Jephkay
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Towards a Grittier Trek
By Jeffery Keown
For many, the vision of the future offered by Star Trek is too perfect. With few exceptions, the characters and technology were unrealistic. I find myself in that camp these days, and this essay will attempt to show how such a grittier Firefly-esque Trek might make a great d20 Trek game setting.
Lethality
A large number of Trek RPGs haven’t been so lethal. Certainly, no one ever died on the show until they wanted out of their contract (I’m looking to you, Terri!) or needed to die for dramatic purposes.
This planet is very dangerous, look how many unnamed one-shot security guards died down there! Sick bay’s stacked up with ‘em like cord-wood!
d20 Future, especially at low levels, is very deadly. I’m not suggesting you cap it at level 10, but maybe, just maybe, Klingon raiders don’t use stun setting? Massive Damage saves suck. Use them.
That Damn Deflector Dish!
Make the Players figure stuff out! Emitting particles from the Deflector Dish every week is a writer’s trick to end an episode without thinking. The only times this trick was appreciated by me was against the Pakleds and when Picard was Borged. Notice both times, they were tied to personal events, and not letting the particles do the talking.
Non-Starfleet Personnel
Ever notice how only Star Fleet folks are perfect? Everyone else lies, cheats and acts for personal gain. In other words, like a typical party in an RPG. In my sample setting, Dark Trek, the PCs are almost Traveller-style mercenaries. Their ship is crewed by a small band of individuals, with Star Fleet seen as an enemy as often as not. It doesn’t get grittier than the look on the captain’s face when the Sovereign drops out of warp three miles away and “suggests” a health inspection.
Imagery
Image Star Trek tropes in Firefly, B5 or Farscape. Don’t change the background, just get a new costume designer and writer. Yeah, the Romulans are still sneaky, Klingons hate everyone and the Federation wants to save the galaxy from itself. But you’re wearing a bomber jacket, and the Vulcan is a demolitions expert.
More on this later... I'm gonna come up with more examples.
By Jeffery Keown
For many, the vision of the future offered by Star Trek is too perfect. With few exceptions, the characters and technology were unrealistic. I find myself in that camp these days, and this essay will attempt to show how such a grittier Firefly-esque Trek might make a great d20 Trek game setting.
Lethality
A large number of Trek RPGs haven’t been so lethal. Certainly, no one ever died on the show until they wanted out of their contract (I’m looking to you, Terri!) or needed to die for dramatic purposes.
This planet is very dangerous, look how many unnamed one-shot security guards died down there! Sick bay’s stacked up with ‘em like cord-wood!
d20 Future, especially at low levels, is very deadly. I’m not suggesting you cap it at level 10, but maybe, just maybe, Klingon raiders don’t use stun setting? Massive Damage saves suck. Use them.
That Damn Deflector Dish!
Make the Players figure stuff out! Emitting particles from the Deflector Dish every week is a writer’s trick to end an episode without thinking. The only times this trick was appreciated by me was against the Pakleds and when Picard was Borged. Notice both times, they were tied to personal events, and not letting the particles do the talking.
Non-Starfleet Personnel
Ever notice how only Star Fleet folks are perfect? Everyone else lies, cheats and acts for personal gain. In other words, like a typical party in an RPG. In my sample setting, Dark Trek, the PCs are almost Traveller-style mercenaries. Their ship is crewed by a small band of individuals, with Star Fleet seen as an enemy as often as not. It doesn’t get grittier than the look on the captain’s face when the Sovereign drops out of warp three miles away and “suggests” a health inspection.
Imagery
Image Star Trek tropes in Firefly, B5 or Farscape. Don’t change the background, just get a new costume designer and writer. Yeah, the Romulans are still sneaky, Klingons hate everyone and the Federation wants to save the galaxy from itself. But you’re wearing a bomber jacket, and the Vulcan is a demolitions expert.
More on this later... I'm gonna come up with more examples.
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