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I am sure that comparisson has come up before too...<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Karg:
Sorta like differet breeds of Dogs
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But yes, I suppose in a broad scale, thats faily accurate.
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DanG.
"Hi, I'm Commander Troy McClure, you might remember me from other academy training holo-simulations as, Abandon Ship, the quickest way out, and I sense danger, 101 things you dont need a Betazoid to know..."
http://www.theventure.freeserve.co.uk
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Funny you should bring this up. In a former Space:1889 campaign, one of the human PC's marries a female Martian NPC. They return to his home in the Wild West, where the local reverend & co. want to arrest him for...bestiality! There was even some question as to whether the Martian even had a soul.<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Aldaron:
Is it just me or is there something...I dunno...dirty about the concept of interspecies attraction and mating?
I mean, realistically, I can look at Deanna and say "Yeah, she's cute."
But I know that Marina Sirtis is human.
The concept of having sex with an alien is, when you think about it, something like bestiality. I mean, I am genetically closer to my dog than I would be to a Betazoid, or Vulcan or Bajoran.
And as much as a Bajoran supermodel might be better looking than my dog - she's still a different species!
*shudder*
Anyway, I've probably said too much now...
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In our Trek campaign, we have a human PC married to an Andorian bunch. One of the parents of said spouses is very upset by the marriage -- likes humans as companions and friends, but that!?! He's very much torn by the whole thing.
As for the interbreeding thing. I know it's canon, but I think it's silly. I don't allow interracial breeding without heavy help from geneticists. Some races are compatible: humans & bajorans, betazoids, klingons (though I would think there would be troubles with the redundant organs.) Andorians have -- according to the 'Among the Clans' book evolved differently; they don't breed wih anything else. Vulcans & ROmulans, of course; but any other combos require serious assistance & are often not viable or have serious problems.
Just my attempt to put a bit of reality into my campaign...
[This message has been edited by qerlin (edited 08-10-2001).]
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I must counterpoint here on Andorians (and, no, Anomaly, not because I favor them...<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by qerlin:
As for the interbreeding thing. I know it's canon, but I think it's silly. I don't allow interracial breeding without heavy help from geneticists. Some races are compatible: humans & bajorans, betazoids, klingons (though I would think there would be troubles with the redundant organs.) Andorians have -- according to the 'Among the Clans' book evolved differently; they don't breed wih anything else. Vulcans & ROmulans, of course; but any other combos require serious assistance & are often not viable or have serious problems.</font>) ... I do seem to remember reading, though I'm not sure if it is within Canon or GameCanon, that Andorians and Bolians are similar enough on the cellular level to share blood and tissue; for this reason, I would allow Andorian-Bolian half-breeds, and in fact my own tabletop game features one such critter as the Chief of Staff of the fleet in which the player's ship is assigned. Talk about someone who doesn't just play well with a group, but *needs* the group...
BJ
Moderator
I like the insinuation that it was the Andorians viewing the human partner here... I bet thats something we will never see on screen. Applause all round for this one!<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by qerlin:
In our Trek campaign, we have a human PC married to an Andorian bunch. One of the parents of said spouses is very upset by the marriage -- likes humans as companions and friends, but that!?! He's very much torn by the whole thing.</font>
OK, I can see your point on this whole paragraph (may not agree, but thats a choice I make), but the highlighted sentence. How do you explain Spock? 1/2 Human/Vulcan? Is he full Vulcan like his Brother in your campaign???<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Vulcans & Romulans, of course; </font>
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DanG.
"Hi, I'm Commander Troy McClure, you might remember me from other academy training holo-simulations as, Abandon Ship, the quickest way out, and I sense danger, 101 things you dont need a Betazoid to know..."
http://www.theventure.freeserve.co.uk
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How do you factor in pheromones to sexiness? I mean, If I have a character who secretes abnormally strong pheromones, AND is both personality-wise and aesthetically pleasing, do they get ANOTHER point?
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>...female Trills!
Hubba, hubba....
OK, I'm sick, but darn, those spots turn me on....
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There is nothing more frustrating than playing hide and seek with a deaf wolf.
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How about a new Disadvantage:
Kirk's Loins -3
A variation of the Compulsion disadvantage. The character suffers from an unusually intense sex drive. When confronted with a situation where he is tempted by the opposite (or the same, if you prefer) sex, the player should roll a Presence Test (modified by Willpower) with the Difficulty based on the attractiveness of the tempting person: Routine (4) for people with average looks; Moderate (7) for comely people; Challenging (10) for very attractive people; Difficult (13) for those with model-like looks; Nearly Impossible (15+) for Jadzia (or Ezri) Dax, or those with the Sexy advantage.
If the test is failed, the character must act on his lecherousness for at least one round (or however long it takes to perform the act).
As a house rule, I'd allow the player to spend a Courage Point to avoid coming on to say ... a Starfleet admiral, or the ship's CO.
Steve
Senior Moderator
You know, iut's funny. My group used to joke around about dropping the Sexy Advantage in favor of a scaled advantage/disadvantage. We jokingly came up with the following:
Cute (+1): +1 to all social tests with the opposite sex.
Hot (+2): +1d to all social tests with the opposite sex.
Babe (+3): +2d to all social tests with the opposite sex.
On the other side of the coin we had:
Great Personality (-1): -1 to all social test with the opposite sex.
Ugly (-2): -1d to all social tests with the opposite sex.
Fugly (-3): -2d to all social tests with the opposite sex.
There may have been more (and I definitely fudged the game effects), but I can't remember. You get the idea, though...
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Doug Burke
McCoy: "You're taking me to the promised land?"
Kirk: "That's what you get for missing staff meetings, Doctor."
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He's half & half, but he was also aided with lots of help from genetic engineering (might also why he's so bloody bright, too). In general, most interspecies stuff can't happen (in our campaign) without a lot of help & I usually have people take the diminished social status as well as the mixed heritage thingies.<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dan Gurden:
OK, I can see your point on this whole paragraph (may not agree, but thats a choice I make), but the highlighted sentence. How do you explain Spock? 1/2 Human/Vulcan? Is he full Vulcan like his Brother in your campaign???
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I don't do this if the species are close enough that it's not immediately apparent.
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>Kirk's Loins -3
Or man's man -2
Flirt whenever you can and brag about all your 'adventures' to your friends & colleagues. (This can actually give you a bonus rather than a penalty, depending on your audience).
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There is nothing more frustrating than playing hide and seek with a deaf wolf.
Valued Member
Well, that's pretty much how I manage the Lecherousness disadvantage<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Steven A Cook:
How about a new Disadvantage:
Kirk's Loins -3...</font>
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The way I run it is to assume that all (most) "humanoids" are the same species... much like dogs.<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dan Gurden:
Basically all humanoid life was seeded by progenitors in ancient times, and allowed to develop and evolve on their own.
But basically, in the Trek universe, we all come from the same base genetic stock...
I hope that helps.
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The various dog breeds have a wide range of appearance, but all share certain characteristics and most can interbreed.
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"I'd rather die standing than live on my knees..."
Shania Twain
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Personally, getting into the halfbreeds thing.. I think they're overdone, anyway, and sometimes think there's something to be said for the potential dramas involved in people of different species who *are* in love, but *can't* have children.
While it's possible that a similar alien might not 'smell' quite right pheromonally, people are *not* conscious of genetic compatibility: they look at various cues which might *indicate* fertility in their own culture, but might mean something else in another one: (for instance, even between cultures on earth, some think thin people are more attractive, others have quite other ideas: this even varies over time.)
In the case of Andorians, who have marriages of four, there might be cases where one would take on a partner, not to breed, but to help provide and care for the unit... Rather like beta wolves, who do not mate themselves until they by circumstance become alphas... The difficulties that might be encountered might be more of subtleties... Perhaps the difficulty in marrying Andorians wouldn't be so much inability to bear or sire children so much as being *clanless* or not considered bound by the rules of the ushaan... Which makes adventures, possibly, or drama, at least, to fill out those requirements.
In the case of Andorians/human matings, cobalt causes brain damage and birth defects to humans (that's why that cobalt glass is all in the windows of antique shops rather than on Mom's table: it took a while to figure it out. )
I'd focus on the cultural rather than the biological, and only mix species of characters for a very specific reason. It's a lot more interesting to have two characters looking for a surrogate than having some improbable child mixed up in a test tube, anyway.
I've played Andorian characters who married a human into an Andorian clan, a character that became attached to a Human male but couldn't *consider* intimacy with him, and one that doesn't even register aliens as potential partners. Individuals are of course, capable of their own decisions... Doesn't mean that fictional biology should make it easy.
Star Trek shows usually do focus more on the cultural differences than the species-oriented ones. Klingons and humans might be genetically compatible, but how many human females would be both willing to go through the mating rituals as well as be strong enough to prove themselves worthy mates, and vice versa? One might fall in love with a Klingon comrade, but how does one deal with sleeping on a slab of stone? Insulting their mother to her face to join the House? (I dunno if they do that, just made it up as an example)
None of these things mean people aren't *attracted* to each other... Sometimes what people see in someone that they find most attractive is, in fact the unknown. Worries about genetic compatibility may be a factor later, but I don't think that affects the merit.
Registered User
Humans are the o-negs of the universe. two examples: Deanna Troi and Spock. Are there anymore cannon examples?
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"What do you mean We are in the Neutral Zone? This is BAD!!" -Captain Jordan Macallister, USS Daytona
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