The Romulan Crisis

I've been working on this new direction for my campaign.Even after I got the Romulan boxed set, the Romulans had a tendency to be a faceless enemy and later a somewhat uneasy ally during the Dominion War I want to bring the Romulans into larger prominence.

The Romulan Crisis is a multi-part story arc and well I'm going to need some help to iron out all the difficulties.

The basic storyline begins with Starfleet Intelligence noticing a drawdown of Romulan warbirds from their patrol zones along the Neutral Zone. Fearing an attack, Starfleet masses a small fleet of starships on the Neutral Zone.

Suddenly, a warbird crosses the Neutral Zone filled with refugees and it is learned that the Borg have attacked the Empire and is on course for Romulus and Remus. Attempts to stop the Borg have failed and the Romulan Senate has refused any offer of Federation assistance.

The first adventure is basically a rescue mission where the PCs have to penetrate the Romulan Neutral Zone and extract Spock from Romulus before the Borg arrives.

As the Borg slowly advance and assimilate Romulus and Remus, the Romulans fall back and refugees begin to arrive in Federation space and factional infighting breaks out between various political factions amongst the refugees. Some advocate attacking the Federation to conquer a new homeland for the Romulan people while others plot to strike back at the Borg to regain their homeland.

Major NPCs would include the newly promoted Admiral Tomalak and Major Sela.

While I know that ordinarily the Enterprise would just intervene at Picard's own initiative and stop the Borg, I want to avoid any deus ex machina plot resolutions.

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Let's see.

How many cubes?

One. Well actually its 18 cubes merged into one big one. I guess that answers your question about what kind of Borg I'm using. Remember the Borg are a plot element which is going to be bascially unstoppable. The Romulans are going to loose both their capital worlds and much of their Empire. Hence the refugees in Federation space.

Of course there will be a resolution to the Borg invasion - but that's at least six months away. Suffice to say it may actually involve the use of...wait, I'm keeping that card close hold for now. More at another time.

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Originally posted by Dan Gurden:
HEY! I made the distinction between Real Borg and Pussy Borg several months ago, as Aslan/Zymmer will atest to...And I never once worked for WESAYSO Inc. Time to pay up your royalties!!! http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/tongue.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif

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*scratches beard and looks out over the browning fields of wheat*

Ayup...Is true I tells ya...

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Captain Zymmer
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[This message has been edited by Captain Zymmer (edited 09-22-2001).]

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Originally posted by ghosty:

The basic storyline begins with Starfleet Intelligence noticing a drawdown of Romulan warbirds from their patrol zones along the Neutral Zone. Fearing an attack, Starfleet masses a small fleet of starships on the Neutral Zone...

...The first adventure is basically a rescue mission where the PCs have to penetrate the Romulan Neutral Zone and extract Spock from Romulus before the Borg arrives....

...While I know that ordinarily the Enterprise would just intervene at Picard's own initiative and stop the Borg, I want to avoid any deus ex machina plot resolutions.

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Just a thought here...another idea for a first episode.

Take your initial premise, a withdrawl of Romulan warships from regular patrol zones.

At the same time, several high-profile Starfleet officers disappear, all within a couple of days of each other. The common thread is that all the officers are current or former crew of the Enterprise (and/or Voyager, if your game is set post-Endgame).

The PCs are assigned to investigate this, and eventually they learn that the Tal Shiar is responsible. The Romulans aren't going to ASK the Federation for help, but they know that the Enterprise (again, and Voyager, depending on timeframe) is the only ship to have beaten the Borg, so they've taken the officers captive to learn everything they can about how exactly the Borg were beaten...and of course any other secret Starfleet information the officers might possess.

So when the PCs finally get to Romulus, they have to rescue several important NPCs from the Tal Shiar, and (depending how cruel you want to be to your players) destroy all records of any information they might have given up under interrogation. Oh, and extract Ambassador Spock as well, as long as they're there.

Fun, fun, fun!

HEY!

I made the distinction between Real Borg and Pussy Borg several months ago, as Aslan/Zymmer will atest to...

And I never once worked for WESAYSO Inc.

Time to pay up your royalties!!!

http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/wink.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/tongue.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif

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DanG.

"Hi, I'm Commander Troy McClure, you might remember me from other academy training holo-simulations as, Abandon Ship, the quickest way out, and I sense danger, 101 things you dont need a Betazoid to know..."

http://www.theventure.freeserve.co.uk

[This message has been edited by Dan Gurden (edited 09-22-2001).]

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Originally posted by starkllr:
Just a thought here...another idea for a first episode.

Take your initial premise, a withdrawl of Romulan warships from regular patrol zones.

At the same time, several high-profile Starfleet officers disappear, all within a couple of days of each other. The common thread is that all the officers are current or former crew of the Enterprise (and/or Voyager, if your game is set post-Endgame).

The PCs are assigned to investigate this, and eventually they learn that the Tal Shiar is responsible. The Romulans aren't going to ASK the Federation for help, but they know that the Enterprise (again, and Voyager, depending on timeframe) is the only ship to have beaten the Borg, so they've taken the officers captive to learn everything they can about how exactly the Borg were beaten...and of course any other secret Starfleet information the officers might possess.

So when the PCs finally get to Romulus, they have to rescue several important NPCs from the Tal Shiar, and (depending how cruel you want to be to your players) destroy all records of any information they might have given up under interrogation. Oh, and extract Ambassador Spock as well, as long as they're there.

Fun, fun, fun!

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Hmm...not bad.

Kidnapping the crew of the Enterprise E. Too many ramifications for the Romulans. I mean kidnapping personalities like Picard and Data sounds like a good way to spark a war with the Federation. Never fight a war on two fronts. Maybe three. Remember if you mess with the Enterprise, you mess with Worf too. Given his influence who knows what he can send to kick butt...several thousand Klingon warriors for a start.

One candidate may be Commander Shelby, Starfleet's recognised expert on the Borg. Only problem is that I've made the material in Peter David's New Frontiers series cannon which means the wild and wooly crew of the USS Excalibur may get involved.

Then again, maybe we could do it this way meaning that the PCs would have to head off these crises before undertaking their mission to Romulus. Hmmm...I have a cunning plan.

[This message has been edited by ghosty (edited 09-23-2001).]

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Originally posted by StyroFoam Man:
Time-travling Voyager Captains Equiped With Transphasic Torpedeos and Bat-Shields? http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif http://www.trekrpg.net/Board/ubb/biggrin.gif

Transphasic Torpedeos And Bat-Shields Are Copyright Pure Evil Weapons Technology LLC Wich is A Divison Of WESAYSO, INC.

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Hey...can I get a WESAYSO, INC catalog...or just a Pure Evil one...MUST KILL PC...MUST KILL PC...

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Send in the USS Audacity!
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CO,USS Audacity,NCC-85901

Just came up with a new complication to the plot.

I was thinking the Borg want a spokesman for their invasion of the Romulan Empire (sort of like Locutus) they pick one of the Empire's most talented although maverick commanders, no not Tomalak - he's got another role in the unfolding drama - Major Sela. She was exiled into the outback after the failure of the "Reunion" operation and is picked up by the Borg to act as their spokesborg and war leader as they ravage the Romulan Empire.

Ghosty,

Speaking of being exiled to the Outback, I've posted a description of a Federation Outback-sector starbase on another thread. Sounds like your Outback is the same as the one I had in mind... a quiet empty sector on the Romulan frontier.

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Originally posted by Diamond:
Ghosty,

Speaking of being exiled to the Outback, I've posted a description of a Federation Outback-sector starbase on another thread. Sounds like your Outback is the same as the one I had in mind... a quiet empty sector on the Romulan frontier.

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Actually I'm using the term loosely to describe the "ass-end" of the Romulan Empire.

But what is to stop the BORG from rolling right into the Klingons and the Feddies next? I mean if they can gain a foothold like half the Romulan Empire, they will be unstopable IMHO.

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Captain Zymmer
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Visit Star Trek:Lexington at;
http://www.usslexington.net
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Lets see now:

I'd agree that the Borg would become a serious threat to the Alpha Quadrant if they conquer a large chunk of Romulan space. But they're already a threat now. In my view, swallowing the chunk of the Empire they have bitten off won't be easy even with Borg technology - there are still plenty of worlds and Warbirds to slow them down until the season finale (well it may end as a cliffhanger if I can't figure out the ending by then :-)).

Borg? Who needs the Gambler? Send in me and the crew of the USS Tempest and we'll kick their cybernetic asses back to the Delta Quad, with no transphasic torpedoes or even the Inverse Wibble Field(TM)! Just point me to a nice nebula full of toh-maire gas or a small black hole and we'll be ready!

BTW, would your campaign include the Taurhai? I'm sure they'd rather side with the Romulans for a change than let the Borg steamroller that part of space. Having a Tech Level Seven culture on your side might help out a tad (and the Taurhai having working heavy graviton beams...)

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"Spatial anomalies, energy beings, telepathic echoes. You know, sometimes I really miss the Dominion War. At least then all we had to worry about was where the next polaron beam was coming from...": Capt.Hunter, USS Tempest

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The Taurhai Unity is a good group to include in such a Series. With all of their negative history with the Romulans, they are certainly more apt to side with them rather than allowing the Collective to make a mess of their space.

As Captain Hunter has stated, they are a Technology Level 7 culture - likely a century or two ahead of the Romulans, UFP, and so forth - capable of semi-transwarp travel (with their gravity drives) and powerful weapons and other stuff (undoubtedly including medical techniques to hinder and/or reverse assimilation).

I personally love the Taurhai and would include them to some degree in just about any Romulan campaign.

mactavish out.

[This message has been edited by mactavish (edited 09-28-2001).]

They're also a great explanation for why Romulan ship tech got so big and nasty between TOS and TNG - wouldn't you develop ships that powerful if you had an enemy breathing down your necks which could take on DS9 with just one or two starships?!

As for the Inverse Wibble Field - no stats, it's a plot device type thing. Much like the patented Voyager Reset Button (located on Janeway's chair arm) or the reversed polarity of the neutron flow (for Doctor Who fans).



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"Spatial anomalies, energy beings, telepathic echoes. You know, sometimes I really miss the Dominion War. At least then all we had to worry about was where the next polaron beam was coming from...": Capt.Hunter, USS Tempest

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Originally posted by ghosty:
Let's see.

How many cubes?

One. Well actually its 18 cubes merged into one big one.

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Why 18 cubes? I would understand if you wanted to make a big cube out of 8 (2³) or 27 (3³), but 18 seems to be a strange number if the collective should decide to meld some cubes togehter.




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God, I liked him better before he died.

I always thought it would be cool if the Scout cubes merged together in a base 3 cube structure to make your 'standard cube'.

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Thats Cpt SIR SIG to you!

More then meets the eye,
His a MapMaker in disguise.

Ergi:

Hey you're right, it should be 27. My maths isn't what it use to be.

The Tauhari Unity

Now why didn't I think of that. Lets see, maybe I can use the Unity to test the diplomatic skills of my PCs. The Tauhari can obviously help and they may be threatened by the Borg but then they hate the Romulans - time for a diplomatic mission to the Unity.

The Romulans

I was thinking that another reason why the Borg invasion is slowed is because the Romulans have adapted some of the Dominion weapons it captured during the Dominion War onto their Warbirds, could be fun to have a Deridex armed with Polaron beams.

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Originally posted by ghosty

I was thinking that another reason why the Borg invasion is slowed is because the Romulans have adapted some of the Dominion weapons it captured during the Dominion War onto their Warbirds, could be fun to have a Deridex armed with Polaron beams.

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Hey, adapting technology can work in another direction in your game - just 5 words: Borg Cubes with Cloaking Devices.


And for getting rid of this invasion force, why not activate a Genesis Device in that big cube and watch them go, plus you get a new planet to relocate some of those Romulan refugees.
("Visit planet Borg, the best place for a vacation in the quadrant.") :D


Another thought: Since this series is set post-Dominion War, what's the state of Starfleet? Is the fleet allready re-build, are they still suffering major shortages from the war or something in between?
And what turn has Federation policy taken in this post-war galaxy. Is it all "back to exploration" or "more power to the military"? This could be a big influence on NPC attitudes toward those Roumlan refugees.

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Originally posted by Ergi

Why 18 cubes? I would understand if you wanted to make a big cube out of 8 (2³) or 27 (3³), but 18 seems to be a strange number if the collective should decide to meld some cubes togehter.

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There could be some sort of command ship in the middle of the cube with the other ships "layered" around it. That would explain the strange number and give you something special for a nice showdown.
Or those 18 ships could be any odd mix of scout cubes, tactical cubes and rubik cubes, each specialized for a certain task and sometimes combined to profit from synergy effects when going up against difficult targets.

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Originally posted by Lancer


Hey, adapting technology can work in another direction in your game - just 5 words: Borg Cubes with Cloaking Devices.

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And they call me evil. In truth I doubt they would adpot the cloaking device, you're the biggest, meanest SOB in the quadrant, who needs some wussy cloaking device. Although I thing they'd quickly adapt to the cloaking device, inverse polaron pulses (or some such technobable).

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And for getting rid of this invasion force, why not activate a Genesis Device in that big cube and watch them go, plus you get a new planet to relocate some of those Romulan refugees.
("Visit planet Borg, the best place for a vacation in the quadrant.") :D

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Where would the Romulans pick up a Genesis device. Last I recall the Federation have classified it somewhere above TOP SECRET. But then again the Tal'Shiar is good...hmm...

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Another thought: Since this series is set post-Dominion War, what's the state of Starfleet? Is the fleet allready re-build, are they still suffering major shortages from the war or something in between?
And what turn has Federation policy taken in this post-war galaxy. Is it all "back to exploration" or "more power to the military"? This could be a big influence on NPC attitudes toward those Roumlan refugees.

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Starfleet is still in the process of rebuilding with many capital ships tied up in a repair slip somewhere undergoing much needed repairs and routine maintenance that was skipped due to the war. Starfleet is basically in a mess as they try to recover. Some ships are still holding the line, new constructions and some pushing the envelope of their servicability. But then the Klingons and Romulans are in no better shape.

Federation policy is currently divided. Some members (especially those who bore the brunt of the war) are calling for a more militarily powerful and more vigilant Starfleet while others are begining to talk about the "Peace Dividend" - lets downsize Starfleet now that the threat is passed.:)

In one of my truly insane moments of inspiration, I just figured out how to use Spock as more than just a throwaway NPC to be rescued.

During the Spock Rescue mission, the PCs get jumped by a couple of dozen Borg drones and a scout ship from the attacking Borg force. Their target is Spock who they want to make into their new spokesman, ala Locutus.

Spock is of course an even better choice that Picard. He's a respected ex-Starfleet officer who probably served under Starfleet's most capable tactician, he is the Federation's leading ambassador and probably knows more secrets than any other single Federation officer.

If the Borg assimilate Spock it will go a low way towards defeating a war weary Federation. Spock knows all the secrets and he probably knows Starfleet, its tactics and strategies and he knows how the Federation will react to the crisis and take appropriate precautions.