Featured Crew: Robin Lefler

Featured Crew articles spotlight familiar characters not currently covered by official stats. Each article will typically feature a Major NPC version of the character, as well as a playable Main Character version (Core Rulebook compliant) that you can hand out to a player for immediate play (such as for a demo or convention game).

Ensign Robin Lefler appeared in two episodes of Season 5 of TNG (2368): “Darmok” and “The Game“, although it is in the latter that we find out most about her as she explores a relationship with Ensign Wesley Crusher. We find out about her quirks, such as her “Lefler’s Laws”, a set of rules that she created about essential life lessons so that she would never forget. She was the daughter of plasma specialists who moved around a lot when she was a child, which made it difficult for her to develop friendships. In fact, she had a tricorder as her first friend.

She is a memorable and familiar face, and should be a good PC or NPC to add to your campaign. As a mission specialist, she could easily be aboard any ship or station, learning the specs of any specific missions that the crew has been assigned. This places her in Engineering for the most part, but other media where she has been introduced have seen her in Operations. If she appears after 2368, she may well have earned a promotion.

One version is all that is needed for Robin Lefler. However, if you wish to give her a special ability, you may substitute one of her Talents with the following:

Lefler’s Law: Once per mission, Lefler may choose one of her current Lefler’s Law Values. She must say it aloud in play. For the duration of the mission, any allies who heard it at the time she activated this Talent may treat that Value like a Directive.

You can also tailor her with different Lefler’s Laws as Values. Known Lefler’s Laws are:

1. You can only count on yourself.
17. When all else fails, do it yourself.
36. You gotta go with what works.
46. Life isn’t always fair.
91. Always watch your back.
103. A couple of light years can’t keep good friends apart.

There are other Lefler’s Laws (or Robin’s Laws) from non-canonical sources, if you want more variants.

12. Execution is nine-tenths of the job.
29. The sightseeing’s just as good on the way home.
32. If life hands you lemonade, don’t try to make lemons out of it.
42. Any joke that has to be explained isn’t worth explaining.
52. Never underestimate a man’s ability to make you laugh.
83. Whenever you’ve eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.
108. It’s not over until it’s over, and sometimes not even then.
116. When someone is trying to kill you, it’s okay to sweat.
117. Never send a Klingon a Tribble.
125. Getting information out of Zak Kebron is like interrogating a statue.

Robin Lefler (PDF)