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Thread: The Trill Sourcebook

  1. #1

    The Trill Sourcebook

    A long time ago
    on a website far far away...

    I once worked on the Trill character sourcebook. In the end it all fell over. But a lot of data was developed. Not only that but a revised character generation scheme was also written, and damn near finished, sure it probably needs a bit of work to fine tune it. I now retain most of the notes of the rest of the document, although they are all very unfinished and do show one of the original problems with the Trill sourcebook with lots of differeing opinions on the background...

    As much of this was lost on an old broken hard-drive I thought it lost. But then I remembered that I had shared most of my old works with BrianK, and he still had it.

    A quick review, and little bit of an update and tidy up, even a couple of new ideas that hadn't been added previously...

    And here is a first draft of an alternate Trill Character Creation system.

    Any feedback/ideas may well help make a final draft.

    --
    Many Thanks
    Dan Gurden
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    DanG/Darth Gurden
    The Voice of Reason and Sith Lord

    “Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”

    Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
    "Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)

  2. #2
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    Hey Dan,

    First of all: THANK-YOU for taking the time and effort to dig this up, polish it up and post it !

    Secondly, I had a quick read of it and it looks good and makes perfect sense. I'm not at home and don't have the DS9 book handy, so forgive me if memory fails, but did you consider a trait for the joined Trill that can't transport ? I seem to be recalling a 1 in 6 chance but can't remember if that's from LUG or CODA ?!?

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by RealPity View Post
    Hey Dan,

    First of all: THANK-YOU for taking the time and effort to dig this up, polish it up and post it !

    Secondly, I had a quick read of it and it looks good and makes perfect sense. I'm not at home and don't have the DS9 book handy, so forgive me if memory fails, but did you consider a trait for the joined Trill that can't transport ? I seem to be recalling a 1 in 6 chance but can't remember if that's from LUG or CODA ?!?
    TBH. I remember going over and over the episodes, and I recall that we simply decided that this was an episode thing... In that the TNH episode with the Trill Joined nature being a secret the Transporters would risk detecting the symbiont as a parasite and 'cure' or at least quarantine the host...

    After the symbiosis was known transporters could be programmed as approprate. Hence Jadzia, Ezri, etc had no problems what-so-ever...

    One of the aspects I dropped was a whole bit on the ridged-brow 'neanderthal' trill, I had an idea that Symbiosis allowed the evolutionary dead-ends to continue and thus two different species with similar biology existed side by side... Although the 'Neanderthals were slowly dying out...

    I was never quite able to express the ideas I had an what we had was clumsy at best... So I let that one sit quiet. Maybe one day I will go back and revist it...
    DanG/Darth Gurden
    The Voice of Reason and Sith Lord

    “Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”

    Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
    "Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)

  4. #4
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    Cool,
    That could be a great idea, add a lot of colour to the whole Trill setting. End up with 3 seperate species more or less.

    Oh yes brow-ridges. The bane of Klingons, Romulans and even some Vulcans. Guess the whole explanation of: "Better makeup effects nowadays" doesn't cut the mustard !
    I must say, PERSONALLY I hate the TNG done carbon-copy browed & black bowlcut hair that is Romulans and some Vulcans. I much prefer them from the 2 TOS espisodes and Dianne Duane novels that fleshed them out.

  5. #5
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    Dan, thanks for this! I only got a chance to skim over it, but I love it. Excellent idea having the past lives be a trait allowing an additional number of points for skills representing past lives.

    I'll give it a better looking over tonight and see if I can come up with anything to contribute.
    Steven "redwood973" Wood

    "Man does not fail. He gives up trying."

  6. #6
    Well, the first idea we had was to make the past lives a trait. It was Jonas Bashir who worked out a way to have the Symbiont in there with a balancing trait...

    Please note, none of these rules were ever playtested. If anyone does, please feedback with your thoughts.

    Equally, any other merits/flaws that someone might think of could easily be added, I would be interested in new disadvantages, although a lot could simply be taken on through standard disadvantage traits for both host and symbiont...
    DanG/Darth Gurden
    The Voice of Reason and Sith Lord

    “Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”

    Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
    "Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)

  7. #7
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    I remember the Trill Sourcebook project! I vaguely recall campaigning for the idea that the ridge-headed Trill host from their first appearance was a member of a neanderthal-like protected subspecies on the Trill homeworld. or something like that.
    I even remember, in a fit of stranger than usual weirdness, playing around with the idea of symbiote gaming, BEFORE the Joining. Wonder whatever happened to that. I know I posted it or at least wrote it down at some point....
    ah.
    memories!

  8. #8
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    oh. yeah. You got the neanderthal thing right up there! It's a logical answer to the problem posed by the different host portrayals.

  9. #9
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    I love the concept of handeling the Trills this way. One of our players is a Trill scientist and I think I'm going to use this material in our next season.

    I just have one idea that was not covered in your text, but I don't know how to make it work in ICON Skill or Trait?:

    Rite of Emergence:
    This rite allows the Trill host to contact one of the previous hosts by means of meditation. After the meditation the previous host appears, and he can ask to help him. The previous host is only visible to the current Host. For others it looks like the Character is talking to himself while he is talking to the invisible host. Ezri Dax used it to summon a previous host called Joran to help her in a murder investigation.
    Ardet Nec Consumitur' / Burns but doesn't decay / Brandt maar vergaat niet.

  10. #10
    I know what you are saying about the Rite of Emergence... It really doesn't work as a standard skill, and certainly doen't work as an Advantage.

    Its something that I gave a lot of thought to... And one of the reasons that I ended up putting the Trill guardians in the Psionics sourcebook I did a while back too...

    The evidence of the TV shows, seems to indicate the the Symbionts have a rudimentary telepathy/psi. And that as the unjoined keepers, perhaps the Guardians also have some Psi ability.

    Its not just the Rite of Emergence, which seemed to be a rare experience (and IMO mostly uneccesary, because when the host has all the memories of the previous joining, why would they need to seperate that part temporarily to talk to? When they already have that perspective? Although introspection rarely makes for good TV, while an imaginary Psychopath makes for better TV is the truth of it)...

    There was also the zhian'tara ritual led by the Guardians, the one which all hosts have to undergo one in their lifetime when the spirit of a previous joining is passed into one of the hosts friends for a period of time...

    So. For both the Zhian'tara ritiual and Rite of Emergence, I would probably link this into Psi. The Zhian'tara is controlled by a Guardian. The Rite of Emergence however... Is a little more difficult as its something with the Host, perhaps Ezri achieved point 1 on Psi and managed the rite unskilled? Which would explain why its so rare???


    Actually, this is the short Essay I wrote about it in the Psionics Sourcebook;
    Trill Symbiont Psi Communication;

    The Trill also seems to be a Psionic Species, although the powers appear to be restricted to that of the Trill Symbiont. Unjoined Symbionts within the Nutrient Pools of the Caves of Mak’ala, are able to communicate with each other and their Guardians. These communications are even visible appearing as a slight electrical disturbance above the water line of the Nutrient Pools within the cave. By this fashion they are able communicate in great detail with each other and with their Guardians... Such communication seems to be aided within the location, with the Guardians seemingly able to identify a host’s symbiont even upon a first meeting, and the pools are often used in the diagnosis and treatment of the symbionts. However whether this communication is truly telepathic is unknown, although some of the rituals that Joined Trill occasionally undertake seems to imply that some levels of latent psychic ability rest with the symbiont.

    The Ritual of the Zhian-Tara is also performed by the Guardians in the Caves, the ritual allows the symbiont to temporarily remove the personalities of its previous hosts, and imprint these hosts personalities upon family, friends and colleagues, enabling the Trill to gain a sense of self-history as each new host has an opportunity to meet with and talk to the previous hosts. The ritual effectively expels the host personality, imprinting it over that of the volunteer that the Trill has chosen would best embody the previous host. Only 1 personality is transferred at a time, and is purely voluntary, it is not unknown for the individual personalities to decide to cut their time short, returning to the symbiont.

    While the Zhian-Tara is most often performed on Trill it is possible to conduct the ritual anywhere of the joined Trills choosing, as comfortable surroundings are also important. Although these more distant ceremonies often require an equally skilled guardian, to help guide the path of the Ceremony and ensure all goes well.

    However other than the Zhian-Tara ritual, Trill Psionics seems to be rare, and no manifestation seems to occur even amongst the joined. Amongst the host species, only the Guardians seem to display any level of Psionic sensitivity with their ability to commune and understand the Symbionts…

    Another ritual, the Rite of Emergence, allows a joined host to gain insight and wisdom from their previous hosts. Unlike the Zhian-Tara, they draw a manifestation of the previous host to consult with. Unlike the Zhian-Tara, this manifestation is a simple vision, non-corporeal and visible only to the Trill Host. It is however intensely aware of its surroundings and able to guide and teach the host. This is a little known and rarely encountered ritual, and many feel it a closer relative of the Trill subconscious, linked with an hallucination, rather than a true psychic power. After all, after multiple joining’s a Trill symbiont bring many lifetimes experience with it, and many personality quirks and subconsciouses …
    Last edited by Dan Gurden; 10-15-2009 at 12:39 PM.
    DanG/Darth Gurden
    The Voice of Reason and Sith Lord

    “Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”

    Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
    "Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)

  11. #11

    updated

    Oh. I have updated the document very, very slightly.

    The advantage 'The Joining' comes as standard with 1 previous host life. With additional available as previously discussed.

    There is a new disadvantage. Immature Symbiont -1 which means that this is the first time this symbiont has been joined, and so no previous lifetimes are available...
    Attached Files Attached Files
    DanG/Darth Gurden
    The Voice of Reason and Sith Lord

    “Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”

    Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
    "Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)

  12. #12
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    Thanks for the update, Dan.

    I didn't get much time to read it today and with an unplanned business trip Friday I'll have to wait until this weekend to really get to read and enjoy it.

    I got a few things wrong on my quick scan of the work (for example I thougth The Joined varried from +1 to +6 giving 2 to 12 points to be used on Specializations representing knowledge from past lives [+1, 2 points represeting one past life; +2, 4 points for two past lives; so forth and so on]).

    I'm putting aside some time this weekend to give this a good read and see if anything pops up in my head to add. (I just happen to be watching season one of DS9; just watched ep. #7 the other day.)
    Steven "redwood973" Wood

    "Man does not fail. He gives up trying."

  13. #13
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    The simple solution to the Trill questions is that Odan was in disguise. He wasn't generally known to be a Trill, so the forehead was surgically modified (as was the implant team's - plastic surgery is simple and easily reversed in TNG) and the whole transporter thing was subterfuge - until his injury... Occam's Razor.

  14. #14
    Yeah, but Occam's Razor doesn't give us game material : P
    Portfolio | Blog Currently Running: Call of Cthulhu, Star Trek GUMSHOE Currently Playing: DramaSystem, Swords & Wizardry

  15. #15
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    I don't think I ever saw this sourcebook before now. Looks good. I'll have to try it on a character or two and see how they turn out. Let's add the finalized copy to the species databanks.
    + &lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;<

    Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight. Psalm 144:1

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