You might have seen this before on my other blog, but if you haven’t here’s your chance to try out everyone’s favorite warrior culture. If you’ve seen the first few episodes of Star Trek: Discovery you know that the Klingons have been a problem for the Federation for a long time and that they are a very dangerous enemy. In terms of roleplaying, there are missions and storylines that the violent Klingons can follow that Starfleet can’t.
The Klingons have been a major part of the Star Trek universe since the original series. With many years of context and lore there is tons of information out there about Klingons and their society, including online courses in their language. It would be pretty arrogant of me to try and sum this up in a simple post. Instead, I would point you towards the GURPS Klingons sourcebook for a TOS context, The Klingons sourcebook for FASA’s Star Trek: The Roleplaying Game, and best of all you can check out here for some excerpts from the never-published The Klingon Empire sourcebook for Last Unicorn Games’ Star Trek: The Role-Playing Game. As always, I don’t recommend the d20 campaign since I consider it the farthest off-base of all the Star Trek RPG options, but if that’s all you have then you can also check out Klingons d20: The Empire of Steel… whatever that means.
To get you started, though, you should check out the document below where I summarize as well as I can what the Klingon Empire is like… or the version that I see. Your Klingons may vary.
This will get you started with some overviews of Klingon society, what the empire is and what it isn’t, and even a brief primer in the Klingon language. To really catch up on recent Klingon activities, of course, you want to go to the source material:
- Sins of the Father (TNG) starts Worf’s path to redemption.
- Redemption Part I and Part II (TNG) show the Klingon Civil War in all it’s glory.
- Birthright Part I and Part II (TNG but as a fantastic DS9 crossover) is a much more intimate story but really sweet.
- Star Trek: Generations which, strictly speaking, hasn’t happened in the default timeline of Star Trek Adventures shows the most recent plot by the House of Duras to get your imagination going.
- Further in the future, The Way of the Warrior takes place once the Dominion Cold War heats up but it’s the first appearance of the Klingons in that story arc and can give you an idea of what they’re doing behind the scenes.
Klingon Characters
First thing, of course, is to grab Jester’s Klingon species. In the series, only Klingons serve aboard Klingon starships (although there are almost certainly other species under the hell of the Empire) and if you want to do something different that’s up to you to figure out… although I have another post in the works to help you a little. In addition, consider adding the following Talent to an all-Klingon campaign for those who want a little politics with their duels of honor.
New Talent: Scion of a Great House
Requirements: Klingon, or Gamemaster’s Permission. Character creation only.
You are part of the immediate family of the joH of a Great House, something that gives you immense influence and responsibility within the Klingon Empire. You gain a Trait with the name of your Great House reflecting this influence and once per mission you can declare that another Klingon noble owes you a debt of honor that you can call upon. This NPC will provide information, send some minor NPCs to assist, or provide an Advantage for the length of a scene as they pull strings on your behalf.
The Klingons have some pretty iconic stuff, from their curved bat’leths to their black-and-silver armor to their damn targs always snuffling about. You can use a lot of what’s in the Star Trek Adventures rulebook including disruptor pistols and rifles but you might want more. And who could blame you?!? Check out this document for all your Klingon equipment needs, including some darling little pets.
Klingon Spaceframes
Of course, a Klingon crew needs a Klingon ship and you can find a collection of Klingon spaceframes for all eras in the document below. This has everything from the classic D7 battle cruiser and the Vor’cha-class attack cruiser to the sleek B’rel-class bird-of-preypowerful and the brand new Negh’Var-class attack cruiser. Additionally, there are four new starship Talents and a new mission profile for people who just want to cruise around and attack weakling aliens.
Did I miss anything? Something you desperately need? Let me know?
You are missing TOS era Klingons.
All the cultural stuff was developed after TOS so I don’t think they’re as hard to convert. For Movie-era Klingons, I think all of this still applies… It’s true, though, that this is firmly fixed on Klingons in the 2370s.
I’d say that the Negh’Var should be Scale 6, like the NPC version in the Beta Quadrant Sourcebook is.