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.
Continuing our villain month is the piteous Pakled.
Appearing in 2×17 Samaratin Snare, the Pakleds were quickly forgotten on The Next Generation, and would have been unremarkable if not for their surprising eighteen appearances in Deep Space Nine. While mostly background appearances, it cements the idea of the Pakleds as traders and salvagers. They’re also the principal opponents in Lower Decks, albeit played much more for laughs, and far less cunning.
It’s easy to cast the Pakleds into an adversarial role, being hostile scavengers or in possession of stolen technology. While not the most menacing of figures, the junk trader or local merchant can be an interesting (or amusing) character. In this role, the Pakleds make an interesting counterpart to the Ferengi, being much more blue collar and mechanically minded. Like the Nausicaans, the Pakleds would excel in a role as a recurring character in a campaign set on a space station or colony. However, Pakleds could also work as crewmembers on a Starfleet vessel, likely as enlisted personnel (a non-commissioned officer like Chief O’Brien) or (likely much less frequently) a full officer. More than many other “bad guy” races, the Pakleds could work as a player character.
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