Does anyone have any theories regarding the political situations between the allied powers in the Alpha and Beta quadrants following the Dominion War? Do you think the Romulan Star Empire has retreated to their cold war posture, or do you think that the Federation has opened talks? Do you think that a Klingon/Romulan war is inevidable(per 'All Good Things...')?
Romulans: They are hurting, their frontline vessels 'Warbirds' went down in great numbers. Its hard to say whether they go isonalist or try this new peace thing.
Klingons: Section 31 assessment was that they would take 10 years to recover to their pre war status.
Breen: While coping a beating, we really don't a lot about them. Would you send all your fleet into a distant war? I'd say maybe 1/2 their fleet if that was taken out. And I'm sure they picked up a few planets on the way.
Cardassions: Rebuild and peace.
Dominion: ? Certainly there back in the gamma quadrant but do they like it? There may even be some rogues that stayed to wreak some havok.
In my campaign set now originaly in 2376 and is now mid 2377 has the situation as the following.
Federation
Imediately following the Dominion War the Federation focused on rebuilding the morale of it's citizens and the infastructure damaged by the Dominion (most notably Betazed). Durring this time though it was hindered by a number of splinter groups within the Federation who decided that with much of Starfleet's resources depleted in the war it was a good time to make some more overt moves. Causing internal turmoil and strife. Fortunately as time wore on a Starfleet got a better handle on things that stopped. Durring this time as well Starfleet was divided on the issue of returning to total non-millitary status, or remaining ready to defend the Federation from future threats. In the end it was a compromise, when Admiral Aylnna Necheyev became C'n'C. The result being a fleet willing to go further to protect it's self and it's ideals but not willing to put them aside in the process.
Romulans
The Romulan Empire had not suffered as badly as it was expected they had and have quickly used this advantage in numbers to strong arm the rest of the Alpha/Beta Quadrant powers into accepting their aims. Currently the Romulans have retained and fortified planets taken by them in both Cardassian and Federation space. Causing a build up of tension between the three powers. Also of late the Romulans have a new Praetor, Former Senator Kassus, who is reputed to have led a coup against the relitvely pro-Federation Neral.
Klingons
The Klingon Empire has focused inwards with the exception of their captured worlds in Cardassian space. With the heavy losses sustained in the war and the potential of discord amoung the noble houses at the appointment of Martok as the High Chancelor, the Klingons have returned to their space and focus on maintaining order and protecting themselves from a possible Romulan attack. Though dispite the insular trend, the Klingons relations with the Federation has been excelent and there are plans to fully disassemble the defensive and strategic outposts on both sides of the border. (The Klingons plan to move those resources to the Romulan/Klingon border)
Cardassians
Much like post WWII Germany the Cardassian Union is split up between allied forces. The Union has been devided into three parts, one third Federation, one third Klingon, one third Romulan, with Cardassia Prime being the only free Cardassian world. Currently the Cardassians have negotiated a timetable for the withdrawl of Federation troops from their third and has arranged for aid and support from the Federation durring and after that withdrawl, which has done alot to improve relations between the two powers.
The Romulans have made no promises as to when they will return their third of Cardassian space and many Cardassians believe only a war will free that territory. As of 2377 the Romulans have faced several riots and acts of terrorisim on their held worlds and suspect that Cardassian Inteligence may be behind some of it.
The Klingons have recently began to make negotiations with the Cardassians to release their worlds in exchange to tribute to the empire and the understanding that they are Klingon world merely in Cardassian stuartship. As of yet the Cardassians have not agreed.
The Breen
After the War the Breen Congolomorate has seemed to have scattered. Some of the Breen territory is currently held by the Romulans captured in the year following the War, but the current suspicion is that the Breen are not beaten but merely in hiding waiting for the right opertunity to strike out again and become a galactic power.
Well, the following is the makeup of my campaign I am about to start. I only dealt with the major empires and threat races, assuming the Orions and Ferengi will continue business as usual. My campaign is starting in April of 2376, months after the end of the Dominion War.
Romulan Star Empire
The Romulans have sent as many survey/infiltration vessels into Federation occupied space as they sent warships to help fight the Dominion. The business of the Tal Shiar is ever the business of destabilizing the relations of the Federation with the other galactic powers. There are Tal Shiar agents surgically altered to look like vulcans, humans, cardassians, etc. (pretty much everything but Ferengi and Pakleds) spread throughout the Alpha Quadrant. These people send codified transmissions back to the Star Empire via numerous clandestine means. The most common of which is simply to make a trip to the Neutral Zone via some small shuttlecraft or getting your starfleet ship assigned near there, and undergoing a quick stop to a romulan outpost while on shore leave. Given their own troubles with the Taurhai and their past with the Klingons the Romulans are very interested in not getting into overt conflicts unless they can be seen simply as defending themselves or their people. The Federation has begun a process of regularly scheduled diplomatic talks and the Romulans are invited as always, however they rarely show up. When travelling to these meetings or undergoing 'trade' Romulan ships are required to travel uncloaked through Federation space. It hardly needs to be said that for every visible Romulan ship in the Alpha Quadrant there are at least five that are cloaked, either riding escort or performing Tal Shiar business.
Breen
The Breen were hurt badly during the Dominion War. Their military forces have been severely depleted, but it is unknown what their current policies will be with regards to the rest of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Sitting behind their borders for the moment, they will likely be back soon enough.
Klingon Empire
The Klingons are more firmly entrenched as allies to the Federation than ever, or are they? Some klingons, similar in ways to the Vulcans, see their best path for the future as a lone path. They want the Klingon Empire to return to standing on its own as a galactic power, with no help asked and no quarter given from the other powers in the beta and alpha quadrants. These isolationists look at Lt. Commander Worf as an example of their current future. Constrained by rules that are not klingon rules, hampered by ideologies sometimes at odds with klingon ideologies. They feel they would change too much. Some of these warriors are prepared to do something about it, some of them are even willing to die in order to 'wake up' their fellow brethren.
Cardassian Union
The Cardassians are a beaten foe, having given up their relative peace with their Federation and Klingon neighbors, they had to turn on the Dominion when the price became too high. They are in a cycle of rebuilding, mostly cultural and emotional after the reprisals the Dominion inflicted on their planet. They maintain their sovereignty over the worlds that are firmly cardassian colonies or subject worlds. The Maquis and the colonies they live on however, have reverted to Federation control. There is a strong federation patrol influence throughout the region and the Cardassians usually end up submitting to Federation demands as long as those demands remain for information or good will promises. Secretly most common Cardassians blame the Federation for their predicament, citing that if the federation had not found the Gamma Quadrant, their greedy leaders would not have gotten them into this predicament. It is often easier to hate the face far away from you. One of the Guls has actually petitioned the Federation for ally status. The Federation is considering this only as a means to refocus the cardassians to a more peaceful path of self-sustenance and some of their more glorious past pursuits.
The Dominion
Since their defeat at the hands of the Federation the founders have retreated back to the Gamma Quadrant and given up all their holdings in the Alpha quadrant. At least, that is the story the Federation currently believes. Those changelings whose positions were compromised during the war have all left, that is true. The deep cover agents still in place have gone nowhere. Effectively cut off from their fellows except via extremely harsh attempts at communication, they still gather information and work to destabalize the federation. It is their hope that if the Federation becomes weak enough, their neighbors will turn on them, and cause them to fall. It was the Federation that was the Dominion's primary enemy during the war. Without them, the entire area could have been forcibly overtaken one empire at a time.
Borg
The only open enemy of the Federation is the Borg. The Federation is often making plans for stronger weapon technologies, tempered by the knowledge that the Borg may be in the Delta Quadrant, but they could arrive in the Alpha Quadrant with little notice if any at all. For the Borg's part they are content to spend time assimilating the majority of the Delta Quadrant for now and simply testing the defenses and resolve of the Federation right now.
So the Federation is taking the 'Hegemony' role of bringing all these divergent groups to the negociating table often, but they can't force them to do so. Outright war is unlikely, but skirmishes happen all the time, sometimes involving Federation ships.
Hmmm . . . intersting . . . the ideas posted are very well thought out and have alot of background to them . . . this is my verion.
Yes, rushed . . . but my players wanted a game . . . and I can make up things as we go along. However, this is written well enough to make a foundation.
Note: Set for Nov 2377
UFP – Still reeling from the Second Borg Invasion and the Dominion War, the Federation is in a far weaker position then it has been in a long time. The Orion Syndicate a long time thorn in the Federations side has increased its activities in all areas of the Federation except for the Core Systems. Furthermore, efforts of exploration have decreased due to increasing pressure to rebuild those worlds affected by the Second Borg Invasion, the Dominion War (Most notably Betazed), and the Orion Syndicate.
Starfleet, the most visible part of the Federation is in the process of rebuilding and reorganizing back to a peacetime state. The Second Borg Invasion and the Dominion War has weakened Starfleet to the point where they can barely maintain its responsibilities in key areas in and on the boarders of the Federation; furthermore some areas in the inner non-Core Sectors of the Federation have been neglected save several small outpost.
Note: Bajor has reapplied for membership, and will undoubtedly become the newest member in the Federation family with in a year.
Klingon Empire- Even though weakened by the Dominion War; the Klingon Empire came out of the war as the strongest power in this area of the Galaxy. However, unlike the Qo’nos of old, under the leadership of the Martok the Klingon Empire has become a far closer Allie to the Federation, helping out in duties that the Federation is otherwise unable to accomplish. Furthermore, some speculate that the Empire is getting far to close to the Federation. There are families with in the Klingon Empire that oppose this new stance, however, the current families in power keep those families at bay and in the shadows (where no honorable warrior would fight).
Romulan Star Empire- soon after the hostilities ended for the Dominion War, the Romulans withdrew from the Alliance and started concentrating on other matter. Their presence in Federation space has been near non-existent save a couple small vessels traveling to and from the diplomatic mission in the Cardassian Union. However, recent actions since the end of the Dominion War have been hostile against the Federation (i.e. USS Prometheus).
Cardassian Union- Left in ruin after they rebelled against the Dominion, their empire is in shamble. Their once strong military arm is now barely existent. Even though those in far-flung colonies still hold allegiance to the Union, corruption and economic instability has become very common, almost disintegrating the Union to a space like Wild West. The Orion Syndicate has increased operations with in the Union has increased by leaps and bounds.
In response to the disintegration of the Union and the lack of authority the Union has turned to their former allies the Romulans to help bring back stability; to a lesser extant the Union has asked the Federation to do the same thing. The Romulans have concentrated on the Core Systems of the Union, while the Federation has been asked to do the same in the rim and southern sectors.
Ferengi Alliance- Business as usual. Latinum is Latinum . . . war just brought more Latinum. However, their trading network has grown to even the Klingon Empire.
Breen- Like the Romulans they have withdrawn into their territory, little has been observed of them since. However, several observation outposts have been established at the closest boarder points as per the Surrender Treaty.
Tholian Assembly- No change in activity has been observed for the most part. However, due to a lack of Starfleet vessels in the region reports of Tholian movement along the boarder are few and far between.
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"See Everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little." -Pope John XXIII
Our campaign's current political situation, after DS9:
FEDERATION: Betweenthe drubbings they've been getting from various powers and the major embarrassments of the Baku incident, the UFP is undergoing a lot of internal and external stresses. The government is in heavy flux, with a lot of the outlying & new members thinking that maybe the Federation is just too juicy a target for the other powers in the area. Many of these outlying colonies are going independent, simply to give themselves less of a profile.
CARDASSIANS: They're beat. Bad. The government can't stay together for more than a few minutes without the various factions cutting into each other. The military commanders have grabbed their own little chunks of the union & are starting their own little warlord states.
BREEN: They're hurting, too, but the break-up of the Cardassian Union is just too tasty. Plenty of conflict between the outer warlords and the Breen.
KLINGONS: Never the most stable of government, the Klingons are looking good compared to the other major powers. However, they are casting a greedy eye on...
ROMULANS: They were clobbered by the BOrg, the Taurhai, and the Dominion War. They are still doing better than most expected. Unfortunately, the Tal Shiar made moves on the government & replaced the proconsul with a puppet of theirs. The Rom. Star Navy and Tal Shiar are currently having a not-so-quiet civil war.
FERENGI/ORIONS: Boy, oh boy! Nothing says profit like a bunch of major powers going through changes... These two economic powerhouses are trying to aid the fragmentation of the various major governments to gain themselves markets and allies. They're connected to just about every trouble-making group in the Alpha & Beta Quads.
BORG: They're suffering massive rebellion by members that have been infected by the virus Voyager hit them with. They're destroying the ones they can get to, but they've misses a bunch. The Borg, in turn, are being pressed by Species 8472 and another group from one of the outlying globular clusters near the Delta quadrant.
DOMINION: Hurt, but recovering. and taking it out on the races around them i the Gamma quadrant.
TAURHAI: Wow, the Rommies took a good punchin the nose and are now fighting each other. Sounds like a good time to grab some of their territory.
Thank for the great ideas for my campiagn. I read things that I never considered. I have an add-on question for the board though. What does anyone think of the new types of officers that the Federation is indoctoring into Starfleet? With the heavy casualties suffered by th efederation in the war, I believe that Starfleet sped u the Academy training and--- relaxed ---the heavy screening process that recruits go through. I also believe that there are a large number of officers serving after 2375 that would still be enlisted men or ensigns if there had beem no war. If this is the case, does the philosophy of Starfleet, which has been the developmental compass for the direction the Federation had grown, suffer or do the new recruits bring with them a new perspective on an old belief structure?
I've played this out with some of my junior officer characters.
Several issues came up: those who exited the academy early aren't happy with their current conditions - some are LTJG's without a full degree or training. Created a general rumbling of discontent - echoed by their superiours not being happy with the general quality of the new officers either.
The solution created (within the game) was to provide formal training for the advanced officers that would eventually match what they had missed.
I narrate for some pretty picky players - they will accept transporters, warp drive and other "magic" items but not allow hand waving on character issues. They wanted a reason for these young people to choose to contine working for a fleet that basically cheated them out of the training they needed to do their jobs - a fact that they hold responible for how many of their classmates died during the war.
In fact the biggest problem my post war fleet is facing is not the number of ships but rather morale issues. Alot of the SF folks are thinking:
Maybe if we'd backed out of the G quadrant when asked we could have avoided a war.
Maybe if the fleet had modernized thousands wouldn't have died in outdated Miranda's....
Why bother sending cadets out to die - if they had enough training they wouldn't be cadets!
Etc.
Anyhow - it is a good question and can lead to a bunch-o-role playing.
Our campaign has a lot of new oficers that were rushed through the academy, or mavericks that were spot pormoted from high-level enlisted into low officer slots.
Due to attrition, there's a lot of field grade people that don't need to be; guys who have been in Starfleet for a couple of years before they find themselves a LCDR & have no clue what they're doing. Not that they think that... Most are pretty militant from their exposure to the war.
The guys that were field grade when the war hit & made it through are more of teh 'explorer' types whgo long for the golden age of cruising around finding new and interesting stuff. The really connected made flag rank, the rest are still out there to temper the younger, hotter heads.
The flag ranks have swelled precipitously to the point where you can't swing a dead Denebian bat without hitting an admiral. They're almost all useless.
It seems like everyone else is posting their campaign ideas, so I guess I'll do mine too. Mine takes place about 3 years after Deep Space 9's last episode. The characters started off as Ensigns and have been promoted up to full Lt. so far. This is the current status of the major powers in the universe:
Federation: After all the major wars and battles they have been in, especially with the Dominion, the Federation is hurting for resources. They are slowly building their way back to full strength putting out ships as fast as they can. The majority of these ships have been focused on defense, especially after the last incident with the Soma. For some reason, they sense they may need them in the future.
Klingons: After helping with the war against the Cardassians and the Dominion, the Klingons are feeling very powerful. But, with Martok as their Chancellor, the Klingons have been conserving their resources. They haven't attempted to expand against their neighboring Romulans, but the thought is there.
Romulans: They were hurt just as bad, if not worse, than the Cardassians during the Dominion. After the Tal Shiar lost all of those Romulan warbirds when attempting to invade the Founders homeworld. They look like a beaten people with the Taurhai conquering their planets and a plague ravaging them as well. At this point in my game, the Romulans have approached the Federation (a Romulan senator has been in Federation space for years acting as a Vulcan First Contact Ambassador) asking for help against the Taurhai and finding a cure to this plague. The Federation is still considering it.
Cardassians: They are a beaten race looking to rebuild themselves into a new light. Shying away from the warlike people they were, the Cardassians are now trying to focus on their art and culture (Cardassians are very passionate in everything) to symbolize their new existence. They are still building ships, under the watchful eye of the Federation, but only for purposes of defense. It is rumored they will ask for membership in the Federation.
Bajorans: With the Dominion war over, Prime Minister Shakkar (sp?) has agreed to Bajor becoming a member of the Federation. Their first decision as a member of the Federation was to reopen trade routes between Bajor and Cardassia in an effort to help Cardassia rebuild their economy.
Breen: After many quiet years, the Breen broke the peace treaty and attacked numerous Federation locations on New Years Eve of 2377. Surprisingly, they had a fleet of ships neither the Federation nor Starfleet Intelligence knew about. But, no one still knows the reason behind the attacks.
Dominion: After the end of the war, the Dominion went back to the Gamma Quadrant. For them, things got a lot worse. Once Dominion members realized the Founders were not gods and can be killed, they rebelled. The Jem'Hadar had a hard time fighting them off and some of the Jem'Hadar decided to rebel themselves. The Gamma Quadrant is in total disarray, but some of the rebelling Dominion members have made contact with Deep Space 9 with the possible hope of opening trade agreements.
Deep Space 9: The station itself is now the port of call for the Bajor sector. Once Bajor joined the Federation, the station was officially given into their hands. Starfleet upgraded the station interior and paneling to their designs, but kept the basic shape and feel of the station (the stores on the Promenade still exist as does Quarks). But, any Bajorans who wished to stay working on the station underwent a special 3 month class to gain an offical ranking in Starfleet. Colonel Kira is now Commander Kira.
Section 31: They are still around and planning something regarding Deep Space 9. Two characters have been approached by a person in a silvery liquid state (think Terminator 2) named Dalton. Dalton offered information to the characters if they performed little "favors" for him. Both characters refused and paid for their refusal (one underwent a court martial trial and the other was force to go on the run for a short time). They have been quiet recently, but my characters expect something from them soon.
Taurhai: The recently learned about this so called Federation and have taken jumps into Federation space. To learn more about humans and the other races, they have kidnapped them and performed experiments on them, usually killing the person. Federation ships have fired upon Taurhai ships attempting to kidnap more people. The Federation now sees them as a threat and an alliance with the Romulans might be feasible.
"The Darkness": In three occassions, the characters have encountered an odd type of "shadow" looking creature. It is about 4 feet in height, two arms and legs, claws and teeth, but very intelligent and also becomes intangible (passes through walls). They know the creatures kill for psychic engery (empaths, telepaths, etc...), but no one knows why. One character feels they are connected to her past (major plot line). She has learned that somehow these creatures may be ancient enemies of the Prophets and Pah Wraiths as well (uh oh...)
Well, that's it. Please feel free to comment as I enjoy hearing feedback from other roleplayers and narrators.
In the campaign we run, we're pretty committed to sticking to established Star Trek canon. This means we have almost no interstellar relations spinning off "in game" on their own. Guess we're dull, in that regard...exceptions include:
> Romulan "occupation" of Benzar: It was mentioned in a DS9 episode that it may prove tricky to oust the Romulans from the Benzite system, after the Star Empire "liberated" it from a brief Dominion occupation. We picked this up in our campaign, mainly because one of the bridge crew heroes is a Benzite. The player was 'dismayed' & thrilled to hear that, no, officially the Romulans do not occupy Benzar....however there ARE several hundred military "advisors", present to safeguard against unspecified threats. Echoes of Cold War subterfuge (US and Sov Bloc never officially usurping countries, yet maneuvering for dominance).
> Cardassian rebuilding: in our campaign it's been intentionally left vague what, if anything, the Cardies are up to now. This was done so as not to contradict anything that may be established in a future Trek series or movie...But Cardassia has not vanished in the background; indeed, our campaign vessel has recently beem assigned a (player character) Starfleet medical officer whose species just happens to be Cardassian. Her presence on the ship has proven to be interesting, with lots of roleplaying potential as some members of the crew (player & non-player) try visibly to accept the Cardassian doctor despite of (understandable) bias!
I do have something new to contribute: I thought some power blocs appear to be missing from the topic of interstellar relations in the post-Dominion War era.
What about...
> The First Federation (first -and only- appearance in 'The Corbomite Maneuver'-TOS). Clearly, this is rather tongue-in-cheeck, but still! In our campaign, we occasionally feature the First Federation, as a minor, mostly neutral power bloc, technologically superior to powers on the level of the UFP, Klingon Empire etc. Admittedly, they are just cameos. But hey, the tranja is flowing free!
> The Sheliak Corporate (from 'The Ensigns of Command' -TNG. At least, I hope I got the name of ep right). Another technically superior civilization, we have assumed these non-humanoid, beliggerent lifeforms have kept a low profile ever since the 2250's AD. Rarely a cameo turns up for a diplomatic conference.
I could think of a few more, but I'll first post this and watch for any replies!
Cardassian Empire: There is none, the planets were almost all absorbed into the Klingon Empire, Romulan Empire, Federation, Bajor or Republica de Maquis. Rumours fly that in the Bajoran controlled areas Cardassians are being exterminated.
Federation: Undergoing internal problems after the Briar Patch incident, having to release and apologize to all the Maquis prisoners they had 'You were right, the Cardassians were planning something the whole time.', rumours of Section 31, and other difficulties.
Romulans: Finally at something approaching peaceful relations with the rest of the major powers. Neutral Zone abolished and as a reciprical gesture the ban on Federation cloaking technology was also lifted.
Republica de Maquis? I thought that the majority of the Maquis were hunted down and exterminated by the Cardies and the Dominion. I realize that it would be almost impossible for the whole movement to be eradicated, but is there enough left to form an official government of any size? Just asking because I don't remember hearing about it in DS9.
Hmmm . . . it would make sence if there as a sizable group left . . . that they would establish their own Gov't. But wouldn't it more boarder a militant Federation . . . since most if not all where at one point Federation citizens? Furthermore, I presume most who would have survived during the war would join the Federation in their campain against the Cardassians/Dominion.
So does that have any influence on future actions? I'd think so. I haven't delt with them in my scenario, presuming most have rejoined the Fed, as the Fed would reabsorb the DMZ.
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"See Everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little." -Pope John XXIII
It must be just me, but I really have troubles finding this one believable.
Come on, Cardassians being exterminated by Bajorans?!? I can't seriously picture myself evil Bajoran oppressors pressuring and killing those poor and defenseless Cardassians! I mean, Bajorans know what it's like to be occupied and oppressed. They wouldn't want to inflict the same thing to any other specy, would they? Even those, who oppressed them in the first place ... AFAIR, Bajorans have always been pictured as peaceful and contemplative people. Not aggressive nor revenge seeking ones. Besides they are not supposed to have any decent fleet, how could they maintain their hold on Cardassian systems?
Your game must take place in some sort of parallel/mirror universe (they all do ... but this one is rather further away ). Or all Bajorans are being controlled by Pah-Wraiths who finally managed to escape from the fire caves? That must be it .
[This message has been edited by Calcoran (edited 03-10-2001).]
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Building political tensions after DS9
). Or all Bajorans are being controlled by Pah-Wraiths who finally managed to escape from the fire caves? That must be it
.
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