More plots...

[Dan Gurden]

Well. I said that I would never use Q or the Borg. And yet, here I am, a second Borg based adventure. Of course, this one does have an inbuilt 'Deux Ex' that the players would have toearn to save the day...



Q-ube. Bored Q becomes part of the Borg Collective. But underestimates the loss of individuality, somehow his subconcious reaches out and contacts the nearest Starfleet vessel (the players) and tells them of his predicament...

Now the Players must rescue Q before the Borg find out what he really is, and the Borg know that they have been contacted, and are making a bee-line for the players ship.

There is only 1 chance to live. Seperate Q from the collective, and hope that he's grateful enough for the rescue to put things to rights...


Thoughts? Ideas? More plots?

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

How do you plan to explain the loss of individuality?

Regards,
CKV.

[Dan Gurden]

Originally posted by Capt. K. Vaughn
How do you plan to explain the loss of individuality?

Regards,
CKV.

As a plot point. No seriously... As Narrator, anything that needs to happen to set the story up, can, independant of what the rules say.

If you want the details;

A bored Q wanders into a Borg Cube and 'just to see what it is like' allows himself to be assimilated, too late he finds even his exhuberant personality drowning in the voices of the collective as he finds himself lost among a sea of minds.

In a moment of panic, he stretchs out his subconcious, sending his SOS via a subspace signal (Special effects to be determined), trying to reach Jean Luc, but instead finding the nearest Starfleet ship.

Hows that sound?

[Dan Gurden]

And of course if a Narrator needs to point out how desperate the situation is. Why not have the Borg start to use Q powers gained through the collectives newest member.

Starting small, aftre all, the mindless drones are not actively using the powers, and do not yet know what they have. But have a Drone Q-flash onto a ship, through shields, and outside of transporter range?

And as the Borg realise that they have gained an increase in'Biological and Technical' advancements, they would then begin to use the powers actively... Have a specialist theorise that the Borg could use the powers to assimilate the universe by thought if required... Scary thought (Literally)

[C5]

Mind some suggestions ?

Q could have decided to take a Borg form (instead of his usual StarFleet Admiral form). Once the form assumed, however, it would have been so perfect that the collective could have taken over (a bit like what happened to the Kelvan in a TOS episode - taking human form means they eventually share their feelings and physical weaknesses as well), but not so fast enough that he could have sent some message.
After that, the assimilation process would continue, but slowed as much by Q, who has retrated inside himself and can't do anything but resist the assimilation - knowing he will lose eventually. The powers and knowledges of Q are then slowly leaking into the Collective's mind, who uses them without questionning where they're from - they don't really realise it comes from this particular drone, since usually an assimilation is immediate. Also, the knowledge Q is trying to hide the most is the existence of the Q continuum (for its discovery by the Borg would have terrible consquences), but the drawback is that no one in the Continuum is aware of Q's predicament (so they can't help him out).

As for the message Q sent, I'd suggest not only a simple signal, but also some sample of his knowledge that the contacted Crew would all share, wich would leave them without any doubts about the upcome of the Assimilation. Optionnally, this knowledge could even contain some useful data wich could help the Crew to get Q back - or even some very small powers (wich Q would of course take back once saved). This could even things a bit in favor of the players (and allow for some fun).

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

Okay...what happens if the PCs fail though?

Regards,
CKV.

[Diamond]

PCs fail? No problem - the poor Q keeps holding out long enough for the next batch to try and save him. But several planets get assimilated in the meantime.

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

Potentially that is true Diamond but I have found when doing episodes with such extreme consequences, it is generally a good idea to consider the end result of utter failure.

Regards,
CKV.

[C5]

Well, you could use a deus ex machina, and have the Q Continuum eventually notice Q's predicament and get him out. Optionally, should the players fail, warning the Continuum could become their next (and last) chance.
If you don't want that, well, the only logical consquence of utter failure is the assimilation of the entire Galaxy in the blink of an eye. The players could have been protected thanks to Q's warning, so they would remain alone in a Borg Galaxy. While the QBorg are trying to assimilate other galaxies, the poor players could be desperatly trying to find some way to correct this... but I don't really see how they could without some help of another godlike entity. Either you bring the Prophets or the Organians in, or they use the Guardian of Forever to try to fix their first attempt...
Or you can let them try living in that new universe. After all, who knows what the Borg would do after assimilating a Galaxy ? Maybe the Collective could start experience loneliness, and keep the players unassimilated to avoid utter boredom by playing cat and mouse...

[Dan Gurden]

Originally posted by Capt. K. Vaughn
Potentially that is true Diamond but I have found when doing episodes with such extreme consequences, it is generally a good idea to consider the end result of utter failure.

Regards,
CKV.

Hence the reason that I dont usually do Q or Borg episodes...

[AngryTree]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

This board has inspired me so much, so this time, when I got an idea to take the plot in a different direction, I figured I'd pass it along and share the wealth.

Q-ube: (The name is just too cool to change...)

Teaser: In his quarters, a PC (a PC who doesn't usually get the spotlight would be perfect) is watching a subspace message from his beloved (either an established NPC or someone new - I'd lean towards someone new for reasons that are obvious below). In the message, she mentions that she is leaving on a passenger ship (explicitly stating the name of the ship) for Risa, and that she'll meet him there on Stardate X. Cue red alert klaxons, and the captain calling for all senior staff to the bridge. When the PC gets to the bridge, the captain reveals that a distress call was received from a ship in the sector being attacked by the Borg. The ship is, of course, the same one the PC's beloved is on.

Act 1: Setting course for the site of the distress call, the PCs' ship encounters a Borg cube. The usual ship battle occurs, but the PC's ship is no match for the cube. Shields are down and Borg drones beam on to the bridge. One of them is ... you guessed it ... the PC's beloved. As the PC moves to stop him (imagine a slow-motion "Nooooooooo!"), one of the security guards draws his phaser, aims at a drone (guess who?) and presses the trigger. There's a flash of light from the phaser emitter, and....

A white flag with the word "Zap!" pops out of the phaser.

As each guard tries to fire his phaser, something different happens. One has his phaser turned into a bananna, another a squirt gun, etc. Play up the fact that the Borg drones seem to be as confused about what's going on as the PCs. Unable to process what happened, the Collective withdraws its drones, and the cube retreats at high warp.

At this time, there is another flash of light, and Q appears on the bridge (I'd use the John de Lancie Q, but if you have a particular Q that has taken a shine to your PCs, by all means use him). He explains that the PC's beloved is, in fact, a Q (just like the TNG episode with Amanda Rogers ... sorry, can't remember the title). Born to parents sent to study humanity (or what ever species), she will appear as human (or whatever) on the most advanced scans, but she has all the powers of the Q continuum. Were the Borg to gain those powers, the effects would be catastrophic (maybe have Q snap his fingers, and transport the PCs to a city on Earth, where everything is peaceful, until one of the buildings is Q-flashed into a Borg tower. Suddenly, everything starts being transformed into Borg structures; mass hysteria erupts as perfectly normal people start to Q-flash into fully-assimilated drones; finally, nothing recognizable remains, and there is only Borg). The one saving grace for the entire universe is that the beloved is not aware that she is a Q (so neither is the collective). However, it will soon figure out that something is very different about her, and once it starts examining her, it is only a matter of time. The Continuum is taking a hands-off approach, waiting to see what the humans (and Andorians and Bolians and...) can do. As the PC's ship is the closest, it appears that they may be the universes last hope...

And that's about as far as I've gotten. However, how the rest of the episode resolves really depends on how you run your series. Are you going to go for the optimistic Next Gen ending, where the beloved is locked in the brig, and the ship is slowly being assimilated by Q-flash, but the emotional plea by the PC ends up overcoming the Borg programming and winning the day? Or are you going to go for the darker DS9 feel, where the PC must deal with the fact that in order to save the universe, the love of his life must die (though how you'd kill an omnipotent being is beyond me...). It's up to you.

As for the deus ex factor: if the Borg gain the powers of the Q continuum, they would then be able to compete with, and perhaps destroy, the continuum. Therefore, if the Borg look like they will be victorious, and planets start being assimilated by thought, the continuum will step in and return everything to normal.

Anyways, it's just a (lengthy) thought. YMMV, of course.


AngryTree, out.

Grrrrrrrrrr!

[Dandelionhead]

I doubt I would ever attempt a plot like yours, as I don't think my players would enjoy it at all, but if I thought they might...

Win or lose in freeing the Q from the Borg, at the end the Q would be revealed never to have been in any kind of jeopardy at all. The Q would remind the crew of its omnipotence by casually wiping the Borg (or at least the one cube) out of existence. To my mind the Q is so far beyond the Borg on the power scale that no kind of threat is possibly believable. The crew might have a hard time buying that, though. There could be more fun in having the Q trying to persuade the crew it was all an elaborate joke, especially if they "succeeded" in saving him:

Q: "No, really! I'm Omnipotent... I was just having fun with you people!"

Crew: "That's not what we saw when we broke you free!"

Q: "It was a joke! I was kidding! Here, (snaps fingers) the Borg are gone! I was in no danger."

Crew: "You're just too proud to admit us lowly people could save all-powerful you!"

-Dan.T