A Question Of Honor

[spyone]

Years ago, I read a cool magazine article on the subject of Klingons and Honor. I have mentioned it a few times here on these boards, and have recently rediscovered it. Since it is not game-system specific, I thought I'd share it in General Trek Chat, although it was designed for FASA-Trek.
This is an excerpt from article in Stardate Magazine, March-April 1985, by Kevin Keohane. If anybody feels my posting it here infringes their copyright, I'll take it down promptly, but I think it is too excellent not to share.

The idea is to provide a quantifiable measure of a Klingon's honor or status. This is done by totaling points off of the following list:
Line in disfavor with Emperor -10
Line disreputable -5
Line well known and respected +5
Line wealthy and powerful +10
Per tour in the Expeditionary Force +2
Per tour in the Imperial Navy or Sector Garrison +1
Per tour in Exploration/Colonization Fleet -1
Per tour in Merchant/Courier Fleet -2
Per cadet cruise after first -1
Per promotion in rank after ensign +3
Per promotion in position (i.e. to a bigger ship) +2
Per demotion in rank or position -10
Per Imperial Commendation +25
Per favorable Security Risk Notation +12
Per extant Security Risk Notation -25
Ship's Captain +5
Department Head +2
Per 20 years of age +5
Killing an enemy with bare hands +10
Killing an enemy with a hand-to-hand weapon +6
Killing an enemy with a ranged weapon +3
Capturing a worthy opponent +15
Killing a Klingon of higher rank -100
Killing a Klingon of equal rank -50
(the above 2 depend on the situation - traitors don't count)
Killing a Klingon of lower rank -5
Defeating an enemy in space/ground combat +10
Capturing an enemy in space/ground combat +15
Any combat against overwhelming odds +15
Dying for the Empire +25
Being captured in combat -75
Allowing an enemy to escape unintentionally -10
Per combat regardless of outcome +1
Per mission regardless of outcome +2
Per military governorship that ended successfully +4
Per military governorship that failed -10
Bringing important information to one's superior +2 to 50
Name prefix (not cumulative):
tai +5
vestai +7
sutai +10
zantai +15
epetai +30
Other at GM option +/- up to 50.

It should be understood that these points are for comparison only; they have little bearing on promotions, and so on (if you reach 1,000, you don't automatically become the Emperor). These points, however, can be manipulated by high level commanders to "make or break" their subordinates. For example, if Thought Admiral Kandy doesn't like Lieutenant Karek, he could "promote" him from department head on a D-7 to command of a courier - the result:
To a smaller ship -10
Loss of Department Head position -2
Ship's Captain +5
Tour of duty in Courier Fleet -2
This results in a total loss of honor points of -9, all because of a "promotion". Think about it. The possibilities are intriguing.

Now, this list undoubtedly needs tweaking to better fit the values of the "modern" Klingons, but ... it fits pretty well, really.

[K.G. Carlson]

That looks intriguing. Thanks for sharing this blast from the past.

-K.G.