The Kzinti

[BouncyCaitian]

Typical Kzinti that most people think of usually loom over even what would normally be considered a larger species by human standards, some 2.5 to 3.3 meters, weighing in at some 200+ kilos, with some individuals even larger.

The description of a Kzinti by a human colonist (shortly before he was killed) of 'an humanoid, jacklegged cross between a bengal tiger and a gorilla' is a fairly accurate generalization of a Kzinti's general appearence (given that thier claws, but there are some notable differences which make them stand out.

The general ear structure, while resembling the typical feiline ear, is more webbed and actually tends to resemble a fur covered bat's wing. There has been some speculation that this may have been an evolutionary adaptation to increase protection of the ears from damage in combat, but the structure is unique enough to draw attention.

The two meter long tail of the kzinti is also quite bald. Given the rather dubious evolutionary benefits of such a lack of hair, it has been wondered if a genetically damaged sport in Kzinti pre-history gained dominance in the Kzinti's rather Darwinist hierarchy. But not in a Kzinti's presence.

The fur patterns of Kzin tned to follow the humanoid tiger pattern, but thier have been occasional sports resembling jaguars or black furred panthers, the latter of which are given to the preisthood of the Kzinti for training into thier Fanged God preisthood.

The general skull and facial structure tends to resemble general felinoid construction, with pronounced muzzle and teeth structure capable to tearing large chucks of flesh from a target. Eyes are set as to provide a wide range of vision, anda are low light sensitive and ther average Kzinti is well capable of tracking by sense of smell alone.

More to come....

[Space_Cadet]

Did TAS ever show their starship?

[LtCdr Kagan]

Originally posted by Space_Cadet
Did TAS ever show their starship?

In fact it did! Check the screen caps here:

http://www.startrekanimated.com/tas_ep_slaver.html

It is the pink and purple colored saucer in the lower right of the caps. The wallpapers have a bow view.

The story goes that the animator in charge of coloring the Kzinti ship was color blind...go figure...so he colored the Kzinti's ship and the uniforms pink and purple.

[redwood973]

. . the Kzinti's ship and the uniforms [are] pink and purple.

--LTCDR Kagan

No wonder the Kzinti were so pissed all the time.

[LtCdr Kagan]

Originally posted by redwood973
No wonder the Kzinti were so pissed all the time.

According to Spock in that episode, the Kzinti have lost every war that they have fought with humans, and treaties have limited their acquisition of certain materials.

Since they fight like sissies...I guess we'll only sell them pink and purple dye...to remind them...nice puddy-tat.

[PeytonWestlake]

Originally posted by LtCdr Kagan
Since they fight like sissies...I guess we'll only sell them pink and purple dye...to remind them...nice puddy-tat.

Nahh, not as much they fight like sissies, as they can't grasp tactics beyond "scream and leap".

[BouncyCaitian]

If they ever figure out 'feint and pounce' the galaxy is in serious trouble...

[skree]

PRODUCTION DATA
origin: Kzinti Patriarchy
class and type: Kzinti police corvette
year commissioned: 2262

HULL DATA
structure: 10
size/decks: 2/2
L/B/H: 30/60/20

TACTICAL DATA
disruptors: Type II(x2/A)
penetration: 2/2/2/0/0
deflector shields: Class 1(A)
protection/threshold: 12/1

PROPULSION DATA
impulse system: Type I (0.25c)(C)
warp system: Type III (WARP 3/4/6)(B)

OPERATIONAL DATA
atmosphere capable: yes
cargo units: 20
life support: Class 2(C)
operations system: Class 2(C)
sensor system: Class 1 (+1/B)
separation system: none
shuttle bay: no
shuttlecraft: no
tractor beams: 1fv
transporters: none

MISCELLANEOUS DATA
maneuver modifiers: 0c, +1h, 0t
traits: none

[skree]

PRODUCTION DATA
origin: Kzinti Patriarchy
class and type: Kzinti Assault Cruiser
year launched: unknown;first reported 2268

HULL DATA
structure: 35
size/decks: 7/32
L/B/H: 615/335/86
complement: 1500

TACTICAL DATA
disruptor banks: Type VII (x4/D)
penetration: 5/5/4/0/0
disruptor banks: Type III (x5/D)
penetration: 4/4/4/0/0
missile launchers: FST MK5 (x4/D)
penetration: 3/3/3/3/0/0
deflector shield: Class 2a (B)
protection/threshold: 13/3

PROPULSION DATA
impulse system: Type IV (0.5c)(D)
warp system: Type V (WARP 5/6/7ocu)(C)

OPERATIONAL DATA
atmosphere capable: no
cargo units: 100
life support: Class 3(D)
operation system: Class 2(C)
sensor system: Class 3 (+3/D)
shuttle bays: 2 amid-ship
shuttle craft: 14 size worth
tractorbeams: 2 av
transporters: 4 standard, 4 emergency, 4 cargo

MISCELLANEOUS DATA
maneuver modifiers: +2c, +0h, +3t
traits: none








I added little of ICON and a little of SFB when I put this together.

[LtCdr Kagan]

How would you use recurring Kzinti in an ongoing campaign?

From what I've read, an encounter with da puddy-tats ends in death...yours or theirs!

So, how could you have the Gul Dukat of kitty litter coming back again and again to get his/her fur rubbed the wrong way continuously?

And...how could kitty king win an episode without you becoming his latest flavor of Purina?

[BouncyCaitian]

the one thing a Kzinti will not abide is being defeated by Omnivores or *gasp* Herbivores. Now while he will not be able to take too many defeats before being eaten, challenged, or demoted for being incompetent, he will come back for vengance against those who showed him up.

Best way to bring them in for the various Eras

Post NX-Era to TOS Era: Well you have the Six Man-Kzin (later Federation-Kzin) wars for plenty of story ideas. Most Kzin in this particular era are of the 'scream and leap' variety, using head on, near kamikaze tactics to advance themselves and the Patriarchy. Perhaps introduce a named Kzin in charge of the forces in charge of a planetary system grab (say Chuft-Admiral).

TOS to TNG: The Kzinti are still smarting from their defeat at the hands by the 'monkeys" and 'eaters of tubes and roots' and they are looking everywhere for an edge to make them a contender in the galaxy again. There may have beena bit of a shake up in the Patriarchy as the relatively brainless Kzin stock died in droves against the Federation and quiet probably the Klingons in various border skirmishes, leaving the somewhat more thoughtful
Kzin behind to influence Kzin society if somewhat (a potentially benefical or disasterous situation, depending on the line of Kzin thought from the newer Kzinti).

TNG to DS9: The arrival of the Dominion enrages the Patriarchy to no end as tales of the Founders bear more than a passing resemblance to the Tnuctipun (Slaver) Empire of old, and they don't want any competition from the Jem'Hadar, who they see as the only 'real challange' to the race of Heroes. And so, the 'swallow thier pride' (bidding time actually) and side with the Alpha Quadrant Alliance against the Dominion. Weither or not this becomes permanent is a matter for the GM to decide.

These are some rough outlines for the Kzinti. I'll be adding more as I pick over the Niven and trek collection I have.

for more info, check this link.
http://www.chronology.org/niven/

[BouncyCaitian]

HOMEWORLD

The Kzinti homeworld Ka’ashi lies in the Celene sector in the system of Gamma Lyrae, one fifty five degrees northwest of the galactic plane, in an older type G2 star system. There are three other planets and five Class-J gas giants within the system, as well as four asteroid belts. Of the four planets, two are Class-M and one near Class-M, all of which have been conquered by the Kzinti. The Kzin system is an abundant source of precious strategic materials such as pergeium, deuterium, and dilithium. The relative proximity to Federation and Klingon space makes the Kzinti more than a small concern to both respective civilizations.

Ka’ashi is a large-heavy gravity 1.5 worth roughly 2 times the size of Earth. It has 6 primary continents with a large amount to archipelagos and islands dispersed throughout it’s oceans which are still quiet tectonically active. The planet is still in what could be termed a pre-cambrian style period and is lush and filled with many sorts of highly aggressive natural predators.


HISTORY AND CULTURE
Pre-history:
The history of the Kzinti species is some matter of conjecture for Kzin and other species scholars for several reasons.

The first being that the Kzinti have never been particularly concerned with the keeping of history until the relatively recent innovation of the Patriarchy by Chuu-Riit, the first Kzin Patriarch some several thousand terran years ago, 2) The Kzinti aren’t exactly forthcoming about their history (tending to kill and eat non-Kzinti historians in short order), and 3) a long history of exaggeration and bluster in the Kzinti history that have been spirited away by renegade Kzintosh to various historians makes what has been gathered suspect at best.

What has been found to be true is as follows:
1) The Kzinti are one of the eldest races in the Alpha quadrant. In spite of this, they are one of the most mentally backward and prone to violence, in part due to resentment of the younger races continually defeating them on the battlefield.

2) The Kzinti actually derive from a somewhat weaker genetic stock originally, but at some point in the past, they genetically re-engineered themselves into “The Race of Heros” into what they considered the optimal form for their males. The females were genetically re-engineered to be little more than dumb animals and breeding machines, much to the disgust of the rest of the galaxy. There is also the occasional odd genetic sport that shows up every now an again in the bloodlines, providing the Kzin with a most useful, but despised asset. Telepaths.

Kzin telepaths are nearly universally despised in the Patriarchy because they embody many traits that make them more ‘monkey-like’. They are empathic (which they cannot shut off), thus can empathize with an enemy. They are physically weak (about human standard). They snivel. They whine. They are relatively weak willed. But conversely, they can read the minds of prey and, with proper training, can form psychic attacks that can give even the strongest Kzin pause. The Riit Patriarchy has stated they will be treated by other Kzin as potential military assets. Which tends to drive regular Kzin to distraction. In short, the Telepaths are tolerated as low scum within Kzin society. And they know there is little they can be done about it.

3) The Kzinti were once slaves of the Thrintun Empire, better known to the galaxy at large as the Slaver Empire. As to how the Kzinti survived the excpetionalyl long period of time between the Slaver Revolts, the extinguishing on all sentient life in the Galaxy, but for the Kzinti. The Kzin haven’t chosen to comment on the subject, but any mention of Slaver artifacts will get their attention faster than anything else.

[BouncyCaitian]

The Man-Kzin Wars (pre-TOS Era)

Earth’s first run in with the Kzinti was during the first period of expansion by Earth after the Earth-Romulan wars of the latter part of the 22nd century. Earth had established a colony known as Weyland near the Crab Nebula. Contact with the Weyland colony was lost in 2178 and the USS Challenger, an NCC-Class (formerly NX-Class, NCC-03) was sent to investigate.

The ship arrived to find that the colony was being attacked by an unknown alien species via ground assault. Using the two Proteus-class carrier shuttles and transporters, the ships detachment of MACO’s (the 3/7 “Hansen’s Harradins”) and security forces managed to surprise the large and hideously savage Kzinti. Not baring Kzin bravery and stamina, the well experienced MACO’s made short work of the Kzinti ground forces, while the Challenger destroyed three Kzin space craft with it’s armament of 4th generation thermonuclear torpedoes, while sending off a warning to Starfleet and allied commands of a new potential threat.

The Kzinti were aware that their forward invasion force had been destroyed and gathered a large assault squadron to press the attack. They were met by a squadron composed of three Andorian Chaka-class cruisers, two Vulcan T’vet-Class battlecruisers, and two Starfleet Dadealus-class starships.

Which promptly made short work of the majority of the technologically inferior Kzinti warships. The survivors were interrogated and the combined fleet headed for the nearest Kzinti colony, M’rrst. As the combined fleet showed up over the planet, making short work of the local defense network. The task force commander, Commodore Reed, imposed a peace settlement in which a border between the Federation and the Kzinti would be respected. When the Kzinti protested, he promptly had the local space docks atomized. The Kzinti got the point, and agreed to abide by the treaty, allowing for a embassy to be established on M’rrst.

The peace would not last long as bitterness at being defeated by “monkeys and grazers” would stick in the Kzinti’s collective craw and the hatred would fester for many years. The Kzin Patriarch, Rawlitt-Ritt, ordered his Kzinti to quietly comply with the treaty while gathering intelligence and advanced technology through theft or trade. Through contacts with the unscrupulous Orions and other forces hostile to the Federation, the Kzinti acquired first generation shield generators and second generation gauss driven laser cannon.

The Kzinti embarked on large scale refit of their own navy and began constructing newer cruisers to take advantage of the new technologies at their disposal.
In 2204, working on what they considered to be sufficent intelligence (many SI agents and Starfleet Admirals later commented that the Kzin’s battle plans were ‘spotty’ at best), the Kzinti executed well-planned strikes against Federation listening posts and civilian shipping.

There was more than one howl of dismay as the federation showed up in newer generation Starfleet battle cruisers sporting third generation phase cannon and second generation photonic torpedoes. The Kzinti fought well, but were technologically outclassed by the Federation’s Starfleet, who’s ECM and ECCM capacity rendered Kzinti sensors useless and their ships veritable target practice for the Federation crews.

Another generation of Heroes had died with nothing to show for it, except strengthened borders on the Federation’s side and the loss of several colonies to the Federation as they chose to occupy several systems which the Kzinti had traditionally launched from.

The new Patriarch (the son of the previous Patriarch who had cannibalized his father for his monumental failure) embarked on a long period of learning about the Federation, it’s people, and it’s structure. Realizing that traditional Kzinti tactics were simply not working very well, he spoke with the priests of the Fanged God. He spoke with his Warmasters. He spoke with what were considered ‘heretical’ soliders (advocated using ‘monkey tactics’ against the Federation).

After some debate, which ended in the death of three higher ranking Kzinti soliders, the plan was put into action. With further weapons and shield improvements purchased from as of yet still unknown parties, the Kzinti began a retrofitting program of their older starships as well as drafting new vessels to take advantage of the technological improvements. While the new invasion fleet was being drafted, the Patriarchy’s General Command was busy drawing up invasion plans of Federation territory, Kzinti traders were keeping an eye on Federation ship and troop movements.

In 2238, a Kzinti border patrol captain had observed an patrol vessel, U.S.S. Sun Tzu, running standard sensor scans of the border area with an new and improved long range suite. The Kzinti captain mistook the sweep for target acquisition sensor sweeps and ordered his patrol vessel to attack the patrol ship. By the time the Sun Tzu’s crew understood what was happening they had been blown out of space by the Kzinti.

Unfortunately for the Federation, the Sun Tzu’s message record had been blown out of space by the Kzinti and as a result, we caught completely flat footed as the Kzinti launched a co-ordinated assault along their entire border, destroying all sensor and observation posts as they commenced a blitzkrieg assault into the Federation. The Colonies of Wayland, We Made It, Gamma Hydra, and Eridani Indi fell quickly, but not before a warning got out to Starfleet and the member worlds military’s.

Starfleet, just out of the first Klingon War, short of personnel and vessels, took a very dim view of the Kzinti and resolved to crush the Kzinti’s military industrial capacity once and for all. This proved far more difficult than first expected as Starfleet discovered that the Kzinti were on technological parity for the first time since the wars began. Outnumbered and desperate, Starfleet organized hit and run raids upon Kzinti shipping and supply posts while the Andorian, Tellerite, and Vulcan navies acted as a united front verses the Kzinti incursions.

The Kzinti offensive began to fall apart as supplies and lack of adequate training in the new technology aquirred, and the Federation combined forces destroyed the Kzinti with the uncharacteristic lack of taking prisoners as they counterattacked. After the main Kzinti fleet had been pulverized, the Federation forces began appearing over the Kzinti worlds, bombarding shipyards and planetary defenses into rubble. The Kzinti expected the worst as the last of the defenses fell.

The final blow never came as the Federation imposed a far more harsh treaty upon the Kzinti, limting the forms of weapons and propulsion technologies the Kzinti could have access to, as well as snap inspections by Federation forces. The Kzinti, staring practical annihilation in the face, swallowed their pride, and surrendered to the Federation.

[BouncyCaitian]

erm...to whomever worked on the pre TOS pike book...I used it as a partial reference. all credit to you.

[Tobian]

Nice set of material there BC - we could almost doing with it compiling up in some way complete with a couple of (albeit a bit crap in pink jumpsuits ) pictures ...