GURPS Star Trekking - Help? Assistance?

[Infornific]

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.

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.

I think you may be overdoing it on the racial template. Worf's abilities may have been attributed to him being Klingon but it's worth noting he's pretty exceptional by Klingon standards. He's not quite the Conan of Klingons but he never meets a Klingon who can clearly outfight him. Remember, the Klingons have something of a caste society. There's a warrior aristocracy that makes up most of the officers, a lower caste that makes up ordinary warriors and the bulk of the population below that. Klingons don't talk about those Klingons much for roughly the same reason the Illiad & the Odyssey don't talk much about peasant farmers. Klingons are also prone to bragging. Remember, General Martok had to spend 5 years working as a civilian laborer aboard a warship after being rejected as an officer candidate. Starfleet personnel seem to be able to fight Klingon warriors without being too outmatched - certainly not as much as a human hand to hand versus a Vulcan.

Your template has an ordinary Klingon getting +5 (HT, Fit, resistant) against poison and disease compared to a normal human. That seems a bit extreme. Even +1 is a pretty big bonus on a racial level. Likewise, I think you may be overthinking the brak'lul. The practical effect is that a Klingon is very hard to kill. Just Fit, HT+1 and Hard to Kill 1 gives a Klingon +2 on all HT resistance rolls and +3 on death checks, compared to humans. That plus a couple extra HPs seems sufficient.

So maybe +1 ST [10], +1 HT [10], +2 HP [4], Fit [5], DR (Tough Skin) 1 [3], Hard to Kill 1 [2], Sharp Teeth [1], Longevity [2], Bad Temper [-10], Odious Racial Habit [-5], Chauvinistic [-1], Proud [-1] Total Cost 20 after Disadvantages. Maybe Fearlessness & High Pain Threshold but again that could be part of warrior training.

Note: Longevity could be rationalized as a side effect of the brak'lul. I lean toward Klingons just being very long lived but rarely suffering natural deaths.


As for the smooth browed Klingons, I think they might loose some Disadvantages as well as Advantages. The TOS era Klingons are more unified as a society and seem to show better impulse control as individuals. If the virus victims were the majority of society, the original Klingons might have nominally been regarded as superior but informally regarded as too violent and undisciplined. Ironically, the virus may have made Klingons less effective as close combat fighters but more effective at waging war. Perhaps the cure was a Section 31 operation?

Also a while back I came up with an admittedly unserious martial arts system for Starfleet in the TOS/SNW/DSC era. For the curious.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Infornific

I think you may be overdoing it on the racial template.

You're right. Although I tried to be true to Memory Alpha articles, episode transcripts, and action in relevant episodes, I forgot that Fit is a cheap form of HTK, HTS, and Resistant (Disease/Poison).

Klingons suffer badly from what I call "protagonist species syndrome," where racial traits get piled on as plot points or to make a protagonist character of that species more impressive. With both Worf and B'Elanna Torres as protagonist characters across all three of the TNG-era ST shows, Klingons went from being no tougher than humans in TOS to incredibly hard to kill by the end of the TNG era. (And don't get me started on Vulcans . . .)

Klingons, as a species, are routinely described as being stronger and much tougher than humans, with at least one spare vital organ for each organ in their body. They've also clearly got better skull and spine DR, and possibly better DR overall.

If there's a trait in my templates that I can't document, it goes to optional status or gets removed.

Originally Posted by Infornific

Worf's abilities may have been attributed to him being Klingon but it's worth noting he's pretty exceptional by Klingon standards.

Worf is just god-like, especially by the end of DS9 when it's established that he can competently do so many things. His only serious fault, other than his competing Codes of Honor, is his Starfleet-induced Workaholic tendency, and his Quirk-level No Sense of Humor. I roughly statted him out based on what he's shown to be able to do in the shows and he comes in at 500+ points.

Torres is a bit more reasonable, in part because she's a half-Klingon Starfleet Academy dropout with serious neuroses. Her omni-competence by the end of Voyager mostly comes from her technical skills, but she's also established as being a competent fighter.

Originally Posted by Infornific

There's a warrior aristocracy that makes up most of the officers, a lower caste that makes up ordinary warriors and the bulk of the population below that. Klingons don't talk about those Klingons much for roughly the same reason the Illiad & the Odyssey don't talk much about peasant farmers.

Exactly. That's what's so annoying about statting out Star Trek species. Named members of a given species tend to be that society's elites and protagonists are portrayed as being larger than life. We get exactly two glimpses into Klingon non-warrior society - a Klingon lawyer put in charge of Captain Archer's defense in Enterprise and a few background ne'er-do-well Klingon characters in the Orion Quarter of Quonos in Discovery.

I await the day when there's a ST series that focuses on ordinary people, like a struggling Klingon opera singer, a Vulcan shuttle mechanic, or a Tellarite dabo girl.

Originally Posted by Infornific

Klingons are also prone to bragging.

That's why I stat out species based on Memory Alpha articles, authoritative descriptions in dialogue, and what actually happens onscreen.

By authoritative, I mean a character in a position to know delivering plot exposition. For example, if Sisko says that Vulcans are three times stronger than humans, it's because he has personal experience and it's relevant to the plot.

Martok bragging when he's in his cups might count as authoritative, but only if it's something that subsequently gets borne out by plot developments or if other people in a position to know - and to contradict - accept his statements at full value.

Originally Posted by Infornific

Starfleet personnel seem to be able to fight Klingon warriors without being too outmatched - certainly not as much as a human hand to hand versus a Vulcan.

I can think of three good reasons for the parity.

First, SF personnel who pick a fight with a Klingon are going to be physically fit and good fighters. The geeky blue shirts will try to use diplomacy and back away slowly. (In a serious fight, they run or die.)

Second, just because you wear the Klingon Defense Force uniform doesn't mean you're a warrior. The sort of Klingons who pick fights might be non-warrior caste schlubs who are working off their frustrations or desperately trying to prove their warrior credibility. After all, if your normal job is cleaning plasma intake manifolds or tending the targ herd, and you take endless abuse from people who will kill you if you fight back, beating up the occasional Starfleet smooth-head is just "percussive therapy" to keep you sane.

Third, Klingons, being descendants of pack predators and having a laissez-faire attitude towards emergency medicine, might have an instinctive understanding of when to back off the violence. If you're hit, as long as your opponent isn't trying to kill you at the moment, it's better to stay down before you're hurt too badly to heal. He's top targ, at least for now; lick your wounds and live to plot revenge. That means that a lot of "dead" or "knocked out" Klingons might be playing possum while they reassess the tactical situation/their career options. Either that, or they're luring unwary opponents into position for a back shot.

Originally Posted by Infornific

Your template has an ordinary Klingon getting +5 (HT, Fit, resistant) against poison and disease compared to a normal human.

Grrr. You're right. I'd forgotten that Fit/Very Fit also act like a cheap version of Resistant (Poison/Disease), HTK, and HTS. Time to move those traits to the Optional Advantages line. Even better, it shaves 12+ points off the Racial template.

Originally Posted by Infornific

So maybe +1 ST [10], +1 HT [10], +2 HP [4], Fit [5], DR (Tough Skin) 1 [3], Hard to Kill 1 [2], Sharp Teeth [1], Longevity [2], Bad Temper [-10], Odious Racial Habit [-5], Chauvinistic [-1], Proud [-1] Total Cost 20 after Disadvantages. Maybe Fearlessness & High Pain Threshold but again that could be part of warrior training.

Seems reasonable, but the various forms of DR are physiological. They've got extra bone on their skulls, spines, and torsos per screenshots and medical scans. Human-Klingon Hybrids don't seem to have the same overall robustness, just better-armored skulls, so I'll change things there.

Originally Posted by Infornific

Note: Longevity could be rationalized as a side effect of the brak'lul. I lean toward Klingons just being very long lived but rarely suffering natural deaths.

I'm coming to see why Longevity is the better option. It allows particularly tough individuals to live a long time, but doesn't increase overall population lifespan by that much. Fan-canon suggests that Klingons have a useful lifespan of about 90 years, then rapidly succumb to old age. Heroes with HT 14+ might live longer, especially after the introduction of 24th c. Federation-style anti-aging treatments.

Originally Posted by Infornific

As for the smooth browed Klingons, I think they might loose some Disadvantages as well as Advantages. The TOS era Klingons are more unified as a society and seem to show better impulse control as individuals.

This is a great point. One of the huge advantages that humans have as compared to other primates is that we can live in vast intermingling tribes (mostly) without trying to kill each other. If Augment-Virus Klingons got some of that human ability it would make them far more organized and less overtly competitive than standard Klingons. That in itself would be threatening to the Klingon power structure. (And maybe inspired the T'Kuvna movement?)

They would also have to learn how to operate and gain power on the margins of Klingon society, so of course they'll develop traits and tactics that standard Klingons would view as dishonorable.

[Qoltar]

Yay - rediscovered this thread from Two years ago. Had my most recent game session this past Friday evening.
Finally getting around to making those Caitian NPCs I mentioned back then.

Keeping track we just had our 26th episode or game session after attemoting two sessions a month but its been closer to once a month.

Any more suggestions for either Caitian or Saurian characters?
We have now seen more of the "Linus" character on Star Trek Discovery since I first posted the opening questions.

-Ed C.