Coda Character Concepts

[Silverthorne]

Try this example. John Steel - Merchant skipper. start out as a merchant, then aquire the starship commander.. elite class. he owns his ships and flies it without ever setting foot in starfleet.

[Siroth]

Characters that could challenge the CODA character creation, huh?

Hmm... Try these:


Vash (Picard's girlfriend in "Captain's Holiday" and "Qpid").

Seven of Nine.

Icheb (Voyager's recurring 'borglet').

Tora Ziyal.

Kes.

Guinan.

Boothby.

And of course... Q!

[RaconteurX]

Originally posted by Silverthorne
John Steel - Merchant skipper. Start out as a merchant, then aquire the starship commander elite class. He owns his ships and flies it without ever setting foot in starfleet.

Actually, that would be best be portrayed by taking the Merchant basic profession and joining either the Free Trader (PG pp. 162-3) or Smuggler (PG pp. 165-6) elite profession. A few initial Advancements are mandatory for any character who are not "fresh out of the Academy".

[RaconteurX]

Originally posted by Siroth
Vash.

I'd call Vash a Rogue - Scientist mix with a touch of Smuggler possibly. Not much of a challenge.

Seven of Nine.

Scientist or Starship Officer best fits Seven of Nine, focus on Space Sciences, with the Starship Science Officer elite profession (and perhaps the Starship Engineering Officer as well). Tack on the Borg species description which appeared earlier on these board, and you're done.

Icheb.

Icheb is a Scientist, as far as I have seen, focus on Space Sciences. Add the Borg species description as above.

Tora Ziyal.

Not familiar with the character. Apologies...

Kes.

Another Scientist, with a Medical and Life Sciences bent

Guinan.

Guinan is more of a Narrator resource than a normal character, but she works as a Merchant, with mayhap a Mystic or Adept ability as well.

Boothby.

Another character with whom I am unfamiliar. Again, apologies...

Q!

A Narrator resource rather than a character, much like Guinan. Q has any basic or elite profession (or at least a costume appropriate to that profession) it desires, in the blink of an eye.

[Phantom]

Personally I think they should bring in a rule similar to the 'no order' characters in LotRs.

Boothby- A groundskeeper at SFA.
Ziyal

Both are an example of this type of character, they are ordinary people.

[RaconteurX]

Originally posted by Phantom
I think they should bring in a rule similar to the 'no order' characters in LotR...

Ah yes, the unspoken "Civilian" basic profession... Personal Development, a "Make You Own" Professional Development package (see PG p. 96), and any Professional Abilities the Narrator thinks fit.

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

Ghosar I came up with as an NPC, but if I ever decide to play anything but a Starfleet game he migt just come in handy.

Ghosar's father was a refugee of Cardassia when the resources became short. He left before the DNZ was setup around the borders. He resided on Deep Space Nine up until the Cardassians took over.

He took his holoship(more on that later) and left. He fled to a small planet with his wife and child. Ghosar grew up knowing about the Cardassian culture and decided to be a Merchant: Entreprenuer.

His father gave his holoship to Ghosar when he began his own business. The holoship was a hotel that was run by Ghosar that allowed people to come aboard and have a blast using the holodeck as a playground, beach, etc.

He is an Entreprnuer for running his own hotel/resort in the middle of the hostile worlds, such as Qo'nos and Cardassia. He visits Earth every once in a while to and is friends with several Admirals in Starfleet command.

[Siroth]

Originally posted by RaconteurX

I'd call Vash a Rogue - Scientist mix with a touch of Smuggler possibly. Not much of a challenge.

I'm not so sure. Clearly she has a background as a scientist or she never would have been accepted as an assistant by Dr. Samuel Estragon. She even seems to have some acceptance in the Daystrom Institude, though they obviously frown at her methods. And note that you cannot combine scientist and rogue in CODA - they are both base professions.

Scientist or Starship Officer best fits Seven of Nine, focus on Space Sciences, with the Starship Science Officer elite profession (and perhaps the Starship Engineering Officer as well). Tack on the Borg species description which appeared earlier on these board, and you're done.

The problem I have with ex-Borg is that you would have to give them incredibly high intelligence and broad access to most, if not all, Knowledge skills. In that they seem to unbalance the game. I mean, just what is their limitation or disadvantage when compared to other characters?

Icheb is a Scientist, as far as I have seen, focus on Space Sciences. Add the Borg species description as above.

Yes, only later episodes of Voyager clearly describe him as taking an education to be accepted into Starfleet, so it seems he is trying to become a Starship Officer.

Not familiar with the character. Apologies...

Tora Ziyal is the half-Cardassian/half-Bajoran daughter of Gul Dukat on DS9. She was captured by the Breen and forced into labor duty for years (along with other captured Cardassians and Bajorans).

Another Scientist, with a Medical and Life Sciences bent

Really? Kes is a scientist? Why?

Guinan is more of a Narrator resource than a normal character, but she works as a Merchant, with mayhap a Mystic or Adept ability as well.

I would say El-Aurians are just as acceptable as PCs as every other species.

Another character with whom I am unfamiliar. Again, apologies...

Boothby is the old groundskeeper at Starfleet Academy in TNG's "The First Duty". He was excellent in no small part because he was played by Ray Walston. He appeared a few times on VOY as well, but only in flashback/dream scenes or such.

A Narrator resource rather than a character, much like Guinan. Q has any basic or elite profession (or at least a costume appropriate to that profession) it desires, in the blink of an eye.

You mean I can't play Q ?!? Aw crap!!


Oh, and what would Jake Sisko be?

Or how about everybody's favorite hate-boy: Wesley Crusher

[Perrryyy]

Really? Kes is a scientist? Why?

The only argument I've got in favor of this one is that she became the Holodoc's nurse/aide in favor of Paris, who really didn't want the job and was a better pilot anyhow.

Tora Ziyal is the half-Cardassian/half-Bajoran daughter of Gul Dukat on DS9. She was captured by the Breen and forced into labor duty for years (along with other captured Cardassians and Bajorans).

I'd call Tora Ziyal an artist, though there's no artist profession in CODA. There are enough bits and pieces in LUG's ICON game to convert one. I assume you're not familiar with the game.

Anyone who is want to take a shot at it?

Boothby is the old groundskeeper at Starfleet Academy in TNG's "The First Duty". He was excellent in no small part because he was played by Ray Walston. He appeared a few times on VOY as well, but only in flashback/dream scenes or such.

I'd call a groundskeeper half botanist (scientist), half administrator, but you've got the mixing of two professions again. Possible, but beyond my knowledge.

Oh, and what would Jake Sisko be?

Writer & therefor, artist or civilian (again, neither of which have professions, but what game is perfect?) I've no doubt several people on the board have ideas about both possibilities.

Or how about everybody's favorite hate-boy: Wesley Crusher

Another bugaboo, part conn, part scientist, part engineer (I lean toward one the latter two , just because he used his science engineering skills so often to save the ship).

YMMV.

I'm not advocating any of the above, just exploring possibilities (and therefor rambling!).

[E W Dawson]

I am not sure about these professions either but I am determined to give them a solid try. It took me over a year to become fully comfortable with d20 Star Wars classes, and now I love them too death. At times, I feeling that nothing in the Star Wars movies are beyond the abilities of the rpg (however, I do get caught up from time to time on particularly difficult issues). I intend to give Coda Trek the same chance.

How would you create a civilian engineer? Scientist does seem close but it does not include the engineering skill group.

On a side note, do NPCs, in general, stick to the same principles of PC creation? The Narrator's Guide suggests that minor NPCs don't but more significant NPCs do. I like the former case. But do I need to fully "stat out" even the most significant NPCs?