GURPS Star Trekking - Help? Assistance?

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

This has been only a technical note on the possibilities inherant but perhaps not obvious in the Aging rules. I don't want to start a big kerfluffle.

It's a good point. I thought about doing it that way given Klingons' high HT, but figured that Extended Lifespan was better for modeling a population with overall longevity.

High HT, Extended Lifespan, HTK, and the rest of the physical traits are my attempt to model Brak'lul, multiple organ redundancy.

If somebody can come up with a more accurate method of modeling a species which has two or more of just about every organ, I'd love to know about it!

If anything, my basic Klingon template is too stingy on the abilities, so that "redshirt" level Klingons die almost as fast as humans.

Individual Klingons could easily have increased ST, HT, HP, Per, and Will, Discriminatory Smell, and more levels of Acute Smell/Taste, HTK, HTS, and Resistant. Combat Reflexes is also so common that I almost included it as standard. A combat monster like Worf could easily start with a modified racial template cost of over 100 points.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

It's a good point. I thought about doing it that way given Klingons' high HT, but figured that Extended Lifespan was better for modeling a population with overall longevity.
.

If you make Longevity a Racial Advantage then the whole race does benefit from it. Extended Lifespan (even without Longevity ut witht he +8 v. aging rolls from tL)) might give you more than you wanted. The 3 DS9 Klingon captins in their 140s might not have lost any Attribute pts to aging.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

If you make Longevity a Racial Advantage then the whole race does benefit from it.

True. What I meant was that Extended Lifespan increases the amount of time until you need to make aging rolls, automatically giving an extended functional lifespan. Even if you only fail aging rolls on 17-18, you're still going to fail a few over the years.

The impression I get is that other than cosmetic aging - like graying hair and a few wrinkles - Klingons remain just as dangerous as warriors well past their 150th birthday, assuming that they don't die in battle before then.

With HT 11+ and +8 due to TL (actually, more like +5 because Klingons are seriously retarded in Medicine), you get the much the same effects as Longevity without needing that trait.

[Qoltar]

Oh My Sweet Kahless!!

The Age thing?

Those three individual Klingons had a very special circumstance - they could not 'die' until their Blood Oath was satisfied ...

Real, average, every day, every other Klingons age pretty much like Humans do - Klingons DO NOT have unusual longevity.

See my avatar? (profile pic?) That really IS 'me' in Klingon makeup and uniform. (Years ago met and chatted with Sean Punch, Andrew Hackard, and Steve Jackson himself while I was in my Klingon gear at Gen Con)

When those "Deep Space Nine" episodes first aired their unusually long life span was hotly debated and talked abut within Klingon fandom.

The most elegant solution is that they were unusual and a special case.

-Ed C.
-

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Qoltar

When those "Deep Space Nine" episodes first aired their unusually long life span was hotly debated and talked abut within Klingon fandom.

The most elegant solution is that they were unusual and a special case.

-Ed C.
-

That word you keep using ("elegant") I do not think it means what you think it means. :)

Also, if you add in the tribble/time travel esiode there are at least 4 Kingons you have to explain.

[Qoltar]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

That word you keep using ("elegant") I do not think it means what you think it means. :)

Also, if you add in the tribble/time travel episode there are at least 4 Klingons you have to explain.

Well, ...with that one Klingon some routines take almost forever to get to the punch line....

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Qoltar

Those three individual Klingons had a very special circumstance - they could not 'die' until their Blood Oath was satisfied ...

It's only 2 points of "color" trait, so feel free to eliminate Extended Lifespan/Longevity or move it to the optional advantages line.

I can see why the extended lifespan thing would annoy a lot of fans. Clearly, it's a cheesy way to work Klingon characters from TOS into late 24th century story arcs. Fan service gone wrong. Arguably, though, Extended Lifespan/Longevity fits into the whole concept of Brak'lul. Klingons are hard to kill, whatever the reason.

If Extended Lifespan/Longevity just applies to a lucky few, however, it would be interesting to work out a plausible explanation as to why they live so long. It could be good genes, sheer cussedness, or some sort of supernatural or temporal mojo.

[Pursuivant]

My ulterior motive for dropping three pages of solid text onto this thread was to get feedback on the Klingon templates.

So far, I take smug satisfaction that the biggest criticism is so far is a relatively minor quibble about Extended Lifespand/Longevity, and whether Klingons should have it.

My game design problem with the Klingons is that, as the quintessential ST "mook level" (gin'tak-carrier?) bad guys, they should die like flies and any competent red shirt should be able to handle at least two each in a barroom brawl. That implies a low-point character template, with at least one physical flaw that PCs can exploit.

On the other hand, TNG, DS9, and DIS established Klingons as being tough, with "supporting cast"/"minor boss" level characters being seriously scary, and hero-level characters like Worf being bat'leth-slinging forces of nature. That implies a point-optimized, high-level character template, with no serious physical limitations and mental limitations which are good for roleplaying. (E.g., Worf's competing Klingon/Starfleet Codes of Honor get a serious workout over the course of TNG & DS9.)

The combination of Klingon racial template, plus the Warrior training template, makes your average Klingon warrior a melee/unarmed combat monster compared to your average human/humanoid Starfleet character.

Logic dictates that you don't cheese off the lumpy-headed, sharp-toothed guy in the funky leather armor, or at least get some distance and take him out with a phaser, yet SF extras are seen mixing it up with Klingon warriors all the time without getting beaten to a pulp.

How should I square this circle?

One possibility is to create a mook-level NPC/monster template which provides "Klingon-like" opponents for Action-style SF adventures. The only difference from human mooks is that, even though they drop like autumn leaves once combat starts, they don't die immediately (or get better if SF takes pity on them and beams them into sickbay).

[Qoltar]

Klingons...

The Klingon issue in general...in the 2260s.

Since my campaign is set in ' 2261' - halfway between TOS and "Strange New Worlds" I have to decide 'which' version of Klingons to have as NPC adversaries.

I have decided to do both "smooth headed or 'augment' style Klingons and normal Bumpy or ridge headed Klingons that we know from every version of "Star Trek".

Now I have to choose which of the templates provided by Mr Pursuivant to use - one for smooth headed and one for ridge headed. Also, if any of those templates match up with the Prime Directive templates in the GCA version of things in the Star Trek universe.

- Ed C.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Qoltar

I have decided to do both "smooth headed or 'augment' style Klingons and normal Bumpy or ridge headed Klingons that we know from every version of "Star Trek".

Note that the mental and social disads built into the Augment-Virus Klingon template - especially the "child survivor" version are weakly supported by canon, so feel free to ignore them. DS9 showed that some former Augment-Virus Klingons were able to fit into Klingon society and become "full" Klingons once they got proper medical treatment.

My idea was to make the child survivors more "augment-like," with a tendency towards nasty mental disadvantages and corresponding Social Stigma in larger Klingon society.* That would explain the split between Klingon behavior in the TOS/TAS era and the Movie/TNG-era.

Originally Posted by Qoltar

Now I have to choose which of the templates provided by Mr Pursuivant to use - one for smooth headed and one for ridge headed.

I'm pretty sure that none of my templates matches up with GURPS: PD, since I don't own those books. IIRC, the PD Klingon template reflects just the TOS Klingons, but without the TNG-era physiological advantages. As lower-value templates they would be ideal for "mook-level" NPCs.

You know your gaming group better than I, but if I were designing an adventure, I'd have a full Klingon, with warrior and Klingon Imperial Navy training, and a bit of experience, as the "big bad." Below him/her, I'd have a couple of scheming Augment-Virus Klingons or a less powerful Full Klingon. I'd then use stripped down full Klingon templates to represent "elite mooks," and the PD Klingon racial template to represent "mook level" Augment-Virus Klingon cannon fodder.

If you have "mixed" crews, there might be tension and intolerance between "full" Klingons and augment-virus survivors. If your players are sharp, they might be able to suss out the social tensions and exploit them.

IIRC, PD occupational templates would work well for Klingon characters.

*[Head-Canon]
Different-looking Klingons represent different ethnicities, who historically owed allegiance to a particular noble house. The noble houses originally had control over various regions of Quonos and then expanded into space in different directions, taking their people with them. Sort of as if the U.S., the Chinese, and various other major nations independently explored space and founded colonies. That also explains the huge number of Klingon dialects still used in the 22nd century, when other species had mostly settled on a single standardized language.

The victims of the Augment Virus belonged to just one or two extended houses which controlled space near the Federation border, but not all members of the house were affected. That explains why you only see the Augment Virus Klingons in TOS, but nobody remarks on Worf's appearance during the DS9 episode, "Trials and Tribble-ations."

My logic for Augment-Virus Klingons mental and social disads is that Worf's response to O'Brien's comment, "Those are Klingons?" was "We do not talk about it," with the strong subtext that any further discussion would start a fight.

Given Worf's personality, that implies that there was something inherently dishonorable or shameful about the augment-virus Klingons' very existence, to the point that it galls honor-driven Klingons over a century later. That suggests that they collectively behaved in a way that brought historical disgrace and dishonor to the Klingon empire.

If dialogue from Discovery is to be believed, Augment-Virus Klingons might have been responsible for most of the atrocities against the Federation as they rampaged through Federation space during the Klingon-Federation War. They might have capped off their shameful behavior with a serious betrayal of the Klingon Empire, such as an alliance with the Romulans. That would also explain Klingon ships in Romulan service.

Sometime between 2269 and 2279, they did something so atrocious that they were exterminated and the few honorable survivors had to change their appearance to survive.[/head canon]