Welcome to Ten Forward Fridays, where a new playable species is presented for the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game, filling in some gaps until official material can be released.
For this month, Ten Forward Fridays is focusing on background species from Star Trek: The Next Generation. This week’s species is the twinned cyborgs, the Bynar.
The Bynar appeared in a single episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, being the “alien of the week” in the episode 11001001. They were shown to be a trusted race in the Federation, employed with upgrading the computers of a Galaxy-class starship. As the Bynars were shown not to entirely trust the Federation in that episode, it is implied they are allies and not a member planet. But this is subject to debate. Regardless of the status of their Federation membership, the Bynars were discovered in an early era, being referenced in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode Regeneration. This allows Bynars to potentially appear in any era of play.
The twin nature of the Bynars and their distinct appearance has made them a fan favourite. Even actors Jonathan Frakes and Patrick Stewart both expressed a fondness for the race and commented that they should have reappeared. The appeal of the Bynars is likely augmented by their single appearance on the show: they have untapped potential. For players desiring to play an archetype akin to Spock or Data without directly copying either character, a Bynar is a good alternative.
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Click HERE for Black Background PDF
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