Klingons, GURPSy Klingons....

[Qoltar]

Greetings...,

Tomorrow I have a game session of my GURPS: Star Trek campaign around 6:00 pm Ohio time.

I know there will likely be a boarding action and lots of Klingons trying to take over the Starfleet destroyer that my players are in command of.

I am trying to think of ways to use the GCA to make more than a handful of Klingons.

Any of you guys have pre-made Klingons made with GURPS 4/e that you could post in this thread? Stats and all that stuff and maybe a bit of personality?

For frame of reference - my group is adventuring in the year 2262 - that is half way between "Starange New Worlds" and "The Original Series" in the 'Star Trek' timeline.

I am using the bumpy headed Klingon look as senn in episodes of "SNWW" with a few smooth heads mixed in.

- Ed C.

[Pursuivant]

Most or all of the Klingons in a boarding party will be low-level Warrior caste types. At least in battle, they'll be pretty much interchangeable with no need for anything other than basic stats.

Use shortened NPC-style character cards with One relevant quirk or disad. Mission assignment or choice of weapon is effectively a "quirk" for this purpose.

If there's a reason to treat them as anything more than Space Orcs, start by determining the group's motivations. (Acting on orders from above? Pirates? Klingon Captain's personal vendetta? Faction wanting to restart the war?)

Next, come up with a few basic "personality lenses" which can be applied as necessary, with slightly more detailed traits for the ship's commander, second in command and boarding party leaders. Again, one disad or quirk is probably all that's needed.

Questions to decide:

Are they all members of the same House? Expect even more arguments and skullduggery than normal if they're not.

What is their morale like? Are there factions within the group? How well-respected/feared are important officers? What happens if certain officers are killed/incapacitated? (E.g,, If the PCs kill off the Klingon captain, does that just get the rest of them angry or open up a chance to negotiate with their likely successor?)

How "augment-virused" are the smooth-heads? Cruel and sneaky TOS-style Klingons or honor-driven standard Klingon warriors? How badly are the mutants bullied by the unmutated Klingons?

How badly are subordinates bullied by superiors? Nothing like the chaos of battle for a little payback.

As a suggestion for generic decent-quality warriors who are a bit more motley than crew:

ST 12, DX 11, IQ 10, HT 12.
DR 3-5 for melee fights, 12-15 for beam weapon fights.
Skills: Assume non-combat skills of 12 (e.g. for things like Crewman, Electronics Repair, Force Entry).
12+(1d/2) in each of Beam Weapons (choice of pistol or rifle), Brawling, Knife, Intimidation (because Klingon) and one of Broadsword (TOS-style Klingon sword), Polearm (Bat'leth) or Shortsword (Mek'leth).
8+(1d/2) in Tactics.

Choose one of:
Addiction - Goes into battle on some stimulant that impairs judgment.
Alcoholism - Goes into battle at least Tipsy on Bloodwine or equivalent.
Bloodlust - Doesn't take prisoners.
Bully - Possible target for payback in battle, will get distracted abusing PoWs or subordinates.
Cowardice - "Today is NOT a good day to die." Not a physical coward, but completely unconvinced that fight is necessary or that they should be a part of it. Will find any reasonable excuse to depart fight once honor allows it. Might be part of larger betrayal or sabotage plan.
Fanaticism - Never retreat, death before dishonor! A Klingon's Klingon, even if all his shipmate's think he's a petaq.
Greed - Will get distracted looking for loot.
Gullibility - Easily tricked by ruses
Hard of Hearing - Can't hear stealthy foes.
Jealousy - Might sell out rivals during combat, especially if they look like they're doing well.
Non-Combatant - Unfazeable (Putting up with crap warriors throw at him/her). Reduce combat skills to 11 or lower, add one useful technical skill at 12+. Signed onto a bird-of-prey just to get off of Quonos. Normally just a cook/warp reactor tech, but forced to join the boarding party. Will follow orders but mostly trying to stay alive and not get captured. Will happily retreat or arrange temporary truce if s/he can get away with it.
On the Edge - AKA The Stov-o-kor Special" or "Today is a REALLY good day to die."
One Eye - Easier to blindside
One Hand - With scary built-in weapon replacement. Looks really cool until you need two good hands to hang on as the compartment depressurizes.
Overconfidence - Accepts one-on-one knife fight challenges.
Pacifism - will shoot to incapacitate rather than kill, won't kill non-combatants unless ordered to do so. Represents an old soldier who's sick of killing.
Paranoia - Shoots at shadows. Might shoot comrades accidentally or deliberately.
Pyromania - or equivalent. The Klingon equivalent of "MoAR DAKKA!" guy. Lives just long enough to underestimate the blast radius.
Sadism - Will get distracted killing non-combatants or torturing captives.
Selfish - He only has your back if it's a good deal for him.
Sense of Duty (to one other character in combat) - might go Berserk if that character is killed)
Sense of Duty (Comrades) - A dead hero waiting to happen.
Treacherous - Only feigns a code of honor and can't be trusted to keep his word. Classic TOS Klingon.
Unluckiness - "I'm getting too old for this QI'yaH"/Getting married next week/First time in real combat/Really just wanted to be a targ-herder.
Vow - Only use melee weapons, Redeem honor or die trying, Get X number of kills, Be first to specific ship location, Take specific ship location, Get more kills, etc. than rival.

[Qoltar]

OOps..

I was hoping someone had some already worked out example Klingons from past GURPS campaigns that they could just 'cut & paste' into this thread.

I did not have a lot of time this past week to pregenerate adversaries for the players.

Doing my best just to have enough usable miniatures and plausible deck plans and maps for the game session.

Houses? - Its a mix of them but this particular Klingon crew are all against a recently negotiated Peace Agreement that is onboard the Hero ship , with two Federation ambassadors who have to survive.

-Ed C.

[Pursuivant]

It's a bit late for your game session, but there are a few free high quality Klingon paper minis on the web. Always suitable for phaser fodder if you don't have enough minis and far easier to pack into a small space than plastic or pewter.

TMP/TNG style Klingons here:

http://www.crowstuff.co.uk/trekminis/klingons.jpg

TOS Style Klingons, etc. here:

http://trek.abillionmonkeys.com/miniatures/

It only does Starfleet characters, but Crowstuff's Star Trek Miniature Maker is great for custom characters from any era.

Star Trek Ships deck plans are all over the place on the web. There's a huge fan community for ST ship deckplans and TTRPGs and it's been around a long time. In a pinch fan-made Traveler or Star Wars deck plans work, too.

[Qoltar]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

It's a bit late for your.. ....deck plans work, too.

Okay...um,

You are telling me stuff that I already know.

I grew up with Star Trek and early fandom,. When they were filming the pilot eoisode "The Cage" I was being born in a Hospital. (some of you know what year that was)

The game company Modiphius has released really nice gaming miniatures of classic Starfleet characters and Klingons for their RPG. I hate their rules mechanics - but their miniatures look great.

GURPS is what I prefer to use for everything gaming-wise...

As for 'deckplans' - I had the original set from 1975 when I was kid, (somehow one of the key sheets has gone missing.) I have TWO sets of the FASA RPG ship deck plans made back in 1985. Had to go to a nearby print shop to get some sections enlarged 400 percent so the squares might be equivalent to one inch to use with gaming.

From now just assume I already know whatever bit of 'Star Trek' info that you are about to tell me. Once upon a time I wrote a column for a Star Trek fanzine called "What Is Canon?" - yeah, my near photographic memory is that good.

Apologies If I accidentally come off as 'harsh' - I know you are trying to help.

Again I was hoping somebody had already made up a few characters over the years.

- Ed C.

[thalcos]

The newest, hot off the press, 1shot GURPS adventure is a reboot of the old FASA adventure, A Doomsday Like Any Other.

Unlike the original, the new version, The Clear Light of Doomsday, features a handful of Klingons.

[Farmer]

ChatGPT comes up with some basic, useful NPC stats pretty quickly - you can give it more prompt info to get more detail, but here's a quick start:


Klingon Warrior 1: The Young Warrior
Total Points: 50

Attributes:

ST 12 [20]
DX 11 [20]
IQ 10 [0]
HT 11 [10]
Secondary Characteristics:

Damage: Thr 1d-1, Sw 1d+2
BL: 29 lbs.
HP: 12
Will: 10
Per: 10
FP: 11
Basic Speed: 5.5
Basic Move: 5
Advantages:

High Pain Threshold [10]
Appearance (Attractive) [4]
Disadvantages:

Code of Honor (Klingon) [-10]
Overconfidence [-5]
Skills:

Brawling (E) DX+1 [2] – 12
Broadsword (A) DX [2] – 11
Guns (Rifle) (E) DX [1] – 11


Klingon Warrior 2: The Experienced Warrior
Total Points: 75

Attributes:

ST 13 [30]
DX 12 [40]
IQ 10 [0]
HT 12 [20]
Secondary Characteristics:

Damage: Thr 1d, Sw 2d-1
BL: 34 lbs.
HP: 13
Will: 10
Per: 10
FP: 12
Basic Speed: 6
Basic Move: 6
Advantages:

High Pain Threshold [10]
Combat Reflexes [15]
Disadvantages:

Code of Honor (Klingon) [-10]
Sense of Duty (Comrades) [-5]
Skills:

Brawling (E) DX+2 [4] – 14
Broadsword (A) DX+1 [4] – 13
Guns (Rifle) (E) DX+1 [2] – 13
Tactics (H) IQ [4] – 10


Klingon Warrior 3: The Veteran Warrior
Total Points: 100

Attributes:

ST 14 [40]
DX 12 [40]
IQ 11 [20]
HT 12 [20]
Secondary Characteristics:

Damage: Thr 1d, Sw 2d
BL: 39 lbs.
HP: 14
Will: 11
Per: 11
FP: 12
Basic Speed: 6
Basic Move: 6
Advantages:

High Pain Threshold [10]
Combat Reflexes [15]
Reputation (Brave Warrior) [5]
Disadvantages:

Code of Honor (Klingon) [-10]
Sense of Duty (Comrades) [-5]
Skills:

Brawling (E) DX+2 [4] – 14
Broadsword (A) DX+2 [8] – 14
Guns (Rifle) (E) DX+1 [2] – 13
Tactics (H) IQ+1 [8] – 12

Equipment for All:

Klingon disruptor rifle (6d+2 burn, Acc 5, Range 700/2100, RoF 3, Shots 20(3), ST 10†, Bulk -5, Rcl 2)
Bat'leth (sw+4 cut or thr+2 cr, Reach 1,2, Parry 0U, ST 12†)
Klingon armor (DR 4, torso, arms, and legs)

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Qoltar

You are telling me stuff that I already know.

Fair enough. I knew you were a serious fan, but your super-fannishness far exceeds mine. I bow my head in awe.

Anyhow, at least the info's out there for less geeky people to find. I love paper minis (with weighted bases) and some of the best sources are hard to find with a standard web search.

[Qoltar]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Fair enough. I knew you were a serious fan, but your super-fannishness far exceeds mine. I bow my head in awe.

Anyhow, at least the info's out there for less geeky people to find. I love paper minis (with weighted bases) and some of the best sources are hard to find with a standard web search.

Did you realize that my profile picture is 'me' dressed up in my Klingon gear?
Years ago at Gen Con many SJG staffers saw me there in full Klingon gear arresting people for a charity Jail & Bail.

- Ed C.

[AOTA]

Originally Posted by thalcos

The newest, hot off the press, 1shot GURPS adventure is a reboot of the old FASA adventure, A Doomsday Like Any Other.

Unlike the original, the new version, The Clear Light of Doomsday, features a handful of Klingons.

That's a great adventure to update.