By Fred Love, STA Contributing Writer
Last year, Star Trek Adventures project manager Jim Johnson presented me with the exciting opportunity to write a quickstart adventure specifically for Klingon characters. He asked me to put together a scenario to correspond with an illustration of a quartet of Klingon warriors, expertly created by artist Nick Greenwood.
I took one look at the Greenwood illustration, which positively crackles with Klingon ferocity, and my imagination immediately ran wild with ideas. As with all the best tabletop rpg art, the image drew me into the world inhabited by these characters, inspiring me to find out who they were and what kind of adventures they undertook together.
The illustration depicts four Klingon warriors, all carrying weapons. They appear to be charging down the corridor of some alien compound, disruptor blasts erupting behind them. Their fierce gazes remain fixed straight ahead, which led me to believe they’re fleeing pursuers while simultaneously running headlong into another foe.
To my eye, these warriors looked like commandos on some high-stakes, long-odds infiltration mission.
I sent Jim a pitch involving a Klingon special forces unit sent to sneak inside an enemy installation on a frozen moon during the Dominion War. The warriors have to ride in modified photon torpedo tubes to reach the outpost, then deal with the Jem’Hadar patrolling the facility. There might be a few other surprises along the way as well.
Jim greenlit the idea, and I started working through the lifepath character creation system to figure out the details of each character in the illustration. Let me take a moment to introduce them to you.
The warrior in front dual wielding the disruptor pistols is Doranesh, daughter of Tofgar. She hails from a minor House and believes her valorous military record would have earned her a command if only she came from a more prominent family. She’s an infiltration expert with a penchant for improvisation when missions turn sideways.
The warrior kneeling on the left firing a disruptor is Dreg, an ambitious officer from a noble House with an eye on a High Council seat. He believes the Empire must strengthen its alliance with Starfleet to have a chance of surviving the Dominion War.
The big guy with the bat’leth is Korvek. He’s the muscle for the mission and has proven himself in some of the bloodiest engagements of the Dominion War.
The woman bringing up the rear is Lural, an ace pilot who served time on Rura Penthe for a crime she didn’t commit. She accepted a position on the special operations team in the hope that a successful mission would expunge her criminal record and restore her honor.
Complete statistics for these pre-generated characters are included in the scenario, titled “The Tip of the Bat’leth,” now available for download with the Klingon Quickstart. The scenario also includes two additional pregens, a demolitions expert and a surgeon. All you have to do is download the free PDF to find out what kind of experience awaits these characters beyond Dominion lines.
And, if that illustration is any indication, I suspect these characters have many more stories to tell – if they survive the mission, that is.
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. Qapla’!