Coda Character Concepts

[Dan Stack]

Given some "discussion" has come up about Coda being "limited" due to its use of Professions, I have an idea, one which I think will be useful to players and narrators.

I'd like people to post some concepts for characters that they are uncertain how to realize using the Coda rules. Then we can discuss how to realize those characters using the Coda rules - not down to the individual skill level, but rather just discussing what sort of professions, backgrounds, edges, skills, etc. would be appopriate for such a character.

[RaconteurX]

Neither I nor any of my group has had any problems, but we're reasonably clever. My own character, Lt. Commander Tavas Sloane, revolved around the concept of an engineering prodigy and starship designer. Engineering Brat was his Personal package (Curious, Suit Trained; Devotion (wife Mira Eson, government operative), and Starship Designer was his Professional package (Ambidextrous, Zero-G Trained; Pacifist).

A hybrid Scientist/Inventor formed the core, with a liberal leavening of Starship Engineering Officer. I focussed on acquiring Edges and Professional Abilities rather than skill levels with my initial allotment of Advances, to reflect Tavas' superior talent but inferior experience.

Additional Edges acquired: Alert, Bold, Command, Confident, Contacts (Warp Institute), Famous Event (assigned to Daedalus-class design team), Multitasking, Promotion 3, and Speed.

Two further Flaws were acquired as well: Familiar Face (lots of public exposure due to Famous Event, plus he is the grandson of Zefram Cochrane) and Fey (borrowed from LOTR... prolonged separation from his wife has made him depressed and prone to risk-taking).

Scientist Abilities acquired: Focus, Technophile, R&D Specialist, and Breakthrough. Engineering Officer Abilities acquired: Engineering Certification, Miracle Worker (Propulsion), and System Overhaul.

He's a pithy little hippy...

[Siroth]

Well, I'd 'decode' professions into how many 'picks' they're worth, choosing an overall number based on the general average of all them. Then I would ban all base professions.

This will cause trouble with the Professional abilities, though... Not sure how to solve that. You could give a character three picks and just let him choose whatever he wants from the Tier 1 abilities of any of the base professions, but it still doesn't solve the whole problem.

Elite professions would still apply. They come with requisites which characters must meet first, of course, but within Starfleet that is acceptable - all Starfleet officers went through training at the Academy after all, and sometimes individuals have been accepted into Starfleet based solely on merit, at least to some extent (e.g., Icheb and Seven of Nine on Voyager and Kira being a Starfleet Commander toward the end of DS9).

I think I'd also remove the 'only two professions' rule, either entirely, or else increasing it to allow more professions. After all, Explorer and Ambassador both seem to be perfectly acceptable elite professions for a Starfleet officer (in fact, Picard and Spock could certainly be called both).

Why did the game even include base Professions in the first place? No, I don't ask to be contrary, I just want to know. In ICON the Overlay was just a starting point, and it certainly didn't come with any sort of restrictions or limitations on subsequent character development, so why was this deemed necessary in CODA Trek?

[Dan Stack]

A clarification - I created this thread not to discuss how to change the Coda rules, but rather to discuss how to use them to create a variety of characters.

It is my belief that any character one would want to play in the Trek universe could be realized by the rules.

[Siroth]

Originally posted by Dan Stack
A clarification - I created this thread not to discuss how to change the Coda rules, but rather to discuss how to use them to create a variety of characters.

It is my belief that any character one would want to play in the Trek universe could be realized by the rules.

Perhaps, but it will be an approximation at best in some cases...

I mean, Kira is a pretty complex character, for example. She was in the Bajoran Resistance, so she is a Soldier? Well, she is executive officer on DS9, and becomes commanding officer at the end of the show (and she remains CO in the subsequent novels), and we've seen her command starships on occasion, including the Defiant. So what is she?

Well, according to the rules she would have to be a Starship Officer, because that's the only way she will ever have the Starship Duty ability (given that the errata here says it cannot be taken with the Innovative edge and a character can only ever have one base profession).

However, if you look at her background, she certainly seems more appropriate as a soldier than Odo does... Oh, and she _was_ a Starfleet Commander in several episodes toward the end of DS9. And she wore a red uniform, which told us she was a Command branch officer. How is that possible unless she began as a Starship Officer? It is not according to the rules...

Okay, complying with the rules, we could make her a Starship Officer. After all, it is not inappropriate given that she is command branch in the Bajoran militia. However, that doesn't really seem satisfying given all her years in the resistance, does it? She became a resistance fighter at age 12. She then fought as a freedom fighter for twelve years until Bajor was free. Somehow you'd want those 12 years to count for something, don't you? After all, it's almost twice as long as the time we saw her on DS9...

Okay, so we might argue Kira is an unusual example. We would have to ignore all the other Bajorans with a similar past, though... But how about a character like Garak? He is perhaps even more complex than Kira! What is he? Well, he seems to be a lot of things. He was definitely a Starship Officer (of the Cardassian Union) at some point (most likely in Command branch, but that's speculation on my part), but by the time of DS9 he seems to be a rogue... According to the errata for the rules, however, this is not possible since you cannot have more than one base profession. Besides, Garak would certainly qualify as a Merchant as well. He is just a plain and simple Cardassian tailor, after all

We could let Garak start out as a Starship Officer for the Cardassians, but somehow that would work contrary to his function in Star Trek where he is much, much closer to the rogue, wouldn't it? After all, not having him be a rogue will cut off or at least severely limit from taking professional abilities as a rogue, and those are the most appropriate to his function as an NPC.

Yes, if you're going to make a straight-forward, right out of the Academy character, then CODA professions are okay. For more complex characters like Kira or Garak, however, simply giving more advancements won't do them sufficient justice. Can CODA approximate these characters? Yes, of course, but I don't think that's satisfying enough given that the rules were written for Star Trek specifically. We can force characters into the professions, but doing so is not very satisfying.

[Liquidator Queeg]

I'll say straight up that I'm at a disadvantage here since I don't own either of the Trek RPG books.

If Kira is given the Soldier profession, could one not simply spend a bunch of advancement picks on non-profession skills to represent much of the "experience" Kira had aboard starships and DS9? Some ranks in this, some ranks in that, throw in a few flaws to get a few edges, and badda-bing, there you go.

I'm assuming, of course, that the Soldier profession doesn't have a lot of ship-based skills. Does she really need any of the Starship Officer abilities? Are they that critical for her to be able to function as an NPC in a game?

Doesn't the Narrator's Guide have any guidelines for creating "experienced" characters?

Sorry, I put a lot of question marks in this post as I'm a bit at a loss. I can't fathom how the CODA rules in Trek could be so different from those in the LotR RPG, which pretty much allows you to make any character you want, taking as many orders (professions) as you like -- you just can't get the "cheap" advancement cost in more than two of them.

Steve

[Dan Stack]

How I'd make Kira. That's an easy one.

Soldier Base Profession.

I wouldn't even bother giving her an elite profession nor do I see a need for her to have anything to do with the Starship Officer Profession.

Starfleet Commander in several episodes toward the end of DS9. And she wore a red uniform, which told us she was a Command branch officer. How is that possible unless she began as a Starship Officer? It is not according to the rules...

A few things regarding Starship officer...

First off, nowhere in the rules does it state you need to be a member of the Starship Officer profession in order to be a member of Starfleet. (If I'm mistaken, please point out a page number). It is a common thing to do, but Kira could easily function as a Starfleet Officer should she choose to join Starfleet. (In a similar vein, nothing requires a Starship officer to be part of Starfleet, or any organization for that matter. In one Coda game we had a smuggler who was a member of the Starship Officer Professeion).

Second, nothing prevents her from joining the Command Officer Elite Profession. Being a member of the Starship Officer Profession is not a requirement for it. The errata you refer to states:

Page 135, Innovative edge: Under effects, the following should be added: "The Starship Duty ability may not be selected in this manner."

Page 66, Command Officer, Prerequisites: Should read "Starship Duty or..." The same applies to the prerequisites listed for all Starship Officer elite professions

So if I did feel the need to have her enter the Command Officer Elite Profession, she would need...
Administration (Parent Organization) 4+
Persuade 3+
Systems Operation 2+
Willpower 1+

Looking at her writeup in the Narrator's Guide, she meets all those requirements so if she wanted to, she could enter the Command Officer Elite Profession at any time.


As for Garak... He's also pretty easy. I'd start him off in the Diplomat or Rogue Profession (probably Rogue, but he's such a snake-charmer that Diplomat might be appropriate) and quickly have him enter the Spy Elite Profession. He buys a few skills useful to being a tailor and for functioning on a starship. A little System Operation for being proficient at being aboard a ship and a little Craft to make his outfits. Maybe a few Enterprise skills for running his shop. If I want him to be very good at it being a tailor I might have him briefly part of the Free Trader Elite Profession. I also might see him as briefly part of the Assassin Elite Profession, but I don't think so - he seems more a generic spy who happens to assassinate from time to time. Garak would need a lot of advancements to realize him in Coda (and he would need a lot of Experience in Icon as well - he is a highly skilled character)


As an aside, I think you are confusing Profession with Role. A Profession in Coda-Trek simply determines what you are best at (when you first start), not what you do with it. Nothing prevents a spy form being good at piloting a ship. Nothing prevents a soldier from joining Starfleet. Nowhere in the rules does it state "Only characters from the Starship Officer Profession may be part of Starfleet".

[Liquidator Queeg]

Hey cool! Thanks for posting those breakdowns Dan. I suspected that some misunderstandings were present in other posts regarding the purpose of professions in CODA Trek.

Steve

[PGoodman13]

Originally posted by Dan Stack
First off, nowhere in the rules does it state you need to be a member of the Starship Officer profession in order to be a member of Starfleet. (If I'm mistaken, please point out a page number). It is a common thing to do, but Kira could easily function as a Starfleet Officer should she choose to join Starfleet.

If it's a requirement to be a Starship Officer to be in Starfleet, then poor Theron here is out of a job....

[PGoodman13]

Y'know, I don't know much about this game, but I have made myself somewhat knowledgeable about character generation. You're straight-jacketing yourself, but you're blaming the system.

Originally posted by Siroth
Well, according to the rules she would have to be a Starship Officer, because that's the only way she will ever have the Starship Duty ability (given that the errata here says it cannot be taken with the Innovative edge and a character can only ever have one base profession).

It's not a requirement to have Starship Duty to enter one of the Starship Officer Elite Professions. You have to have it, OR the prerequisite skill levels...as the errata you reference here clearly states, which you chose to ignore. (Oh, and the ridiculous amount of emphasis is mine, but it seemed necessary in this case since you missed it the first time around in the errata.)

However, if you look at her background, she certainly seems more appropriate as a soldier than Odo does... Oh, and she _was_ a Starfleet Commander in several episodes toward the end of DS9. And she wore a red uniform, which told us she was a Command branch officer. How is that possible unless she began as a Starship Officer? It is not according to the rules...

Are we reading the same books? I think not.

First of all, it's Starship Officer, not Starfleet Officer. It's a common error, we see it here all the time, but it's still an error. One need not have the Starship Officer base profession, however, to enter the Command Elite Profession, as witnessed on Player's Guide, page 87, second paragraph. Here, let me save you some time:

"Although the following elite professions are pursued most often by starship officers, they remain open to any character who meets the prerequisites and follows the procedures for entering an elite profession."

I've already addressed the part of the errata you either missed or ignored, about the word "or" that should be a part of the prereqs for the SOEPs. (Personally, I think it's the former, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt in the interests of a civility I've not actually been feeling of late, and say it was the latter.) But under the rules, Rogues can become Starship Security Officers. Under the rules, Soldiers can become Starship Command Officers.

Your creative misinterpretation of the rules doesn't mean that they're broken, as you seem to imply.

I'll quit now, while I'm behind, and let Dan get back to his thread. He's much more eloquent about this than I am, and he's not as likely as I am to descend to this level.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Siroth
However, if you look at her background, she certainly seems more appropriate as a soldier than Odo does... Oh, and she _was_ a Starfleet Commander in several episodes toward the end of DS9. And she wore a red uniform, which told us she was a Command branch officer. How is that possible unless she began as a Starship Officer? It is not according to the rules...

And if you look a little closer at the episodes in question you will discover that she was only given the rank and position, so she could deal with the Cardassians not as a Bajoran militia officer but as a Starfleet Commander. It was only a formality, nothing more.


BTW I don't think the game was written to recreate every tiny detail of Trek lore in game terms. No, what I strongly suspect the writers had in mind was to create a game that allows you to play a role playing game in the Star Trek universe that is capable of recreating the 'feel' and 'style' of the different Trek series. In my opinion the Coda rules achieve that result.

Why don't you at least give us a chance to show you the Coda rules from a different perspective? Not to 'convert' you to Coda, but simply to show you that there may be another way of looking at these rules that is just as valid as your POV. Like PGoodmann13 I think you are just not allowing yourself to see everything there is to this game. If you decide to stick with ICON in the end no one here will object - after all we are not paid by Decipher to sell their game to you. *

* If some of you are paid by Decipher for doing so I want in. NOW!

[Siroth]

Originally posted by Dan Stack
How I'd make Kira. That's an easy one.

Soldier Base Profession.

I wouldn't even bother giving her an elite profession nor do I see a need for her to have anything to do with the Starship Officer Profession.



A few things regarding Starship officer...

First off, nowhere in the rules does it state you need to be a member of the Starship Officer profession in order to be a member of Starfleet. (If I'm mistaken, please point out a page number). It is a common thing to do, but Kira could easily function as a Starfleet Officer should she choose to join Starfleet. (In a similar vein, nothing requires a Starship officer to be part of Starfleet, or any organization for that matter. In one Coda game we had a smuggler who was a member of the Starship Officer Professeion).

Second, nothing prevents her from joining the Command Officer Elite Profession. Being a member of the Starship Officer Profession is not a requirement for it. The errata you refer to states:

"Page 135, Innovative edge: Under effects, the following should be added: "The Starship Duty ability may not be selected in this manner."

Page 66, Command Officer, Prerequisites: Should read "Starship Duty or..." The same applies to the prerequisites listed for all Starship Officer elite professions"

Okay, I admit it - I missed it. I goofed.

In my defense I will explain why, however. I missed it in no small part because it refers to the wrong page. It quite clearly says page 66 as you point out, but the descriptions and so requisites for the Starship Officer Elite Professions actually begin only on page 67 where the command officer requirements are listed. Thus, when I look for an errata, I think 'okay, so I'm looking for something to correct page 67' and then I go look for that. Thus, I do not find it since the errata refers to the wrong page.

Sure, people can say it's just my defense, but I find it equally puzzling that so many people can correctly state this errata here and yet overlook that it refers to the wrong page. In fact, it should have listed all the pages for which the errata would have been appropriate. That would then be pages 67 (command), 69 (flight control), 70 (starship engineer), 71 (starhips operations), 72 (security), 74 (counselor), 75 (medical), and 76 (science). Given the rather significant implications of these corrections (and the trouble caused by listing a single page which is then incorrect), I think this is rather unfortunate to say the least.

Now, I will not address the somewhat annoyed comments against me here except to note that please, people - discussing CODA is appropriate, discussing me or my motives is not. After a more harsh comment in another thread, I made more efforts to discuss only the rules on their own basis. Please acknowledge that or you will make the moderators life a complete misery, and prove that discussion is not possible here unless everybody agrees on everything, in which case discussion is pretty moot.

Oh, and please also acknowledge that I actually admit it when I'm wrong - something a few people on this board have harshly accussed me of not doing (though nobody in this thread).

[Aldaron]

Okay Dan, here's one for ya!
My old character from "Prime Directive" days...(which we ran in the TNG timeframe)

Michael Declin is a 39 yr. old Lt Cmdr (Command branch)

He began his career at 17 as an enlisted man, and was quickly snaffled up by Starfleet Intelligence. He worked for about 8 years in "Black Ops" - namely, undergoing surgical alteration and being stationed on Bajor, where he fought with the resistance during the Occupation. His mandate was to aid the Bajorans, as well as provide SF with intelligence on Cardie combat techniques, equipment and morale.

He kind of 'went native' after a few years, and ended up being pulled out. From there he returned to service, still with Starfleet Intelligence, as a senior NCO. He was involved in several missions tracking down Cardie sleeper agents left over from the war before he attended OCS and graduated as a Lieutenant (JG) (rather than Ensign - my Narrator figured a CPO with fifteen years experience should get some credit when he graduates!)

He has since worked at Tactical, then transferred over to command on his promotion to Lt Cmdr and took over as XO aboard an Intrepid class ship.

Now, my thinking is something along these lines:

Base Profession - Soldier
Extras devoted to Bajoran stuff - culture, history, language, etc.

1st Elite Profession - Spy
switch to
2nd Elite Profession - Security Officer
3rd Elite Profession - Command Officer (lose the Spy professional skills)

With 22 years in service, 8 of them in combat, I'm figuring on creating him with around 30 picks. I know that's a lot; do you think it's excessive? My reasoning is that he's a typical (former) senior NCO - he's really been around the block a few times; far, far more than the average Lt Cmdr.

Bear in mind that he'll probably be playing in a pretty high-powered game (if it gets off the ground - that depends on my mate Paul getting into CODA, and me seeing him more than twice a year!!! )

Any other suggestions would be most welcome!

[Dan Stack]

Sounds about right to me.

The spy is a no-brainer. Depending on the amount of time spent in careers, it might be reasonable to give him just one Starship officer elite profession - security possibly, though that is just one view. All three work fine in my opinion as well.

As for number of advancements - 30 is certainly a lot - more than McCoy had at the end of Enterprise's five-year mission. Though it really is a function of game - I prefer characters with 6-8 advancements. There is nothing inherently imbalancing with that many advancements - you are just one phaser hit away from being disintegrated.

Overall, it sounds reasonable. If I were to do it I too would do the same thing with Professions. I think I'd lower his advancements to 24-25 (though he will need to pay a high cost to gain new elite professions - giving up all five picks and unable to take the Starship Duty Professional Ability).

[Lancer]

Aldaron, have you considered starting this character as a Starship Officer (Security) and dropping the Soldier profession?

If he trained as an enlisted man in Starfleet and was then recruited by SI I don't think that would be unreasonable. Soldier and Security Officer have many professional skills in comon and both should be able to represent the resistance fighter background of your character, especially with the added skills and abilities of the Spy EP.
Plus, it would be easier on the advancement picks, with only two elite professions taken during character advancement (spy and command officer) and access to the Starship Duty ability.