If you wanted to keep the event, but ditch the entire Nero/red-matter/Spock subplot you could drag in something to do with the Omega molecule, perhaps?
If you wanted to keep the event, but ditch the entire Nero/red-matter/Spock subplot you could drag in something to do with the Omega molecule, perhaps?
When you are dead, you don't know that you are dead. It is difficult only for others.
It's the same when you are stupid...
Praxis was a moon, not a star, so it's not a "stellar" event. And, given that it was the Klingons' major source of dilithium, I'd expect a subspace shockwave from a catastrophic breakup of the moon. Not to mention, the only known effects outside its star system were to damage a Federation starship that happened to be caught in the shockwave.
Amargosa's effects were limited to its immediate area.
That's why I called the Hobus star's supernova an unprecedented stellar event. It's not because it was a stellar event, but because of the massive interstellar effects of the explosion. Planets light years away were destroyed!
Last edited by Sea Tyger; 07-06-2011 at 11:47 AM. Reason: Fixed a typo. I'm such a word nerd.
Davy Jones
"Frightened? My dear, you are looking at a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe! I was petrified."
-- The Wizard of Oz
Perhaps Hobus was contaminated with dilithium or somesuch and then underwent a hypernova, which caused a "subspace burster" reaction?? Essentially, it would be to a supernova what Praxis was to a nuclear meltdown
So an uber-powerful gamma-ray burster, emitting in a spherical shell, at superluminal velocities.
Nasty...
When you are dead, you don't know that you are dead. It is difficult only for others.
It's the same when you are stupid...
Perhaps (thinking of ways to incorporate a twist into an episode) a subspace event was the trigger for Hobus to explode, which would be the first indication of something which could then reach light-years away. Characters attempting to discern the cause of the supernova may be pointed to ancient alien supertech or some subspace entity or domain wherein they confront the real problem.
Mea Culpa.
Perhaps my thinking is being influenced by too much Hollywood. Really Big Bangs are cool and all that...
And we are still talking about a franchise whose writing has popped out a few howlers over the years. I loved Harry Kim's analysis of Borg ship debris -- "damaged, but intact". How does that work, exactly?
So okay, in terms of the blast radius and devastation, Hobus going 'pop' is an unique case.
Since I've been doing a crapload of research for my JJ-Trek campaign, I wanted to toss out some info that I've accumulated in case people haven't read my thread.
1) Admiral Janeway did some exploration of the Romulas and Hobus systems after the supernova and has decided they were definitely not the result of a natural event. She theorizes, based on things she finds, that Hobus went nova as a result of the Romulans experimenting with Borg tech and subspace weapons. The reason Spock works so hard and so fast to try and stop the explosion is that they are afraid the wave will continue destroying systems all across the Alpha Quadrant because of the nature of subspace weapons.
2) Taking into account things I've learned playing STO so far, here is how they explain some things: Warning, Possible Spoilers:
a) With the Romulans so devistated, the Klingons go apeshit on them to the point of withdrawing from the Khitomer Accords.
b) Species 8472 become the new "shapeshifter menace" in the galaxy successfully infiltrating most major governments and even some of the smaller powers. This infiltration leads to the Klingons conquering the Gorn to expose the Undine presence.
c) Rogue Klingons begin dredging up old Eugenics information and are attempting to figure out how to genetically modify Klingons without the disasterous results from before.
There's quite a bit more, but I don't want to spoil too much. That should give you some extra oomph.
Constantinople was sacked by Venetians eight hundred years later after Rome... and Istanbul is a Turkish pronunciation of the medieval Greek for "In The City." The Ottomans themselves still called it Constantinople until the rise of the Republic of Turkey.
The point, though, is that there are probably outposts which will maintain continuity with the old Romulus, like the Eastern Empire of the Romans.
Perhaps, the areas closest to the Klingon border and the areas effected by the "event" (whatever you want to make of it) become the Western Europe of the former RSE, with Remii and a few other scattered systems attempting to carry on, like the Byzantine Empire did, itself, with a loose alliance with the Federation. Or worse, it is propped up by the Federation to attempt to maintain some semblance of control, where no control actually exist outside of its own system, save a small compound in the other systems that give lip service to allegiance. In that way it could be like an interstellar Afghanistan type scenario.
On the map its still all RSE, but "on the ground" allegiances are not what they seem. Actual control is to Klingon backed elements, that use the Klingon Empire for cover to recoup and to launch raids, all while Q'onos gives lip service to peace and continued alliance, while those uncontrolled houses carve new territory for themselves in the RSE. Remii is corrupt, with what assistance the Federation supplies is used to line the pockets of different fifedoms. Warlords, nominal members of the RSN, control the star lanes between systems, and rarely travel outside their area of control, making the RSN ineffective as a total fighting force.
Just an idea.
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"The Federation needs men like you, doctor. Men of conscience. Men of principle. Men who can sleep at night... You're also the reason Section Thirty-one exists -- someone has to protect men like you from a universe that doesn't share your sense of right and wrong." Sloan, Section Thirty-One
Just read through this entire thread and there's a lot of good ideas in here. In our campaign the RSE is still active and strong (we're playing in 2380, just after Nemesis). I plan on incorporating some use of Iconian Gateways (which are effectively stargates) to bring some far-away menaces into the Beta Quadrant - likely Borg and probably Species 8472 as well.
Some of the stuff here is inspiring me to add in some long term plans WRT to the Klingons and how they might have designs on the RSE. Not to mention that I'll likely have the Romulans tinkering with subspace weapons and possibly incorporating found Borg tech as well. Perhaps I'll have the Borg come through a Gateway with the sole purpose of trying to recover their tech. If the PCs stop long enough to figure things out (rather than just slaughtering them on first sight), they'll be able to realize this.
Doug Taylor
Member of Decipher's Hall of Fame
Currently running The One Ring RPG. I also occasionally run Villains & Vigilantes (our campaign is in year 25) and WEG d6 Star Wars (both games are mostly on hiatus) and an annual game based on The X-Files (using Conspiracy X).