. Klingons look like they did on TV and don't spout off about honor, just the thrill of battle. Yes. “Honor is a despicable trait.” That is mentioned in The Making of Star Trek, almost a throwaway clause, but I make it their motto. Absolutely. Yep. That seems to be the trend. My take on Arex and M’Ress is that they are kind of “scenery” characters, and certainly don’t give us enough to make their races (Edoans and Caitians) major races. I like them as examples of “make your own race” characters. Regards.
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Post by lstyer on Mar 2, 2010 17:21:22 GMT -5
Yes. “Honor is a despicable trait.” That is mentioned in The Making of Star Trek, almost a throwaway clause, but I make it their motto. I think I have a copy of that book somewhere around here. I need to dig it up. I'm not sure we have enough info about any Federation species other than Vulcans and Humans to use them without a fair bit of extrapolation. Did any other Federation species make mulitiple appearances? Arex and M'Ress may have out-appeared everyone but Humans and Vulcans.
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Post by Falconer on Mar 2, 2010 19:55:23 GMT -5
For what it’s worth, Andorians were featured in Journey to Babel, The Gamesters of Triskelion, Whom Gods Destroy, The Lights of Zetar, Yesteryear and The Time Trap. Tellarites were featured in Journey to Babel, Whom Gods Destroy, The Lights of Zetar, and The Time Trap. The SFTM (at least, as it is traditionally understood) has them, along with Earth, Vulcan, and Alpha Centauri, as the founding members of the Federation and permanent members of the Federation Council. Humans, Vulcans, Tellarites, and Andorians seem to be the key players on the Federation Council in Journey to Babel. Yesteryear features an alternate timeline in which Spock doesn’t exist, and it takes no-one by surprise that an Andorian takes his place on the Enterprise. True, it’s not a lot of information and it doesn’t prove anything. I admit, when you come down to it, anything beyond Humans and Vulcans is rather arbitrary. On the other hand, Humans, Vulcans, Tellarites and Andorians are the only Federation races that are even named in TOS, let alone that we know anything about. (That’s right, isn’t it? I mean, explicitly.) As such, I consider them a good base list. I think it gives you a good mix. It’s true that TAS gives you more to work with. If you want you can throw in Edoans, Caitians, and/or Skorr. Edoans are actually not Federation members, but that needn’t stop you from using them as a PC race if you like them. I lean a little more strongly towards allowing Caitians as a Federation/PC race, as the Caitian/Kzinti relationship is said to mirror the Vulcan/Romulan relationship. You could even add Deltans—Ilia as conceived for Phase II: (She’s just about the only thing that makes TMP barely watchable... but that’s where I draw the line.) Heck, I even mentioned in another thread I want to import Mon Calamari from Star Wars! So, I’m flexible. I think, in fact, Star Trek must by definition be flexible, and should encourage creativity over stodgy adherence to canon. My gut instinct is that a really short list of pre-prepared races will encourage outside-the-box thinking more than a longer list. But, again, it’s all up to you! Hope that helps. Regards.
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Post by aramis on Mar 2, 2010 20:07:56 GMT -5
We see Tellarites once, Orions and Andorians twice. In the case of the Orions and Andorians, one of those appearances is in a mental ward... and the other orion appearance is an hallucination.
M'ress, Arex, and Spock are the only ones we see much of at all... and spock doesn't really count, either.
Vulcans other than spock, 3 I can think of (Amok Time, Journey to Babel, Yesteryear), and a 4th that implies much (The Infinite Vulcan).
Medusans in Is There In Truth No Beauty?
Non-Feds...
Romulans are in three TOS episodes (Balance of Terror, Enterprise Incident, Deadly Years) and referenced in a fourth, and referenced or in 3 TAS ones as well. * "Balance of Terror" * "The Deadly Years" * "The Enterprise Incident" * "The Survivor" * "The Time Trap" * "The Practical Joker" Unfortunately, we don't see much of their culture there. What we do see is rabidly fanatic, duty driven, and personal ambition is valued, but only when it serves the state.
Klingons are in a bunch... * "Errand of Mercy" * "Friday's Child" * "The Trouble with Tribbles" * "A Private Little War" * "Elaan of Troyius" * "Day of the Dove" * "The Savage Curtain" (Excalbian recreation only) * "More Tribbles, More Troubles" * "The Time Trap" They are pretty savage... neither honorable nor "dishonorable", and rather practical. Well, except for the one in TSC... Kahless is actively dishonorable... towards others; we don't see it in relation to other klingons.
I point this out to make clear: we know more about the klingons than (arguably) even the Vulcans.
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Post by Falconer on Mar 2, 2010 20:21:32 GMT -5
Arguably. Although, even if you discount everything else we know about Spock, the three Vulcans episodes you mentioned all give us a lot of “lore” to work with, whereas the Klingons are usually stock “buffoon” villains in most of their episodes.
Medusans, fair enough, although there’s only so much you can do with an incorporeal character!
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Post by Falconer on Mar 2, 2010 20:29:27 GMT -5
There are actually five appearances of Orions (let’s assume Pike’s vision is an authentic recreation): The Menagerie (Green, White) Journey to Babel (Blue) Whom Gods Destroy (Green) The Time Trap (Yellow) The Pirates of Orion (Blue) Although the source material probably intends them all to be green, I have included Falconer nomenclature for multiple Orion races in parentheses, for those who like the idea.
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Post by aramis on Mar 3, 2010 5:16:01 GMT -5
Devna, in TTT, is green, not yellow... a pale green, but green none the less. Thelev, in JTB, is inconclusive; he could easily have been altered, but blue is clear in TPoO.
The Trader at Orion Colony (in The Cage/The Menagerie) may or may not be Orion; we know he's AT Orion, but so is Pike and another Human officer. Inconclusive for white Orions. (Memory Alpha in fact lists Orions as blue or green, and the traitor in the Illusory Humans entry.)
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Post by Falconer on Mar 3, 2010 9:05:54 GMT -5
As I said, it’s probably not intended by the creators of Star Trek, but for my campaign the idea is to give the Orions a “Barsoomian” feel, and run with it.
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Post by michaeltaylor on Jul 8, 2016 16:44:24 GMT -5
I'd probably skip the Kzinti, to be honest. I'm not really sure how well they fit in. The way I see it, the Kzinti are the result of the Caitians Eugenics Wars.
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Post by aramis on Jul 10, 2016 19:22:59 GMT -5
I'd probably skip the Kzinti, to be honest. I'm not really sure how well they fit in. The way I see it, the Kzinti are the result of the Caitians Eugenics Wars. Essentially, also true in the ADB SFU.
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Post by finarvyn on Nov 25, 2017 8:02:17 GMT -5
An old thread, but ... it's been a while since I watched ENTERPRISE but I'm pretty sure the Andorians get some decent screen time there. This could also be a source of information, even if it's not quite TOS canon.
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Post by Falconer on Nov 25, 2017 22:36:11 GMT -5
And they are in TMP and TVH. Andorians were so thoroughly excluded from TNG-DS9-VOY that their return in ENT was a deliberate callback to TOS.
And there is an Andorian in STARSHIP EXETER, played by the brother of the OSR’s own Jimm Johnson, who plays the captain on the series. (The two brothers created the show.) For those not in the know, it is a fan series (just one and a half episode, but, still, awesome) that NAILS the TOS feel IMO. But it does seem to reference the RPG book AMONG THE CLANS to flesh out the Andorian a bit.
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