I’ve always been fascinated by the Klingons, starting when I was young and impressionable and watched a rerun of “Day of the Dove.” I grew up in New York City in the 1970s, and the reruns of Star Trek were appointment viewing in my house. Kang created an immediate impression on me, as Michael Ansara gave us a worthy adversary to James T. Kirk. And something about the fighting spirit of the Klingons just appealed to me.
This increased a hundredfold with the development of Klingon culture that The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine, in particular, did in the 1990s. So, it’s no surprise that, once I started writing Trek prose and comics at the turn of the millennium, a lot of my work focused on the Klingon Empire. I wrote a series of novels that starred a Klingon Defense Force ship rather than a Starfleet one (exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations, and boldly conquering them for the greater glory of the Empire); several novels that focused on Worf in his role as an ambassador between the end of Deep Space Nine and the movie Star Trek: Nemesis; a novella that told the story of how the friendship among Kang, Kor, and Koloth began; and a novel that told the story of the briefly mentioned “Betreka Nebula Incident” between the Klingons and Cardassians. Oh yeah, and I also wrote The Klingon Art of War.
For that reason, I was honored (ahem) to be asked by the fine folks at Modiphius to contribute material to The Klingon Empire core rulebook for Star Trek Adventures.
But when it came time to create an RPG module for Star Trek Adventures, I wanted to try something a little different. There have been tons of Klingon stories in the mid-22nd century, in the mid-to-late 23rd century, and in the late 24th. I wanted to try a less-well-explored period in Trek history – like, say, the turn of the 24th century, right after Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
At this stage, the Klingon Empire has been crippled by the loss of Praxis and is dependent on the Federation for assistance in rebuilding. This would be an incredibly chaotic time and the perfect place to have an adventure involving a Klingon ship. You’ve got a production facility that was minor and inconsequential that is suddenly, with the loss of Praxis, shoved into a much more important role in the Empire than it was really designed for. You’ve got Klingons who are not entirely happy with the new state of affairs. And you’ve got the Federation who just want to help, but whose assistance means a loss of face for an empire that’s already lost too much in that regard.
Thus we have “Incident at Kraav III.” I hope that those of you who are role-playing Klingons on a Defense Force vessel will find this a worthy addition to your campaigns. Qapla’!
Buy the adventure now at www.modiphius.net, www.modiphius.us, or DTRPG!
Thanks for reading this article, and thank you for your interest and support of Star Trek Adventures! Keep frequencies open for news about additional STA products in the coming months. Live long and prosper!
