Stating Captain Kirk

[Not]

How do we handle the hand-cannon in "Arena"? Gadgeteer? Armory at TL4? Scrounging?

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by Not

How do we handle the hand-cannon in "Arena"? Gadgeteer? Armory at TL4? Scrounging?

Serendipity-assisted Scrounging followed by Armoury, I think. Gadgeteer would probably better fit a dedicated cinematic engineer like Scotty.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

Serendipity-assisted Scrounging followed by Armoury, I think. Gadgeteer would probably better fit a dedicated cinematic engineer like Scotty.

Having the ingredients, especially potassium nitrate, right in front of him was likely part of the test.
Maybe the aliens just assumed military captains knew basic weapon chemistry.
In general I think nearly every TV protagonists qualify for serendipity if only to cover for "goal oriented" writing.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

True, he was able to cook up a workable mortar of sorts when facing that one Gorn, but even then he was working off a design known for centuries with interesting jury-rigged parts.

That happens to be a useful metric of how much Serendipity he has. Finding powdered potassium nitrate and sulfur just sitting there is two uses. An alien form of bamboo strong enough to be used a cannon is a third. The charcoal, rocks and assembly we can attribute to normal skills. Though there may have been some Luck in having the thing blow up the Gorn rather than him.

So Kirk has at least 3 levels of Serendipity. :)

[adm]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

That happens to be a useful metric of how much Serendipity he has. Finding powdered potassium nitrate and sulfur just sitting there is two uses. An alien form of bamboo strong enough to be used a cannon is a third. The charcoal, rocks and assembly we can attribute to normal skills. Though there may have been some Luck in having the thing blow up the Gorn rather than him.

So Kirk has at least 3 levels of Serendipity. :)

Keep in mind that the Metrons stated that the had placed the materials needed to defeat the other Captain within the battle area. Serendipity may not apply here, but I agree he does have it.

[Infornific]

Originally Posted by GameBuddah

Kromm and I had a chat about this several years ago. Kirk has all of the meta game advantages, heaps of luck and serendipity. Things just turn out right for him.

Don't forget Intuition, probably with a Reliable enhancement. A big part of Krik's shtick is that he sees solutions others don't. I took a stab at defining Kirk here a long time ago. Please read the rest of the thread - Peter Dell'Orto had some helpful suggestions for simulating Kirk's combat style. I'd probably up Will and Fatigue and assume Kirk routinely burns Fatigue for extra effort in fights.

For combat I'd go with Brawling and Wrestling with some Judo. I'd keep combat skills no higher than 14 or 15 - Kirk's capable but not modern action movie capable. I'm also tempted to add one or two levels of Jack of All Trades.

Basically Kirk's abilities are:

Finding A Way: Luck, Intuition, Serendipity.

Gumption: High Will and extra Fatigue - Kirk is good at pushing himself beyond the normal limits.

Driven to Command: Re-watching the series I was a little surprised how much Kirk's professionalism and studiousness are played up. He's more Joe Friday than James Bond. Which fits if you remember Rodenberry's previous job experience. So a high IQ (maybe as high as 14-15) and probably fewer Talents than I suggested. I'd keep the Charisma. He's basically got high influence and command skills, particularly Leadership and Tactics, also Public Speaking and Diplomacy. Note they don't have to be too high - he frequently uses his Intuition and Luck to boost these skills.

Quick with his fists: Kirk's a capable brawler - I'd give him Brawling, Judo and Wrestling around 14 or 15, plus a point or two in short sword for clubs and such. He supplements this with Luck, burning Fatigue for extra effort and once in a great while Serendipity.

A man of many talents: Kirk has a broad range of skills - not necessarily high but competent. A thin broad layer of skill points plus possibly Jack of All Trades.

As for that improvised gun in Arena...

Remember, the aliens stated explicitly that they left tools to create weapons so Kirk didn't need Serendipity to find the bits and pieces. He just had to recognize what was in front of him before the Gorn did.

I think someone created a 250 point Leader template for space opera games - that might be worth a look as well.

[corwyn]

Originally Posted by Infornific

Quick with his fists: Kirk's a capable brawler - I'd give him Brawling, Judo and Wrestling around 14 or 15, plus a point or two in short sword for clubs and such.

That's a problem with movie and tv protagonists in general. They usually have no problem just picking up a weapon and using it. Amok Time, anyone? Maybe cosmic abilities or Wild Talent limited to weapons? Or maybe it's just a setting rule that everyone defaults to DX for pre-gunpowder weapons. I mean, even Bones doesn't do horribly with gladius and shield in Bread and Circuses considering the advantage Spock has in DX and ST - far better than his default of 7? or lower would suggest.

[Anders]

He's very smart. In one of the first episodes he was described a "a stack of book with legs", and there's no reason to think that was hyperbole. And he is better than Spock at 3D-chess.

[combatmedic]

Originally Posted by Not

If the weekly adventurous experience of the Enterprise is typical, God help the Federation! If not, give Kirk Weirdness Magnet.

I'd actually give the Enterprise Weirdness Magnet, if that's possible.

[Not]

I can't believe we forgot swordplay!

Now, I haven't really fathomed GURPS' treatment of swords all that well. What shall we give Kirk? He's used a Roman sword on Bread and Circuses (a gladius?) Was that a sword or a short sword? He's done some fencing in "Squire of Gothos" and "Day of the Dove". He did some credible knife dueling in "Tahiti Syndrome" ("Behold the god that bleeds!"). What say the GURPS mavens?