Towards a Grittier d20 Trek!

[Diggus Rex]

Actually, Jephkay seemed happy with Raven Crowking's species documented in another thread. I am working from that which has already been done. I reduced the Sense Motive from +10 to +3 because I think these subtle changes make a Species with LA +0 as opposed to LA +2.

oh, and I don't agree with the desert argument. Betazoids are a social species that have apparently had a lot of encounters with other species. Having swum in an ocean with a lot of fish, they know which ones hide their stingers...

Did I mix my metaphors?

Not really, but let's get off sand fish et al.

I just checked out Raven's version. Here's my concern: If ya got'em with a bonused Sense Motive and a super deep perception of a beings' minds it's really powerful. Raven went with them just having a super-duper Sense motive: all of the limitations of the normal skill but they're just really good at it. You're giving them more abilities than the normal skill and a bonus to it. Either is good, together too much I think.

Really, when I think about, there are no good examples of average Betazoids in the whole franchise. Half-Breed, super sensitive, psychopath, comatose, and middle-aged nympho. Lt. Stadi from Voyager's premiere was our best hope, but died before act II

Working with what we have, Lwaxana is very good at picking out surface thoughts. She cuts you off before you're about to say something and can tell you want to see her naked at Deanna's wedding. Also, she can tell when an Antedan terrorist is about to blow up a conference with ultritium charges, but not if he's not thinking about it. She doesnt know that Pappa favored brother Robert over you, that's a guarded memory. Just because thoughts arent usally heard doesnt make them secret. I dont think the answer is in higher DC's, maybe just do what Raven did but lower the bonus and make it ranged.

On the mind chat, I think it's so common amongst Betazoids, one would need to take a Drawback not to have it. I'm thinking we are statting the low level telepath, with those in the show being exceptionally strong or handicapped (like Suder). Really it's a small advantage over a regular species language.

Dude, you dont have to go 'yoink' if I'm giving it to ya.

 

[Corsair]

I guess I'm just not entirely sure what a level in this means. I mean what level would you say an ensign fresh out of the academy is? What level is someone like Wesley Crusher when he first appears in TNG? What level represents a young Miles O'Brien (lowly transporter chief)?

I guess I'm looking for benchmarks.

 

[Corsair]

From Jephkay's earlier posts:

I'm going to come right out and say the captain should be at least a 10th level character, the First Mate should be 8 or 9th and everyone else well below them.

Considering the science officer was level 6, I suppose that would put the pilot at 7 or so. Not as high as the first mate or captain, but still an experienced flier.

Does d20 modern have anything akin to flaws mechanically?

 

[Jephkay]

The Captain will be tenth. In a Starfleet game, everyone will be lower than him/her/it. In a non-Starfleet game? Hmm... it is conceivable that there could be some grizzled old space hand with more experience.

The pilot should be 7th or 8th. Lower if he washed out before Lt Commander. I feel a chart coming on... This will be argued, I should hope. If Life Experience is a function of Level, then:

Rank Level
Ensign 1-2
Lt JG 3-4
Lt 5-6
LtCMDR 7-8
CMDR 9-10
CAPt 10-11
Adm+ 12+

But we could easily do this:
Rank Level
Ensign 1-3
Lt JG 4-6
Lt 6-9
LtCMDR 10-12
CMDR 13-14
CAPt 15-17
Adm+ 17+

Note that weeks and months and years sometimes go by between doing something other than charting gaseous nebula (or dust clouds). Also, you have to make your promotion rolls after every campaign to see if you get new rank, and captain isn't something everyone gets, you might stay a department head for 20 years like Will Riker.

 

[Diggus Rex]

Yeah, it seems Trek characters get 4-6 encounters per week (all on the day it shows in your broadcast area ) and many of those are low-XP yield RP encounters.

Helm was always a low rank position until Dax piloted the Defiant. After she died, it went right back to a lowly ensign, Nog. Tom Paris was a untrustworthy jailbird for a while and Travis on Enterprise barely got speaking lines let alone a promotion.

I'd focus more on who he is and why he left Starfleet than his former rank. None of the crew so far have a rank, just positions ... and what does Mara do? Seductive sales manager?

Corsair, you'll wanna start here.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Actually, Jephkay seemed happy with Raven Crowking's species documented in another thread. I am working from that which has already been done. I reduced the Sense Motive from +10 to +3 because I think these subtle changes make a Species with LA +0 as opposed to LA +2.

One of the things I was trying to keep in mind is that Troi is only half Betazoid. It is stated repeatedly in TNG that her empathic powers are less than those of an average Betazoid.


RC

 

[Diggus Rex]

One of the things I was trying to keep in mind is that Troi is only half Betazoid. It is stated repeatedly in TNG that her empathic powers are less than those of an average Betazoid.

Yeah, I do recall that.

Without assuming her mom was just being snippy, it seems the lack of power with Deanna manifests as more effort to read and inability to detach. The counselor takes on a distracted look (full round act?) and experiences the emotions as her own (crying, growling, grinning). Lwaxana just does it (free action) as easily as humans can hear a voice in a conversation. Just my take on it.

Still I think going into memories, like in Myth's version portrays, is the domain of mind melds. That the elder Troi is an experienced professional ambassador means to me her Sense Motive is already well trained; combined with her empathy, she cant be lied to and can form extremely keen hunches (maybe 20 points above the DC 20, knocking on Epic).

If Jephkay wants to just adopt all your write ups for our purposes I'd welcome it. Racial talent trees? ... brilliant. Less work for me to do for free.

 

[Raven Crowking]

Well, take into account too that most of the races document was written based on memory or fairly light research, coupled with a few minutes' thought. I didn't spend a whole lot of time writing any of them (except, perhaps, the Vulcans). There are bound to be better ways to mechanically represent at least some of those species.


RC

 

[Jephkay]

Well, take into account too that most of the races document was written based on memory or fairly light research, coupled with a few minutes' thought. I didn't spend a whole lot of time writing any of them (except, perhaps, the Vulcans). There are bound to be better ways to mechanically represent at least some of those species.


RC

No matter how they are written, unless Gene Roddenberry rises from the dead, there will always be "better" ways of writing this stuff. We just agree that a certain method is what we're doing and finalize a design.

I still say what we have so far is great. And I'll get my blended document to everyone as soon as I can.

 

[Jephkay]

I'm at work, so I have access to some of my other notes that didn't have yesterday.

Basic Hero Descriptions from OGL-Trek:
THE STRONG HERO
The Strong Hero in OGL-Trek is surprisingly useful. One might imagine in a universe where a hand held weapon can vaporize solid rock, you wouldn’t have a need for a guy who simply throws really hard punches. But that is precisely why you need him. Nobody wants to get shot with a phaser on full. Nobody uses them at high settings because you might cause someone else to aim at you with their weapon on Kill. The solution: fight hand to hand like a bunch of rowdy Klingons. In OGL-Trek, everybody you see at that seedy Rigelian starport has a knife in his boot. Klingons carry at least two horribly sharp implements at all times. I imagine some races still carry swords in everyday life. Capellans, maybe.
If you’re leaving the ship, or plan on getting into any trouble at all… make sure you’ve got that strong hero in the Away Team. You’ll thank me later.

THE FAST HERO
The first thing that comes to mind with Fast Heroes and Trek is the Pilot. She’s zipping between asteroids, navigating cramped service hallways of a vast alien arcology in a maintenance buggy or making a last minute getaway in a stolen Romulan fighter. But is that all there is? Add a holosuit, a sensormask and a nice, quiet Stunstick, and your Fast Hero becomes the ultimate infiltrator of a Starbase to bust out your shipmates, who sit restively in their cells, awaiting a taste of Federation justice. Who needs the Fast Hero? Anybody who relies on speed, stealth or accuracy. She’s the pilot, the sniper and the thief. She’s indispensable.

THE TOUGH HERO
You might think Kirk was the ultimate Charismatic Hero, you might think he was the Strong Hero. You’d be wrong. Kirk was tough. He was unstoppable. He didn’t fear a phaser, he didn’t fear a gun, he didn’t fear Klingon fists, blades or anything that merely did this “damage” folks talked about. The very climate of entire planets didn’t bow him.
Your tough hero might not be up to all the challenges James Kirk faced in his life, but a few levels of Tough will make your crewman a brick wall through which the opposition has to drill to get at your crewmates. They’ll thank you for it.
Tough Heroes make good security, but a few levels of Tough help anyone in a universe where only a Fortitude save stands between you and disintegration.

THE SMART HERO
With all this technology around, you need someone who understands it. That someone is the smart hero. He’s your engineer, he’s your starship designer, he’s the one who going to stop the Giant Alien Starslime from eating the warp drive. In fact, everyone should take a level of smart if they want to actually work with transporters, medical tech, warp drives or … well… anything!

THE DEDICATED HERO
The most obvious choice for Dedicated Hero would be the Medical field. Consider the following snippet of thought. What if all those miracles Scotty performed were applications of Healing Touch? That’s right… Scotty was a Warp Drive Doctor. In OGL-Trek, the Healing Touch talent tree can be applied to either Treat Injury or Repair, but not both. Apply the Talent's Hit Point Bonus to your Repair skill and go to town! Watch Scotty work for a few seconds, he’s a starship surgeon, not just some greasemonkey. In fact, look at that the whole Dedicated Hero class... that's what you want in an engineer. Smart Engineers know their technical manuals, Dedicated Engineers live them.

THE CHARISMATIC HERO
If a ship wants to grind a profit out of the universe, it had better drag a Charismatic Hero along. No other character can play the purse strings of the galactic economy like Charismatic, and their scions, the Swindlers. They are the Ambassadors, the Counselors and the World Leaders of the Trek Universe. Since planets are always (oddly) ruled by just one guy in Trek, swaying his opinion is critical in solving planetary plotlines.