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 December we’re returning to the time of Star Trek: The Original Series, presenting species that could be used in games set in and around TOS. This week is the reptilian Saurians.
A Saurian crewmember appeared in the background of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but the species hasn’t really been seen since. This makes them fairly unremarkable on the surface, one of many background aliens in the group shots of the film series. However, the species live on through regular references to “Saurian brandy” in the various series, which was first mentioned in The Original Series episode 1×04 The Enemy Within, one of several references to the beverage in that series alone. This makes Saurians recognisable by name, which, along with their rarer lizard-like biology, makes them a good addition.
Novels and other sources suggest Earth encountered the Saurians early in the 22nd Century, with the year 2157 given (placing first contact in the time jump that occurred between Star Trek: Enterprise 4×21 Terra Prime and 4×22 These are the Voyages…). This makes the species one of the older members of the Federation, a well- established people during the familiar eras. A Saurian is unlikely to be serving on a Starfleet vessel in the Star Trek: Enterprise era, but they would work very shortly after, perhaps even during the Earth-Romulan War. They’d almost certainly work in the decades prior to Star Trek The Original Series and even Star Trek Discovery.
Click HERE for Black Background PDF
There may be a mistake on the Saurian page, specifically under “Tenacious Will”. Are you supposed to get 2 d20 rerolls when you do or do not have a Focus? Because at the moment it says you get a bonus to reroll when have NO applicable focus, which seems counter to what its meant to do.
There was a typo in that sentence but the intent was that you get to re-roll a dice if you have a Focus but can re-roll an additional dice if you don’t have the Focus. If you’re spending your Determination to get a second Task and it’s not something you specialise in, you’re given better odds.