Elijah and James @ the Priority One podcast talk with Cryptic’s Content Designer, Chris Dods! Chris was responsible for the recent Star Trek Online “Alpha” mission for the Klingon faction!

Learn more:
via Priority One podcast (Episode 78: “Dods Does”)

Gates of Sto’vo’kor is sponsoring a Foundry Mission Contest. Check out Gates of Sto’vo’kor’s website for the full announcement. The mission must be a KDF mission, must have a maximum run time of 30 to 45 minutes, and must feature the Ferengi. The contest ends on May 20th at midnight PDT. The winner will be selected after that and will be awarded a Ferengi D’Kora Marauder ship. Sign up on the STO forums.

A quick tour of the new Klingon Academy Map, which should be added to the foundry soon!

Your Klingon warship has earned many glories in battle.  The Ship’s Manifest lists victories that any Captain would be proud of.  The time comes when the crew needs to be rewarded, since living on the razor’s edge could wear down the best of officers and troops.  Command has granted you time for shore leave and Boreth was recommended.  Officers who spend time on Boreth are often on the fast track for advancement and greater honors.  Those that are lucky may even be granted an audience with the Emperor Kahless himself.  Report to Boreth, in the B’Moth Sector of the Omega Leonis Sector Block, and uncover your destiny…

This a Klingon only mission.

MajQa’, this is my first published mission using the Foundry.  It has had a rocky start, but I believe that I have removed the bugs, and the mission can be completed successfully.  I ran it through last night after publishing it for the fourth time; all previous versions were unpublished first.  This episode is a few engagements shorter in the first scene, and the map transfer actually works now.  The rest of the mission moves along as it should.  Klingon missions cannot truly be released; they escape with bat’leth in hand slashing their way through all enemies and obstructions…

I had one written poor review, and a total of five scores of 1.  I do take this seriously, and I have made changes to improve the playability and the fun-factor, so I hope everyone will give it a chance.  Please produce more constructive criticism, as I endeavor to learn from this.  I love storytelling, but my challenge is the mechanics of the Foundry.  I believe I have a fun, playable mission, and I hope everyone will enjoy it.

QAPLA!

This is intended as a guidline only to help one become better acqainted with tips on writing KDF oriented mission storylines.

Klingons and the Klingon Empire can be involved in your Star Trek: The Next Generation RPG series in several ways, from their traditional role as uneasy allies or open adversaries to the unique challenge and excitement of a Klingons-Only campaign, where the pursuit of glory and honor for the Empire, not the goals of the United Federation of Planets, shape the stories that are told. With the information provided in this boxed set, the Narrator can also build a series around non-Klingon infiltration into the empire (perhaps to control the potential ravages of the Klingon/Cardassian war) or even Klingon infiltration into the Federation, from the perspective of Klingon Intelligence agents. The possibilities are many.

Regardless of whether you make the Klingons the focus of the series, or simply of an interesting arc or subplot, this chapter may be of value to you. In addition to its role as a Narrator’s tool, this chapter will also be useful to players; the themes discussed here are meant to inspire character ideas as well as stories!

To these ends, we examine what makes an episode of the Star Trek: The Next Generation RPG “feel Klingon.” Klingons have an aesthetic, outlook, and a strongly-held code of ethics that is markedly different from that of the UFP or Starfleet, and episodes or series featuring them are richer and more engaging if those differences are highlighted and explored. The exploring we leave to you; the highlighting starts here.

Klingon Axioms

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation RPG rulebook, we described four axioms, fundamental ideas that sit at the core of Star Trek, that must be present for your series to reflect the ethos of the TV show. Things change, however, when examined from the Klingon viewpoint! While each of the Next Generation axioms apply to Klingon stories to some degree (especially “Cinematic Action!”), there are two fundamental Klingon axioms that should sing through the blood of any episode or series in which the sons and daughters of Quo’noS take part:

Honor is Everything!

And honorable behavior in the game should be rewarded. By the same token, dishonorable behavior should never go unpunished. While Klingons, like humans and others, may certainly find redemption for their dishonors, a tale can not be truly Klingon if dishonor has no price.

What is “honorable” behavior, then, in terms that apply to writing and narrating good Klingon episodes? Honor doesn’t exist in a vacuum; there must be something to be honored. The most vital forms of honor among the Klingons can be lumped into four broad categories, each of which overlaps. A particularly rich and exciting Klingon series is one that reflects the value of each of them from time to time.

• Personal Honor: Klingons have no patience for liars, cowards and weaklings. They have a strong sense of virtuous responsibility, and personal honor is about standing up and accepting the negative consequences of personal action (if the consequences are deserved), demanding the recognition for personal triumph when it is due, and defending choices that the Klingon knows to have been the right ones, even in the face of adverse opinion or mortal danger.
• Ties of Blood: Honor does not stop at a Klingon’s skin; it extends to his brethren, his trusted companions, and most especially to his name and his blood. A dishonored Klingon dishonors every Klingon that will be descended from him, for many generations to come. And any threat to the honor of a Klingon who’s name you bear – even if that Klingon is long free from the confines of mortal life – is a serious attack on your personal honor. Familial honor is personal honor, extended to an entire bloodline.
• Duty to Superiors: It is honorable – in fact, commendable – for a Klingon to advance in rank by killing a weak or ineffectual superior. Such an act strengthens the chain of command by culling out the weak links in the chain. But a worthy superior is to be respected and obeyed, and this form of honor extends from a warrior’s immediate commander all the way up the ladder to the leadership of the Klingon Empire. Honoring the Empire and the will of those who rule it is vital to the survival of the species, the glory of all worthy warriors, and the personal honor of any who benefit from the Imperial might and prestige.
• Ancient Tradition: Honor of self, family and Empire are in many ways facets of a much larger concept, that of honoring the many traditions that have built the Empire and made it thrive. This is why honor is such a vital axiom in Klingon stories: Klingons are as they are for reasons – ancient reasons, tested by time and blood and fire and proven in expansion and prosperity. Klingon stories should recognize this and sing with the truth of it. Klingons aren’t just “hung up” on honor, honor is an essential part of being Klingon, and something to be celebrated.

When devising episodes, it’s often handy to remember that honor is often best defined in negative terms. That is, it’s often easier to see what’s honorable by defining what’s dishonorable. Nearly any ordinary, productive life can be said to be “honorable,” but that’s not of much use when you’re scratching your head with your pencil, trying to come up with an interesting story to challenge your Klingon Crew!

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