Roleplaying Major Species

[LtCdr Kagan]

Does anyone have a handout or idea sketches about roleplaying the major species? This seems like something that would be helpful like a Players Guide. I'm not talking about abilities...I'm seeking a resource on behaviors.

Vulcans
Klingons
Romulans
Andorians
Tellarites
Orions
Cardassians
Ferengi
Bajorans
Borg - this one should be easy
Kazon
Suliban
Xindi (all varieties)

even Half-breeds such as Spock (Vulcan-Human) or Saavik (assumed to be Vulcan-Romulan by some)

[Evan van Eyk]

Well let me rephrase the question. Do you have something like that for humans? I guess not because we come in a variaty that cannot be depicted in some phrases. If you look for common philosophies, etc. I think the description in the Core Books should suffice and additionally there is a bunch of netbooks which concentrate on some of the more exotic species. You might also want to try the official site in the library section there should be any alien species available.

Generally speaking I would be very careful with steretyping species, because it gets very fast very boring if you always have strong but dumb Klingons, sexy Orion girls, greedy Ferengis, etc.

[calguard66]

For Vulcans and Andorians I'd use the material presented in the LUG books for those species... fairly easy to find on Ebay or in bargan bins.

[Tobian]

It all depends on how you look at it: The characters presented for many species always seem to e to be steryotypes of the type, and those fighting, deliberatelly against that steryotype, such as Worf (untill he forgot he despised Klingons, and became the most Klingon Klingon in the universe).

To roleplay most of the major species you have to look at their motivations and essentially what is their cultural motivation. Ferengi - Money - Vulcans - Logic - Bolians - teamwork - Klingons - Honour (or moustaciou'd vilains in TOS) - Bajorans - Faith... and then think how those apply to Humans.. as Kirk said to Spick "You know what Spock, we're all Human.."

The species benefits each species recieves gives you a good indication of roleplay more than simple stats and skills - it tells you what they are about.. Vulcans recieve a bonus to inteligence, logic and psionics.. this tells you they value inteligence, logic and their extra sensory perception.. then think around that.

Most aliens revolve around a steryotype: they don't have to stick to it but it helps you define how they would feel about when they break it. A Vulcan would feel mortified if he acted against logic, or did something stupid, but then with logic they would use that emotion to fuel the learning process and seek to correct the mistake. This would make them reticent to act foolish, make exagerated movements and want to act cool in all situations.. When they can't do that they'd feel incredibly uncomfortable. Vulcans have emotions, they simply learn from them instead of acting on them, which is exactly the oposite of a Klingon, or for that matter most humans!