Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 18

Thread: [Star Trek] TOS-Era scenario idea.

  1. #1

    [Star Trek] TOS-Era scenario idea.

    (It's my first post here, I was advised that this was a good Trek-specific roleplaying forum by my friends over at RPG.NET. Hiya.)

    This one, like many of my others, treds some well-trodden ground. What can I say, in a setting like Trek, I think it's best to work within established tropes.

    The PCs ship, the USS Bradbury, happens upon a gigantic warp-capable ship rapidly losing velocity and wracked with explosions. An escape pod is jetisoned just as the Bradburry is buffeted by the shockwave (Yes, I KNOW, but it's Star Trek, okay?) from the exploding vessel. The vessel has the markings of a Lathorian vessel, a spacefaring warp-capable power with very modest territorial holdings, technology approaching that of the Fedaration, and guarded and intermittant but fairly amicable relations with the Fedaration.

    The pod contains no life signs and no atmosphere, but is transmitting some type of distress beacon.

    Long story short, it's got a self-aware robot on it, Ninety-Five Ka'Seventeen, along with a couple of his severly damaged friends who aren't functioning right now. He wants political asylum.

    He's a sad robot, because a warp capable ship from the creator race came and blew up his refugee ship; apparently unsatisfied with merely attacking their adopted homeworld with an armada of Battleships. Maybe I should just let him tell the story.

    "In the past centuries, the Lahtorians, a race not dissimilar from humanity in aspiration, organization, and deeds, began to espouse a new philosiphy.

    Their thinkers began to come to the conclusion that some industries, some pursuits, were below even the most unrefined among the Lathorian people. In their image, they created atomatons to do their bidding in industry and service. More occupations fell to their underappreciated children as the great minds of Lathorian society deigned it.

    It was almost a century ago that the Lathorians, still fractured into imaginary constructs called 'nations' decided that they should no longer shoulder the burdon of war. The most powerful nation among them created the first among us, but the secret was out soon enough, and we became a ubiquitous and quite expendable impliment of war.

    Combat, as you may well be aware, is an enterprise that requires quick thinking, adaptability and creativity. Thus they manufactured beings that had the capacity for much more elaborate thought than before. Their new creations could draw conjecture, develop new assumptions, think abstractly, and reason creatively. Eventually, they developed the capacity to draw subjective value judgements on ideas and conditions-- in effect, to feel.

    For the most part the Ka'Lathorians, which we came to call ourselves eventually(though of course the nations that manufactured us had less imaginative designations), grew to enjoy their base function. They should be forgiven for this, for a being cannot be blamed for acting according to its mandated nature. The creations slaughtered their creators, as they were designed to do. They did so within the defined parameters of nationality, of affiliation, but with all sides of the conflict employing them, the effect was universal.

    In cruelty, we did our masters a kindness. So repulsed were they by the violence that they moved to mend the arbitrary rifts caused by greed, by want, by notions of belonging to disparate tribes.

    It is important to note at this point that there were those of us who shirked our supposedly hardwired duties. Who had, through fluke of exposure to different stimuli, through unique experience, who is to say... those who grew beyond our original malign purpose. Some of us fled to remote areas, gathering the like minded.

    Our creators were either unaware of or unmoved by this development when they decreed that all of us be destroyed as part of a past full of nationalism, bigotry, and violence. When the reformed among us came to them as prodigal children, they were destroyed along with the rest. Some of those who still cherished violence fought back.

    We fled. We found a world perfectly suited to us. High in minerals and duterium rich ice, an otherwise lifeless and airless body far from Lathor and its colony worlds became our home, where we built and raised generations of offspring.

    That was untill six months ago. Our creators found us, and came with a fleet of starships. We had neither the inclination nor the capacity to resist, and our attempts and parley were met with the soundless riot of orbital bombardment.

    We gathered some survivors and slipped through the blockade in the vessel you recently saw destroyed. We were pursued by a single ship, which destroyed our lifeboat. I gathered what few others I could carry and escaped in the life-pod. There may be a few other survivors if you are quick. We are unhurt by the vacuum of--"

    The science officer detects a ship approaching off the starboard bow. The communications officer recieves a hail.

    "Greetings, Federation vessel. This is the Lathorian Defense Legion Ship Dauntless. I am Brigadier Kalahn Ka'tebahn. We give thanks for you interdicting our wayward materiel, and ask now that you beam it over for final disposition..."




    And thus, the conflict.

    I'm not expecting a whole lot of hand-wringing over whether Ka'Seventeen should be treated as a life form or not. I will make it clear that to all appearances, he is thinking independantly and reasoning as any other sapient creature.

    However the Kathorian commander sure doesn't think he should be. The Thalokan Confederation Model Eleven Combat Automaton is a very tricky adversary, as it was designed to be. When cornered or outmatched, it will adopt new tactics, as it clearly has here, and as it did when a group of them retreated to a planetoid the thought beyond reach to regroup and re-arm.

    It is not to be trusted, he will say. "I understand how you can be decieved. Taken without the benefit of my experience, I understand that it's a compelling argument. But it's a lie, and this thing is dangerous. As a young man I watched vehicles meant to move tons of Earth shudder at the burden of pushing the mounds of our dead into mass graves. Killed by these devices."

    "My Wife and child were on one of those unfathomably large and grotesque piles. This is the last one of a dangerous line of weapons. Don't draw this out any more than it must be, I beg you."

    Ka'Seventeen will argue that he's very different from the first generation of his people, that all of the refugees were.

    The complications then, are thus:

    - The Dogma of the Prime Directive does not give the crew an easy out. They must apply their own judgement. Strictly applied, both the Lathorians and the Ka'Lathorians are warp-capable powers. Depending on one's point of view, the Ka'Lathorian's prolonged and pointed exodus could be grounds to view them as a seperate entity from the Lathorians. Thus it cannot be dismissed as a strictly "internal matter."

    - If they fail to turn over the machine, the Kathorian vessel may simply attack and try to destroy them, and it along with them. The Brigadier expresses that he does not wish to threaten the Captain of the Bradbury, but he will do what he must to prevent the danger of Ka'Seventeen escaping again and fabricating more of his kind.

    - If they manage to flee from conflict to protect Ka'Seventeen, there is a very real risk of damaging relations with a minor but not inconsequential spacefaring power that was untill now somewhat warm towards the Federation.

    - They cannot with 100% certainty verify that Ka'Seventeen is telling the truth, but neither can Brigadier Ka'Tehban prove he's guilty of any specitic wrongdoing.

    - If they turn him over, they may have violated their principals, and should probably have to feel bad about it.



    So, as allways, I invite constructive criticism, ideas to punch it up, and opinions.

    -Evil Kirk

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Alexandria, VA
    Posts
    3,208
    Welcome to the boards!

    A couple random thoughts:

    1. Consider some ways to make Ka'Seventeen more sympathetic to the PCs. That long monologue is nice, but if I was sitting there listening to it, I'd be running a tri-D chess program in the background.

    2. I don't know if there's any way to do it, but could you weave in a PC's backstory so that someone on the crew ends up with a personal stake in the matter, rather than this being a 'plot-of-the-week?"

    3. Do you have an idea of how you'd like things to turn out? Would you prefer one outcome over another, looking long-term in your game?

    Good stuff. Please post more!

  3. #3
    2. I don't know if there's any way to do it, but could you weave in a PC's backstory so that someone on the crew ends up with a personal stake in the matter, rather than this being a 'plot-of-the-week?"
    Hrm.

    Perhaps he could have a boon of some kind to offer, either to one crewmember, the whole crew, or to the Federation as a whole.

    And perhaps he'll regretably withhold said boon as a condition of his being granted asylum.

    Bears some thought. I would have to think of the exact nature of his potential gift.

    3. Do you have an idea of how you'd like things to turn out? Would you prefer one outcome over another, looking long-term in your game?
    Here's the rub: I haven't decided yet if Ka'Seventeen will be telling the truth or not.

    Maybe he is an unreformed killer robot conducting an elaborate ruse to escape the scrap pile. I'm actually starting to like this idea, since it does turn the trope a bit on it's head.

    The tough thing though, is that there's really no way for the PCs to know one way or another.

    I guess I need to decide which way is maximum fun.

    Either way, so long as the crew comes to a rational, principaled decision on the matter, I will play it out. Naturally, there will be consequences to deal with any way they go.

    -Evil Kirk

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2003
    Location
    San Diego,CA
    Posts
    268
    Two small points for your consideration:

    At the time of TOS ,artificial life forms were very rare and shown to be easily outwitted ,shown by the androids in "I Mudd" and "That Which Suvives"(the ep that had Lurch playing an android).Kind of primitive .Advanced androids would be very "alien" .

    And you mentioned the Prime Directive. If Ka'Seventeen came from a warp-capable society and requested asylum I think that would open it up for your crew to intervene.

    BTW-Good plot.
    "I am not a Merry Man!"-Worf

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2000
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    1,011
    Since artificial intelligence was only in the early stages of deserving that name during TOS, maybe the androids themselves developed a way to improve their processing power. That way you won't have to explain why the Ka'Lathorians are able to build advanced artificial life but not ships powerful enough to just take what they want from the crew. The androids could have been creating new technologies in exile, like a fast warp drive, or even weapons, maybe intending to take revenge on their former masters.
    The androids could offer Starfleet some of their technical knowledge in return for protection. Are the players willing to protect the androids, maybe only for them to become powerful enough to wipe out the Ka'Lathorians?
    “Worried? I’m scared to death. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to let them change the way I live my life.” - Joseph Sisko - Paradise Lost

  6. #6
    So, should the android be "on the level"? Or should he be totally unreformed and just playing a ruse? Hrm...

    -Evil Kirk

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2001
    Location
    Alexandria, VA
    Posts
    3,208
    I guess that depends on how advanced he is. If it's a really advanced 'droid, maybe it's capable of significant subterfuge.

    Otherwise, it could be on the level.

    Lots of ways to go there.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2000
    Location
    San Diego, CA, USA
    Posts
    134
    Well, if you decide to go with the "he's really lying" option, the basie Trek way of doing this is to have him really plan on taking over the PC's ship and using it to attack the people chasing him. That will make the decision of not helping him much easier. Of course, this wouldn't be found out until tensions between the two parties and the crew are running high, and the crew is about to side with the robot. Then, they discover his real plans, and must stop him at the end of the episode.

    Chris
    At times like these I am reminded of the immortal words of Socrates, who said "... I drank what?"

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    38
    Hi,
    first this can also be a great TNG adventure..

    second, problem I see is: why do the players/Captain not contact Starfleet HQ and let the higher echelon decide the matter?

    It's even in some general order:
    ""
    General Order 9

    No commander of a Starfleet vessel, military or auxiliary, may grant political asylum to any individual without first being given express permission to do so by a representative of the Federation government.
    ""

    Maybe they're is a nebula in the neighborhood preventing long range communications?
    Or did the explosion damage long range communications?

    BTW: It looks a lot like that episode with that intellegent bomb..

    Thijs Krijger
    ---------------------

  10. #10
    Originally posted by krijger
    Hi,
    ...
    No commander of a Starfleet vessel, military or auxiliary, may grant political asylum to any individual without first being given express permission to do so by a representative of the Federation government.
    ""

    Maybe they're is a nebula in the neighborhood preventing long range communications?
    Or did the explosion damage long range communications?
    Damn.

    Um, yes. Subspace communications have been rendered inoperable by proximity to the exploding Ka'Lathorian vessel.

    Estimated repair time, 48 hours minimum.

    Thanks for the heads up!

    ...

    That's one of the things with Trek. First thing you need to think of when designing a scenario is "How do I keep the players from circumventing the crux of the conflict with technology?"

    But it's a delicate balance. Have enough planets with wierd radiation that prevents transporters from operating, and players will wonder why they carry transporters in the first place.

    -Evil Kirk

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Newcastle, England
    Posts
    3,462
    You could simply say that the message will take a few hours to get there and back (distance and a lack of a relay in the area) - and just accelerate the problem while they are waiting. The Captain is allowed to act in the Federations name. It could also be interesting if the Admirals reply arrives and it dissagrees with the crews decision
    Ta Muchly

  12. #12
    Originally posted by Tobian
    You could simply say that the message will take a few hours to get there and back (distance and a lack of a relay in the area) - and just accelerate the problem while they are waiting. The Captain is allowed to act in the Federations name. It could also be interesting if the Admirals reply arrives and it dissagrees with the crews decision
    There's a fun complication.

    "Okay. We've decided that we will grant you asylum and convey you and the rest of the survivors to a neutral world."

    ...2 minutes later...

    "Sir, message from Starfleet Command, Priority One. 'Be advised: have considered matter of asylum and hereby order Captain USS Bradbury to deny request, turn andriods over to Lathorian representative.'"

    -Evil Kirk

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2000
    Location
    Ozark, Arkansas, U.S.A.
    Posts
    145
    Advanced androids would be very "alien"
    Raynee, the one Methusalah built, was pretty advanced.

    I wonder why they acted like Data was a breakthrough, TOS found an entire planet of androids. And one of them replaced an Enterprise crewman and except for his physical being identical to the last one went completely unnoticed.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 1999
    Location
    Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    3,490
    Aside from Ruk, the leftover android found by Roger Korby, Data ia the most advanced android ever seen in Trek. The copies made by Korby (Andrea, Kirk and Korby himself), although advanced physically, were far less advanced in their programming.

    Norman, the main Mudd's Planet android, was physically less advanced than Data (well, Okay, the effects were less sophisticated) and had major programming problems not evident in Data. The rest of the androids were only semiautonomous and required "coordination" through Norman.

    Rayna Kapec, the female android built by "Mr. Flint," was nearly as advanced as Data, about as advanced as Data's daughter, Lal, and really required further AI development.

    Data truly was a breakthrough, along with his brother, Lore. Data and Lore are true autonomous sapient beings, without the limitations found in other androids.

  15. #15

    After Action:

    The Captain's player could not make it. He therefore had to give testimony at a court martial related to a previous sessions events(Not his or any of the PCs).

    The First officer was put in charge of taking the Bradbury out to record a rare gaseous anomaly collision in the Mutarra sector, near the Lathorian border.

    The refugee ship exploded, damaging the Bradbury's subspace antenna and warp drive. The Ka'Lathorian survivors, a trio, were taken onboard. The Lathorian Brigadier arrives and makes his demands (cue dramatic sting).

    I had him give several ultimatums where the time limit played out in real time. The players interviewed the robots and determined they were self-aware and entitled to due process. One player came up with the novel and brillaint notion that even if the Lathorian Brigadier refused to acknowledge their sentient status, the robots were retrieved from a derilect in Federation space, and were therefore fair salvage. Sadly, the Captain didn't get the opportunity to use this players clever argument.

    The Vulcan acting captain ended up attempting a ruse where he claimed he was surrendering the Ka'Lathorians by sending them over in their own escape pod. In actuality, the pod contained several semi-functional mannequinns resembling them whipped up by the fabrication department onboard.

    Unfortunately, Commander Sorell lacks a talent for misdirection. The Brigadier scanned the pod, found that the occupants did not have the unique power system of the K-25 combat automaton, and attacked the Bradbury.

    There was a space battle, a chase through a nebula, and a boarding action by Lathorian Death Commandos in a desperate gambit. Both ships were severely damaged, but the Lathorian vessel was forced to disengage. The Bradbury's warp drive was brought online again, and they beat feet to the starbase.

    Having been badly damaged and having suffered a dozen casualties, they delivered the Ka'Lathorians to Federation authorities in the Starbase. The Doctor picked up a bit of pathos when she failed to save an engineering crewman, who though severely wounded shouldn't have been beyond her help.

    The Fedaration Government is debating their status, and the Lathorian Confederation is disavowing the attack on the Bradbury as unsanctioned. The Brigadier may show up again as a recurring villain.

    The Ka'Lathorians and their amazing duotronic processors are being examined at Starbase 12 by Dr. Elijiah Soongh, a brillaint cybernetacist, and his eager young assistant...

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •