Post Star Trek VI Klingon Empire

Mactavish's threads about a post-Trek VI game have gotten me thinking about what the Klingon Empire would be like. Not sure if I'll use it myself, but maybe these random thoughts are of use to someone else... ;)

First off, I suspect the Empire will begin gravitating to that honor-obsessed society we see in the Next Generation era. That makes sense - with the loss of pride following their "loss" of the Cold War, they need some sort of identity. Going back to the precepts of Kahless and away from a military dictatorship seems the way to go. I suspect that this going back to the old ways also explains why there is a female chancellor in Star Trek VI but a rule prohibiting such by TNG.

However, the Empire itself will likely be very unstable, especially in the first few decades after Star Trek VI. There are no doubt Klingons unhappy with the change in alliances and government. And tons of weapons out there, waiting to be sold or stolen. The opportunity for rogue houses to form their own mini-empires is definitely there, especially on the fringes of the Empire. With the Klingon economy in tatters after the loss of Praxis, the Empire would not be able reign in all of these quasi-independent warlords. FASA's Star Trek supplement "The Triangle" includes a government named the Imperial Klingon States which was formed after a failed coup. There could be dozens of these mini-Klingon Empires in the aftermath of Star Trek VI.

However, as big as this internal threat is, external threats are likely to be just as bad. The Romulans aren't going to just sit there. I could definitely see the Romulans occupying large portions of the Empire bordering on Romulan Space. As part of this space might also be adjacent to the Federation, it gives Romulans an excellent opportunity to make incursions on Federation Space without any Neutral Zone. And this could be a frontier - regions where the three main powers meet need not be 2-dimensional space - there is a Z-axis to the galaxy after all! ;) I imagine that at a zero Z-axis the 3-way border is quite settled, but go "up" a few hundred light years and you have a sparsely explored frontier, perfect for exploration, with room for Romulans, Renegade Klingons, and Federation colonies. And so far from the center of things that there won't be a lot of Federation vessels there.

But it's not just the Romulans who would threaten the Empire, though they would likely be the biggest single threat. You've also got all these little planets the Klingons have occupied over the decades and centuries. With their economy in tatters, they're going to have a hard time holding onto them. They may manage to hold onto some, but definitely possibility for small wars as a result (think France trying to hold onto Viet Nam). And there are other worlds they may make less than a clean break from - the world is still adjusting to the European withdrawl from the Middle East and South Asia following World War II.

While this is a good time for a Starfleet game, I can already see this would make a cool setting for pretty much any group - independents, Klingons, Romulans - it'd work well with any of them.

If I were to gaze into my crystal ball, I would predict that by 2311, the time of the Tomed Incident, the Empire would likely have regained most of its territories from the Romulans. I also suspect that sooner or later, most of the Warlords would be put down, though I'd guess that would come after driving the Romulans out - I would imagine Klingons would rather see renegade Klingons in charge than Romulans. However, what we see in TNG is a unified, albeit relatively fragile, Klingon Empire. I would suggest that the reunification with the Klingon Warlords is what makes the Empire so fragile. Indeed, it may have also caused a more agressive stance with the Federation, given we know a war was averted between the Klingon Empire and the Federation only by the heroic sacrifice of the Enterprise-C.

For those that aren't aware of it, the Klingon History chapter from LUG's unpublished Klingon book is available at Steve Kenson's Star Trek: The Lost Episodes site. With some changes that would need to be made in light of Enterprise, it's been surprisingly helpful to me in planning my own post-ST6 game. (There's a lot on the site that's pretty cool, so I just sent you to the basic site rather than the specific chapter. Enjoy.)