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.
Like Starship Sunday, the theme of this month is Star Trek Online, the MMORPG by Cryptic/ Perfect World. This month the psuedo-STO species of the Tzenkethi.
The Tzenkethi were name-dropped on Deep Space Nine a couple times but never shown on screen, the name a reference to the Kzin from Larry Niven’s Known Space series who also appeared in the Star Trek: The Animated Series. The head canon of the DS9 episodes’ author was that the Tzenkethi were “heavily armoured lizard-things” and the species’ territory appeared in several maps since. Which, of course, made the fans curious.
The timeline/ continuity of the Destiny novels did their own version of the Tzenkethi which was very different from the author’s concept of “lizard-things”. But as the version seen in STO followed the original concept, I’m defaulting to that take. Plus, y’know, art.
The Tzenkethi are unseen on the show but would not actually be that hard to work into a campaign, especially one set in STA’s default era around the Dominion War. Tznekethi space is close to the fronts in the war, and the Federation had previous dealings with the race within the lifetime of current officers. It would not be hard to include a Tzenkethi defector or cultural envoy with a crew, or even someone stationed to monitor the Dominion situation. In later eras, the Tzenkethi could retain their isolation as seen in STO, or in a personal timeline they could get involved in galactic politics following the war or destruction or Romulus.
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Click HERE for Black Background PDF
“Eras” on “The Next Generation Eras Only” should be changed to “Era”.
Change “While Tzenkethi have little respect for weakness or frailty, but acknowledge cunning as a variant form of strength.”
to
“While the Tzenkethi have little respect for weakness or frailty, they acknowledge cunning as a variant form of strength.”
Change “Early in the 24th Century, the Tzenkethi fought a border war against the Federation and also engaged in skirmishes with the Klingon Empire.”
to
“Early in the 24th Century, the Tzenkethi engaged in several skirmishes with the Klingon Empire and even fought a border war against the Federation.
Change “Following these defeats, the Tzenkethi withdrew behind their borders, engaging in little diplomacy for the better part of a century.”
to
“After being defeated by the Federation, the Tzenkethi withdrew behind their borders, and did not engage in diplomatic relations with any of their neighbors for the better part of a century.”
Change “The Tzenkethi retain lingering animosity over the war, and the Coalition engages in regular propaganda that paints the United Federation of Planets as immoral, a source of chaos, dissidents, and illicit chemicals.”
to
“The Tzenkethi retain lingering animosity over the war with the Federation, and the Coalition engages in regular propaganda that paints the United Federation of Planets as an immoral source of chaos, dissent, and illicit
chemicals.”
Change “All Tzenkethi are heavily armored, wearing defensive body armour with build-in weaponry and equipment.”
to
“All Tzenkethi wear defensive body armor with built-in weaponry and equipment.”
Change “Specialists have additional equipment built into their armour, such as sensors, surgical equipment, or heavy mortars.”
to
“Specialists have additional equipment built into their armor, such as sensors, surgical equipment, or heavy mortars.”
All of the above was a labor of love. (Hey, that rhymes!) 🙂