(Any System) The Triangle

[PaladinCA]

Has anyone used The Triangle boxed set from FASA for any of their campaigns?

How about The Triangle Campaign along with the boxed set?

It seems to offer a whole lot of different styles of Trek games with the most obvious being Klingon outcasts, Romulan renegades, free traders, Starfleet Intelligence, or criminal operatives from any of the major powers.

I know most of it probably isn't canon, but the idea of a neutral section of space seems kind of cool.

Thanks!

[The Tatterdemalion King]

In the Way of D'era box set, there was a triangular region where all three powers met called the Vela Expanse. Not too far from Rigel, either...

[First of Two]

I've not played that one per se, but in any game I run when there's opposing political powers or three, there's always some small, anarchistic or unaligned territory nestled in a neutral zone petween them. Such places always offer a wide variety of possibilities, from unexpected encounters (Hey! Here's a planet of Klingon... pacifists?!?) to places for your crew to hide after they've really messed things up.

[PaladinCA]

In the Way of D'era box set, there was a triangular region where all three powers met called the Vela Expanse. Not too far from Rigel, either...

Really? I ought to read that some time. If running an ICON game, I could use the Vela Expanse as The Triangle or the other way around.

[PaladinCA]

I've not played that one per se, but in any game I run when there's opposing political powers or three, there's always some small, anarchistic or unaligned territory nestled in a neutral zone petween them. Such places always offer a wide variety of possibilities, from unexpected encounters (Hey! Here's a planet of Klingon... pacifists?!?) to places for your crew to hide after they've really messed things up.

Are you running independent operators when you do that?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

On a related topic: The Borderland

[PaladinCA]

On a related topic: The Borderland

Not an Enterprise reference... GAH my eyes!

Good cast + Medicore writing = One seriously blown premise for a series.

There was plenty of good canon references to base a TV show on. They didn't need to go back and RETCON 75% of the Trek universe. The Andorians were cool and I really liked the crew of the Enterprise but DAMN, they blew it.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Not an Enterprise reference... GAH my eyes!

Good cast + Medicore writing = One seriously blown premise for a series.

There was plenty of good canon references to base a TV show on. They didn't need to go back and RETCON 75% of the Trek universe. The Andorians were cool and I really liked the crew of the Enterprise but DAMN, they blew it.

Re-watch the fourth season; it wasn't bad.

[tonyg]

Re-watch the fourth season; it wasn't bad.

No it wasn't. But by then they were paying some attention to canon and not retconning as much. Even the retconning they were doing was more "squeezing" something into the gray areas rather than just ignoring everything.

[First of Two]

Are you running independent operators when you do that?

Sometimes. For Star Trek, I had Starfleet characters. My players considered going independent, but they never got around to it before my game folded when everybody moved.

[PaladinCA]

Re-watch the fourth season; it wasn't bad.

I'll try to do that. I gave up on the show sometime early in season two.

[Mazza]

Whatever you do, skip season 3.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

I'll try to do that. I gave up on the show sometime early in season two.

I gave up about seven episodes in.

Whatever you do, skip season 3.

While the Xindi are stupid, the writing does seem to improve a bit at that point.

[Mazza]

While the Xindi are stupid, the writing does seem to improve a bit at that point.

No, it really doesn't. There are a couple of stand-outs, but there were a couple of stand-outs in season 1 and 2 as well. The whole nature of the season-long story arc prevented the writing from really being able to break out at all unless they completely ignored the season-long story arc, which they only managed to do a couple of times.

Trying to get things back on topic, "The Triangle" sounds like the WYN Cluster in the Star Fleet Universe, the setting of the Prime Directive roleplaying game. Quite a fascinating place of many possibilities for your party, especially for a non-aligned civilian crew.

If you are looking to build your own neutral section of space, you have to work out why it would be neutral. It might be shared between the great powers by treaty, like Nimbus III say, or be protected by some sort of energy barrier (like the WYN Cluster in the Star Fleet Universe).

If you go with something like an energy barrier, it needs to still permit trade so that your crew can travel back and forth in their ship, but needs to stop foreign warships. The WYN Cluster manages this by temporarily disabling most ship systems. While invading ships struggle to get their systems back on the line, they are sitting ducks for the otherwise small and inadequate defence force of the Cluster. The WYN Cluster's defence force permits civilian traders and the like to get on their way, but invading Klingon warships, for example, will be destroyed while they're still sitting ducks.

If you go with a political option, you will need to work out why it makes sense in the long term for the interests of all the concerned parties. Nimbus III is a plot device for Star Trek V. The justification for its existence is fairly simplistic, and if it became a major part of your campaign, that justification may not hold out. If Nimbus III was a ready source of mercenaries or smuggled goods, for instance, it seems unlike that either the Romulans, Klingons or Federation would've put up with it for long.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

No, it really doesn't. There are a couple of stand-outs, but there were a couple of stand-outs in season 1 and 2 as well. The whole nature of the season-long story arc prevented the writing from really being able to break out at all unless they completely ignored the season-long story arc, which they only managed to do a couple of times.

Aside from Cogenitor, were there any other decent episodes in 1 and 2?

The dialogue started to ease from an 11 to a 6 or 7 on the excruciatingly bad meter. This probably had something to do with Sussman taking over from B+B in season 4.

Trying to get things back on topic, "The Triangle" sounds like the WYN Cluster in the Star Fleet Universe, the setting of the Prime Directive roleplaying game. Quite a fascinating place of many possibilities for your party, especially for a non-aligned civilian crew.

Isn't it ruled by cat-people?

If you are looking to build your own neutral section of space, you have to work out why it would be neutral.
...
If you go with a political option, you will need to work out why it makes sense in the long term for the interests of all the concerned parties. Nimbus III is a plot device for Star Trek V. The justification for its existence is fairly simplistic, and if it became a major part of your campaign, that justification may not hold out. If Nimbus III was a ready source of mercenaries or smuggled goods, for instance, it seems unlike that either the Romulans, Klingons or Federation would've put up with it for long.

I think you're overexaggerating the state of affairs between the three major powers, and forgetting that there's tons of smaller powers out there (like the Gorn, the Tholians, and governments that are in the 24th century part of the Federation), probably having treaties with multiple powers in order to maintain their position.

Additionally, the Orion Syndicate is a fourth 'major power' that has a vested interest in some non-aligned worlds remaining separate.


If anyone's looking for an independant sector to base their adventures in, the Rigel Sector is a good bet.