Klingon idea

[Klingermann]

I've been bouncing around an idea for a Klingon character that I don't know if I'll ever play, but here goes. The idea was to use a house like the house ja'rod that has been very powerful yet recently disgraced as a pallet to create a warrior that would be hailed as the return of Kahliss. Basically they have worked for years to gather genetic material from the great warriors of the empire, both living and dead and combine them ala Serpentor to create the ultimate Klingon which they would quickly would claim to be the son of some ruler within the house. Within a few years of his birth he would of course be trained by the finest Klingons in the house in the use of weaponry like the Bat'leth and unarmed combat forms like the Mok'bara and such so that he could become an excellent duelist. Along with this he would also be taught klingon culture and leadership skills in the hopes that this "perfect warrior" would be the ultimate candidate and climb all the way to the top.

The house's plan was then to use him as a puppet to get their own agendas accomplished but just as this "perfected" klingon was coming of age the house fell into dishonor and many of it's powerful leaders and architects were slain. This left the plan unfinished and a now dishonered warrior in it's wake.

After that though comes the matter of what might emerge as a result of this. I figure a guy who is nothing more than an experiment in power would have a great deal of advantages but probably just as many diadvantages due to his breeding (arrogance, foul temper, definitely bloodlust) so I dunno. Also bear in mind that if he came from a house that has since fallen in disgrace he would be looked upon by those within the house as it's only chance for redemption. Of course, the character could just as easily have been the creation of a weak house or one that is still of high status so who knows? Could be interesting but I wondered what you guys might do with it. Any thoughts?

[Sheliak Bob]

Depending on when you set this scenario, you have another major player on the field as well. There is the CLONE of Kahless who has been accepted as the proper "heir" of Kahless, if not Kahless reborn. He was raised to the mostly figurehead, spiritual role of "Emperor" while true power resides in the Council.

One of the ways your Super Klingon might get out of his Dishonored state, would be to join with the priesthood and Kahless' own powerstructure. As the epitome of the Ideal Klingon, he could wind up being something like "Defender of the Faith", a holy warrior for the ultra traditionalists factions inside the Empire.

Or, you could have him challenging the Kahless Clone for the role of Emperor, as the True Spirit of Kahless reborn, or some such. The Council and political heirarchy could be kept out of it by simply saying that since the rank of Emperor is strictly honorary, why should they care about a squabble among the priests. That squabble could pave the way for the out of favor House to quietly rebuild its forces under the guise of religious strife, and make a stab at retaking political status down the road.

The latter could lead to small group of PC's who have been made aware of the problem trying to either alert the otherwise unconcerned High Council of the civil war brewing under the noses, or they might have to take steps to intervene themselves since the authorities won't.

Just some ideas.

[Klingermann]

Yeah, I had completely forgotten about the clone of Khaliss (sp?). Did a specific house create the clone or was it the work of an outside orginization? I can't remember.

See the way I was looking at it is the guy is basically an excellent fighter but is terrible at diplomacy and lacks any kind of real skill in commanding others because he is still a walking volcano. What more would you expect from a guy who is a melting pot of great warriors and was always told how great he is? His teachers have worked hard to "put out the fire" but had failed to do so by the time the house fell into ruin.

It may be possible though for a guy like that to achieve a high level of status inside something like the priesthood and maybe even defeat the ruling clone but it wasn't the purpose. However, uniting that status with actual power would be an impressive feat and I could definitely see some PC's wanting to effect the outcome of that plan. That makes him more of a villan though than just an NPC or possible PC an that's what I'm going for.

I wanted to make him incomplete as far as taking the reigns of his agression and actually building up the skills to take command so that he might be able to interact with a group of players or in fact even become one. But I dunno, he may be too hard to use that way.

I like the information on Klingon culture Bob. I need more of it to help me develop a good understanding of them. Are there any good websites about them? I've seen a scant few but most lack good information. Any help on that would be appreciated!

[Kaiddin]

Originally posted by Klingermann
Yeah, I had completely forgotten about the clone of Khaliss (sp?). Did a specific house create the clone or was it the work of an outside orginization? I can't remember.

It was the clerics of Boreth that cloned Kahless.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Klingermann

I wanted to make him incomplete as far as taking the reigns of his agression and actually building up the skills to take command so that he might be able to interact with a group of players or in fact even become one. But I dunno, he may be too hard to use that way.

If you are talking about a character for a longer campaign and want to integrate him into a regular group then how about this idea:
Make the character a bit younger than planned, still in the middle of his training.
After the fall of his house one of his teachers fled with the boy, maybe because he really likes him and fears for his safety, maybe because he wants to use him as a tool to personal power.
Now this mentor (Disadvantage: Dependant) and the boy end up with the rest of the player group eventually.

That way this "super warrior" would still be learning and could be influenced more by the world around him. You could start playing the teacher and then switch over to playing the character you planned after the integration into the group (and their society) is well underway.
Be carefull how you present this to the Narrator thou, otherwise he will think you want to play two characters for the price of one.

[Klingermann]

Yeah, that might work to have two characters but the only problem is my group would be a bit jaded to it. See before we played Star Trek, we played Rifts and two of the players (neither of them me) had characters that were 2 for one characters (in both cases it was a master and slave relationship). It may have been ok but both players made these 2 for oners at the same time and used them in the same game, and even though both said the other character wouldn't be twinked out in order to create a character who had all the skills (i.e. one the smarty-pants and the other the combat hulk) they both did and it was horrible.

Now I might still be able to get away with making my teacher very old and making him or her an NPC the narrator uses (which he'd like because he wants to play a Klingon REAL bad) but If he was too weak the first time I got pissed it could get nasty for the poor fellow. Oh well I guess if he or she is better skilled than me it would get interesting!

On a different note, I am also curious about how you guys handle melee weapons. Don't you find the accuracy numbers to be way too high and the damage to be sad? I mean granted it shouldn't be as bad as a phaser or disruptor in the damage department and also granted that ranged combat is the method of choice for foe dispatchery (hehehe) in the trek universe but melee just plain sucks. It's not like the Star Trek series and first contact don't show that these weapons kill because they do but somehow the rpg missed that and didn't do it justice. I mean a Bat'leth is friggin' mean weapon and most people wouldn't survive a single blow from one that is dealt by a Klingon, but why given that, is the damage a measily (and easily survivable) 5+2d6? Why doesn't strength factor into damage like it does in hand to hand combat?

Oh well, just something else I wonder about.

[Diamond]

Most humans in the ICON system wouldn't consider 5+2d6 damage "measily."