Orion species write ups

[sariel2005]

Has anyone done a modification of the Orions following the Enterprise episode "Bound" (the Pheromones and such)

Thanks

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Aliens, pg. 120

[Mac417]

Um, doesn't the Decipher Aliens book predate "Bound" by a couple years?

[The Tatterdemalion King]

As did Among the Clans, but...

[PGoodman13]

I've got a couple Orion ships on the website, but nothing in the way of a species writeup.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

Seriously though, Aliens already has the pheremones statted up.

[Owen E Oulton]

The pheromones is an old explanation that Enterprise just made official. A similar idea was used in STTAS in The Lorelei Signal.

[sariel2005]

Hi everyone, thanks for the responses.

Looked at the Aliens p120
but it does seem a bit off to me.
The pheromone thing is a biochemical treatment given to some slave women, not an inherent racial trait ( which is possible I suppose but Bound seems to imply it is racial ability)
It seems to work by increasing presence by 1 and a +3 to seduce checks at the cost of a random disadvantage, either arrogance, dullard, bloodlust, weak willed, easily distracted, or vulnerability to psionic attack.

doesn't quite seem to reflect the Orion women in the episode where the pheromone seems to effect the men heightening aggression and suggestibility and give women headaches. I take it there is nothing more accurate out there ?

[IceGiant]

Nope, at this point just modify what aliens states to best suit how you see the. Remove the stated disad, say it's a biochemical thing inherant to all females and then just add the side effects. If there isn't a disad in the book for it, then just make it up too. It seems more a roleplaying aspect anyways.

[skree]

@sariel2005
I would like to see your write up for Orion pheromone as a trait.

[The Tatterdemalion King]

doesn't quite seem to reflect the Orion women in the episode where the pheromone seems to effect the men heightening aggression and suggestibility and give women headaches. I take it there is nothing more accurate out there ?

The primary advantage of keeping the pheremones as a technological modification is that the next episode allows you to alter how the pheremones work; either its a different model, or an iterative improvement on the pheremone's effects on that particular species. The Aliens pheremones might simply be the most common 'off-the-shelf' biomod, being effective against most humanoids, while D'Nesh et al tooled up with a high-powered human-centric mod.

[sariel2005]

for the moment I thinking that the pheromones cause the +3 modifier to persuade (seduction) ( and note that this can be used to manipulate and not just get laid) with men
also causes the flaw of Weak willed and bloodlust ( not entirely happy with bloodlust but is seems the best fit for the heightened aggression )

Not sure about the +1 to presence, my instincts tell me no, or again perhaps again with men only

don't know about the effect on Women - its said to cause headaches in the episode.

FWIW I believe the pheromones can be "switched off" based on the fact that the Orion from "Whom Gods Destroy" does not seem to exhibit the ability ( then again maybe Kirk is just that badass! ) and nor does Gaila from ST2009.


Not sure about drawbacks - or whether they should be permanent or just while the pheromone is active.

[tonyg]

I looked at the Orion write-up after seeing bound, and thought that it might be better to swipe the Deltan's special ability for Orion Pheromones. It pretty much does the same thing, but is superior. Just keep in mind that anything the blocks the reception of the pheromones (such as a space suit), would negate the bonus.

I think that the the way the Pheromones antagonize other females would count as a good flaw to offset the bonus, so it could be added as an optional zero point cost ability, like the way the added sluggish to the Gorn package.


The Orion pheromone treatment could be kept, and considered some sort of optional enhancement package.

[Huckleberry]

I looked at the Orion write-up after seeing bound, and thought that it might be better to swipe the Deltan's special ability for Orion Pheromones. It pretty much does the same thing, but is superior. Just keep in mind that anything the blocks the reception of the pheromones (such as a space suit), would negate the bonus.

Precisely what I did in my own campaign with an Orion female PC. Bear in mind, however, that while other species and the interstellar community at large may or may not know about the pheromone thing, Orion females already have a reputation of being skilled at manipulation. Consequently, it's safe to assume men of other races (and Orion males, I imagine) tend to be on their guard around them. My player even cited this as one reason she decided on that species: for the challenge of playing a command officer who has to deal with that stigma...while there's actually a perfectly rational reason for the stigma!

When all is said and done though, it's a useful enough edge for a PC to have, but hardly a superpower.

[Coalition]

One idea I had for Orions in general, is that the more practical the item that is being worn, the lower-ranking the individual is.

So a ship Captain would have a fancy veil in front of her eyes, but that veil is also a high-tech display unit letting her know what is going on with her ship, the people around her, and what other ships are doing. (Think Goa'uld style where the gems and decorations they wear as jewelry are also high-tech items)

The Chief Engineering might have a wrist-mounted/activated display unit to bring up information about different parts of the ship, but it would be gold/latinum-plated, the controls are precious gems, and it may not look aall that sturdy (but actually is sturdy)

The Engineering duty officer would have a sports bra/biker shorts ensemble, but with a radiation suit nearby just in case it is needed. Her arm display is more practical and durable in design

The engineering officer whose job is to go and do the work has a full-body suit that is practical. Any metals are chosen so they won't have problems with any radiation, the cloth is laced with radiation absorbing materials, and the headset is equipped with sound dampeners so the wearer doesn't have a headache from the background noise of the engineering section.


Essentially, if an Orion has to do physical work herself, it means she is not wealthy enough to afford slaves to do the work for her. But a ship's Captain doesn't want to appear cheap, so a Captain may try to equip her personnel with better equipment to improve her social standing.

Similarly, anyone can have untrained slaves working for them. Trained slaves however are a mark that she can pick good slaves, and has time to afford their training to get skills. (So an Orion Captain of a non-Orion ship will be making sure her personnel are taking useful classes. Anyone that doesn't have a useful skill will be assigned to whichever department needs the labor, and that department is told to get them trained.)