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.
This week is the somewhat ghoulish Kobali, seen once in Voyager epside 6×18 Ashes to Ashes. The Kobali are distinct because they convert the bodies of the dead into new members of their species. Which is very different, but also intriguing.
In the above episode, a U.S.S. Voyager crewmember, Ensign Ballard, was killed in 2374, resurrected, and then caught up with Voyager in 2376. Between those dates, the Voyager got four decent boosts in speed adding several thousand light years to their distance travelled. It seems improbable that Ballard/ Jhet’leya could have caught up, unless the Kobali possess their own method of travelling long distances at high speeds, such as transwarp, quantum slipstream drive, or even the Vaadwaur’s subspace corridors. Which is conceivable: the Kobali could easily have resurrected members of an advanced species and adopted their technology. As such, the Kobali could be encountered in disparate regions of the Delta Quadrant, or even the Beta Quadrant.
In campaigns set after Star Trek Nemesis, the former Voyager crewmember, Jhet’leya, could have explained what Starfleet is, prompting Kobali to venture into the Federation and apply for admission or asylum. Alternatively, a dead player character could be “resurrected” as a Kobali, allowing a variation on the character to continue to be played. It would also be possible for Starfleet to be experimenting with the Kobali reincarnation virus, possibly using it to restore valuable scientific minds to life.
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The Kobali also appear in Star Trek Online. No spoilers, but so do the Vaardwaur..
Yes, yes they do. That was one of the reasons I thought this might be a fun species. There’s a couple Delta Quadrant species that are made cooler and more memorable by STO, which prompted their inclusion here.
Very much enjoy STO’s ‘expansion ‘ on what has gone before. Very much enjoying what you’re doing here too.
Ugh. Kobali.
Damn Corpse-Stealing Zombies…
Hopefully you do the Voth next week, or maybe the Hazari. I like both of those species MUCH more than I do the Kobali.
The Hazari are definitely on my list for the month.
I want to include a species from another game called Deaders; though they are more of a parasite that inhabit a dead body. I was thinking of making them an offshoot of the Trill.