[Psionics] [Space] Psi Trek - Worldbuilding

[Prince Charon]

OK, that's two votes, total. Two votes for the same option, but it's still a rather small consensus. Vote remains open, I'm working on the next one, which is about Sparrial politics.

[ericthered]

I'll go for 3 as well.

[Prince Charon]

OK, three for three: '3. A more distant cousin, but derived from the same species that the Caitians were engineered from.' New question:

Sparrials question II

What alliance, if any, are the Sparrials part of?

1. The Sparrials are a small, independent race.

2. The Sparrials are independent, and have their own empire.

3. The Sparrials are part of the USA.

4. The Sparrials are a subject race of the thlIngan Empire.

5. The Sparrials are a member race within the thlIngan Empire.

6. The Sparrials are a subject race of the Romulan Empire.

7. The Sparrials are a 'client' race of the Orion Free States.

8. The Sparrials are a subject race of the Kaa

9. Something else (please specify).


Please include the number of your preferred option when you vote.

[TGLS]

5) After the Klingons conquered the Sparrial homeworld, they soon learned about how Sparrials steal things to establish social dominance. In fact, the Sparrials were often so brazen that they thoroughly impressed their occupiers with their bravery, leading the Sparrials becoming one of the first member species of the thlIngan Empire.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by TGLS

5) After the Klingons conquered the Sparrial homeworld, they soon learned about how Sparrials steal things to establish social dominance. In fact, the Sparrials were often so brazen that they thoroughly impressed their occupiers with their bravery, leading the Sparrials becoming one of the first member species of the thlIngan Empire.

I vote 6 for just this reason. All that sneakiness is more of a Romulan thing than a Klingon, IMO.

[Pursuivant]

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

How many Caitian races are there?

Option 5.

Opinion, at least a dozen if not more.

Canonically, there are three named felinoid species: Caitans, Kzin, and Vedala. There are also three unnamed felinoid species, two shown as background characters in Rura Penthe and one represented by the triple-breasted dancer on Nimbus III in Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier.

According to people involved with the film, the twin females that Kirk bedded in Star Trek: Into Darkness were supposed to be Caitans.

So, six canon species, assuming that at the Rura Penthe prisoners weren't sorry-looking or ret-conned members of a named species.

Ignoring whatever kitty-oids the writers of Star Trek books, comics, etc. have dreamed up over the past 50 years:

Star Trek Online has the Ferasans, which stand in for the Kzinti due to copyright issues.

Per Starfleet Battles, Kzinti, Lyrans, and the extinct Carnivons are vaguely related species. The ISC also has the separate felinoid Korlivilar species.

Memory Beta mentions at least 11 additional species not mentioned above.

So, 17+ felinoid species if you want to go with the whole expanded ST universe.

Given that cat-people are a cinematic SF trope, there's no reason why they shouldn't be relatively common type of alien.

[Pursuivant]

Option 12.

Options 1, 3, or 7 are most likely, while any option which has them under the heel of a Big Bad conqueror species limits them too much. The exception is that you make them a bit like the Bajorans in DS9 - oppressed but sympathetic freedom fighters.

Unless Psi-Trek makes Romulans a lot nicer than they are in canon, Romulan paranoia and intolerance for non-Romulans would make things very hard for the Spirrials.

Likewise, the Klingons would have problems, at least initially, with Spirrial lack Klingon-style honor. Also, I just can't see the Spirrial way of doing things meshing well with the Klingon style.

The Kaa are also brutal towards other species, so the Spirrials would be a bad fit there, too.


Assuming that campaigns are focused on Starfleet or "USA territory" it would be most fun to have the Spirrials as an independent "alien of the week" species or as somewhat problematic members of the USA. As villains, they work best as allies of the Orions. In any case they might have developed a small interstellar empire prior to allying with a larger empire.

[Vikingv]

I second Pursuivant recommendation

[ericthered]

4.

They contrast well with klingons, but I can't see them being treated as terribly useful or respectable.

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by Pursuivant

Option 12.

There are only nine (9) options. Did you mean option 1 or 2, or somewhere in-between them?