As stated in my first blog post, this series is going to play with established canon and explore a lot of what ifs. Some of those initial what if thoughts I had were what if we saw how some of the species in Star Trek were originally written? What if we had gotten Phase II’s Klingon stories? Or the original plans for the Ferengi panned out? And, what if we got to see more of the Kzinti?! Because I was taken with them the first time I was introduced to The Animated Series when a babysitter handed me an old colouring book to keep me entertained for a while. (Also, Speaker-to-Animals and Nessus were the only interesting characters in Ringworld. I digress…) So in TBG I am going to explore those thoughts.
Klingons
The first major difference for the Klingons in this universe is that they are part of the Federation. They are no longer adversarial, though they might still sometimes be at odds with certain Federation values. The second immediate difference that, were this a TV show one would probably notice first, is that they will still mostly look like they did in TOS. The Augment Virus is still canon in TBG, but it is not well known or discussed. Why? Because how else would I have a Klingon civil war later in the series? And how else would I use Phase II’s Kitumba? So yeah, the Klingons will be something a little closer to TOS Klingons, with some season one and two TNG. So yes, I am really looking forward to seeing how this plays out, and how some of those lost and unused ideas will impact the future of this alternate timeline!
Ferengi
“[They] consider themselves too civilized to employ brute force, except when they can label it ‘cleverness.’ The act of winning is a most important thing in their system of values. They would agree with the twentieth-century Human athletic coach who said, ‘Winning isn’t the important thing – winning is the only thing’ [….] [The Ferengi believe] that it is nature’s way to reward the clever at the cost of the weak. They believe in the law of quid pro quo and believe it is dishonest to take or receive without fair payment, although their idea of ‘fair’ is that which profits them the most. [They consider themselves] the ‘good guys’ who live in perfect accord with nature’s immutable laws of survival. They are honestly puzzled with humanity’s concept of good and believe it means only that humans are demented.” (Gene Roddenberry: The Myth and the Man Behind Star Trek, 2nd ed. paperback, pp. 261 & 236)
Yes! The Ferengi are going to be what they were intended to be, antagonists who can and will compete with the Federation. I do not agree with Rick Berman’s feelings about, well, most things to be honest. Including that the Ferengi couldn’t have made a good adversarial race. So! Be prepared for a meaner, scarier Ferengi. Also, I mean, maybe to Berman they weren’t, but cut throat capitalist misogynists are pretty adversarial to some of us…
Kzinti
First introduced to Star Trek in TAS, the Kzinti are the only canonical race to appear that came from another property. Which, if you’re reading this blog, you probably knew. There were plans for the Kzinti to do more and mean more, and there were even planned Kzinti episodes for ENT that we unfortunately never got (got a whole season of the Xindi though. Because that was so interesting.) I don’t intend on changing them too much, but given my particular love of cat people, I can’t not include them. And, of course, the wonder of a roleplaying game is that I only have to provide fun for my players and no one else. Whether or not more of Niven’s Known Space trickles in remains to be seen, but for now, the Kzinti are a known and active race in TBG.
Star Trek: To Boldly Go 